From vnr1995 at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 02:42:25 2006 From: vnr1995 at gmail.com (V NR) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 13:12:25 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] invitation to talk on lesbian and gay rights In-Reply-To: <4404470C.60102@sarai.net> References: <20060226023418.7986.qmail@web51711.mail.yahoo.com> <4404470C.60102@sarai.net> Message-ID: There is no biological argument in the first place; it is a place holder for all pet hypotheses one want to defend: it is a sign of intellectual dishonesty. Just a presence of some or another heuristic is not an explanation either. What is needed: not say-so explanations, but an explanation that uses some concrete genetic mechanism, etc. Otherwise, we can answer in similar fashion the question why we, not others, are on this list: oh, some genes! Best, Reddy, V. On 2/28/06, Aarti wrote: > Dear All, > > I am unclear on the "biological" aspects of sexual preference and so > will not comment. Generally I am uncomfortable with biologically > deterministic arguments because even when they are framed in this way, > which is to use biology to support a mode of being, they seek to defend > or counter based some idea of what is "natural". [So to those who say > one kind of desire is "unnatural" (summed up succintly in 377 as sexual > acts "against the order of nature", we say its genes.] Framed in this > way it leaves little room for personal choice, agency, or even a > consideration of how modes of being are socio-historically produced. > > Warmly > Aarti > > Shah Jahan Bhatti wrote: > > > Some people are born gay and others are not, it all depends on the > > genetical code we recieve from our parents. Who is good and who is bad > > is a personal preference. > > From abhishek.hazra at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 11:23:28 2006 From: abhishek.hazra at gmail.com (Abhishek Hazra) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 11:23:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] commercialisation of fine arts in india In-Reply-To: <20060228121808.59351.qmail@web36812.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <20060228121808.59351.qmail@web36812.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6deae8300602282153y73058ba9xc21aa21763be4c68@mail.gmail.com> you could perhaps check out Amrita Jhaveri's new book, 101...the appendix lists the selling price of the artists featured in the book... Shiladitya Sarkar's book on Ganesh Pyne (Rupa) has some details on the artist-buyer-collector dynamics, though perhaps nowhere close to the kind of granularity you might be looking for... and i guess you could always pay Mr. Tuli a visit... :-) what project is this part of, if i may ask? On 2/28/06, irfan wrote: > > Dear all, > If anyone got some reference regarding history and > philosophical aspects of fine arts market in > India,please show me the way. > Irfan > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.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: > -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - does the frog know it has a latin name? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060301/7b1fa541/attachment.html From isouweine at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 07:43:08 2006 From: isouweine at gmail.com (Isaac souweine) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 21:13:08 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] "I make joints between parts" In-Reply-To: <43FB1BB4.9050804@sarai.net> References: <43F9B44B.1060800@sarai.net> <43FB1BB4.9050804@sarai.net> Message-ID: <34bf33330602281813t727120f9r85cd519b5ade8061@mail.gmail.com> Yes - this is really great. The voice captured is compelling, a snippet of a life that is at once small like the coils of wire and large like a firmly stated, long held belief. Surely aided by the translation. I too look forward to more of the same. Thanks, Isaac On 2/21/06, Aarti wrote: > > Dear Shveta, > > Thank you for this post. What I find is the evocative, almost intimate, > nature of this description of a realtionship with work and technology. > There is something very delicate, nazuk, about the section on his > thinking about the relationship between the making of circuits and an > evocation of a ruptured realtionship back home. > > Thank you again > really looking forward to reading more such accounts > Warmly > Aarti > > > Shveta wrote: > > > I make joints between parts > > by Lakhmi Chand Kohli[*] > > > > New places carry memories of the old. I create freshness by placing old > > materials into new places. I guess, in this way, I rub some of the > > aura of > > the old into the new. I am an electrician... Maybe! You see, this name > > has > > been given to me by people. I only make transformers. I buy parts from > > the market, make transformers out of them, and sell them in the > > market. Because I have been doing this for a long time, I have many > > skills of an electrician. > > > > Earlier, people used to call me to their homes to take care of any > > electrical problems. But I don't go to peoples' houses any more. I have > > nothing to gain from it. It's not that one doesn't earn well in this > way. > > It's just that things spoil again a few days after I fix them. People > get > > abusive when this happens. "Rascal, what did you do that it got spoiled > > again?" So I just stopped that kind of work. I still go to some peoples' > > houses, but only a select few. You see, people don't have much time to > > meet > > others; so I make meetings possible for myself through my work. > > > > Making transformers is my work. The beginning was very difficult. > > Because I > > didn't repair transformers, but made them and sold them in the market. > > Buying supplies without an income was difficult. Somehow, I managed. > > Initially, my earnings were little. Because to make a mark in the > market, > > my supplies had to be of a good quality and I had to put them together > > myself" very carefully, minutely. > > > > For a transformer, one needs a circuit board (Rs. 27, Anchor company), > > cabinet (Rs. 50), main switch (Rs. 30), fine wire (Rs. 2 per meter), > > transformer card (Rs, 35) and coin, rotor, meter etc. In all the cost > > price > > is Rs. 150-200. Moreover, it would take me two days to assemble a > > transformer. I would sell each between Rs 400-600. I used to get > > orders for > > numbers to be made, and couldn't defend my interests in the market. > > > > But I am doing well today, even though the cost of raw materials is > > high. I > > am faster at my work; my hands are more skilled. I can turn out three to > > four transformers in a single day. I also have helpers. > > > > Sometimes I get very angry at my helpers. Because they work like girls > > and > > also act very smart! They dress up like heroes, and worry they will > dirty > > their clothes. It's amazing how scared they are of dirt! But they will > > learn and get used to all this. I know because when I was younger, and > > worked as a help in my master's shop, I was just like them. > > > > In the beginning when I used to make joints between parts to make a > > transformer, I used to feel life was joining and becoming seamless. Like > > different parts being held together, still retaining their difference, > > but > > making a whole. This shape, the "whole", used to appeal to me. You see, > > that's because back home, in our village in Punjab, my father and his > > younger brother's families used to live together. When I decided to > shift > > to Delhi, my father's younger brother's son asked me, "What shall we do > > with your room and land?" > > I replied, "Plough the land, and give the room out on rent. We will > > divide whatever is earned equally between us". > > > > He said, "That only works in your favour! Why should I do the work, and > > you earn from it?" > > My father heard this and left the room. Our relationship with my > > father's younger brother's family has never been the same since then. > > Whenever I join parts together, I am reminded of this relationship. I > > wish there could be some joint I could connect our two families with, > > filling the cracks that have been formed between us. > > > > But forget all this! I have formed so many new relationships and > > earned so > > many different names with this work that sometimes my own name seems > > strange to me! Time transforms a personality. And along with that, or > > maybe > > because of that, one gathers so many different kinds of names as years > > pass, and the meaning and significance of each name also keeps changing. > > But what is most significant to me is who chooses to call me by which > > particular name. You see, no one is called by the same name by everyone. > > > > Is it that when you form a relationship with someone, the name you are > > called by changes, or is it that as the name you are called by > > changes, so > > does the relationship? > > > > -------------------------------------------- > > [*] > > > > > http://sarai.var.cc/source_material/the_old_and_the_new_by_lakhmi_from_broadsheet_no_3.html.html > > > > > > [Translation by shveta and frankhuzur at rediffmail.com] > > > > Text from Issue # 3 of Cybermohalla Broadsheet, "Bade Bade Shehron > > Mein Kuchh Namm Baatein". > > The issue engaged with the technological universe in the localities in > > which the CM labs are located. > > > > Editors: Lakhmi Kohli, Yashoda Singh, Love Anand, Suraj Rai. > > > > Write to cybermohalla at sarai.net > > > > For more texts, see http://sarai.var.cc > > -------------------------------------------- > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > 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: > > > _________________________________________ > 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/20060228/ce0618df/attachment.html From prayas.abhinav at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 12:27:25 2006 From: prayas.abhinav at gmail.com (Prayas Abhinav) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 12:27:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] commercialisation of fine arts in india In-Reply-To: <6deae8300602282153y73058ba9xc21aa21763be4c68@mail.gmail.com> References: <20060228121808.59351.qmail@web36812.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <6deae8300602282153y73058ba9xc21aa21763be4c68@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <825bb7b00602282257te292dc3sd4f3de59f4022e57@mail.gmail.com> Hi Irfan & Abhishek, Indian Express ran a feature in its Sunday magazine on art as an investment. They mentioned The Art Trust (I think managed by the same people as the Sakshi art gallery) who is tarting India's first fund for investment in art. They seem to have a pretty comprehensive site. I read Amrita Jhaveri's book (in fact I bought it), it does index the prices of most big-name artists in India. The Art Trust website actually lists the factors which collectors perceive as affecting the value of art and its price. But this does seems to be a very interesting exploration. best wishes, prayas From sidharth.srinivasan at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 13:08:37 2006 From: sidharth.srinivasan at gmail.com (sidharth srinivasan) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 23:38:37 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [reader list] second posting on photo roman Message-ID: <83e991100602282338v69c26cacr89ae8e642d2796f4@mail.gmail.com> Dear fellows, have only just managed to get into the flow of things regarding the nuts and bolts of my project. In other words after what seemed like eons I got my Nikon F3 serviced and took snaps for some seriously needed "haath ki safai" (practise!)... Currently I am in the process of buying obscure books and travelogues on delhi city and meeting people for whom the city is a mistress or lover, as the case may be. I go through these books more often than not with a completely "voyeuristic eye" looking out only for heritage spots or stories that may have serious cinematic (photographic) appeal or legends of bizarre even macabre anecdotal value. For example Majnu ka Tila - every self respecting north campus student has had his fair share of momos nearby but how did the place get the name? legend has it that a Muslim boatman plied people across the Yamuna free of charge. he was a mystic at heart and yearned for a glimpse of the sacred, so much so that he was called majnu by the locals. One day Guru Nanak himself was ferried across the river by majnu, and blessed him. majnu erected a gurdwara in praise of Nanak by the banks of the Yamuna which is popularly known as Majnu ka Tila. I'm sure many of you know of this story but to me, in the context of my photo roman, it conveys images of a small boat traversing the river yamuna in shimmering afterglow light. a man in stark blurred white inside the boat. the boat itself is decrepit and small yet rocks peacefully from side to side, the boatman has a look of intense peace and bliss on his face, but we never see the white man's face clearly despite his flowing beard. buffaloes laze about on the muddied banks while dhobis wash sullied clothes and drape them to dry... The clandestine lovers in my proposed photo roman script would go to majnu ka tila, ostensibly to eat momos but then, on the off chance, they would also stop off at the hermitage by the riverbank. images mentioned above would confront them for it is the love of majnu for laila and majnu (the boatman) for nanak that they want to achieve...a sublime love beyond the here and now... This is just a small example of how I am planning on going about my project. Of course I am very much on the lookout for places outside the radar of common knowledge, hidden away in gullies and lanes. The places dont have to be acquainted with famous personalities. but there has to be something eternal and mythical to what has supposedly transpired there. who knows the location may really serve the script I intend in more ways than one! I also revisited chris markers legendary short film La Jetee, the only photo roman I have ever seen and the inspiration, if you will, for Terry Gilliam's insipid bruce willis starrer - 12 monkeys...do see it if you ever get the chance (the original, that is), perhaps to get a sense of what I am trying to grapple with! My proposed film has one thing in common with La Jetee (asides from form) in that I want to convey a sense of the past through the present. however, having said that Marker's film does away with any pretense of being or belonging to any place and time whereas my film will try and evoke a sense of the historicity and secret history of a particular city... Hopefully by the time of my next posting I will have many more stories to narrate and, once again, if you know of any people or places do tell me about them. I would be very grateful... Best, SIDHARTH -- MR. SIDHARTH SRINIVASAN Reel Illusion Films New Delhi/Mumbai India From abhishek.hazra at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 13:14:45 2006 From: abhishek.hazra at gmail.com (Abhishek Hazra) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 13:14:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] commercialisation of fine arts in india In-Reply-To: <825bb7b00602282257te292dc3sd4f3de59f4022e57@mail.gmail.com> References: <20060228121808.59351.qmail@web36812.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <6deae8300602282153y73058ba9xc21aa21763be4c68@mail.gmail.com> <825bb7b00602282257te292dc3sd4f3de59f4022e57@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6deae8300602282344w5537474ft4b6f3b6fa7816b79@mail.gmail.com> >> I think managed by the same people as the Sakshi art gallery oh yes! Geeta Mehra is very much at the forefront. >>They seem to have a pretty comprehensive site could you share the url please? The sakshi site doesn't mention anything on the Arts Fund. Interestingly, on the site, it still mentions Sakshi Bangalore. Sakshi Bangalore, as you might know has ceased to exist for some time now, and in its space has come up this really vibrant and exciting gallery, Gallery SKE. Anita Dube's show is going on now. Before that there was a great Sudarshan Shetty solo. >> But this does seems to be a very interesting exploration. True. In many cases discussions of the market get rubbished away under moralistic admonitions of "buckling under market forces", "forsaking authentic arts practice" etc etc. True, that many of the hot-selling artists are quite boring if you just look at the work, but it is definitely interesting to map that particular painted surface against other circuits of consumption. Also, I agree that the machinations of the market can be depressing (perhaps in a 'naïve' way?). It is perhaps only within the sequence of the price-list that you might bump into a Rimzon sitting next to (shudder!) a Shuvaprasanna. Does Tapati say anything on the market in her Bengal school book? Have to revisit it. Though her essay on the Durga Puja in Calcutta tracks an 'arts market' of a different kind. Cheers, Abhishek On 3/1/06, Prayas Abhinav wrote: > > Hi Irfan & Abhishek, > > Indian Express ran a feature in its Sunday magazine on art as an > investment. They mentioned The Art Trust (I think managed by the same > people as the Sakshi art gallery) who is tarting India's first fund > for investment in art. They seem to have a pretty comprehensive site. > > I read Amrita Jhaveri's book (in fact I bought it), it does index the > prices of most big-name artists in India. The Art Trust website > actually lists the factors which collectors perceive as affecting the > value of art and its price. > > But this does seems to be a very interesting exploration. > > best wishes, > prayas > > _________________________________________ > 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: > > -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - does the frog know it has a latin name? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060301/f127ca1e/attachment.html From isast at leonardo.info Wed Mar 1 05:48:12 2006 From: isast at leonardo.info (Leonardo/ISAST) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:18:12 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] LABS call for thesis abstracts - next deadline March 30th Message-ID: <4404E844.8020007@leonardo.info> Leonardo Abstracts Service (LABS) Next submission deadline: 30 March 2006 Leonardo Abstracts Service (LABS), consisting of the English LABS database and Spanish LABS database, is a comprehensive collection of Ph.D., Masters and MFA thesis abstracts on topics in the emerging intersection between art, science and technology. Individuals receiving advanced degrees in the arts (visual, sound, performance, text), computer sciences, the sciences and/or technology that in some way investigate philosophical, historical or critical applications of science or technology to the arts are invited to submit abstracts of their theses for consideration. The English LABS and Spanish LABS international peer review panels review abstracts for inclusion in their respective databases. The databases include only approved and filed thesis abstracts. Abstracts of theses filed in prior years may also be submitted for inclusion. In addition to publication in the databases, a selection of abstracts chosen by the panels for their special relevance will be published quarterly in Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA), and authors of abstracts most highly ranked by the panel will also be invited to submit an article for publication consideration in the journal Leonardo. Thesis Abstract submittal forms for English language abstracts can be found at http://leonardolabs.pomona.edu Thesis Abstract submittal forms for Spanish language abstracts can be found at http://www.uoc.edu/artnodes/leonardolabs For more information about LABS visit: http://www.leonardo.info/isast/journal/calls/labsprojectcall.html The LABS project is part of the Leonardo Educators and Students program http://www.leonardo.info/isast/educators.html _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From abhinanditamathur at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 13:32:11 2006 From: abhinanditamathur at gmail.com (abhinandita mathur) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 13:32:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Update: My building and the Shahar Message-ID: <19aa1b810603010002y43b255damded644178231d09f@mail.gmail.com> Hi, Here is an update on our work and experience with the project so far and a tentative plan for the coming weeks: We shared in the last post that this project would be presented as an interactive multimedia website which shall comprise visual and audio records like photographs, stories, recipes, songs, clips of shaadi videos etc. It is for this reason that we were unsure about what to write this time…beyond the usual updates and plans…as we are working towards putting up a website to start uploading photos and other stuff. This project in many ways is a personal one and thus the experience of pursuing it, very special. It is pretty strange to reconnect with all old associations and ties (including each other) in context of this project. I moved back to Delhi/home and the Mathur building. The first task we undertook after the official announcement of the grant was telling our near and dear Mathurs about the project, its objective, rationale, purpose etc. We took 5 print outs of our proposal and shared it with our uncles, aunts, sisters, nephews and so on. And we have received all sorts of comments and suggestions!! We thought it might be interesting to share some of these reactions in this post: The response in general has been stimulating and intriguing. While all our Mathur friends and relatives have appreciated our "initiative" to take interest in the community (sometimes understood as community activities), a number of them are questioning the purpose and " fayda" of a project such as this. On one hand, the project is viewed as a noble contribution in service of the community, art or sociological good in general; on the other, some people find it to be total waste of resources. A cousin pointed out that rather than doing a study like this one…which doesn't really help the community in a direct way, we should perhaps start something like an activist's campaign to get the status of a Scheduled Caste which will actually benefit the community. The other frequently asked question is: "WHY MATHURS" "abe tujhe kuch aur nahi mila", "mathuron mein kya rakha hai ab", "apni society…don't be silly yaar…you really think its worth studying?". Interestingly, mostly people under 30 years of age fail to understand why anyone would be interested in our lives. Mathurs, many of them feel are an inconsequential lot. While the older ones feel we should actually write a book on mathur riti reewaz. In the proposal we spoke about certain peculiar cultural practices in the community like, language, eating meat, drinking and music. And that they could be very particular about maintaining their typical way of life. The emphasis in life was to eat well and drink well. OP Mathur in response to this observation pointed out that "as Mathurs mostly worked in the courts of Shaukeen Emperors, they were often obligated to drink to give company to their masters and they never disobeyed orders". A close friend from the building, Nalin, has been following the story of this project from the time of its inception. Nalin is 23 years old. He works as a software consultant for a multinational company. When we started working on the project last month, Nalin and I spoke about a number of things including the pros and corns of growing up in this building, the experience of living here, Mathur khana, peena, aesthetic, attitude and the role all this has played in shaping us as people. He is keen to participate more actively in the project. He wrote this piece titled "Balconies at Shree Ganesh": One does not need to see Jerry McGuire to realize that one experiences a defining moment which just changes one's life; for good or for bad, that's my topic for another article. Well, to be honest, I have yet to experience this life defining moment, but I have had numerous instances which have had some impact or the other on my conscience and behavior and have resulted in the package that I am today. Most of these moments were experienced while I was up to something, at times with someone-not-so-special and once with someone special. And generally, when I was doing nothing but looking around mindlessly. But the point I want to make here is that such moments can be experienced at the most unexpected places. For me my balcony is one such place. This is primarily because my balcony opens up right into what you call the heart of SGA. With a perfect view of all the residential blocks, badminton courts, car parks, jhulle wala park and health club, I witness the very spirit of SGA whenever I step into it. Every Sunday, with sarson ka tel all over my body and nimbu ka ras on my hair, I just sit in my balcony and observe life from close quarters (apart from enjoying the smells of parisnde and aloo - bedween from neighboring kitchens), I often wonder if I have learned so much by just sitting here, is it the same with everyone else? Arguably then, balconies in Shree Ganesh Apartments are the most socially productive piece of land. For house wives, which sums upto30% of SGA's population, it acts as a modern day equivalent to a chajja from where they can have a keen look at who's visiting whom, who's wearing what and who's going where. And importantly who's hanging out of this coveted architectural wonder to have a friendly talk with, about the daily chores, which usually consists of how busy they have been and how its time that Tulsi Virani should start believing an eye for an eye policy. This conversation often takes place at decibels which can put the latest innovation in sound technology by Bose to shame. Moreover, balconies assure them a virtual invitation card to every mehendi, shaadi and mundan. Not that I am complaining. Because these Mathur functions are the hunting ground for eligible bachelors. And I am 23 and in a bit of a hurry. For uncles, both paternal and maternal, the balconies act as the platform which empowers them with freedom of expression which I believe they can't practice at home because of some very obvious reasons which every married man faces. Thus, the balcony acts as a place from where they can preach everyone and anyone who cares to listen; from newspaper wallah to security guards to car washmen each of them is told how to improve their quality of service along with every possible advice one can give under the sun. The balcony probably makes them feel like the Pope standing majestically over the famous verandah at the Papal Palace , giving his followers an audience. Other than that, uncles are seen in balconies only on diwali, lighting diyas and candles. And for people like me, who very strongly believe that the world would be at their feet in no time, the balcony acts as the holy spot where they can think of productive strategies, spend some time in solitude and attain nirvana, invisible to the outer world behind dozens of impeccably washed clothes, neatly placed over the twine to be dried. At least the balcony is way better than some sort of sleeping gas induced bedrooms or tear gas induced kitchen or toilets which more often that not are subjected to gases owing to some major gastronomical complexities. With the emergence of cell phones and importantly telephones etiquettes (we got to thank BPOs for that), the number of people paying their balconies a visit have increased phenomenally. The balcony has also undergone a major face lift. It is like being directly proportional to the rise in stock markets. Earlier balconies meant gas cylinders, a couple of money plants and a bulb. But now, balconies are kept as tidy as the living room. Gas cylinders have been replaced by cane chairs, tulips and roses now give company to banyan tree sized money plants and the bulb resides within designer glass. Even the trademark chimtiya have started vanishing. But what still remains in almost all balconies is a picture or a wall hanging depicting some deity. One might say it is because of vaastu but I say this the way Mathur balconies are. All these responses shall pay a role in shaping this project. Next month we plan a walk through the gallis in old Delhi with boys, girls and kids from the Mathur building. This weekend we will go for our first shaadi shoot. Venu has been working on a short essay titled "the Mathur bahu". She plans to work on it full time next Sunday and have it ready for the next due posting!! Project is taking shape slowly…shall upload pictures on our blog soon. Also...so sorry we could not respond to the earlier mails for us. but will make sure we do now on... Thanks! Abhinandita and Venu From prayas.abhinav at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 13:34:45 2006 From: prayas.abhinav at gmail.com (Prayas Abhinav) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 13:34:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] commercialisation of fine arts in india In-Reply-To: <825bb7b00602282257te292dc3sd4f3de59f4022e57@mail.gmail.com> References: <20060228121808.59351.qmail@web36812.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <6deae8300602282153y73058ba9xc21aa21763be4c68@mail.gmail.com> <825bb7b00602282257te292dc3sd4f3de59f4022e57@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <825bb7b00603010004t60c1e99eqc66dccfb52214ce@mail.gmail.com> Ok, I am not sure if I am not confusing The Arts Trust with being the same as the body which IE mentioned, but here is the link: http://www.theartstrust.com/investmentinart.aspx and the home http://www.theartstrust.com. Yes, to me it seems interesting how aesthetic decisions, styles / schools get denominations in the art market and take a position in the heirarchy. In the above links notice how the art school / full-time / part-time nature of the artist's practise apparently affects the value of his or her work. And this entire scenario seems to be parallel and disconnected from the process of art-making. Would like to read more, prayas From s0454533 at sms.ed.ac.uk Wed Mar 1 16:12:08 2006 From: s0454533 at sms.ed.ac.uk (A Khanna) Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2006 10:42:08 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] on sexualisation of spaces and other such Message-ID: <20060301104208.gzrrg3mog8k08c4s@www.sms.ed.ac.uk> dear all, this is my second posting on my project 'Zara hut ke', which seeks to enable a 'queer space' in Delhi. This posting is delayed due to unavoidable (and exciting) developments in my larger research on queer activism and the emergence of 'sexuality' as a political object in urban civil society activist formations. Apologies to those who have been waiting and have expressed an interest in reading my posting. This posting is divided into three parts. In the first i shall examine what it means to look at 'space' as a sexual category. Here i shall raise issues that relate 'visibility' to discourse and about the sexualisation of space as a political object. In the second section i shall examine the internet as a 'queer space'. A question that arises is whether the internet allows for the negotiation of disembodied abstract social relationships, or whether it is better understood as always embedded within a specific context. In the final section i shall briefly describe some of the issues that have come up in while looking for a place where the queer space can be enabled. These are tentative thoughts which I hope will raise interesting questions. Section 1: sex and public spaces At a recent activist meeting relating to the public interest litigation challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (the colonial anti-sodomy law that is the focus of much queer activism) the question arose as to whether it would make sense for a group of queer folk – or more precisely visibly queer folk, to descend upon the court – to simply be present when the highest court of the land could potentially be deciding on our terms of citizenship. Overwhelmingly, people felt that this would be a bad idea – the strategy was to frame the case in terms of 'technicalities' as we did not want the Supreme Court to take up the substantive question of whether Section 377 is constitutionally invalid. All we wanted was for the Supreme Court to decide that the High Court of Delhi had been wrong in dismissing the petition on the grounds that Section 377 affected no one in particular and thus, that the matter raised a mere 'academic' question. The presence of visibly queer folk would jeopardise such a 'technical' framing, and the stakes were too high to attempt something as radical as queering the space of the court. While there are a range of questions that arose in this moment – about the (often illusory) distinctions between 'substantive' and 'technical'/'procedural' aspects of law, about the negotiation of the 'client role' in the lawyer-client-court relationship etc., what i want to examine here is the question – what kind of space is the court? More precisely, how is it sexualised? A little detour here. I remember, at this point, an incident that took place while i was working as an student-intern in the lower courts in Delhi – an incident that put me off the idea of working as an advocate, forever. This was a time of the dual life for me. During the day i would dress up in a coat, tie and the like...but the evenings were my own, and often i would indulge myself and dress up, use make up, paint my nails, go out. Things went smoothly as long as i maintained this image of the 'real man', and i had accumulated the warmth and camaraderie of many young lawyers, until one morning, in a hurry, i forgot to remove my nailpolish. There i was, stuck in the midst of my colleagues, petrified at the possibility of letting any of them see my hands. I had never spent so much time with my hands in my pockets, or under files, or waited for the evening so desperately. As luck would have it, i was discovered – by my boss's young son, who in his excitement at finding that 'akshay bhaiya' was not quite 'bhaiya', spread the word. Soon enough, I found myself standing in the middle of a semi-circle of my lawyer friends, displaying my hands for all to see. The awkward silence only ended when i left the place. For the rest of the internship i had not a single visit from my lawyer friends, not a single conversation. The space was closed to me. Or more accurately, that space was closed to me as long as i did not transgress the visible imperatives of gender. (in retrospect, i'm glad this happened - i made me find other things to do with my law degree, and i think i'm doing pretty well for myself). Perhaps there is something to be said here about the peculiarly heteronormative nature of a post-colonial judicial system. Where a large amount of energy is spent on enforcing the 'honour' of the Court, for instance, through Contempt proceedings, this 'honour' emerges as that of the patriarch – the 'real' (heterosexual) man who metes out justice. Codes of behaviour are, in other words, 'terms of presence' in a given space. Conversely, a given space is constituted by these implicit 'terms of presence'. And i think the two situations i have referred to above suggest that these 'terms of presence' are to be performed and seen – i.e. It is through our continuous visible performances/negotiations of the terms of presence that the sexual nature of a space is maintained or shaken up. But what is the relationship between visibility and discourse (in the more traditional sense, i.e. negotiations articulated in language?) What is the relationship between visible transgression of the implicit 'terms of presence' in a space, and discourse? The Courts provide a particularly interesting context to examine this question as they play the role of making entries into the formal juridical register of citizenship. In the case of the Section 377 litigation, the message seem to be that if we are to be considered as subjects worthy of juridical recognition, if we are to be considered as citizens with rights, we can only be treated as abstract, disembodied entities. Our visible presence, apparently would be seen as an affront to the 'dignity' of the process through which we shall be recognised as citizens with equal rights. The Courts are a particular 'public space' where the requriements of gender/sexuality performance are related, inter alia, to ideas of 'dignity' of the legal profession. Let's consider another particular 'public space' – the public park. The recent case of Operation Majnu in Meerut where the exact question of the sexual nature of public space was the issue at the centre of a national controversy. This was a case where where women police officers were shown on most news channels slapping women who were found with men in public parks. This 'sting operation' carried out by the moral police backfired and we were met with the intriguing situation where Sushma Swaraj's words resonated with those of Brinda Karat. 'Do our children not have the right', asked an inflamed Sushma in the Rajya Sabha, 'mingle freely in public parks'? Political parties across the board (with the exception of the Shiv Sena, of course) spoke out against the outrage, with the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women getting into the act as well. Interestingly, what was being defended here was a right to privacy, or perhaps intimacy, in a public space – which raises the question – what kind of space is the public park? The public park is a fascinating space. From joggers to morning walkers, to lovers seeking a little solitude, to the everyday person taking a brief sojourn from the drudgery of the working day, the park is the 'public space' where privacy is granted to those who do not otherwise have the luxury of a safe private space. Intimacy here is not just accepted, but expected. Walking through a park, we avert our eyes from sweet couplings as though honouring an unspoken contract of mutual respect for each other's privacy. The public park, therefore emerges as a precious space for socialising, for relaxing, and significantly, for romance. In other words, it was the sexualised nature of the park being defended. If this is considered a moment where 'public space' was articulated a political object, the question is – how was this political object sexualised? Now consider that this public space is also occupied, and constituted by Queer folk – significantly, gay men, kothi and hijras, similarly socialising, relaxing and romancing. A corner of the park is often a designated 'cruising area'. Two weeks after Operation Majnu, the police again carried out an act of moral policing, this time a few hundred kilometers away, in Lucknow. This time, the police claimed that they had caught 4 gay men 'red handed' at a public park. While this was a fabricated case (one man was picked up from his house, and the other three were entrapped and arrested in a restaurant), the public park again emerged as a sexualised political object in the media. Perhaps not surprisingly, there was no outrage in the media, no politicians asking questions in parliament, no NHRC enquiry. If anything, the local press joined in the police attack on 'gay culture'. Juxtaposing Operation Majnu and the Lucknow incident makes me think, first, that the articulation of space as a political object is necessarily to engage heteronormativity, and second, that the impulse to maintain the public park as a sexualised space in response to Operation Majnu was an aggressive act of exclusion. Section 2: The internet as a queer space The Lucknow incident brought to the fore the significance of the internet as a queer space. The men arrested had been 'tracked down' through their profiles on a website where gay men seek each other, and the police framed the case as one of an 'internet gay club'. Now the significance of the internet to the queer community cannot be undermined. At one level it is an essential mode of communication, and a site for political negotiations between queer activists around the country. E-groups provide the space for planning of activist events, as well as larger debates and processes of strategising. In a sense, it is on these groups that participants create their locations of speech, their identities vis-a-vis each other. Further, it may be said that the sense of a 'larger community', and of a 'movement' emerges from its virtual existence. This raises a range of questions. There is sense of a 'queer movement' in Delhi, that is distinct from the 'national', virtual 'queer movement'. I presume a similar situation for other cities. How do disjunctures between these come to be manifested and negotiated? Can we consider the internet as a queer space that simply allows for disembodied and abstract social relations? Or should we look at the embededness of the practices that constitute the internet as a queer space? At another level the internet is perhaps the most erotic space allowing for access to pornography, fantasy and erotic encounters. The arrests in Lucknow thus were an attack not merely on the 4 men actually taken into custody, but on the queer community in general. For weeks after the arrests a sense of panic circulated on e-groups, many people took off their profiles from websites, and a heteronormative sanitisation of communication ensued. The tension here is perhaps one between the sense of anonymity that allows for expression of virtual selves and (virtual?) desires, and the sense of surveillance that creates fear. 'We all know', for instance, that the police, and groups that oppose the queer movement (such as JACK – an NGO that has opposed the 377 petition in Court) have subscribed to lgbt_india. We also know that there is always a risk of blackmail and police entrapment every time we meet some one new in a chatroom. This complicates the understanding a 'queer space' as a 'safe space'. My readings on the anthropology of the internet are limited and i would really appreciate suggestions on how i can approach this part of my research. Section 3: the search for a physical space As i had mentioned in my first posting, one of the things i intended to do in finding a place where the 'queer space' cold constitute itself, was to inform the house owners and estate agents of my intentions for the space. The primary presumption that i intended to test here was that people would generally be unwilling to let out their property for the use of queer folk. In this point I must say i was taken by surprise – with not a single overtly aggressive reaction. But more significantly, the experience of looking for a space has opened up the possibilities for a broader research. The process of looking for a place is largely about negotiating the 'safety' of one's identity. Most landlords and estate agents have a (practiced) series of questions that they must ask even before showing one the place. Most often, the first question is about one's marital status (are you a bachelor?) and the second is one's credentials in the economy (aap kahaan service karte hain?). Other questions revolved around which part of the country i come from, whether i was non-vegetarian, whether there would be other people living with me. And the like. There is seemingly a matrix of questions that assess suitability and safety of a tenant in terms of caste, religion, marital status, position in economy, professional affiliations, habits of consumption... It would be interesting to do some sort of mapping of these letting practices and examine their relationship with processes through which multiple 'others' are constructed, as well as how these processes then come to be articulated in terms of demography, the geographic distribution of 'types', and further, on community formation, political processes, aesthetics and the like. It would be interesting, further, to carry out this process out from a visibly queer subject position. This is a larger project that i wish i had the time for, but as of now it seems a bit too ambitious given other commitments, responsibilities and priorities in my research. I would, however, be thrilled if anyone were interested in doing something like this in collaboration, which would further complicate the process beyond my subject position and modes of self-representation. Thus far, apart from keeping in mind these questions of letting practices, the construction of the safe tenant and attitudes to (sexual) queerness/otherness, i have kept in mind what i imagine as the minimum requirements for the queer space as i envisage it, including size, location (vis-a-vis largely south delhi based queer activism), aesthetic possibilities and, of course, rent. Nothing that fits all requirements has come up, and where it has, the landlord has deferred the decision to allow the queering of the space onto others – in response to my description of what i intend for the space ('there will be gay, lesbian, hijra vagera people coming here regularly for meetings...') i have most often come up against 'i have no problem at all, but i will have to ask my family'. Where the family had no problem, the rent was too high. I hope to be able to find a place soon and begin the process of setting up the space. That's all for now. Hope this has raised some interesting issues for discussion. Best, akshay From vivek at sarai.net Thu Mar 2 04:56:10 2006 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 04:56:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asylum NYC: NY solo show (& Visa) for non-US artist Message-ID: <44062D92.6050907@sarai.net> . From: Sixten Kai Nielsen FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wooloo Productions and White Box present AsylumNYC: an opportunity for non-US artists to exhibit and live in New York City. AsylumNYC will provide a talented artist with both a solo show at a recognized New York institution and the legal aid necessary to obtain an artists visa in the United States of America. Location: White Box 525 West 26th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues) New York, New York 10001 Date: April 24, 2006, 8PM – April 29, 2006 All interested artists are encouraged to apply before April 1, 2006 at: www.AsylumNYC.com CREATIVE ASYLUM IN NEW YORK CITY Based on the concept under exploration by Wooloo Productions in AsylumHOME.net, which addresses the difficulties faced by asylum seekers in Europe, AsylumNYC targets the challenge faced by artists interested in working in the United States. After an online application process, White Box’s gallery space will become a creative asylum where successful applicants will be invited to develop a work/project from April 24 to April 29, 2006. Projects must actively challenge a regime(s) of exclusion in New York by including otherwise excluded individuals from cultural, economic or physical structures in the City. Once an artist’s project is selected, AsylumNYC will provide a free lawyer to try to obtain a O- artist visa. If successful, the artist will be awarded the opportunity to stay in New York for three years. February 8, 2006 marks the launch of the www.AsylumNYC.com where interested artists may apply until the April 1 deadline. To apply for asylum, artists must be able to be present at White Box, 525 West 26th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues), New York, New York 10001 on April 24th, 2006 at 8 PM and STAY until 6:00pm on April 29th, 2006. While staying at White Box, the artists will be provided with lodging and food, but cannot leave the premises for the duration of the week. ABOUT Wooloo Productions is a provider of public and experimental spaces. Acting on the level of facilitation, every Wooloo production aims to encourage new forms of interaction and agency among members of diverse communities. AsylumNYC is produced and organized by Wooloo Productions (http://www.wooloo.org) in close collaboration with White Box (http://www.whiteboxny.org) and the Franklin Furnace Archive (http://www.franklinfurnace.org) in New York. For more information, please email Martin Rosengaard, Media Manager: Martin at wooloo.org or call: +49 (0) 30 6676 3097 Please visit http://www.AsylumNYC.com for all project details. From bhunialine at hotmail.com Wed Mar 1 22:47:07 2006 From: bhunialine at hotmail.com (Dr. J. Bhunia, Kolkata, India) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 22:47:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Crime pulp fiction in Bangla: Villains of Swapankumar Message-ID: Dera Sir, Iam interested to know about Priyanath Mukhopadhyay. The old and probably the 1st crime fiction writer in Bengali. My sincere request for a little help from you. I want information about any of the followings: Priyanath Granthabali published by Basumati Sahitya Mandir in the past. Whether that book is available with you Life of Priyanath Mukhopadhyay Writings of Mr. Priyanath Family descendents of Mr. Priyanath I am writing an article about the history Bengali crime fictions. Any information relating to Mr. Priyanath is of immense importance for me. Please help. Thanks Dr. J. Bhunia bhunialine at hotmail.com Dr. J. Bhunia Flat-3 Block - 18/2 S. E. Railway Complex 11, Garden Reach Road Kolkata - 700043 Phone: 033-24393112 9433083112 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060301/ceac716b/attachment.html From vasundhara.prakash at gmail.com Wed Mar 1 14:52:15 2006 From: vasundhara.prakash at gmail.com (Vasundhara Prakash) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 14:52:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Finally! Message-ID: <489e03b80603010122l7396862bw2715d86966c57b6c@mail.gmail.com> Hi All, Recently two appointments in Film / Cultural Studies have been made in the School of Arts and Aesthetics at JNU. Ranjani Mazumdar and Ira Bhaskar have been appointed and will begin teaching from July. As a result a whole new line: *Film and Cultural Studies* is beginning at JNU at the School of Arts and Aesthetics. The M.Phil in Film and Cultural Studies begins from July. The MA in Arts and Aesthetics will now have a film component with core courses in Film Studies. It is now also possible to register for a Ph.D in Film and Cultural Studies. Currently, the application forms for *MA / M.Phil and Ph.d *are available from the JNU Admissions office. The last date for the completed application forms to come in is 17th March. Entrance Examinations for MA and MPhil will be held in May. So those who are interested need to submit the application forms now. Hurry! Vasundhara -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060301/06b567d4/attachment.html From pukar at pukar.org.in Thu Mar 2 12:01:51 2006 From: pukar at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 12:01:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [announcements] March 22nd : Talk by Dr. Ritu Birla Message-ID: <002001c63dc3$078f80c0$27d0c0cb@freeda> PUKAR cordially invites you to a talk by Dr. Ritu Birla on Neoliberalism and the Good Colonial Subject: Lost Histories of Law, Capitalism and Colonialism in India's Present Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Time: 6:30 PM Venue: NGMA auditorium, second floor, Opposite the museum, M.G.Road, Mumbai Popular discourse today reiterates ubiquitously that the India's rise as global capitalist powerhouse has much to do with its colonial history, and specifically, with the implementation of the rule of law and contract in the 19th century. Drawing from a forthcoming book, Hedging Bets, which charts the history of law, capitalism and market governance in colonial India, this lecture will address what we forget when we remember Indian capitalism as seamless transition into modernity. Dr. Ritu Birla is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, flagship St. George campus. She holds degrees in History from the University of Cambridge and Columbia University. Her research and writing addresses Modern South Asian history; history of law and capitalism; postcolonial studies and historiography; and political and feminist theory. Her forthcoming book is entitled Hedging Bets: Law, Market Ethics, and the Staging of Capital in Late Colonial India (Duke University Press). PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 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/20060302/b81a95e8/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From turbulence at turbulence.org Wed Mar 1 22:01:59 2006 From: turbulence at turbulence.org (Turbulence) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 11:31:59 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] =?iso-8859-1?q?Turbulence_Commission=3A_=22Periph?= =?iso-8859-1?q?eral_n=B02=3A_KEYBOARD=22_by_Marika_Dermineur?= Message-ID: <002001c63d4d$adf182e0$6501a8c0@t5x1c0> March 1, 2006 Turbulence Commission: "Peripheral n°2: KEYBOARD" by Marika Dermineur with Maud Palmaerts http://turbulence.org/Works/keyboard/ Requires Flash Player 7, Speakers, and Fast Connection. Presented in English and French "Peripheral n°2: KEYBOARD" reflects anew on the keyboard, this strange object which we have beneath our eyes without really seeing it. It explores writing and language and the articulation of the voice and hands; and examines their importance for data processing and media classification (images, texts, sounds). "KEYBOARD" is about automation, keyboards as primitive interfaces, a tool that makes it possible for us to write, capture, note, structure, communicate, index, research, etc.; and to navigate into virtual spaces, in computer games for example, where the four arrows are used to move and other keys are assigned to specific actions. It is one of a series of works exploring material devices that are connected to the computer of the Net-surfer. "Peripheral n°2: KEYBOARD" 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. "Peripheral n°2: KEYBOARD" was made during a residency at La Chambre Blanche, Montreal, Canada. BIOGRAPHY Net artist, Marika Dermineur focuses on questions/issues/subjects related to the network, the ability (for instance) of a program to produce languages, images or sounds and to effect us. Graduated from la Sorbonne, the Arts Décoratifs and the Arts et Métiers (Paris), she is a member of the experimental web platform Incident.net; a teacher at the University of Rennes 2. She has conducted workshops and lectures about newmedia. Her installations and net art works, such as Keyboard, Googlehouse, The Inhabitants (Impakt production), There! (V2 residence) have been presented in numerous exhibitions and festivals: Videoformes 06, "Nuit Blanche" in Roma and Paris 05, "Translation" (Basekamp Gallery, Philadelphia), File festival 05 Sao Paulo, "Bis Repetita Placent" (Espace d'art Contemporain, Ruart), "Download" and "Blackout" (exhibition, Paris); Vancouver's New Forms Festival 2004, Ars Electronica, Instants Vidéo 04. She won first prize for net art in 2003 in Filmwinter (de), and has received funding from Impakt Online (nl), Turbulence.org (us), La Chambre Blanche (ca), and SCAM. 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: http://turbulence.org/blog Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From abhinanditamathur at gmail.com Fri Mar 3 13:23:51 2006 From: abhinanditamathur at gmail.com (abhinandita mathur) Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 13:23:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Update: My building and the Shahar In-Reply-To: <19aa1b810603010002y43b255damded644178231d09f@mail.gmail.com> References: <19aa1b810603010002y43b255damded644178231d09f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <19aa1b810603022353q619ee6ecpcab0226494ef68d8@mail.gmail.com> Hi, Here is an update on our work and experience with the project so far and a tentative plan for the coming weeks: We shared in the last post that this project would be presented as an interactive multimedia website which shall comprise visual and audio records like photographs, stories, recipes, songs, clips of shaadi videos etc. It is for this reason that we were unsure about what to write this time…beyond the usual updates and plans…as we are working towards putting up a website to start uploading photos and other stuff. This project in many ways is a personal one and thus the experience of pursuing it, very special. It is pretty strange to reconnect with all old associations and ties (including each other) in context of this project. I moved back to Delhi/home and the Mathur building. The first task we undertook after the official announcement of the grant was telling our near and dear Mathurs about the project, its objective, rationale, purpose etc. We took 5 print outs of our proposal and shared it with our uncles, aunts, sisters, nephews and so on. And we have received all sorts of comments and suggestions!! We thought it might be interesting to share some of these reactions in this post: The response in general has been stimulating and intriguing. While all our Mathur friends and relatives have appreciated our "initiative" to take interest in the community (sometimes understood as community activities), a number of them are questioning the purpose and " fayda" of a project such as this. On one hand, the project is viewed as a noble contribution in service of the community, art or sociological good in general; on the other, some people find it to be total waste of resources. A cousin pointed out that rather than doing a study like this one…which doesn't really help the community in a direct way, we should perhaps start something like an activist's campaign to get the status of a Scheduled Caste which will actually benefit the community. The other frequently asked question is: "WHY MATHURS" "abe tujhe kuch aur nahi mila", "mathuron mein kya rakha hai ab", "apni society…don't be silly yaar…you really think its worth studying?". Interestingly, mostly people under 30 years of age fail to understand why anyone would be interested in our lives. Mathurs, many of them feel are an inconsequential lot. While the older ones feel we should actually write a book on mathur riti reewaz. In the proposal we spoke about certain peculiar cultural practices in the community like, language, eating meat, drinking and music. And that they could be very particular about maintaining their typical way of life. The emphasis in life was to eat well and drink well. OP Mathur in response to this observation pointed out that "as Mathurs mostly worked in the courts of Shaukeen Emperors, they were often obligated to drink to give company to their masters and they never disobeyed orders". A close friend from the building, Nalin, has been following the story of this project from the time of its inception. Nalin is 23 years old. He works as a software consultant for a multinational company. When we started working on the project last month, Nalin and I spoke about a number of things including the pros and corns of growing up in this building, the experience of living here, Mathur khana, peena, aesthetic, attitude and the role all this has played in shaping us as people. He is keen to participate more actively in the project. He wrote this piece titled "Balconies at Shree Ganesh": One does not need to see Jerry McGuire to realize that one experiences a defining moment which just changes one's life; for good or for bad, that's my topic for another article. Well, to be honest, I have yet to experience this life defining moment, but I have had numerous instances which have had some impact or the other on my conscience and behavior and have resulted in the package that I am today. Most of these moments were experienced while I was up to something, at times with someone-not-so-special and once with someone special. And generally, when I was doing nothing but looking around mindlessly. But the point I want to make here is that such moments can be experienced at the most unexpected places. For me my balcony is one such place. This is primarily because my balcony opens up right into what you call the heart of SGA. With a perfect view of all the residential blocks, badminton courts, car parks, jhulle wala park and health club, I witness the very spirit of SGA whenever I step into it. Every Sunday, with sarson ka tel all over my body and nimbu ka ras on my hair, I just sit in my balcony and observe life from close quarters (apart from enjoying the smells of parisnde and aloo - bedween from neighboring kitchens), I often wonder if I have learned so much by just sitting here, is it the same with everyone else? Arguably then, balconies in Shree Ganesh Apartments are the most socially productive piece of land. For house wives, which sums upto30% of SGA's population, it acts as a modern day equivalent to a chajja from where they can have a keen look at who's visiting whom, who's wearing what and who's going where. And importantly who's hanging out of this coveted architectural wonder to have a friendly talk with, about the daily chores, which usually consists of how busy they have been and how its time that Tulsi Virani should start believing an eye for an eye policy. This conversation often takes place at decibels which can put the latest innovation in sound technology by Bose to shame. Moreover, balconies assure them a virtual invitation card to every mehendi, shaadi and mundan. Not that I am complaining. Because these Mathur functions are the hunting ground for eligible bachelors. And I am 23 and in a bit of a hurry. For uncles, both paternal and maternal, the balconies act as the platform which empowers them with freedom of expression which I believe they can't practice at home because of some very obvious reasons which every married man faces. Thus, the balcony acts as a place from where they can preach everyone and anyone who cares to listen; from newspaper wallah to security guards to car washmen each of them is told how to improve their quality of service along with every possible advice one can give under the sun. The balcony probably makes them feel like the Pope standing majestically over the famous verandah at the Papal Palace , giving his followers an audience. Other than that, uncles are seen in balconies only on diwali, lighting diyas and candles. And for people like me, who very strongly believe that the world would be at their feet in no time, the balcony acts as the holy spot where they can think of productive strategies, spend some time in solitude and attain nirvana, invisible to the outer world behind dozens of impeccably washed clothes, neatly placed over the twine to be dried. At least the balcony is way better than some sort of sleeping gas induced bedrooms or tear gas induced kitchen or toilets which more often that not are subjected to gases owing to some major gastronomical complexities. With the emergence of cell phones and importantly telephones etiquettes (we got to thank BPOs for that), the number of people paying their balconies a visit have increased phenomenally. The balcony has also undergone a major face lift. It is like being directly proportional to the rise in stock markets. Earlier balconies meant gas cylinders, a couple of money plants and a bulb. But now, balconies are kept as tidy as the living room. Gas cylinders have been replaced by cane chairs, tulips and roses now give company to banyan tree sized money plants and the bulb resides within designer glass. Even the trademark chimtiya have started vanishing. But what still remains in almost all balconies is a picture or a wall hanging depicting some deity. One might say it is because of vaastu but I say this the way Mathur balconies are. All these responses shall pay a role in shaping this project. Next month we plan a walk through the gallis in old Delhi with boys, girls and kids from the Mathur building. This weekend we will go for our first shaadi shoot. Venu has been working on a short essay titled "the Mathur bahu". She plans to work on it full time next Sunday and have it ready for the next due posting!! Project is taking shape slowly…shall upload pictures on our blog soon. Also...so sorry we could not respond to the earlier mails for us. but will make sure we do now on... Thanks! Abhinandita and Venu From nitbhag at gmail.com Fri Mar 3 14:58:29 2006 From: nitbhag at gmail.com (Nitesh Bhatnagar) Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 14:58:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Who's afraid of a blog? At least two Indian TV channels are Message-ID: Who wants to block Google's blogger service? China? Nope, not ALL blogs are blocked in China. Only those the Chinese govt doesn't like. But Pakistan has recently blocked ALL blogs on blogspot: http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/03/02/pakistan-blogspot-blogs-blocked-in-pakistan/ There's this Indian blogger who calls himself 'The All Seeing Spy'. He's been writing a delicious blog called 'War For News' about the emergence of competition in the English TV newsscape in India: NDTV vs. CNN-IBN vs. Times Now. (Nobody considers Headlines Today a news channel.) http://warfornews.blogspot.com/ He was firewalled in the Times NOW office yesterday: http://warfornews.blogspot.com/2006/03/times-now-firewalls-war-for-news.html And today, someone posted Rajdeep Sardesai's goodbye letter to NDTV, causing CNN-IBN / CNBC TV 18's Noida office to block ALL blogspot blogs! RSF Handbook for Bloggers and Dissidents: http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542 Oh, and Rajdeep's goodbye letter to NDTV: http://warfornews.blogspot.com/2006/03/sorry-againunforeseen-delays.html#c114136050649010253 Enjoy while it lasts. Hope the Spy doesn't get caught and lose his job. There's no money in blogging. From nitbhag at gmail.com Fri Mar 3 17:29:46 2006 From: nitbhag at gmail.com (Nitesh Bhatnagar) Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 17:29:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Who's afraid of a blog? At least two Indian TV channels are In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I learn that good sense has prevailed at CNN-IBN and they have removed the blockade of blogspot blogs. It must be a scary world, nevertheless, where journalists become afraid of free speech. On 3/3/06, Nitesh Bhatnagar wrote: > Who wants to block Google's blogger service? China? Nope, not ALL > blogs are blocked in China. Only those the Chinese govt doesn't like. > > But Pakistan has recently blocked ALL blogs on blogspot: > http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/03/02/pakistan-blogspot-blogs-blocked-in-pakistan/ > > There's this Indian blogger who calls himself 'The All Seeing Spy'. > He's been writing a delicious blog called 'War For News' about the > emergence of competition in the English TV newsscape in India: NDTV > vs. CNN-IBN vs. Times Now. (Nobody considers Headlines Today a news > channel.) > > http://warfornews.blogspot.com/ > > He was firewalled in the Times NOW office yesterday: > http://warfornews.blogspot.com/2006/03/times-now-firewalls-war-for-news.html > > And today, someone posted Rajdeep Sardesai's goodbye letter to NDTV, > causing CNN-IBN / CNBC TV 18's Noida office to block ALL blogspot > blogs! > > RSF Handbook for Bloggers and Dissidents: > http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542 > > Oh, and Rajdeep's goodbye letter to NDTV: > http://warfornews.blogspot.com/2006/03/sorry-againunforeseen-delays.html#c114136050649010253 > > Enjoy while it lasts. Hope the Spy doesn't get caught and lose his > job. There's no money in blogging. > From bhatt_rudra at yahoo.com Sat Mar 4 00:43:38 2006 From: bhatt_rudra at yahoo.com (Rudradep Bhattacharjee) Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 11:13:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] SECOND POSTING Message-ID: <20060303191338.69683.qmail@web32915.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Greetings, fellow Fellows (and everyone else who’s listening in!), For those who have been waiting for my posting with bated breath, apologies for the delay. I have been going through a crisis here. To be precise, a bout of second-posting blues. It’s that stage of the research process when you are on the trail of many different strands and you have none of them completely worked out. And if it’s a film on cyberspace and freedom – both very difficult to represent visually – you have got your hands full. Like a good, diligent researcher, I decided to begin by doing a bout of library and web research. While there is a wealth of material on various aspects of cyberspace in terms of the American and the European experience, I had realized, even while working on the proposal itself, there was not much material to be found specifically in the Indian context. (So, all you researchers, there is actually a gold mine here waiting to be dug up!) One of the aims of the project would be to collate the material that’s scattered all over really and make it accessible at a single place. The blog (which is not up yet, but, I promise, will be up this month) should serve that purpose. But the fact that there is a wealth of material on the American and European experience but ever so less about ours begs an interesting and fundamental question : Are the issues in India different? Is there something like an Indian cyberspace which is different from the American cyberspace? If so, then does not the whole anti-statist stand of the cyber libertarian fall flat on its face? Doesn’t cyberspace then become demarcated along the same boundaries that it is supposed to have erased? Please do respond if this excites you even a wee bit. Meanwhile, the library research goes on. And shall go on for most of this month. I start traveling in April (Once I have quit my job!) Also, I am still looking for further funding to make the actual documentary. Any ideas anyone about prospective funding agencies/individuals??? Cheers. Deep. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From jeebesh at sarai.net Sat Mar 4 10:49:18 2006 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2006 10:49:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'How to write about Africa' Message-ID: <3DCA8BFC-06A4-4395-A54E-7018525A612F@sarai.net> http://www.granta.com/extracts/2615 'How to write about Africa' Binyavanga Wainaina some tips: sunsets and starvation are good Always use the word 'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari' in your title. Subtitles may include the words 'Zanzibar', 'Masai', 'Zulu', 'Zambezi', 'Congo', 'Nile', 'Big', 'Sky', 'Shadow', 'Drum', 'Sun' or 'Bygone'. Also useful are words such as 'Guerrillas', 'Timeless', 'Primordial' and 'Tribal'. Note that 'People' means Africans who are not black, while 'The People' means black Africans. Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress. In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don't get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book. The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn't care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular. Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. Do not mention rice and beef and wheat; monkey-brain is an African's cuisine of choice, along with goat, snake, worms and grubs and all manner of game meat. Make sure you show that you are able to eat such food without flinching, and describe how you learn to enjoy it—because you care. Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans (unless a death is involved), references to African writers or intellectuals, mention of school-going children who are not suffering from yaws or Ebola fever or female genital mutilation. Throughout the book, adopt a sotto voice, in conspiracy with the reader, and a sad I-expected-so-much tone. Establish early on that your liberalism is impeccable, and mention near the beginning how much you love Africa, how you fell in love with the place and can't live without her. Africa is the only continent you can love—take advantage of this. If you are a man, thrust yourself into her warm virgin forests. If you are a woman, treat Africa as a man who wears a bush jacket and disappears off into the sunset. Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed. Your African characters may include naked warriors, loyal servants, diviners and seers, ancient wise men living in hermitic splendour. Or corrupt politicians, inept polygamous travel-guides, and prostitutes you have slept with. The Loyal Servant always behaves like a seven- year-old and needs a firm hand; he is scared of snakes, good with children, and always involving you in his complex domestic dramas. The Ancient Wise Man always comes from a noble tribe (not the money- grubbing tribes like the Gikuyu, the Igbo or the Shona). He has rheumy eyes and is close to the Earth. The Modern African is a fat man who steals and works in the visa office, refusing to give work permits to qualified Westerners who really care about Africa. He is an enemy of development, always using his government job to make it difficult for pragmatic and good-hearted expats to set up NGOs or Legal Conservation Areas. Or he is an Oxford-educated intellectual turned serial-killing politician in a Savile Row suit. He is a cannibal who likes Cristal champagne, and his mother is a rich witch- doctor who really runs the country. Among your characters you must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She must look utterly helpless. She can have no past, no history; such diversions ruin the dramatic moment. Moans are good. She must never say anything about herself in the dialogue except to speak of her (unspeakable) suffering. Also be sure to include a warm and motherly woman who has a rolling laugh and who is concerned for your well-being. Just call her Mama. Her children are all delinquent. These characters should buzz around your main hero, making him look good. Your hero can teach them, bathe them, feed them; he carries lots of babies and has seen Death. Your hero is you (if reportage), or a beautiful, tragic international celebrity/aristocrat who now cares for animals (if fiction). Bad Western characters may include children of Tory cabinet ministers, Afrikaners, employees of the World Bank. When talking about exploitation by foreigners mention the Chinese and Indian traders. Blame the West for Africa's situation. But do not be too specific. Broad brushstrokes throughout are good. Avoid having the African characters laugh, or struggle to educate their kids, or just make do in mundane circumstances. Have them illuminate something about Europe or America in Africa. African characters should be colourful, exotic, larger than life—but empty inside, with no dialogue, no conflicts or resolutions in their stories, no depth or quirks to confuse the cause. Describe, in detail, naked breasts (young, old, conservative, recently raped, big, small) or mutilated genitals, or enhanced genitals. Or any kind of genitals. And dead bodies. Or, better, naked dead bodies. And especially rotting naked dead bodies. Remember, any work you submit in which people look filthy and miserable will be referred to as the 'real Africa', and you want that on your dust jacket. Do not feel queasy about this: you are trying to help them to get aid from the West. The biggest taboo in writing about Africa is to describe or show dead or suffering white people. Animals, on the other hand, must be treated as well rounded, complex characters. They speak (or grunt while tossing their manes proudly) and have names, ambitions and desires. They also have family values: see how lions teach their children? Elephants are caring, and are good feminists or dignified patriarchs. So are gorillas. Never, ever say anything negative about an elephant or a gorilla. Elephants may attack people's property, destroy their crops, and even kill them. Always take the side of the elephant. Big cats have public-school accents. Hyenas are fair game and have vaguely Middle Eastern accents. Any short Africans who live in the jungle or desert may be portrayed with good humour (unless they are in conflict with an elephant or chimpanzee or gorilla, in which case they are pure evil). After celebrity activists and aid workers, conservationists are Africa's most important people. Do not offend them. You need them to invite you to their 30,000-acre game ranch or 'conservation area', and this is the only way you will get to interview the celebrity activist. Often a book cover with a heroic-looking conservationist on it works magic for sales. Anybody white, tanned and wearing khaki who once had a pet antelope or a farm is a conservationist, one who is preserving Africa's rich heritage. When interviewing him or her, do not ask how much funding they have; do not ask how much money they make off their game. Never ask how much they pay their employees. Readers will be put off if you don't mention the light in Africa. And sunsets, the African sunset is a must. It is always big and red. There is always a big sky. Wide empty spaces and game are critical— Africa is the Land of Wide Empty Spaces. When writing about the plight of flora and fauna, make sure you mention that Africa is overpopulated. When your main character is in a desert or jungle living with indigenous peoples (anybody short) it is okay to mention that Africa has been severely depopulated by Aids and War (use caps). You'll also need a nightclub called Tropicana, where mercenaries, evil nouveau riche Africans and prostitutes and guerrillas and expats hang out. Always end your book with Nelson Mandela saying something about rainbows or renaissances. Because you care. From machleetank at gmail.com Sat Mar 4 02:02:54 2006 From: machleetank at gmail.com (Jasmeen P) Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2006 02:02:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Blank Noise presents.... Message-ID: Hello! To recognize Women's Day, and as part of an effort to build a core constituency that is aware of the Blank Noise Project, we're organizing a blogathon for Tuesday, the 7th of March. Blank Noise is asking other bloggers to post about their experiences of sexual harassment /'eve teasing'- as a victim, perpetrator or bystander - at work, at home or in the public sphere. On International Women's Day, which is March 8th, it would be exciting to see the theme of harassment become audible on the Indian blogosphere. If you will participate, email blurtblanknoise at gmail.com to let us know - then on March 7th, we'll link to all the participating bloggers from the Blank Noise homepage, and hopefully it will be an archive that will help us understand and stay angry about harassment. For the time being, it would be great if participants posted on their blogs in anticipation, to spread the word. Spread the word in other ways, too. BNP's target audience isn't really only the blogging community, but this will be a good step, whether effective or symbolic, towards interventions closer to the street. Thanking you, Jasmeen The Blank Noise Team -- ph: + 91 98868 40612 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060304/20b89480/attachment.html From nirupama.sekhar at gmail.com Sun Mar 5 05:17:10 2006 From: nirupama.sekhar at gmail.com (Nirupama Sekhar) Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 05:17:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Posting: Urban Stories Message-ID: <87927e9c0603041547n788677ffrf316ef8f3db66b85@mail.gmail.com> Hello All. Everyone knows that Mumbai has been explored and examined a million times by artists, scholars and ordinary folks alike. Yet, something more of the city always remains to be said. Such is its charm. And, so many are its stories. This is a city that simply doesn't let you say: Been there, done that. (Having lived in Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune, Mumbai is definitely my city of choice. To me, it is a case of the cliché being true after all: Mumbai is, without doubt, the City Magnificent.) What I intend & hope to achieve through my project is to visually explore some enduring, some contemporary facets of the city. Which are these exact facets, you may ask. I am still figuring that one out. Cops & whores. Actors & sainiks. Bollywood, beaches & businesses. Riots, rent acts and the inescapable rush. It could well be argued that Mumbai presents chroniclers of any sort with simply too much material to cope with.. I concede. However, I perceive this dizzying array of subject matter as an advantage that gives me tremendous freedom of choice. From all that is Mumbai, I am currently shortlisting what I would like to showcase through my visual essays. It is hardly an easy task; however, it is proving to be an extremely fascinating one. The task of selection is fast becoming a stimulating process of re-examining my knowledge and experience of the city I now call home. Through this ongoing process of picking and choosing, I am building the essential framework of Urban Stories, my series of graphic essays. (I intend to present Mumbai through a series of visual essays. Each essay will be a conceptually unique self-contained unit. I plan to use a variety of visual elements ranging from line drawings to photographs and collage.) Knowing Suketu Mehta took 7 years to maximize the city into words doesn't help at all! Working full time in television production barely leaves me with enough time to pursue research for the project at the pace that I would like. In the time available, I am currently focusing on subject research, design referencing and photographing the city. I have started the process of extensively photographing the city. These photos of the city - its architecture, roads, traffic, infrastructure, people, textures, colours and more - will provide the basic visual material for my graphic essays. Simultaneously, I have begun research on specific aspects of the city that are of special interest to me. Design references are also happening in order to streamline the overall look and feel of the essays. (At a later stage during the Fellowship period, I hope to take time off from my work to focus exclusively on the project. Till then, of course, the juggling will continue. ) In March, I hope to get down to exploring the city (and my shortlisted themes) through its people. I am already certain that this next phase of research is going to be both challenging and enriching. Regards, Nirupama PS: Apologies for the delay. Blame it on TV.. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060305/446c5050/attachment.html From sdipta_paul at yahoo.com Sat Mar 4 17:13:34 2006 From: sdipta_paul at yahoo.com (Sudipta Paul) Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2006 03:43:34 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] 2nd posting In-Reply-To: <20060304110007.3913F28DBD5@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <20060304114334.7963.qmail@web52011.mail.yahoo.com> Sudipta Paulwrote Please cancel privious second posting. The work of first phase of our project are to identify the different changes and compilation of those changes. In our second posting we write about the changes in coal sectors. Changes within the last 15 years in coal sector: In the beginning of the 90s one important event was the introduction of the new economic policy. Broadly, new economic policy initiated the gradual withdrawal of state from the control of basic industry and infrastructure. The basic industry and service sectors were open up for free entry of private and foreign capital. By decreasing the import duty, Indian market is opened for the foreign goods. Even the import duty of coal was gradually decreased to facilitate the global market. So the effect of new economic policy in the consequence of globalization also falls on the coal sectors. We now see what sort of impact of policy change has taken place upon the coal sector and coal workers. It was 26th January, 2005. Workers of a private agency Eastern Mineral and Treading Agency are crowded in front of their Camp. The camp is the accommodation of the workers near their working area Tara Open Cast Mines of M/s Bengal EMTA Coal Mines Ltd. Mines are closed on account of republic day. All workers got a holiday simultaneously after a long time. So they are in the mood of celebration with meat and alcohol. One alcohol shop is in front of the camp. The owner gave a seat to us. Then some curious workers came to ask us about our purpose of visit. Most of them were drunken. After understanding partially about our purpose nobody wanted to talk about their own conditions. One said that ‘All are terrorized to say anything to the outsider. If authority knows about that anyone has opened his mouth, the very next day he will be dismissed from job.’ Another person uttered in anger ‘We are in bonded labour condition’. This is the picture of the workers of a captive coal mine when coal mines are opend for private capital after 30 years of nationalization and achievement of some legal rights through a long history of coal workers’ movement. Upto mid 90’s the nationalized coal, Eastern Coal Field Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limeted is the only major coal production organisation in Asansol - Ranigange coal field. After amended of Coal Mines Nationalization Act, 1973 w. e. f. 9.6.1993 to allow private sector participation in coal mining for generation of power by private sectorprivate partners are engaged for extraction of coal from Asansol – Ranigange coalfield from mid 90’s, but only from OCP. The decision to extract coal from ten coal reserved patches (eight out of these ten are in west Bengal) by outsourcing in 2001 gave a new dimension towards privatisation of coal. Also in proposed Coal Mines (Nationalization) Amendment Bill, 2000 one important clause is to open up the coal sector for private investment and for open sell. Impact of the policy Change is the introduction of a number of private operators in the coal production. 1. In 1996, WBSEB and WBPDCL had jointly opted for extraction of coal from their captive coal mine-Tara(East) and Tara(WEST) in joint venture with 74% share of a private agency - Eastern Minerals & Treading Agency (EMTA). The production and dispatch of coal to the power stations are done by EMTA vide an agreement between the company and EMTA. This is the first colliery from where extraction and dispatch of coal is totally done by a private agency. 2. In the next step, the first major private colliery of India, Sarsatali Coal Mines Project, sponsored by Integrated Coal Mines Ltd (ICML), a subsidiary of CESC, has started open cast project on the virgin land of 2615 acres. ICML has also engaged the private contractor, G.S. Atwal for coal production. 3. Closer of the loss making Under Ground Mines and Outsourcing of 17 Coal Reserved Patches : With a large number of underground mines, loss making ECL has became sick company under SICA 1985. With the withdrawal of cross subsidy between all the subsidiaries of CIL as well as subsidy by the Central Government in the era of new economic policy, ECL has been declared as a sick company under SICA 1985 in 1997. By converting the government loan to equity ECL came out from BIFR. Again ECL was referred to BIFR in 2001.State Bank of India (SBI) as an operating agency of ECL has given eleven proposals in their revival packages for ECL. One of the proposals is outsourcing of some coal patches, suitable for OCP mines for a short period. Other proposals are closer of 26 UG mines and some financial support from central and state government and CIL Among all the other proposals outsourcing of the small coal reserved patches and the closer of the Underground mines are getting consent of the ECL authority. Already the seven numbers mines have been closed. Then outsourcing of the ECL has been started in 2002. Loss making ECL has target to gain some profit by selling coal which is produced at a lower cost than ECL by private contractors giving lower wage than the workers of ECL by passing the national coal wage agreement. In the above cases of private initiatives the informal nature of production is the predominant characteristic. The total production procedure is run by contractual methods. There is a main contractor for coal production and transport. This contractor has a number of sub-contractors for different jobs. Now the workers of ECL are organized in several trade unions. Particularly, in terms of wages, job security and safety the work condition has improved. Rights of the workers were legalized by enactment of National Coal Wage Agreements (NCWA). Gradually there was an increase in wages of the organised workers but the employment opportunity and the number of workers decreased. Nationalized coal could not absorb the unused labour force after a certain point. So the reserved pool of labour force is engaging in the illegal mines where the primitive way of production is continuing without any scientific safety measures. Accident is the regular feature and basically non-reportable and uncountable. After introduction of the big private owners now the unused labour force is ready to work practically without any existing labour rights like employment lettter, identity card, minimum wages or job security in the captive mines under the private contractors. Also they are completely unorganized. There is an unofficially ban to organize in unions. There is no document about the status and the number of workers of the private contractors in government records and even the respective employer gave partial and incomplete documents about the workers. One is the permanent coal workers under NCWA of ECL who are organized within the different recognized Tread Unions. Other type of workers of private agency or contractors and illegal mines is mostly informal and unorganized outside the NCWA. Changes in the Organised Sector-ECL •Given importance on the foreign technology without searching for suitable technology for the specific geo-mining condition of Asansol-Ranigange Coal Belt •Gradual shift to labour replacing mechanized big Open Cast Mines Projects from labour intensive under ground mines. Impacts upon Organised Labour force are 1. workers of ECL decreased from 1.85 lakhs in 1975-76 to 1.10 lakhs in 2003-04. After 1985 there is no new recruitment in ECL. 2. Have not create employment opportunity with increasing production from labour intencive UG mines. 3. Labour replacing technology of the Big Open Cast Mines also create surplus Unorganised or informal workers Number of unorganized workers Formal data sets and official documents are available about the workers of the organized sector, Eastern Coalfield Limited. But there are no documents or official records about the unorganised worker of the outsourced coal patches of ECL and new the private initiatives. When we went to the Regional Labour Commissioners office then they informed us that they have no authentic documentation about the workers of the private contractors. There is huge variations in the number of workers in every inspection. It is true that the requirement of workers varies from time to time in the Open Cast Coal Mines. For ex. production is low in the rainy season. But we asked to for the record - the way they have it. Yet they denied me the data. They also said that the wage data cannot be given as there was no fixation of wage for the coal workers. We fail to understand why the wage data are not available which is given to the miners. Even the union leaders of the power sector, West Bengal State Electricity Board do not know about the status of the worker of captive mines run by the joint venture with 24% share of WBSEB and WBPDCL Source : Environmental Management Plane of M/S Bengal EMTA Limited, collected data from the office of G.S. Atwal and survey report. In the registered private collieries there are different types of workers. Parmanent: The total production procedure is run by contractual method. So they only have a small formal structure of management. The officers, supervisory staffs, clerks are in this formal structure. · Workers directly related with the production: Next type workers are under contractors and subcontractors directly related with production. This contractor has a number of sub-contractors for different jobs. Most of them are outsiders or migrant workers from Bihar, UP and other districts of West-Bengal. Generally one senior worker informs the next worker of his own village and one of his relatives. This is the dominat way of recruitment of the outside workers. In most of the cases initially there is no written recognition as a workers of the mine. Even the employer does not make any verbal commitment about the wages, different facilities, leave etc. simply there is no job contract. So these workers have no formal status based upon the written contract. From interview of the workers we get the impression that in the era of large reserve pool of labour force the employer is powerful to take action against workers. As there are no rules the owner increases wages or gives promotion to his own selected workers according to his own will. According to the workers – the loyal workers are benefited. Only 68 land looser of Sarsatali Open Cast Coal Mines project got job under the main contractor G.S. Atwal of ICML. The job of these land-looser is permanent throughout the age of Sarsatali OCP according to an agreement with the ICML and local administration. The main initiators to organize the workers of Sarsatali OCP under the trade unions are these 68 land-losers. This is the only union in this belt outside Nationalized coal. But this is not affiliated with any existing Trade Union of coal. Except these 68 workers, some outsiders are the members of this union. But no one under subcontractors is connected with the union. Around 80-85 local people of the OCP affected area have got the job in these two captive mines through the local political party. From the interviewee of a respondent “party gave job to those family who have more wealth and money. Party did not prefer the have-nots”. The workers are in full control of the local party and their affiliated Trade Union. But the central Tread Union have no initiative to make factory wise Union in the private initiatives. One worker of the Bengal EMTA, connected with ruling party of WB said “now pary has started to think to form a union.” When we want to know the reason behind these he said that “I do not want say why they are doing this after 10 years of the opening of OCP.” · Piece rated workers: The mechanized OCPs are not able to generate sufficient employment for the affected local people for the OCP. So under the control of the local party, around 1500 to 2000 people got the job to separate stone from coal and to make proper size of coal piece before loading in the wagon. They are working in-groups of seven to ten of a village. They do not have job for the whole year. These groups work in piece rate under the supervision of a munshi or sardar. All groups of the Bengal EMTA siding are divided in two divisions. One division is allowed to work 20 days in a month and other group is allowed to work for another ten days in a month and vice versa. This process has been taken in the course of unofficial agreement with the local political party to stop the unrest among local jobless people. So now political party plays the role of sardar. · Self employed people:Another type of workers, who are not recognized as worker, are engaged to earn money from rejected coal, which is not used in power plant, extracted from OCP. They use the resource of formal sectors. Through an intermediate chain this coal finally reaches the formal sector like Sponge Iron, cement company and for domestic uses. Women, men, children, in fact all members of a family go to collect coal in one or two pieces from the overburden (piled up mud and stone on the surface above the coal seams as a small hill) of the Open Cast Mines of ECL and captive mines through out the day. This people are popularly known as Kawla Kurani. After a whole day of collection they sell one bag of coal to a carrier popularly known as cycle-wala. This man then carries nearly bag of 3-4 quintal coal by cycle to the nearest coal depot or the Asansol town for sell. Thus Kawla Kurani sells collected coal to cycle-wala, then cycle-wala to the owner of Bullock Cart from whom the owner of coal depot and lastly the owner of depot sells it in the market or the owner of the truck. In this way this type of intermediary process is continuing. At the time of collection of coal, accidents occur quite frequently due to the landslide at the surface of the hill of piled over-burden. But these people till make jokes at the time of telling about the accidents. In the absence of no other means of earning this subsistence economy persists. This is the gross structure of the different production organisations. Even in ECL, a portion of the work is done by the contract labour. But the major part has a formal structure and records with a fraction of unorganised or informal labours under contract. However, in unorganised sector the dominant mode of production and status of workers are unorganised and informal with only a small fraction of formal structure. The organised workers earn three to four times more than the unorganised workers in terms of wages. If we consider the rate of exploitation in terms of earning for per tone coal production then exploitation is much higher than gross earning. The status of unionized workers is better than non-unionized workers. It is better not only in material terms but also in terms of their mental conditions, for example- the workers organized under unions are more free to give answer at the time of survey or interview. In our second posting we write about the closer of public sector like Indian Iron and Steel Company, Kulty, Cycle company ect and two new Industrial estate of Asansol. One is Kanyapur Industrial Estate and other is Mangalpur Industrial Estate. Both are started from 1990-91. The nature of small and medium industry are Sponge Iron, cement, food, plastic, rolling mill, packaging, alluminium, oil, sa\mall manufacturing etc. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060304/3bedce88/attachment.html From notsandipto at yahoo.com Thu Mar 2 19:56:39 2006 From: notsandipto at yahoo.com (Sandipto Dasgupta) Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 06:26:39 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Brokebacking Hollywood Message-ID: <20060302142639.55824.qmail@web30211.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Virginia Hefferman in the New York Times write on the countless Brokeback Mountain spoofs proliferating the internet, and how they subvert well known hollywood moments: Gay cowboys, it seems, are shaping up to be like "Who's on first?" or "the aristocrats": a joke that keeps on giving. While the "Who wants to see that?" humor columns about "Brokeback Mountain" have waned, online parodies of the gay-cowboy movie are still proliferating faster than the curatorial video sites — including youtube.com, gorillamask.net, and dailysixer.com (which has a section called "Brokeback Spoofs") — can keep up with them. Some of them are stupid. Some are droll and great. But as commentary on the forms and ceremonies of proto-gay relationships, they're surprisingly sharp, and worth taking seriously. All of the parodies assume the same form: they're trailers for imagined mashups that combine elements of "Brokeback Mountain" with other movies. The actual mashups, of course, don't exist; only these trailers do. They're made anonymously or by comedy troupes or design shops, like Chocolate Cake City and Robot Rumpus, both of which give their web addresses at the end of their parody videos, "Brokeback to the Future" and "The Empire Breaks Back." (The creators who stay anonymous might be trying to avoid nagging copyright issues.) If they're well made, the parodies can presumably serve as a calling card for those who sign their work; some of them are viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Generally, though, the "Brokeback" spoofs are nothing but labors of love, or gay panic, or both. The parodies typically use Gustavo Santaolalla's sexy, mournful theme from "Brokeback Mountain," together with the title cards from that movie's trailer, to reframe clips from another movie. It works almost every time: a gay movie seems to emerge when scenes between male leads, or a male lead and a supporting actor, are slowed down, set to make-out music and bumpered by portentous cards that say things like, "A truth they couldn't deny." The editing, and the use of slow motion, do suggest that close-ups, especially viewed at length, are intrinsically erotic. All that these parodies need to do to set up the relationship is show one man's face in protracted detail, and cut to the other man, who seems to watch with the same rapt attention that the viewer has been compelled to give by the slow-mo. A gay subtext suddenly seems plain as day. But what's more adroit about these parodies is the use they make of the dialogue from the movie they're mashing up with "Brokeback." Very little "Brokeback" dialogue has been repurposed here, with the exception of two of the ranch hand Jack Twist's impassioned lines "It's nobody's business but ours," and "God, I wish I knew how to quit you!" — which turn up now and then when a parodist gives up trying to make the point another way. Most of the parodists don't give up, though, and strive to tease a gay plot out of what's already in the older movies, all of which, unlike "Brokeback Mountain," are already available on DVD, so they can be manipulated using software like iMovie. These movies — "Heat," "City Slickers," "Titanic," "Fight Club" — throw up plenty of evocative lines for use by the parodists. Almost every scene in which a wiser man is trying to encourage a naïf to follow his dreams, for example, seems to double as a gay dialogue. "Stop trying to control everything, and just let go, let go!" Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) says to Edward Norton's unnamed character in "Fight Club." In the "Brokeback" parody, the line seems to be part of a pushy seduction. In the "The Empire Breaks Back," Anakin Skywalker says: "Something's happening. I want more, and I know I shouldn't." At another time, Palpatine advises him: "In time, you will learn to trust your feelings." When the lines are run together in the parody, they again work convincingly as a love scene. Other Hollywood-hero problems, put in new context, seem like cries from the heart by gay men. In "Point Break," Keanu Reeves's character, Johnny Utah, wails, "I can't describe what I'm feeling"; when this line comes in "Point Brokeback," the parody, it seems to express Johnny's inability to face his gay desires. (For frisson, or maybe for authenticity, some of the parodies use scenes with actors, like Mr. Reeves and Tom Hanks, who have played gay characters in other movies.) A problem of the traditional sci-fi hero, particularly the time traveler, is that he can't describe his relationships to other people; if he's traveled back in time, can he be his mother's contemporary? This is true for Marty McFly, Michael J. Fox's character in "Back to the Future," which was one of the first movies to appear in a mashup parody with "Brokeback Mountain" (predictably: "Brokeback to the Future"). In the scene that the parodists borrow, Marty introduces Dr. Brown (Christopher Lloyd), saying, "This is my — uh — Doc. My uncle. Doc!" In the new framework, this introduction sounds like the confused, stammering introduction that a closeted young man might make of his older boyfriend, whom he's trying to pass off as a boss, an associate, an uncle. Similarly, when Frodo (Elijah Wood), introduces Sam (Sean Astin) in the appealing "Lord of the Rings" mashup, he's asked, "Your bodyguard?" Sam corrects him, "His gardener." Nearly 60 years ago, Leslie Fiedler argued that the great American novels of the 19th century dramatize a love story between men, typically a white man and a man of color: Ishmael and Queequeg, Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook, Huck and Jim. He made his brilliant academic career on this startling thesis, which he went on to demonstrate in "Love and Death in the American Novel" in 1960. Now Fiedler's thesis seems to apply to Hollywood movies as well, but the thorough close-readings that have refined and broadened Fiedler's argument this time have been provided not by graduate students, but by online pranksters using little more than laptops, a broadband connection and Final Cut Pro. My favorite of the parodies, however, didn't require much technology or even editing, just a good sense of double entendre scenes of emotional intensity between men. It's the "Brokeback" mashup with "Heat," the underrated Michael Mann movie with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. "Heat" was a psychological tango movie, with the alpha actors playing a police detective, Vincent, and a bad guy, Neil, respectively. They're supposed to be talking about the cops-and-robbers life, but in "Brokeback Heat," which just replays without legerdemain a whole scene between them, they seem for all the world to be talking about their love, and gay love generally, and their unwillingness to be straight. "So then, if you spot me coming around that corner, you just gonna walk out on this woman?" Vincent asks. "Not say goodbye?" "That's the discipline," Neil says. "That's pretty vacant, you know," Vincent says. "It is what it is," Neil replies. "It's that or we'd both better go do something else, pal." "I don't know how to do anything else," Vincent says. "Neither do I," Neil says. "I don't much want to either," Vincent says. "Neither do I," Neil says. Taken straight or as a sendup, this is simply Mr. Pacino and Mr. De Niro playing a smoldering scene. And what they mean by it is no business but theirs. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060302/aee660ea/attachment.html From zainab at xtdnet.nl Sun Mar 5 19:47:45 2006 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 18:17:45 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] New Thinking in Urbanization! Message-ID: <1327.219.65.10.203.1141568265.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> “What are the major challenges to urbanization? They are: 1. Use of Urban Space – commodification of urban space; 2. Informalization – more development is happening outside planning rather than inside planning. This is a worrisome tendency; 3. Poor provisioning of infrastructure; 4. Delivering quality of life; 5. Mobilizing resources and 6. Ensuring governance Urbanization is not proceeding at a pace at which it should!” concluded a speaker at a seminar entitled “New Thinking in Urbanization”. The speaker went on to highlight the various kinds of deficits that we are facing in the challenges in urbanization. They are: 1. Equity Deficit: including housing tenure, livelihood issues (hawkers) and provision of basic services; 2. Governance Deficit; 3. Democratic Deficit: bringing in citizens’ participation, bringing gram sabhas to the wards at the urban level; 4. Capacity Deficit: elected representatives should have the capacity for governance; 5. Institutional Deficit: civil society should be able to participate in governance. “New Thinking in Urbanization” – hmmm ... ... ... I wonder how much of the thinking is new. What does new thinking entail? There are various ways to imagine what the city is. I am beginning to re-examine my ways of thinking the city. To me, the city is currently a spatial terrain where various spatio-political and spatio-economic battles are being fought between different groups of people – battles for livelihood, for living space, for breathing space, for ideological space, for political space (in terms of representation) and fundamentally for freedom – battles which are being fought surreptitiously, openly, subtly, vociferously and ferociously. And two of the biggest contests that I see emerging are contests about notions and practices of citizenship and contests for control and power. My question: What is Governance? What does it involve? Jaju, the Municipal Commissioner of Hyderabad comes and makes a presentation on Hyderabad as the cyber-city – www.ourmch.com. Jaju presents the new mascot of a man with folded hands saying “Happy Hyderabad”. “Do you want me to give you a boring presentation or an interesting multimedia presentation? You have a choice. Tell me. Okay, let me give you an interesting multimedia presentation.” Jaju starts his presentation. The lady seated next to me nudges and says, “Did you hear the music? Seems like a Hollywood movie!” I giggled. Jaju went on to speak all the accomplishments of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation – online polls, online feedback from citizens, online registration of births and deaths, e-Seva, et al. In the question-answer session, Jaju revealed that water supply and sanitation was not managed by the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. Public Education was out of its purview. Public Transport was also managed by a para-statal body as was water, sewerage and public education. A member of the audience laughed and said, “So, what is it you do?” Jaju responded, “Very little. That is why our Municipal Corporation won the Crisil award for excellence last year!” My question: What is Governance? What does it involve? Power bases are shifting, constantly. These days (in the days of NURM), let’s create para-statal bodies. Power is being taken away from the hands of Municipal Corporations in the name of efficiency and service delivery. Alternatively, you can read the previous sentence as ‘control is being taken away from the hands of Municipal Corporations in the name of efficiency and service delivery.’ Municipal Corporations are assigned insignificant tasks, perhaps reduced to clearing houses. (The State Government wants to increase the reign of control.) (And the Government at the Centre is wielding its control over state governments through schemes like NURM.) And then we talk of democracy and bringing democracy to the grassroots. And then we talk of local governance. My questions: What is local governance? What is democracy? I sat in a group which was discussing accountability and transparency in governance. As the speaker spoke, it occurred to me that accountability and transparency are not static concepts and entities. These are clearly politically embedded concepts. Power bases are constantly shifting and being restructured, if not negotiated. In such a terrain then, what does accountability and transparency entail? Aren’t these two processes clearly political and very loaded? The speaker went on talking about reforms in accounting systems in Municipal Corporations in an attempt to institute transparency and accountability in governance. He spoke of doing surveys and collecting data and statistics. There is an increasing tendency to organize the city (the unfathomable entity that it is, the wild animal that it is) in terms of data and statistics – in numbers – overlooking the complexities of power and the everyday transactions and relationships. The speaker spoke about how we need to develop pre-determined notions, predict the city, so that we can make contingencies and plans. And I wonder whether the idea is to make the city a tame animal! Ultimately, the golden words were said, “Civil Society should be representative?” My questions: Representative – what is that? Representative – of who? Representative – why? Civil Society – what is that? Civil Society – who? Civil Society – why? Is Civil Society holier than thou? Is Civil Society holy cow? In the present urban terrain, isn’t Civil Society highly embedded in the political? Are there are other forms of representation? (I don’t know what is representation.) Can there be other spaces for voicing opinions? How democratic are civil society institutions within themselves that they speak of a democracy outside? The city (I speak of the experiences from Mumbai) is presently being reduced to a single entity instead of looking at the multiple entities that it is. I believe that there are key issues of sustainability that are challenging the city. One such issue is the privatization of water, an issue which I contest purely on the idea that ‘a mega city SHOULD receive water 24 by 7’. Why? Who decides? Is it needed? And coupled with the issue of sustainability is the issue of access. As citizenship is being moulded along factors such as property, capacity to pay and legality, who are the people who are being pushed out of the ambit of citizenry and therefore access? The complex city is being made fathomable because it is too complex to understand and therefore to control. Electric wires entangled and dangling in an old chawl to an extent where no sense can be made of them, yet the electricity continues to flow. A time comes when this web and network of electrical wires are tainted as dangerous. Wiring has to be repaired. Likewise, the city has to be repaired. But what about the damages? How severe will these be? ... ... ... ... ... New Thinking in Urbanization (!?!?!?) Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From samina at vsnl.com Sun Mar 5 22:17:55 2006 From: samina at vsnl.com (Samina Mishra) Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 22:17:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Film Festival at IIC Message-ID: WOMEN, MEDIA & SOCIETY : TRANSFORMATIONS A Festival of Films by Asian Women Filmmakers March 7-8, 2006 India International Centre, Lodi Estate, New Delhi A two day festival of films by Asian women filmmakers will be held to mark International Women's Day at the India International Centre on March 7-8, 2006. This is the second year of the festival, which is organised by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), in partnership with IIC Asia Project. The festival will showcase the best of documentaries created by women from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan and Malaysia. The opening film, My Life as a Poster, an Indo-US collaboration is directed by Shashwati Talukdar. The film tells a fictional story about the filmmaker and her family and explores stereotypical notions about Indian culture and the "First World's" expectations from a "Third World" filmmaker. Other films being shown at the festival revolve around the themes of Popular Media, Identity and Violence Against Women. After the IIC event, the films will travel to 8 cities in India and also to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The schedule is given below. MARCH 07, 2006 9:30AM Inauguration 30m My Life as a Poster 8m Shashwati Talukdar (India/USA) 10:30 TEA BREAK 11:00AM SEMINAR 1: WOMEN MAKING FILMS Talk by: Sabina Gadihoke + Iffat Fatima + Madhureeta Anand 60m A Certain Liberation 37m Yasmine Kabir (Bangladesh) Kagad Kaanch Patra 16m Reema Borah Printed Rainbow 15m Gitanjali Rao My Confession­the Picture Diary 10m Lor Yew Mien (Malaysia) The Quest 5m Soo You (Taiwan R.O.C) 1:45 LUNCH BREAK 2:30PM SEMINAR 2: POPULAR MEDIA Women of the Holy Kingdom 48m Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (Canada) A Decent Samosa, Ya! 25m Natasha Badhwar & Radhika Bordia WRITE MORE Talk by: Jitendar Gill + Abhilasha Kumari 20m 4:10 BREAK 4:30PM Altar Leena Manimekalai The Journey 16m Rita Chandel Will Think for Food 4m Parvinder Kaur 5:40 BREAK 6:30PM Beyond the Wheel 59m Rajula Shah On an Express Highway 28m Reena Mohan Our Own Eyes 28m Ranu Sharma 8:30PM CLOSE 8TH MARCH 2005 10:00AM Sharira: 28m Ein Lall Chandralekha¹s Exploration in Dance She Write 55m Anjali Monteiro & K P Jayasankar 11:30 BREAK 12:00 SEMINAR 3: IDENTITIES Identities: Talk by Samina Mishra 20m The House on Gulmohar Avenue 30m Samina Mishra Trans- 12m Tejal Shah Where¹s Sandra 17m Paromita Vohra 1:45 LUNCH BREAK 2:30PM SEMINAR 4: WOMEN & VIOLENCE For Love or Izzat 58m Soniali Dutta (India / UK) Women and Conflict: Talk by Kavita Joshi / Other 20m Untitled: 3 Films (Women & Conflict in Manipur) 18m Kavita Joshi 4:10 BREAK 4:30PM For Maya 38m Vasudha Joshi Biji: a Documentary on My Grandmother 20m Dipti M Panesar Lemon Yellow AfternoonsŠ 13m Monisha R Baldawa 5:45 BREAK Walking on a Moonbeam 17m Madhureeta Anand Lanka: The Other Side of War and Peace 75m Iffat Fatima 8:30 CLOSE From preetunair at yahoo.com Sun Mar 5 23:02:57 2006 From: preetunair at yahoo.com (PREETU NAIR) Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 09:32:57 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Neros in Khakhi: From Goa Message-ID: <20060305173257.69923.qmail@web31714.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Neros in Khaki (This article appeared in GT- Weekender, Panjim, March 5, 2006) The BJP ignites a minor incident and has fuelled hatred that has snowballed into full blown communal carnage in Curchorem. As homes and hearts of the minorities are being torn apart, a hapless and “badly stretched” police watches over the destruction and loot. TEAM GT traveled and worked out of the riot stricken areas of Savordem and Curchorem to get you the real story and separate falsehood from facts. Curchorem/Sanvordem: Goa went into a spin as the communal violence in Curchorem and Savordem spun out of control and threatened to engulf the whole state, thankfully here were no deaths, but a complete failure on the intelligence machinery and the BJP’s tacit as well as overt role in fuelling tensions, has scarred Goa’s psyche. The communal violence that has rocked the state and destroyed the communal harmony and law and order situation in the state could have been averted if the various arms of government had arrived at a consensus. Worse still, even as the government machinery failed, politicians took advantage of the situation, thereby instigating the crowd and worsening the situation. Reliable sources reveal that while SP (South) was against issuing permission to the minority community to hold a rally because he felt that the situation was threatening to snowball into a major controversy between the minority and majority community. However, the Deputy Magistrate (South) granted permission to hold the rally. Later Deputy Magistrate did withdraw the permission to hold the rally , but by then it was too late and in the unfortunate incident happening since Friday many from the minority community were attacked , their shops destroyed, houses ransacked and vehicles damaged and scorched. If on Friday, the police with a little force of over 409 personnel failed to handle the mob of 300o plus, then on Saturday with a force led by SP (South). six Dy.SP’s and 12 Police Inspector’s stood as mute spectators as the crowd went on a rampage after being ignited by the BJP leaders. A controversial senior office bearer of BJP was heard saying “It is high time that Hindus and Christians join hands to kill the Muslims”. Despite all this, no BJP leaders was arrested or warned for igniting the crowd and creating communal tension! S(H)AT(T)ER DAY • Demonstrators gather at Sanvordem TISK, 60 arrested for violating Section 144. • As Chief Minister Rane arrives, gathered people demand release of 60. Rane warns the people and leaves. • Mob turns violent. Police swings into action, fires in the air. Policemen hurt. Fire services put into service. • Governor Jamir arrives .Holds talks with BJP leadership led by Manohar Parrikar. • Those arrested are released by 1.30 pm. Mob continues to loot business establishments and destroy vehicles. • Fresh violence erupts. PI Gundu Naik’s pistol snatched. PSI Devendra Gad also injured, falls unconscious. His pistol is also taken. • Mob beats up a constable. He pulls out his service revolver. Some rounds fired by mistake injuring one Manohar Naik and another person. Both admitted to Goa Medical College. • CISF already posted, three RAF men and CRPF arrived today. Six Dy.SP s, about Twelve Police Inspectors should have controlled it, but the force was inadequate. Senior officials of the Goa police admit that some of the damage unleashed on minorities could have been controlled and quelled since there were Six DySPs and Eleven Police Inspector’s who were at the spot. However they admit that the number of men did not add up. The force was woefully short of what was needed to stem the violence. Though no one is admitting this openly, it is clear that the entire force and the almost non-existent police machinery was caught napping and were unprepared for the situation. The BJP and its affiliates knew only too well that it takes Thirty six hours for Goa to mobilize optimum personal in a situation like this and struck without warning. The Goa Government has claimed credit for not allowing the violence to get out of hand. In fact Chief Minister Rane actually termed the situation peaceful, since there not a single causality. (As our stories will tell you, this claim is laughable) Significantly, police officials have completely denied the BJP propaganda that minority gangs had come from Bhatkal and Karwar in Karnataka and had brandished swords and threatened to wipe out the majority population in Sanvordem. DIG Ujjwal Mishra said that both the SP and DM (South Goa) confirmed that “in meeting of the minorities yesterday (Friday) none was armed or looked like an outsider”. Mishra admitted that the Goa police was “badly stretched” and was in no position to control the sudden but almost premeditated attack on minority shops, establishments. Asked why the police fiddled in Curchorem while it burnt, Mishra speaking to TEAM GT said “We wanted to save lives. The force was escorting the victims and was not enough to counter attack and arrest the attackers.” Roadway to Hell Cocktail of Hate: Shaken and Stirred Preetu Nair and Lynn Shirodkar reporters at gomantaktimes.com Nearly 50 vehicles destroyed and many burnt, four petrol pumps damaged, shops looted, 20 houses ransacked and later burnt. All owned by people from the minority community and the number is increasing by the hour. Curchorem/Savordem: The stillborn silence and suspicion look that they give you makes you squirm. If the shameless violence appeared to be greatest mockery of democracy for the cultured, then for the seven hundred plus persons from the minority community here, it had shattered their dreams and vision of communal harmony in Goa. As democracy’s most forceful articulation , inevitably driven by the most primeval passions- hate, made its way into Curchorem and Savordem from Friday , it has probably silenced the people of the minority community forever. They are scared to speak or react. But once they open up, the scars are evident. Slowly but with caution they reveal how the nameless, unreasoning and unjustified terror has paralyzed their life forever. Though they speak, they refuse to be quoted for they fear that will be punished by the majority community for speaking their mind. “We were planning a silent rally to propagate communal harmony and human bonding on Friday. But we never expected things to go out of the hand” said a young person from the minority community. Recollecting the events of Friday he said, “we canceled our rally by 2.30 pm once we were warned by the Deputy Collector (South) that there was a chance of a mob attack. But by then many people had gathered at Curchorem from different parts of Goa. Before we could think or do anything, a mob appeared and pelted stones at us. Further, they destroyed our vehicles and many of us took shelter in the mosque.” “We are separated from our families. We tool shelter in the mosque, but we hear that our children were driven away from the house before the mob damaged and looted it. We don’t know where and how they are,” said one elderly man. What has shocked the minority community is the unprepardness and inefficiency of the Goa police and Congress government. “if the police suspected foul play they should have come prepared. There were hardly 30 or 40 policemen when a mob of more than 1000 policemen attacked us,” said another person. Congress voters since ages, they swear that they will never vote for the party again, “We were calling each and every Congress party minister for help and not a single person was contactable. We are also human beings, we also have feelings, and we also want to live peacefully. Why are politicians playing with out lives and dreams to fulfill their political ambitions”, said an elderly man. With tears in his eyes, he added, “This is not the Goa I knew and loved. This is not my Goa.” They rubbished newspaper reports that people from majority community reacted because many of their people came from Bhatkal and Hubli in vehicles with swords and knives. “This is utter lie .If it was true, we should have also attacked the mob rather than taking shelter in the mosque. Why was not a single vehicle with Karnataka registration burnt or destroyed? All the vehicles that were destroyed belonged to people from our community, who are either Goans or settled here since ages.” And true enough; all the vehicles destroyed and burnt had Goa registration! I don’ Know, I just don’t know The woman who wanted to build the Madrasa is too shocked at the backlash. Preetu Nair and Lynn Shirodkar reporters at gomantaktimes.com Guddemol (Sanvordem) Fear stared in Samshad Begum Anar Bi’s eyes and chalked her face. She is absolutely confused and too shocked to speak. When after lots of coaxing, she does speak most of what she utters are abrupt sentences, followed by long stretches of silence and stare. She starts of with, “I built this structure single handedly. I did get financial help from my community members. It was to be a mosque and a madrasa .People could pray and young children could study Arabic.” Samshad had built the structure on a government land, which comes under the Twenty Point Programme. The structure was renovated recently to start a mosque as well as a Madrasa (a school for imparting religious preachings). But on February 24, the Savordem panchayat issued a notice in which they stated that the structure is illegal and would be demolished within seven days. However, she got a stay order from the Directorate of Panchayats. But when locals learnt about it, they attacked the building at night and demolished the structure. “It was around midnight, when a mob attacked and destroyed the structure. I don’t know why they attacked. I just don’t know ,” and her voice withered away, as if she was again lost in her world of uncertainty and grief. This is not the Goa we once knew Preetu Nair and Lynn Shirodkar reporters at gomantaktimes.com Curchorem/ Sanvordem Many locals are shocked and in an utter state of disbelief. After all, this is not the Goa they love and value so much. They had always boasted and taken pride over Goa maintaining its communal harmony, despite all odds. But when the houses of minority community were ransacked and demolished, shops burgled by an angry mob led by BJP and a few Shiv Sainiks, they were reduced to mere spectators watching the incidents from the safety of their houses. They talk but refuse to be quoted. Said one person “They can do anything. They have turned a small issue into a religious issue and are attacking people and destroying homes. We want to be safe.” “We are very shocked by the way people have reacted. They have mixed two issues: one of religion and another insider-outsider issue. It is really sad and I feel ashamed,” said another lady. Meanwhile, an elderly man who observed the incidents of the day went inside shaking his hands, as the mob started pelting stones and attacking police. “This is the darkest and worst day for the Goan society. As few locals are going about creating a mountain out of a molehill, they have destroyed the harmony and peace of the place. I can’t believe this is happening in my Goa,” he added. Another person, who was part of the mob on Friday, but withdrew on Saturday said, “It has now become a political issue and the politicians are now using us for their political gains.” GOA WANTS ANSWERS • THEY SAY: CM Pratapsing Rane tells a delegation of minority leaders who seek appointment with him on Saturday, “I have visited the place in the morning. Everything is normal and peaceful. You meet me on Monday”. BUT: Mr. CM is burning cars, pelting stones, ransacking petrol pumps and looting sari, footwear shops and small establishments, injured policemen etc. signs of peace or violence? • THEY SAY: Both the people from majority community and BJP leaders say that the violence occurred because people from minority community brought people armed with swords and knives from Bhatkal and Hubli BUT: If the people from minority community were really armed, then why did they not retaliate and attack the mob? On the contrary, many rushed back home and others took shelter in the mosque at Curchorem. • THEY SAY: Further there are allegations that they came in large numbers from Karnataka. BUT: Not a single vehicle, which was damaged and destroyed, had Karnataka registration. All vehicles belonged to people from minority community in Goa. • They Say: Leader of Opposition, Manohar Parrikar said, “The influx of migrants in the state cause social tension and disturb the harmony of the state.” BUT: The majority of the people whose houses were attacked, shops burnt and burgled are very much Goans. And the few others who had migrated from other parts of country had made Goa their homes and have ration cards. By calling them outsiders, aren’t you violating their fundamental right to live and work here? • THEY SAY: Police claim that they were extremely short – staffed to control the mob of three thousand plus. BUT: It is surprising that with Six Dy SP’s and Twelve Police Inspectors at the spot, the police failed to control the mob. But one must admit that the police were tired and hungry. After all, they are on duty from Friday evening and the authorities didn’t even bother to feed them lunch. No wonder, many found it difficult to handle the mob on empty stomachs. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From bawree at yahoo.com Mon Mar 6 02:47:43 2006 From: bawree at yahoo.com (mamta mantri) Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 13:17:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] why is a certain film hit? suggestions Message-ID: <20060305211743.11302.qmail@web33107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Me saw a Bhojpuri film “Tohar Kiriya” (“Tumhari Kasam”/“I swear on you”) for the first time ever. The film reminded of “Nadiya Ke Paar” the Rajshri film. (Of course, I assumed it would a violent film, but to my surprise, it was a love story in the backdrop of family, the posters were not very clear about the subject, or may be I was expecting something elsse!!!!). Everything was typically Bollywoodish, but the treatment of the male character, played by Ravi Kishen, was attention grabbing. His emotions were more unambiguous than ever. His wife does not allow him to touch her etc.etc. and the mounting frustration gets very apparent (he loses his anger every time he sees his wife, picks up a fight with her, and yet take good care of her). The whole attitude towards sex as the only meaning of marriage is soooo different from the mainstream Bollywood stuff, where only flowers signify a kiss and etc, etc. Anyways, moving further,,, I was at Royal Cinema and chatting with one of the employees. I understand from him that a certain film called “Balwaan” (Sunil Sheety, Divya Bharati, and Danny Denzompa) did not work well and had to be removed in 4 days flat. Instead “Jigar” (Ajay Devgan, Karishma Kapoor) was put on and is attracting houseful. The question: Both the films are equally violent, full of explicit dialogues and flesh and good music (both fulfill the entire criterion for a successful film there), yet one works and the other doesn’t. Interestingly, Nishaat, the theatre opposite was showing “Daata” (Mithun) and the numbers dwindled there the moment “Jigar” ran in Royal. I asked the people around for answers: • “Jigar” has better music than the other • ‘Time factor’ is an important aspect in the working of the film. “Balwaan” must have not worked because it must have been shown in some other theatre 2-3 months ago. • Of Course, the star factor People prefer Ajay Devgan any time here. Just to complicate things here, a musical film like “Sanam Bewafa”(Salman Khan, Pran, Danny) attracts more audience than “Apaharan”(Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar). The latter is a definite flop along with “Company” and “Satya” in this area. m trying to understand how does a film work with audience???????? I am searching and open to more ideas and interpretations mamta __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From ravikant at sarai.net Mon Mar 6 11:06:36 2006 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 11:06:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hindi detective novels Message-ID: <200603061106.36994.ravikant@sarai.net> Apologies for cross posting. A forward from Ifellow, Kamal Kumar Mishra - Ravikant  Commercial publishing: issues are not resolved,story has been left untold… As we know writing and publishing "jasusi "fiction has become a highly profitable business in due course of time. For the flourishing Hindi publishing industry, this particular genre proved to be a boon. We see many people trying their luck in novel writing and publishing. And some times even without any commitment or a sense of responsibility towards their readers. Dehati pustak Bhandar Chawari Bazar ,Delhi could well be taken as an example of such publications. Established in 1930's(Reg.1936) by Late Lala Dhum Mal,Dehati Pustak Bhandar happened to be one of the pioneer publications of Delhi as far as jasusi fictions are concerned . In the two novels -" Bahram Ki Khoj dilchaspjasusiupanyas"and "Tilasmi Gupt Khajana" written by,anekon pustakon ke rachaita (writer of many books) Hukum Chand , one can see the reflections of these very tendencies. We don't get to know the year of publication of these novels.The price of these novels is a rupee and a half. But the claims are not so small as this "ishtehar" (summary as well) also suggests: Riyasat vijay nagar ke mahlon rajyadhikarion dwara rache gaye ek  bhyanak kadyantra ka varnan aap ko is upanyas men bade hi  rochak shali men milega .Sath hi vikhyat Bahram ka vilayat men wahan ke prasidh daku Areseen Lopen se mukabla padhne se sambandh rakhta hai.Dr.Gopal aur rajkumar Romi aur mantri Sahapal ke kam prasansa ke yogya hain.Maharaja Vijay Chand kiMantri ki putri ko syahposhon ki kaid se chuda lena ek aisi ghatna hai padhne se sambandh rakhti hai. yogya lekhak ki lekhni prashansa ke yogya hai.Tiranga cover,sundar kagaj tatha chpai.Mulya 1.50. But the threads of narrative are left unconnected and issues are not resolved ,as my reading suggests. For example we don't get to know ,at all, what was the secret that Raja wanted to hide from Romi (his son) and why? What was the secret of the 'safed kagaj'(Plane paper) :                              Vijay Chand: yadi mujhe malum hota ki Romi mujhse itna                       Jaldi vida ho jayega to mai wah kagaj use dikha                      Deta jiske liye usne bar -bar iccha prakat ki …(p.102)                            -       -         -          Vijay Chand: ek kaam aap aur kijiye is safed kagaj ko                      aslee halat men le aayeye…jab wah                        aslee halat men aa jaye to mujhe de den. (p.108) Who was Bahram ka GURU GHANTAAL,was it Raja or Some one else?And if Raja was the real Bahram then the Writer never attests it: Dr.Gopal: "…bees varsh pahle kitne daler the-sansar aap se             kaanpta tha. Kewal un baton ko aur is bhed ko               main hi to janta hoon…aap aaj raja hain par kal             tak aap kon the?… Vijay chand ne joshile aandaaj men kaha- "doctor kya kah rahe         hon .choop raho." (pp.105-106). If the character of minister Sahpal helps to misguide the reader and maintain the suspense so does these above mentioned details. But then one can say that there is hardly a Systematic attempt towards explanation or a "proper" connection between clues and the puzzle.The language of these two fictions is not at all a sanskritize-Hindi it is popular hindi with a mixing of English words like Mister, Society, Address-card etc. we hardly find these words in the works of well known Benares  or Allahabad based writers or publishers of this genre. In the 13th chapter of "Tilasmi Gupt khajana" by the same author n publisher a character called Bihari Lal starts telling story of the first novel ,I have just mentioned. Is par Bihari Lal ne baat katte hue kaha: Bihari Lal:aap ki baat par mujhe ek novil jiska naam "Bahram ki Khoj "hai yaad aa gaya jiske kuch adhyay(chapters) aapko sunata hoon suniye.                  - - -         - - -  yahan tak sunane ke baad Bihari Lal ne iisee upanyas ka chtwaan       adhyay sunana prarambh kiya.                       ---    --- pathak gan kuch adhyayeon ka vishaya mister Bihari Lal ne samapt kiya.shesh bhag hamare novel (upanyas) "Bahram ki Khoj" nami men padhiye.                                  Samaptam.                                    (Tilasmi gupt khajana,pp.110-124) And the real story has been left untold. so in this case the novel or story has been reduced to an advertisement or propaganda material and mystery  is never resolved. The commercial writer publisher is not at all worried if readers feel cheated in this case. From kamal_bhu at rediffmail.com Sun Mar 5 16:25:43 2006 From: kamal_bhu at rediffmail.com (Kamal Kumar Mishra) Date: 5 Mar 2006 10:55:43 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] 2nd posting... Message-ID: <20060305105543.7792.qmail@webmail25.rediffmail.com> sorry for the delay.Following is my 2nd posting regarding publishing of jasusi-upanyas in Hindi.   Commercial publishing: issues are not resolved, story has been left untold As we know writing and publishing “jasusi ”fiction has become a highly profitable business in due course of time. For the flourishing Hindi publishing industry, this particular genre proved to be a boon. We see many people trying their luck in novel writing and publishing. And some times even without any commitment or a sense of responsibility towards their readers. Dehati pustak Bhandar Chawari Bazar ,Delhi could well be taken as an example of such publications. Established in 1930’s(Reg.1936) by Late Lala Dhum Mal,Dehati Pustak Bhandar happened to be one of the pioneer publications of Delhi as far as jasusi fictions are concerned . In the two novels –“ Bahram Ki Khoj dilchaspjasusiupanyas”and “Tilasmi Gupt Khajana” written by,anekon pustakon ke rachaita (writer of many books) Hukum Chand , one can see the reflections of these very tendencies. We don’t get to know the year of publication of these novels.The price of these novels is a rupee and a half. But the claims are not so small as this “ishtehar” (summary as well) also suggests: Riyasat vijay nagar ke mahlon rajyadhikarion dwara rache gaye ek bhyanak kadyantra ka varnan aap ko is upanyas men bade hi rochak shali men milega .Sath hi vikhyat Bahram ka vilayat men wahan ke prasidh daku Areseen Lopen se mukabla padhne se sambandh rakhta hai.Dr.Gopal aur rajkumar Romi aur mantri Sahapal ke kam prasansa ke yogya hain.Maharaja Vijay Chand kiMantri ki putri ko syahposhon ki kaid se chuda lena ek aisi ghatna hai padhne se sambandh rakhti hai. yogya lekhak ki lekhni prashansa ke yogya hai.Tiranga cover,sundar kagaj tatha chpai.Mulya 1.50. But the threads of narrative are left unconnected and issues are not resolved ,as my reading suggests. For example we don’t get to know ,at all, what was the secret that Raja wanted to hide from Romi (his son) and why? What was the secret of the ‘safed kagaj’(Plane paper) : Vijay Chand: yadi mujhe malum hota ki Romi mujhse itna Jaldi vida ho jayega to mai wah kagaj use dikha Deta jiske liye usne bar –bar iccha prakat ki (p.102) - - - Vijay Chand: ek kaam aap aur kijiye is safed kagaj ko aslee halat men le aayeye jab wah aslee halat men aa jaye to mujhe de den. (p.108) Who was Bahram ka GURU GHANTAAL,was it Raja or Some one else?And if Raja was the real Bahram then the Writer never attests it: Dr.Gopal: “ bees varsh pahle kitne daler the-sansar aap se kaanpta tha. Kewal un baton ko aur is bhed ko main hi to janta hoon aap aaj raja hain par kal tak aap kon the? Vijay chand ne joshile aandaaj men kaha- “doctor kya kah rahe hon .choop raho.” (pp.105-106). If the character of minister Sahpal helps to misguide the reader and maintain the suspense so does these above mentioned details. But then one can say that there is hardly a Systematic attempt towards explanation or a "proper" connection between clues and the puzzle.The language of these two fictions is not at all a sanskritize-Hindi it is popular hindi with a mixing of English words like Mister, Society, Address–card etc. we hardly find these words in the works of well known Benares or Allahabad based writers or publishers of this genre. In the 13th chapter of “Tilasmi Gupt khajana” by the same author n publisher a character called Bihari Lal starts telling story of the first novel ,I have just mentioned. Is par Bihari Lal ne baat katte hue kaha: Bihari Lal:aap ki baat par mujhe ek novil jiska naam “Bahram ki Khoj ”hai yaad aa gaya jiske kuch adhyay(chapters) aapko sunata hoon suniye. - - - - - - yahan tak sunane ke baad Bihari Lal ne iisee upanyas ka chtwaan adhyay sunana prarambh kiya. --- --- pathak gan kuch adhyayeon ka vishaya mister Bihari Lal ne samapt kiya.shesh bhag hamare novel (upanyas) “Bahram ki Khoj” nami men padhiye. Samaptam. (Tilasmi gupt khajana,pp.110-124) And the real story has been left untold. so in this case the novel or story has been reduced to an advertisement or propaganda material and mystery is never resolved. The commercial writer publisher is not at all worried if readers feel cheated in this case. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060305/9359aff4/attachment.html From tushar_bhor at yahoo.com Sun Mar 5 13:46:54 2006 From: tushar_bhor at yahoo.com (tushar bhor) Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 00:16:54 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] 2nd posting-Water Lenses Message-ID: <20060305081654.55696.qmail@web51907.mail.yahoo.com> 2nd Posting: Working Title: WATER LENSES Prelude for new imagination for urban water of Mumbai. After making my intial argument and identifying lense for further investigating, presenting some of the stories: A story of Pakhaliwallas’: The name Pakhali-walla comes from the word Pakhali or Masak, which means, a leather bag that is used to carry and distribute water. A Khaki colored shirt and lungi is the prominent dress code which they follow and is inherited from their ancestors, who use to water the dusty roads of Bombay during colonial period. This cult inhabits on the streets of Bhuleshwar (part of an indigenous core of old city of Mumbai) and works under a master who happens to pay them daily/monthly wages. The job is to collect the water from the water cart in the Pakhali and distribute to the surrounding area as per the need. The master has about 8-10 Pakhaliwallas and is responsible for the day to day functioning of his business. The prospective clients in this case are not fixed and ranges from the hawkers in the vicinity to migrant community working in the small enterprises. The existence of this particular water distribution system depend on the other systems which are positioned in the same area and include, the temple complex from the water is pumped into the hand carts, which has about 5000 liters capacity of water tank. The cart in turn is operated by two people, who are only responsible to carry water from source (temple complex) to the main distribution place (street where the entire group resides).In this case the cart is owned by the master, but if required the water can be bought from the other water cart puller, who work independently as the owner of the cart. The entire supply chain depends only on one well which is in the temple complex and is surviving since the year 1700. Presently the temple is owned by the trust and is part of the residential and small commercial development. Other than supplying water of the well to the residents, the trust’s forefront agenda is to gain some money by selling water to the water vendors. An elaborate pumping system is developed from the well to the main entrance of the temple complex, where it is operated by person in charge for this system and is appointed by the trust. This guy also interacts with water vendors and is responsible for collection of money and maintaining daily accounts. The well is not recharged by any means and still has perennial source and holds a myth that the water will not dry for ever by the grace of the GOD in the temple and it should be removed continuously to avoid the overflow. In this way the trust gains some money for the maintenance of the complex and also expresses goodwill for the society by providing water. A story of Contractor: A building contractor undertook a petite work of repair of a building in Chunnabhatti, which is an area in central suburban part of Mumbai. The repair work was very simple and diminutive and involved mainly the plastering work of the building, but was time consuming since it was spanned between the months of monsoon. The contractor being exposed to the method of water harvesting, he devised a mechanism to reduce the cost of the project and in turn wanted to try out the model for water conservation practice during construction period. He calculated the number of water tankers needed to carry out the entire repair work. It was about Rs.30,000/- as per 50-55 tankers that were needed at the cost of Rs.600 per tanker. More over in such arrangements, the hidden cost is about 20% of the basic cost, which includes delivery of tanker, workers sitting idle or loss of quantity during transport. Hence the total outlay would be more likely to be around Rs. 35,000/-. Alternately, he designed and constructed a temporary tank in the side open space of the building with the capacity of 5, 50,000 liters and it costed him around Rs. 14,000/- with saving or profit of almost Rs. 21 thousand. Further with his kind concern for the conservation of the water in the city, he proposed the society member to continue the system and explained them the importance of the system in context of reducing the dependency on the municipal supply. Out rightly the proposal was rejected by the members due to the mere operational and capital cost that was involved in it. Hence the tank was destroyed by the contractor as he left the site after completing his work. A story of Pani Committee: Members of Pani Committee provide voluntary services and largely include team of youngsters. The job of the committee is to serve drinking water to the community coming in for their daily prayers in Jamat Khana (community center). They are more active during evening prayer hours and periodical auspicious days. The pani committee has a designated space in the Jamat Khana and roles and responsibilities of the members are well defined. This particular activity of extending services by becoming a part of the pani committee provides an individual opportunity to offer their voluntary social services to their community, which is one of the mainstay of Ismaili constitution. The cost involved in the operations and maintenance of the committee and its activity is completely subsidized by the co-operative housing society (CHS) where the Jamat Khana is positioned, becoming a part of larger residential complex in one of the dense areas of Mumbai called as Dongri. Being an indigenous core of Mumbai, the housing and water supply network in the society and vicinity is about 80-100 years old and has shown many alterations and additions. The initial water supply to the Society was thru centralized system and was sufficient enough to generate the pressure for elevating the water from ground to upper two floors without pumping. In consequent years, extra floors were added and need was felt to construct an underground tank within the society premise. The entire supply network was imbalanced which resulted into installation of booster pumps at individual household, connected directly to the main municipal water pipe. Presently percentage supply to the household completely depends upon the efficiency of the booster pump installed and the family member operating it. TUSHAR BHOR ARCHITECT and INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER. Residence Address: 10/60, Madhu Sadan,Sion(w),Mumbai–400022,Maharashtra,India. Tel. No: +91 22 24083828. Mobile: +91 98190 35176. E mail: tushar_bhor at yahoo.com TUSHAR BHOR ARCHITECT and INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER. Residence Address: 10/60, Madhu Sadan,Sion(w),Mumbai–400022,Maharashtra,India. Tel. No: +91 22 24083828. Mobile: +91 98190 35176. E mail: tushar_bhor at yahoo.com --------------------------------- Relax. Yahoo! Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060305/8d03f487/attachment.html From preetunair at yahoo.com Mon Mar 6 14:41:10 2006 From: preetunair at yahoo.com (PREETU NAIR) Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 01:11:10 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] from Goa (Communal riots) Message-ID: <20060306091110.11936.qmail@web31704.mail.mud.yahoo.com> RANE AND PARRIKAR ARE BOTH CRIMINALS' – Victims of Sanvordem (Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition dated March 6,2005) When Godhra happened, Gujarat had a BJP government. Goa is ruled by a party Muslims trusted blindly till they were blinded last Friday. Does anyone care to listen to the voice of the Muslims in Sanvordem and Curchorem? This is their verdict. You want to know why? Here's why. Nighar Agha was asked to leave her rented house by her landlady cos she was forced to by Hindu mobs. She ran away with her 4-year-old daughter with a heart problem. Seeing her run, the mob snatched away the medicine bag of her daughter. She could have died running from the mob. Noorjah Sheikh broke her back but managed to cover the mouths of her children so that they didn't shout, Sheikh Rafiq locked himself and his family, but the mob came, broke his garage and damaged both his cars and 2 of his shops. The Sheikh brothers screamed out to the police to help when eight of their shops were ransacked and looted. Not a single policeman came forward. We looked for these victims in Sanvordem, Curchorem, Margao and at the Margao railway station to present voices that would have otherwise been numbed By Preetu Nair preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com MARGAO/SANVORDEM /CURCHOREM: It was the greatest test of endurance for Nighar Agha last Friday. The images of the riots will haunt her forever. Living alone in a rented house at Sanvordem, Nigar has three little kids. Her husband is in the Gulf and her four-year-old daughter has a heart problem and is easily susceptible to infection. "On that unfortunate day, my daughter got an eye infection and fever. I was scared and worried about her health. Though I wanted to take her to the hospital, I couldn't and her condition worsened. In the morning, our landlady, a Catholic, came to my help. She took my daughter to the hospital. But when she returned, she advised me to vacate the house as people from the majority community in the area were threatening to attack us," she recollects and pauses. Taking a deep breath, she again continues with the horrors she underwent on Saturday afternoon. "Along with some boys, who had taken shelter in my house, and children, I walked to my brothers' house as no one was ready to give us lift and it was impossible for my brothers to enter Sanvordem. Four boys lifted my ill daughter and we walked for nearly 6 km, when a mob surrounded us and abused us. One man snatched the bag containing my daughter's medicine and threw it in the field. They beat two boys and said, "We will ensure that you people are not able to raise your head for atleast another 10 years". When I pleaded and cried, they allowed us to go." 57-year-old Noorjah Sheikh still squirms in pain. "We were scared and helpless. When we heard that mobs were attacking our homes, we armed ourselves with the masalas and utensils. But when they started pelting stones and shouting slogans we got scared. So I rushed upstairs in the dark (they didn't switch on the light that night) to collect some sticks but lost my balance and hurt my back and neck. Though in pain, I didn't scream, lest the mob heard my cry. I was scared for the lives of the young children at home. I was really scared and helpless," she reveals. She admits that it is shocking that majority of people from the mob were people whom they knew, if not by name, but atleast by face. Revealing his tale of woes, Sheikh Rafiq from Sanvordem reveals that he was at the mosque when he got message that homes and shops of minority community were being ransacked. So he rushed home to be with his family of 10. "I locked the door from outside. We switched off the lights and were too scared to even breathe. Around 8 pm, we heard noises and a mob of youngsters approaching our home with torch, shouting "Jai Mahadev". They broke open the garage and destroyed two cars, while I stood near my window as a hapless and speechless spectator. We were so scared that women held the mouth of our children, lest they make any noise," he revealed. Questioning the role of police in the communal riot, he said, "I called DIG Ujjwal Mishra for help. He promised to send help, but then cut the line without taking the address. The police never came. Late in the night, we along with the women and children in our neighborhood (around 20 persons) escaped in their Maruti van to my brother's house in Margao." Sheikh Brothers, who own nearly 10 shops in Sanvordem reveal that eight of their shops were completely destroyed by the mob, homes attacked and vehicles destroyed and burnt. "Everything happened before the police and they stood their helpless as if unwilling to help us. All pleas for help fell on deaf ears," they added. Thankfully, an eye for an eye is not the motto of the minority community, who allege that just as Nero fiddled while Rome burned, in the same manner, Rane was busy attending functions even as Curchorem and Sanvordem was burning. "It is Congress government and it was the ruling government's job to protect us. In Congress raj if this is our fate, then what is the use of having Rane as the CM? More than BJP and RSS, we blame Rane for the communal tension," alleged Ussein Gazi. * People tried contacting DIG Ujjwal Mishra on Friday and Saturday for help. He promised help but never delivered. When they contacted CM Rane when mob was burning their cars and attacking homes, he said everything is under control. Later, he cut their calls abruptly. All Congress MLAs and MP's had only one answer, we have called DIG. * During a meeting at Margao, the minority community leaders criticized Rane and asked Digambar Kamat (who was present there) what he would do for them? He was absolutely silent. *********************** WAITING TO CATCH THE TRAIN TO FREEDOM! BY PREETU NAIR Preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com MARGAO STATION: In March 2002, Gujarat burnt as bloodthirsty mobs attacked homes and killed innocent people. In March 2005, Goa is burning. Hundreds of people from the minority community are rendered homeless and jobless. The politics of hate is slowly threatening to erupt the fabric of a harmonious society and robust democracy that Goans have always been proud of. Scared that people who wrongly justified the burning of vehicles, destruction of shops and homes, all owned by the Minority community, by saying that armed people came from Bhatkal and Hubli, would also harm them without any rhyme or reason, they are leaving the state, which was their home for long. At 3.25 pm, the Margao railway station is packed with women in burkha, their children and men, all waiting to board Jan Shatabdi express bound for Mangalore. Somehow their scared and agonized looks were more chilling than the event itself. They were scared to talk and appeared withdrawn. There was shock and gloom prevailing all over. Well, they can't be really blamed, after all their homes were destroyed by the very people they knew. They also never thought that the homes of friends and neighbours would be shut for them during the riots due to fear of a backlash. As violence flared up in Curchorem and Sanvordem and politicians slowly made it an insider-outsider issue (to quote Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar: Heavy influx of migrants to the state was the cause of creation of social tension and disharmony), it has left a feeling of fear and mistrust. "We have been living in Goa since last 20 years and had a small shop at Curchorem. The mob dragged us out of the house and burnt our house. They destroyed our shop. We came to Goa to earn a living, not to spread communal disharmony. It hurts that even after living here for 20 years, we still can't call Goa our home," said a person who was boarding the train to go to his hometown Bhatkal, who didn't wish to be named. Just as the train arrived at the platform at 3.32 pm, they eagerly boarded the train. Once in the train, they removed the burkha, breathed some fresh air and smiled in relief as they set out on a new journey. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From vrjogi at hotmail.com Mon Mar 6 16:07:12 2006 From: vrjogi at hotmail.com (Vedavati Jogi) Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2006 10:37:12 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] from Goa (Communal riots) In-Reply-To: <20060306091110.11936.qmail@web31704.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: dear friends, how do you find this article given below (appeared n 'the hoot') written by Dasu Krishnamoorty vedavati ....................................................................... Two judgments coming in the span of a week became the talk of the town. There was all-round applause for a Mumbai special court awarding life sentence to nine of the 21 accused in what has come to be known as the Best Bakery case. The other was a Delhi court acquitting all the accused in the murder of Jessica Lal in a restaurant socialite Bina Ramani owns. Both cases involved capricious depositions by witnesses. In the Best Bakery, media and NGOs zealously took the battle into the sanctum of the Supreme Court and persuaded the apex court to transfer the trial to a special court outside Gujarat. The media are now worked up about the freeing of all accused in the Jessica case and one may assume that the curtain has not come down on the case. It figured in Parliament on Monday. The Best Bakery case also cannot be said to have ended since the accused can still appeal to the Supreme Court, Several newspapers commented on both the judgments, indicating delight and outrage as also their perceptions on the working of the justice and police systems. These cases, like any other case, assert the reality that one: victims of injustice have a system to fall back upon for relief and two: the accused get a fair trial before they are convicted. The administration of justice is in accordance with the law of the land and precedents that form the basis for challenging any departure from or distortion of the two. The press, on the other hand, is a watchdog that people look to for support. As a watchdog, the press is different from the courts. When an issue comes up for trial before the press, it has no written codes or precedents to go by in assessing the merits of an issue. Also, unlike the courts, media do not readily provide hearing to both sides. That changes the complexion of the hearing. Pending the last word of the Supreme Court on a possible appeal from the accused, one has to join the Indian Express in describing "the silence from 11, Ashoka Road" (BJP headquarters) over Friday�s verdict on the Best Bakery retrial case as deafening. The Express did not spare the Congress either. "To this day, the dismal failure of governments headed by the Congress to throw even one person into jail for those riots that killed some 3,000 Sikhs that fateful November is a blot that it can never erase," it said. M.J.Akbar commended the role of the media in achieving Friday�s denouement. He wrote, "Every Indian can declare with pride that he or she lives in a nation that has not only democracy, but something more: institutions of justice that deliver in matters of honour, truth, life and death. And thank God for a free media too." The media gave credit to the judiciary for rescuing the case from Gujarat courts. On several occasions, judiciary took notice of information in the media to suo motu set in motion the due process of law. While this media-judiciary interface is the crux of democracy, it is essential that media are not seen as influencing the course of justice or judiciary seen as taking cue from the media. "Still, it is a landmark judgment, considering that it generates optimism about the outcome of many similar cases and in a way restores some faith in the judiciary which was rudely shaken yesterday in the Jessica Lall�s case," said the Tribune. T.J.S. George of the New Indian Express wrote, "When the Jessica Lal murder case turned our criminal justice system into a farce, the Best Bakery case provided it with a triumphant vindication. Which means all is not lost despite the saboteurs in our midst." The two judgments of last week bring back memories, unless one is struck by amnesia, of one of similar cases the Tribune mentioned earlier. That is, the tragedy in Radhabai chawl in Mumbai on the night of January 7, 1993. Nine persons - six women and three men, of whom two were minors -- were locked in a room, doused with kerosene and then set on fire. Five of them died on the spot. One died later in hospital. The two minors and one girl survived after sustaining disfiguring burns. The Supreme Court freed all the 11 accused, setting aside a TADA court conviction. The court observed that the police had framed the 11 Muslims and "somehow tried to get them identified through witnesses who belonged to the community from which the people were burnt alive." Courts, of course, have their own criteria to convict or acquit accused, both in accordance with the spirit and letter of the law. This case provides remarkable evidence of media passivity. Of the Best Bakery case, the Tribune said, "But more needs to be done. There are others guilty of equally heinous crimes who are still roaming free. The law has to catch up with all of them if the shaken faith of the right-thinking people, particularly the minority community, is to be restored." True, the killers of Radhabai chawl are some of those roaming free. They are alive and kicking somewhere while the kith and kin of the deceased continue to nurse their unhealed wounds.. Somebody, other than the 11 persons convicted by the TADA court and later found to be innocent, must have done that heinous job on a January night in 1993. This means that the real culprits are at large. If a fair trial is a human rights issue that concerns every citizen equally, regardless of their political orientation, one might say fair deal eluded the survivors of those who perished in the Radhabai chawl. The Indian Express said, "For this newspaper, which doggedly reported on the tortuous course of the tragic Best Bakery case, the verdict is a vindication." But the Express overlooked one implication: that the newspaper had started probing the Bakery case on the assumption that there were discrepancies in the police investigation based on the acquittal of all the accused by Gujarat courts. Okay, why did it assume that everything about the Radhabai chawl case was honky-dory and therefore failed to pursue it as doggedly? Somebody must have set the chawl ablaze. Who are they? Did the media lose all interest when they came to know the faith of the victims? Will the killers escape both judicial and media oversight? These questions cry for answers. Under the law, there is no limitation for re-opening a criminal case. Will the media press for it? The Express and other newspapers that took the interest of a party to the case in Best Bakery can as doggedly work on tracing the culprits in the Radhabai chawl case. Shivraj Patil told the Rajya Sabha, "As the law exists today, no person should be tried twice in any case...Supreme Court has ordered reinvestigation in some cases and it has become a kind of law also for us. It can be followed," This means that it is possible for the police or any other state agency to reinvestigate the Radhabai case. To fend off charges of bias, media have a duty to use all their investigative talent to identify the killers. Victims are victims and need media support irrespective of who they are. Vir Sanghvi of Hindustan Times said, "I share your rage, your outrage and your determination that we must not let Jessica Lall's murder go unpunished. To allow that to happen would diminish us as a nation." Vir, if the Radhabai murderers go scot free, it will certainly diminish the image of the media beside that of the nation. Akbar, please note. Contact: dasukrishnamoorty at hotmail.com >From: PREETU NAIR >To: reader-list at sarai.net >Subject: [Reader-list] from Goa (Communal riots) >Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 01:11:10 -0800 (PST) > >RANE AND PARRIKAR ARE BOTH CRIMINALS' � Victims of >Sanvordem >(Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition >dated March 6,2005) > >When Godhra happened, Gujarat had a BJP government. >Goa is ruled by a party Muslims trusted blindly� till >they were blinded last Friday. > >Does anyone care to listen to the voice of the Muslims >in Sanvordem and Curchorem? This is their verdict. You >want to know why? Here's why. Nighar Agha was asked to >leave her rented house by her landlady cos she was >forced to by Hindu mobs. She ran away with her >4-year-old daughter with a heart problem. Seeing her >run, the mob snatched away the medicine bag of her >daughter. She could have died� running from the mob. >Noorjah Sheikh broke her back but managed to cover the >mouths of her children so that they didn't shout, >Sheikh Rafiq locked himself and his family, but the >mob came, broke his garage and damaged both his cars >and 2 of his shops. The Sheikh brothers screamed out >to the police to help when eight of their shops were >ransacked and looted. Not a single policeman came >forward. > >We looked for these victims in Sanvordem, Curchorem, >Margao and at the Margao railway station to present >voices that would have otherwise been numbed > >By Preetu Nair >preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com >MARGAO/SANVORDEM /CURCHOREM: It was the greatest test >of endurance for Nighar Agha last Friday. The images >of the riots will haunt her forever. Living alone in a >rented house at Sanvordem, Nigar has three little >kids. Her husband is in the Gulf and her four-year-old >daughter has a heart problem and is easily susceptible >to infection. > >"On that unfortunate day, my daughter got an eye >infection and fever. I was scared and worried about >her health. Though I wanted to take her to the >hospital, I couldn't and her condition worsened. In >the morning, our landlady, a Catholic, came to my >help. She took my daughter to the hospital. But when >she returned, she advised me to vacate the house as >people from the majority community in the area were >threatening to attack us," she recollects and pauses. > >Taking a deep breath, she again continues with the >horrors she underwent on Saturday afternoon. "Along >with some boys, who had taken shelter in my house, and >children, I walked to my brothers' house as no one was >ready to give us lift and it was impossible for my >brothers to enter Sanvordem. Four boys lifted my ill >daughter and we walked for nearly 6 km, when a mob >surrounded us and abused us. One man snatched the bag >containing my daughter's medicine and threw it in the >field. They beat two boys and said, "We will ensure >that you people are not able to raise your head for >atleast another 10 years". When I pleaded and cried, >they allowed us to go." > >57-year-old Noorjah Sheikh still squirms in pain. "We >were scared and helpless. When we heard that mobs were >attacking our homes, we armed ourselves with the >masalas and utensils. But when they started pelting >stones and shouting slogans we got scared. So I rushed >upstairs in the dark (they didn't switch on the light >that night) to collect some sticks but lost my balance >and hurt my back and neck. Though in pain, I didn't >scream, lest the mob heard my cry. I was scared for >the lives of the young children at home. I was really >scared and helpless," she reveals. She admits that it >is shocking that majority of people from the mob were >people whom they knew, if not by name, but atleast by >face. > >Revealing his tale of woes, Sheikh Rafiq from >Sanvordem reveals that he was at the mosque when he >got message that homes and shops of minority community >were being ransacked. So he rushed home to be with his >family of 10. "I locked the door from outside. We >switched off the lights and were too scared to even >breathe. Around 8 pm, we heard noises and a mob of >youngsters approaching our home with torch, shouting >"Jai Mahadev". They broke open the garage and >destroyed two cars, while I stood near my window as a >hapless and speechless spectator. We were so scared >that women held the mouth of our children, lest they >make any noise," he revealed. > >Questioning the role of police in the communal riot, >he said, "I called DIG Ujjwal Mishra for help. He >promised to send help, but then cut the line without >taking the address. The police never came. Late in the >night, we along with the women and children in our >neighborhood (around 20 persons) escaped in their >Maruti van to my brother's house in Margao." > >Sheikh Brothers, who own nearly 10 shops in Sanvordem >reveal that eight of their shops were completely >destroyed by the mob, homes attacked and vehicles >destroyed and burnt. "Everything happened before the >police and they stood their helpless as if unwilling >to help us. All pleas for help fell on deaf ears," >they added. > >Thankfully, an eye for an eye is not the motto of the >minority community, who allege that just as Nero >fiddled while Rome burned, in the same manner, Rane >was busy attending functions even as Curchorem and >Sanvordem was burning. "It is Congress government and >it was the ruling government's job to protect us. In >Congress raj if this is our fate, then what is the use >of having Rane as the CM? More than BJP and RSS, we >blame Rane for the communal tension," alleged Ussein >Gazi. > > * People tried contacting DIG Ujjwal Mishra on Friday >and Saturday for help. He promised help but never >delivered. >When they contacted CM Rane when mob was burning their >cars and attacking homes, he said everything is under >control. Later, he cut their calls abruptly. >All Congress MLAs and MP's had only one answer, we >have called DIG. > >* During a meeting at Margao, the minority community >leaders criticized Rane and asked Digambar Kamat (who >was present there) what he would do for them? He was >absolutely silent. >*********************** >WAITING TO CATCH THE TRAIN TO FREEDOM! > BY PREETU NAIR >Preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com >MARGAO STATION: In March 2002, Gujarat burnt as >bloodthirsty mobs attacked homes and killed innocent >people. In March 2005, Goa is burning. Hundreds of >people from the minority community are rendered >homeless and jobless. The politics of hate is slowly >threatening to erupt the fabric of a harmonious >society and robust democracy that Goans have always >been proud of. > >Scared that people who wrongly justified the burning >of vehicles, destruction of shops and homes, all owned >by the Minority community, by saying that armed people >came from Bhatkal and Hubli, would also harm them >without any rhyme or reason, they are leaving the >state, which was their home for long. > >At 3.25 pm, the Margao railway station is packed with >women in burkha, their children and men, all waiting >to board Jan Shatabdi express bound for Mangalore. >Somehow their scared and agonized looks were more >chilling than the event itself. They were scared to >talk and appeared withdrawn. There was shock and gloom >prevailing all over. > >Well, they can't be really blamed, after all their >homes were destroyed by the very people they knew. >They also never thought that the homes of friends and >neighbours would be shut for them during the riots due >to fear of a backlash. > >As violence flared up in Curchorem and Sanvordem and >politicians slowly made it an insider-outsider issue >(to quote Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar: Heavy >influx of migrants to the state was the cause of >creation of social tension and disharmony), it has >left a feeling of fear and mistrust. "We have been >living in Goa since last 20 years and had a small shop >at Curchorem. The mob dragged us out of the house and >burnt our house. They destroyed our shop. We came to >Goa to earn a living, not to spread communal >disharmony. It hurts that even after living here for >20 years, we still can't call Goa our home," said a >person who was boarding the train to go to his >hometown Bhatkal, who didn't wish to be named. > >Just as the train arrived at the platform at 3.32 pm, >they eagerly boarded the train. Once in the train, >they removed the burkha, breathed some fresh air and >smiled in relief as they set out on a new journey. > > > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >http://mail.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: From aman.malik at gmail.com Mon Mar 6 16:16:11 2006 From: aman.malik at gmail.com (Aman Malik) Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 16:16:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] SA journalist needs help Message-ID: <95be63560603060246k6e429eeahe30da14fa6d571ac@mail.gmail.com> Dear All, South Africa based journalist Kirvani Pillay wants to interview formwr Pakistan cricketer Imran Khan in connection with his house arrest. Please treat this communication URGENT and write to her directly if you are in any position to help her. Please contact her directly on her e-mail: krivani at lotusfm.co.za Thanks, Aman Malik -- "There is nothing more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things - because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new." "The Prince" Nicolo Machiavelli From s0454533 at sms.ed.ac.uk Tue Mar 7 13:05:31 2006 From: s0454533 at sms.ed.ac.uk (A Khanna) Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 07:35:31 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] sex workers march for rights: tomorrow, women's day in delhi Message-ID: <20060307073531.k509i2i3eo4gok4w@www.sms.ed.ac.uk> ONLY RIGHTS CAN STOP THE WRONGS SEX WORKERS MARCH FOR RIGHTS 8TH MARCH, 2006, New Delhi · PROTESTING THE CRIMINALISATION OF THEIR LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS UNDER THE IMMORAL TRAFFIC (PREVENTION) ACT, 1956 · OPPOSING THE CRIMINALISATION OF CLIENTS UNDER SECTION 5C OF THE IMMORAL TRAFFIC (PREVENTION) AMENDMENT BILL, 2005 · DEMANDING RESPECT, RECOGNITION AND RIGHTS FOR THEIR ROLE IN PREVENTING HIV AND AIDS · SEEKING INCLUSION AS ALLIES IN ANTI- TRAFFICKING EFFORTS · CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO REVIEW ITS ANTI-PROSTITUTION POLICY AND RECOGNISE SEX WORK AS WORK OVER 4,000 SEX WORKERS FROM 16 STATES ARE CONGREGATING IN DELHI ON 8TH MARCH, WOMEN'S DAY. JOIN US IN SOLIDARITY AT RAMLILA MAIDAN (GATE No.1 /VIP GATE) AT 11.00 A.M TO MARCH TOWARDS JANTAR MANTAR. National Network of Sex Workers Local Contact: Mitra: 9899189226 Kundu: 9899748078 Camp: Bharat Scouts & Guides, Nizammudin (Near Humanyun's Tomb) New Delhi From cawnpore at rediffmail.com Mon Mar 6 14:13:25 2006 From: cawnpore at rediffmail.com (Maitrey Bajpai) Date: 6 Mar 2006 08:43:25 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] "Cawnpore" Second Posting Message-ID: <20060306084325.5754.qmail@webmail50.rediffmail.com>   Hi! all, I have been issued permanent membership to the "late postings club". I will try to deny alligations in the next posting. A few clarifications first, this Maitrey Bajpai is "HE", and he is again extreamly sorry for being late on second posting. As for this post is concerned i have tried to dig into History of city of "Cawnpore". this exersise has helped me understand the relation of Mills with its city. 1. Existence Existence of Kanpur is a matter of controversy and will remain one for the future to solve. It’s interesting that no reference of Kanpur is found in the history, its two suburbs Bithoor and Jajmau can be found in history as far back as mythological periods. The foundation of today’s Kanpur was laid in 1773, when Nawab of Awadh gave land of 12 villages (Patkapur, Kursawan, Sisamau, Juhi, Nawabganj, Jajmau & Rawatpur) surrounding Old Kanpur (Kohna) to the East India Company for keeping the Army. All these villages have history of their own . BITHOOR: it’s believed that, just after creating the universe, Lord Brahma performed the Ashvamedh Yajna (Horse Sacrifice) at Bithoor. Another mythological site at Bithoor is the Valmiki Ashram, where the famous sage Valmiki is supposed to have written the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. According to this epic, queen Seeta, on being exiled by King Ramachandra of Ayodhya, spent her days in seclusion at the ashram bringing up her twin sons Lava and Kush. JAJMAU: It’s located on the eastern end of the city, considered to be the most ancient cities of the region. Excavations tend to prove that the site is very ancient indeed, Popular legends has it that the remains of an ancient fort belong to King Yayati of the Vedic age. It also houses temples of Buddhist period and Mosques of Mugal era. SISAMAU: history suggests that in 1120, Raja of Annual 'Govind Chandra' donated a village to a Brahmin names Sahul Sharma which came to be known as SASAIMAU and later changed to SISAMAU. PATKAPUR: Sisamau was divided, and out of which PATKAPUR got created ...("Patka" means division), it can be traced back to 1650. OLD KANPUR (the village): A strong belief is that Kanpur is related to Mahabharat era and there are two interesting tales supporting this belief, some believe that the name is derived from KARNAPUR and is associated with Karna, one of the characters of the Mahabharata. Other's claim that ear piercing of lord Krishna was done here. Experts like Dr Munishwar Nigam feel that it’s too far fetched to be true. In 1207 AD Raja Kanti Deo of Prayag who was attached to the throne of Kannauj established the village Kohna, which later came to be known as Kanpur. Books, Writers and Travel Historians of Mugal period ranging from 1024 to 1659 explain a great deal about region of Doab, its scenic beauty, about military operations carried out in the region and neighboring places like Jajmau and Bithoor, also places of Oudh province but remain silent on Kanpur. One of popular beliefs is, about the Sikhs guru "GURU TEGBHADUR (9th)". It’s said that in 1666 while going to Amritsar from Patna, on a request by a rich man he spent a night in his garden, this site is the famous gurudwara of chowk. Argument is, if it wasn’t a village or a place with population then why was the Rich man and his Garden there. Reference of "Kanpur" is in Abbas Sarwani's TARIKH-E-SHERSAHI about 1695, is doubted by the experts. They say this place was different place (KHANPUR) as the geographical and social description dose not match to our city. Mistake was made by "Prof Dawson" and "Henry Mires Elliot" while translating Sarwani's book from Persian to English because they were unaware of geographical locations of India. Another legend explains King of Sachendi "HINDU SINGH CHANDEL" (1668-1734), while going on NARWAL-JAJMAU route saw a beautiful piece of land, lay foundation of a village. This day was lord KRISHNA'S birthday (kanahiya aashthami), so the village got its name "Kanahiyapur". Lot of people preferred calling it Kanhapur, which later got abbreviated to Kanhpur. Legend relates to last decade of 17th century...i.e. from 1691 to 1699, exacted by experts as 1698. "CHATURESH" (1730) a poet from the court of Asothar’s king “Bhagwan Singh”, mentioned Gazipur and Kanhpur are distant at 30 Kos(60 miles) ...........it’s true even today. The village of Kanhpur was shown in the first map of Doab 1770 as Cawnpour by a small dot. History of which village should we consider as the existence of Kanpur, story of Lord Krishna or Karna’s tale, Sisamau’s development or Jajmau’s links with King Yayati, the story of Hindu Singh is also impressive. We don’t have enough proof to believe or disbelieve these tales, all these tales hold true in their own right. Mahabir Prasad Diwedi, Hindi literature laureate, about 1900 remarked "kanpur is yesterday's child", may be he was right, but it’s difficult to arrive on any conclusion, and the debate continues..... "We all want to push the date of our existent city as far back into history as we can", says Manoj Kapoor (Kanporium), "but since every piece of land is as old as the mother earth itself, the existence of individual pieces of land cannot form the date of existence of a city. That’s the only problem logic has", further he explains, "Individual history of Punjab and Sind must be very old but Pakistan's age is counted from the date of its inception.........i.e. 14 august 1947. In that sense Kanpur's age should not be counted from its villages, but from the date it was declared a district i.e. 24 March 1803. 2. The British Invasion Till the half of 18th century Kanpur remained a simple insignificant village. But, when, in 1765 British forces defeated Nawab "Suraj-u-Daula" near Jajmau........its fate changed. In the year 1773 Nawab of Awadh gave land of 12 villages (Patkapur, Kursawan, Sisamau, Juhi, Nawabganj, Jajmau & Rawatpur) nearing Kanhpur village (kohna) to East India Co. for establishment of Army camps. A small troop of army stayed here and with the treaty of Fayzabad (1775), British started establishing connections with the area. In 1776 Company opened its agency in the area. This was a calculated move by the British as they realized the strategic importance of Cawnpore's location. Situated in the region of Doab, between Ganga and Yamuna, Cawnpore was a major crossing point while traveling between Awadh and Bundelkhand or from Kannauj to Prayag. Trade could be easily carried on, from here, because of its location. European businessmen had by this time gradually started establishing themselves in Cawnpore. In order to ensure protection, to their lives and property, the `Awadh local forces’ were shifted to Kanpur from Bilgram in 1778, this move also made it easy to keep an eye over the developments of Awadh and regions of upper Doab. Army camped on the banks of Ganges. Villagers started connoting this area between Bithoor and Jajmau as "Campoo" as did Pratap Narain Mishr (1856-93) renowned Hindi poet. The area of Kanhpur village was called "Kohna" which was 2 miles from Campoo. In 1783 William Haj wrote that cantonment of a thousands of soilders is so big that soilders live in huts instead of tents. Cawnpore passed into British hands under the treaty of 1801 with Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh. This forms a turning point in the history of Cawnpore. Soon Cawnpore became an important center of military for British India and on........... 24 March 1803 "Cawnpore" (Kanpur) was declared a District. 3. Development The city of Cawnpore lies on the southern banks of Ganga, as trade in the early times was carrried on through rivers its significance emerged to British as they aquired it. Crowds were drawn towards the region from ancient times due to religious significance of Bithoor and from the period when Kannauj was the capital of northern india, before the Mugal invasion, Jajmau was a busy little area, as it was an important crossing point while travelling from Kannauj to Prayag. During the Mugal period, when capital base shifted to Agra it lost its glory for a short span of time, as trade and travel was carried through Yamuna. But it din't took long for the Mugal's to realise that it was also a major crossing point between Bundelkhand and Awadh and soon it became an important port of that era with a center for constructing and repairing boats. With the development of Awadh our region also gradually started developing. By coming in touch with the British in 1773, establishment of Co. agency in 1776 and establishment of military camp in 1778, Trade, which was carried on in the region from ages, got the much required boost. People from nearby places started coming here to sell their products (galla, kirana, clothes, shoes, and neel) to the army or for employment. It was a major military station by now and became a district in 1803. Trade in the region benifitted from this as it became a safe proposition for the Entreprenure's. With the growth in population and increase in volume of trade, responsibility for establishing a fair and effective administration and building sound infrastructure also grew. British developed these facilities with great attention. They created mechanisim for collection of taxes and settling disputes. For this purpose Courts, Offices and Jails were constructed. Collector, judge and magistrates along with other officers were appointed. Schools college's and technical institutes were built to preparing the future generation. For facilitating commercial activities Banks, Post & telegram offices and telephone exchange was established along with creating new markets from time to time. No region can grow economically untill it has to have a good transportation network. Bridges and Canal's were build, new roads like GT road were constructed, ancient Mugal road was renovated for the purpose. And in 1859 Railways gave the city a new dimension altogather. This infrastructure development laid the foundation of Cawnpore's industrial growth and transformed small peices of land into a city and then into a metropolitan. 4. Railway's Cawnpore's economic growth was hampered by the events of 1857 but after that is development was phenomenal and it was mainly due to Railways. In 1859 first steam engine of East Indian Railway shuttled between Allahabad and Cawnpore. This was the real BIG leap towards Cawnpore's industrial development. The Railway's which established their connection with the city were: East Indian Railway : In 1845 Mr R.M.Stephenson proposed to build a railway line from Calcutta to Delhi via Kanpur. Mr Stephenon had ample faith that a railwayline running parellel to Ganga and Yamuna would be very useful to trade and commerce of the Region, but authorities declined it. After repetitive request's in 1850 the Authorities agreed on construction of railwayline from Raniganj to Calcutta on a experimental basis. In in 1850 R.M.Stephenson started work on his ambitious project, 1854 First railway engine came to india, and on 15th august rail ran from Howra to Hoogli. By 1855 line was prepared till Raniganj & coal was sent to calcutta from there. It was a sucsess and Mr Stephenson was granted permission to build the complete project. Upper part of the project began from allahabad, but events of 1857 made the railway construction suffere losses of more than 40 lakh pound. Despite all this First engine steamed from Allahabd to Cawnpore on 3rd March 1859 and the whole project was completed in 1864. But due to no bridge on Yamuna of allahabad, direct connection was not possible from Delhi to Calcutta. The bridge was constructed in 1866. Awadh Rohailkhand Railways came to the city in 1867, but due to no bridge on Ganga line ended on the left side of the ganga. Ater the construction of the bridge in 1875, direct connection was possible. Great Indian Peninisulan Railway came to Juhi in 1886 , this establised our connection with industrial capital of india....Bombay. Bombay Baroda And Central Railways opned its line in 1892. Awadh & Tihiruth Railways (Old name: Bengal & North Western Railways) connected the city to upper Bihar. By establishment of Railways import and export the goods could be easily done. The area was also known as Cotton producing belt, cotton was exported from here but by river route it took a lot of time. During American Civil War demand of Indian cotton grew in the international markets, cotton produced by neighboring area's like (Bundelkhand) was sent to Calcutta for exports via Cawnpore railways. During this period lanes of the city were filled with cotton bales, and officers had to make special arangements for the purpose. In the year 1907 the Ganga canal was flatened to make a huge godwon from Collecterganj to Juhi. But till this time each Railway had a different station, in 1930 on 27march a new station building was built and a new ware house was created at juhi. Development of Railway gave a new dimension to the whole development process. It was only after this that the real Industrialisation kicked off. It connected Cawnpore with the top industrial cities like Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Ahemdabad, Karachi, Nagpur, Tatanagar and many of the Ports as well. East Indian Railways had its line into the mills also. Still its a big junction and many trains pass through it daily, without the establishment of Railway's it wouldnt have been possible for Kanpur to get Industrialised. 5. Industrialisation. The events of 1857 left the city in diplated condition and hammpered the progress of economic development. British lost their lives & business and moved out of the city, Indians also suffered from the events. But this setback could not contain the growth for long. With the support of infrastrural facilities like Postage, Roads, Canals and Railways the city got the required thrust, and it just started growing. There was establishment of Mills, Work Houses and Factories. Large numbers of people and families from the neighbouring states started pouring in, trade and population kept growing hand in hand at rapid pace. It brought prosperity to the city along with new challenges. To facilitate population and trade, proper market places and new roads etc. were constructed by the authorities. The Kanpur of today is a outcome of this era, which is remembered as the Golden Era of Cawnpore. 1857-1880 After 1857 the development of Cawnpore was even more phenomenal. Due to the events of 1857 Cawnpore became very important to the British & The Brithish Empire took the control from the East India Company. Inclusion of Awadh in the Empire (1856) was a major step towards growth, as Enterprenures, Merchants, Craftsmen, and Workers along with their families came to the city from Lucknow, and other neighbouring places, for business oppourtunities. Infrastructure development's before 1857 and city's location boosted the process of Industrial growth. Trade of various goods was carried in this region from ages and with the establishment of a Distillery(1786)for the Army and Indigo Factory(1803) by the British near the city, early signs of economic growth were evident. Though there was a increase in commercial activities, development of this level had it's limitations. The city was waiting for one big reason which would change it all and it did 1859, when the first steam engine of East Indian Railway shuttled between Allahabad and Cawnpore. This was a real BIG STEP towards Cawnpore's industrial development. Railway gave a whole new dimension to the development process. It connected Cawnpore with the top industrial cities like Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Ahemdabad, Karachi, Nagpur, Tatanagar and many of the Ports as well. Cotton from neighbouring places like Bundelkhand and Awadh was send to Calcutta for exports during the American Civil War. It also assured easy import of Raw material into the city and export of final produce from here. It also gave rise to Wholesale markets of the city which dealt in variety of goods. Soon new Warehouse, Godown and station building was constructed to facilitate the growth. Trade transport was never so easy and importance of Cawnpore never so high. Waves of industrilisation reached the city in 1859, just after it was linked by railway. Government Harness and Saddalery factory was estabilished in 1860 to supply leather material to the army. Elgin Mill was the first cotton mill of the city established in 1864. Muir mill (cotton) being established in1876, follwed by Cawnpore Woolen mill(1876) and Cooper Allen & Co. in 1880. 1880 to 1900 Boosted by the American Civil War, city witnessed a flood of mills especially in the Cotton industry. With the establishment of Cawnpore Cotton mills (Elgin No.2)1882, New Victoria Mill1883 the city had 5 mills in all. Apart from cotton, Leather industry was also finding its ground with Cooper Allen & Co 1880, Northwest Tanning Co, Cawnpore Tanning Co and Tanning Leather Works etc being established around this period. British Government established Ordnance Factory & Parachute Factory 1886, to supplement their defence requirements. Mr Gavin Sibald Jones is known as Father of Industrial Cawnpore for his contribution to the industrial scene of the city. He established two cotton mill, 1 woolen mill & 2 leather tannaries along with establishing a cycle company. Jones gave Kanpur's production an international edge. He along with Mr Hugh Maxwell, was one of the pillars of Cawnpore's Industrial development. Names like Sir John Burney Allens, Mr William Cooper, Sir Alexander MacRobert, (JK) Singhania Family, Japuria Family and Sir J.P.Srivastava are also worth mentioning. Contribution of Indian worker's and labourer's who adapted to the new technology and worked hard during the testing times is inevitable in the development process. All these people along with the traditional business & trading families were responsible for the industrialisation of Cawnpore. Infrastucture was also established to complment the growth. Post and Telegram Offices were opened, GT road and Ancient Mugal road was renovated. By 1879 district of Cawnpore had 29 post offices, in 1884 Cawnpore municipality came into existence and in the year 1891 Post Office, on request from the business class, had to open a small Magneto Exchange. 1900 to 1925 The process of Economic growth continued after 1900 as well. With Industrial & Infrastructural developments soon Cawnpore became one of the main centers of industrial revolution in India. In 1906 on the eve of Christmas city saw electricity for the First time. Swadeshi Cotton Mill 1911, Cocomy mills 1912. Hundreds of business units producing Soap, Flour, Hosiery & Chemicals were also established. The Period of First World War(1914-16) witnessed phenomenal growth. The War had opned new doors for development, with the demands of various products rising in the international markets the Business man cashed on the oppourtunity. After the First World War, Lala Kamlapat established a group of companies such as; J.K.Cotton Mills and J.K. Iron etc. under the banner of J.K. In the year 1920 British India Corporation (BIC) was formed with five companies. Cawnpore Textile Mills(1922) and Atherton west Mills (1923), The first re-rolling mill of India was established in 1928 by the Singh Enginnering Work. Lakshmi Ratan Cotton Mills were established in 1934. The Second World War gave fresh impetus to industrial complex. This was the time when Cawnpore was known as the Manchester of India. In 1925 an era in which British businessman established mills ended. The Second phase of industrialization During this era labour problems brought new angle to the industrialization. The Russian revolution(1917) had brought new light, affects of which were clearly evident on the city. Wave of Socialism and Communism were gaining ground. Uptill now labour struggle was not recognized and activities likewise were considered as unpatriotic. But labourer's had serious problems, which deserved attention. The Second phase of Industrial developments began from 1925, on one hand entreprenure were finding way's to maximise profits and on the other, thoughts like Humanity, Socialism and Independence were gaining ground. On 17th July 1920 after numereous request's "Kanpur Mazdoor Sabha" was registered. The Government of State in "Upper India Chamber of Commerce" required certain conditions to be fulfilled before recognition. Mr. Gavin Jones blamed that "unions are being led by people who are not workers themselves (eg. Ganesh shanler vidyarthi, Ganga sahai chaubey)" he said that "they are using this platform for achivement of their political purpose". 15 July 1920 Vidyaar Khan said "Mazdoor are so much in numbers that if they leave the city, the city will b veeran (empty)". It became mandatory for the political leaders to talk about the workers because of their sheer numbers. The period and circumstances also forced them to follow in footsteps of Gandhi who was mobilising the masses in the same fashion. The whole uprising aandolan was based on two issues. One was Britisher's v/s Indians & the other was Owner’s v/s Workers. This lead to numereous stikes on demands of good working conditions and increment in wages. Due to these strikes British lost their interest in Cawnpore, they started extracting profit as much as they could, which left no finace for mordernisation. They left the business to the disposal of Indian Businessman, who supported them for maximum benefits in minimun time. As a result in 1924-38 many Indians took control of the business & started rising. JK OIL, Cawnpore Chemicals, Swar Plastic, Heavy Chemicals & Machinery part factories were est. JK Hosiery, JK Jute, P Sugar Mills, Singh Engg, JK Cotton , Laxmiratan Cotton, JK Iron & Maheshwari Jute mill were established. The Freedom Struggle In 1942 Quit India Movement started, Govenment policies were exploitive and political leaders of all ideologies were being send to jail, except the Communist who were against the movement. As a result Unions and workers were taken over by Communist. This move hampered the unity amongst the workers as they got divided. Soon fragmentations on the basis of cast, creed, and region started forming and number of Unions started rising. The people coming in the city (refugees) played a vital role, the original concept of Quality was changed and business like transport was taken up by them. Practices like Black marketing, fraud, duplication of products, and exploitation for maximum benifts, all started in this period. On one hand it led to creation of an enviornment against commercialisation & British in particular on the other it boosted thoughts like Socialism and Communism. On 15th August 1947 India got its independence and so did the city of "Cawnpore", which was nurtured by the colonial rulers, came to its end and died only to reborn as "Kanpur". 6. Rise of Cotton Industry In Cawnpore Cotton was grown and spun in this region of northern India, since times imemorial. With Humid wheather, Long summers, Heavy seasonal rains and fertile tract of Doab, irrigated by rivers like Ganga and Yamuna, farmers of the region produced some of the finest cotton in the country. This cotton was spun by hundred's of "charkha's" in villages. Soon trade of cotton began flourishing in the area of Cawnpore (village Kanhpur) as it was situated on the banks of Ganga, which made movement of goods and people easily possible. Religious significance of Ganga & Bithoor also helped in growth of trade, as they had attracted people from far off places since ages. In those times every family had a spinning wheel and people engaged in the occupation of spinning cotton were grouped under a special cast known as "dhuniyian" or "bahena's". This spun cotton was used for making clothes and farming of Indigo developed parellel occupation of dyeing the cotton cloth. Significantly large portion of population was engaged in growing, spinning, dyeing and trading Cotton. >From the time it came under British influence the growth of cotton trade had stagnated, but the volume of trade was still big. Infact this was one of the reasons, amongst many others, which promted British to develope Cawnpore and by 1803 it was declared a district. As per records old cloth market of Generalganj was existent even before 1840. According to "Statical Report of District of Cawnpore" published in 1848 by District Magistrate Mr. Robert Montegomry, "main economic activities in the city were cotton trade and money lending, by this time city had almost 50 private banks". From 1801 to 1857 development of infrastructure was undertaken by the British and a social setup like collection of taxes etc was also established, due to which a city started being born out of villages. This development laid foundation for Cawnpore's bright industrial future which kicked off with the development of Railways in 1859. During American Civil War there was acute shortage of raw cotton in the international markets which resulted in increasing demand of Indian cotton. In this period cotton produced by neighbouring area's like (Bundelkhand etc.) was sent to Calcutta for exports via Cawnpore through railways. People say "lanes of the city were filled with cotton bales, and officers had to make special arangements for the purpose". British business man soon realised the economic advantage of the city. Factor's like Land, Labour, Capital, Raw material were easily available and British entreprenures were quick to combine them into production houses. Realising the oppourchunity a group of people came togather and formed Cawnpore Cotton Commitee in 1960, this organisation gave the city it's first ever cotton mill. It the year 1862 it began construction Elgin Mills, which was completed in 1864. This was a gigantic step towards industrial growth, which changed fortune of Cawnpore forever. Volume of trade in the city started increasing and by 1866 new market places like "Cooperganj" were established, which dealt in wholesale trade of cotton. Soon other British businessman started coming to the city. In 1869 a farmer from England Mr. Hugh Maxwell came to Cawnpore. He purchased Elgin Mill in 1771 and appointed Mr. Gavin Sibald Jones as its Manager. Under the control of Gavin Jones, Elgin Mill grew leaps and bounds. He left Elgin Mill in 1874 only to establish Muir Cotton Mills in the same year and Cawnpore Cotton Mills in 1876. He gave the city an industrial edge by improving quality of production & taking it to the international markets. Jones took great care of his workers, provided them with healty working conditions and constructed labour colonies for them. In the later years he also established leather and cycle companies. Regarded as one of pillars of industrial growth & for his contribution towards the city he is also known as "Father of Industrial Cawnpore". As per Governments records & statical reports, growth in trade between 1847-77 was several hundered percents. In the year 1875 goods worth 50 lakh pounds was exported from here and goods worth 34lakh pounds was imported into the city. With openinng of Cawnpore Cotton mills & New Victoria mills in 1882 & 1886 the total number of mills in the city reached 5. Cawnpore became one of the main centers of industrial revolution in the country. This growth countinued its momentum after twentith century (1900) as well. Mr. Harmison established Swadeshi Cotton Mills in 1911, at that time this was the biggest mill in India. The Period of First World War(1914-16) witnessed phenomenal growth. The War had opned new doors for development, with the demands of various products rising in the international markets the mills of Cawnpore started working round the clock. Cashing on the oppourtunity, Businessman of Cawnpore earned huge profits. After the First World War, Lala Kamlapat established J.K.Cotton Mills. In the year 1920 British India Corporation (BIC) was formed with five companies. Cawnpore Textile Mills(1922) and Atherton west Mills (1923) were also established. 7. In 1925 an era in which British businessman made mills ended The Social thing During this era labour problems brought new angle to the industrialization. Affects of Russian revolution(1917) were clearly evident on the city. Wave of Socialism and Communism had hit the city strongly. Untill now labour struggle was not recognized and activities likewise were considered as unpatriotic. But labourer's had serious problems, which deserved attention. The Second phase of Industrial developments began from 1925, on one hand entreprenure were finding way's to maximise profits and on the other, thoughts like Humanity, Socialism and Independence were gaining ground. On 17th July 1920 after numereous request's "Kanpur Mazdoor Sabha" was registered but the Government of State in "Upper India Chamber of Commerce" required certain conditions to be fulfilled before recognition. Mr. Gavin Jones blamed that "unions are being led by people who are not workers themselves (eg. Ganesh shanler vidyarthi, Ganga sahai chaubey)" he said that "they are using this platform for achiving their political goals". This was true to a extent, infact it had become mandatory for the them to talk about the workers because of their sheer numbers. On 15 July 1920 Vidyaar Khan said "The number of Mazdoor's is so huge that if they leave the city, the city will be veeran (empty)". Circumstances also forced them to follow in footsteps of Gandhi, who was mobilising masses of Ahemdabad in the same fashion. The whole uprising aandolan was presented by these leaders on two level's................. Britisher's v/s Indians.......... & ................Owner’s v/s Workers. Numereous stikes on demands of good working conditions, increment in wages and independence were staged. Due to these strikes Cawnpore started losing it's industrial charm & British lost their interest in the city. Some of them started pulling back their share of capital and sniffing the indian independence, the remaining also started extracting as much profit as they could. They drained the mills, and left the business to the disposal of Indian Businessman, who supported them for maximum benefits in minimun time. As a result in 1924-38 many Indians took control of the business & started rising. People like Sir J.P.srivastava, Japuria Group & JK group overtook the existing mills and established new one's like JK Cotton Manufacturing Ltd (1933) & Laxmiratan Cotton Mill (1934). But all this process left the mills with virtually no money for technical upgradation. By 1935 : 14 Cotton mills were in the city, with 455136 spindles & 8019 looms. On an average 30118 workers were working here. 19030 bales of Raw Cotton weighing 784 pounds were consumed everyday. 8. The Freedom Struggle In 1942 Quit India Movement started, Govenment policies were exploitive and political leaders of all ideologies were being send to jail, except the Communist who were against the movement. As a result Unions and workers were taken over by Communist. This move hampered the unity amongst the workers as they got divided. Soon fragmentations on the basis of cast, creed, and region started forming and number of Unions started rising. Workers also participated in the freedom struggle. Congress's swadeshi andolan also gave boost to the cotton industry and local consumer started depending on the mills for cotton "Dhoti's and Sarees". The events of Second World War also gave, the much required thrust to cotton industry of Cawnpore. During the war period demand for a lot of war products had increased, and entreprenures of the city cashed in on the oppourtunity. They earned huge profits by supplying the demands of war, and Mills were never more profitable. In 1943 city had 17 mills, 534500 spindles & 10000 looms with 44480 permanent workers working daily. These mills consumed 176982 'kandi's' of cotton everyday. 1947: 4TH ALL INDIA COTTON SUMMIT was held in kanpur, all 3 previous events were hosted by Bombay. Many aspects related to the growth of twxtile industry were discussed & delegates from all over the nation came here. The mills kept working but by now mainly indians owned the industries built by British. With getting Independence on 15th august 1947 the mill developed further. The people coming in the city (refugees) played a vital role, the original concept of Quality was changed and business like transport was taken up by them. Practices like Black marketing, fraud, duplication of products, and exploitation for maximum benifts, all started in this period. On one hand it led to creation of an enviornment against commercialisation & British in particular on the other it boosted thoughts like Socialism and Communism. 1948 Within a period of 7 months (september 1 to march 31) cotton Mills in Cawnpore consumed 131651 bales of cotton, which was only after Bombay and Ahemdabad, and no city in north india even came closer. In the whole country 1978995 bales were consumed (wheight of each bale was 400 pd). Total 585179 pound of foreign cotton was consumed in the country out of which 37806 was consumed by kanpur. According to a book "kanpur kaa itihaas" written by Narain prasad Arora & Laxmikant Tripathi in 1958 : city has 17 mills out of which 15 were in the main city, and Kanpur was a major center of cotton production in india. They wrote "The city has grown at a tremendeous pace in the last 10 years, consumption of cotton has increased by 62% since 1935 and 50% workers have increased by then. Most of the workers of cotton mills mainly come from the farming belt of nearer places, with permanent residents only accounting for 20% of total working population. 98.74% of these workers were males as females were mainly engaged in picking up "goodar". Out of the total population 70-80% of workers were Hindu. Labour colonies like macrobertganj colony made by cawnpore woolen mills & allen ganj another colony hold most of these workers. Government was also planning to construct more colonies by 1954." Writer's of the book predicted a healthy future for the Textile Industrry of the city, whose backbone were its Mills. They wrote "the future of textile industry looks good & so dose the future of the city". According to the book India at that moment was one of the largest Cotton manufactureres of the world. It was ranked 5th in number of cotton spindles and 3rd in consumption and labour. Out of the total cloth produced in the country, 16% was made in Kanpur. 9. The Mills: 1861 Kanpur cotton committee was formed 1862 Elgin Mill 1874 Muir mill 1876 Cawnpore woolen mills 1882 Cawnpore cotton mills (cooperganj) 1886 New Victoria. 1911 Swadesi cotton mills juhi 1912 Kanpur Cotton Mills co. KAKOMI (juhi) 1921 JK cotton spinning n weaving mills co.ltd (kalpi road ) 1921 Atherton west n co. ltd (gt road) 1933 JK cotton manufacturing ltd (kalpi road) 1934 Laxmiratan cotton mills co. ltd (kalpi road ) Kanpur textile ltd (cooperganj) 10. Population The city of Cawnpore came into existence from merging of several villages, each village had a small population and limited commercial movement. But since the time it came under British influence (1773), commercial activities in the area increased, rise in population was evident. East India Co. established a agency here in 1776,and british businessman started coming to the area. Later in 1778 forces from Bilgram were shifted here to protect their lives and business, and after that people from all classes started pouring in, Businessman came because it was safe and the city gauranteed easy connections to other business places , artisans, traders and labour started coming to sell their products to the army (eatables, shoes,clothing etc...) and in search of employment. The trade & population kept growing, a city started being born out of village and in 1803 Cawnpore was declared a district. No formal account of population exist till 1846, but first data regarding population of Cawnpore is found in Robert Montegomory's "Statical Report of Cawnpore" in 1847. According to the report population of Civilian area was 58821 and Cantonment was 49975 ( excluding europeans and soilders). As per UN Demographical year book Cawnpore was amongst the 300 hundered cities of the world having population more than 1 Lakh. Population Chart Of Cawnpore City Year Area population difference in decade percentage difference 1847 108796 1853 1,18,000 1865 113,601 (it was lower due to massive bloodshed of 1857) 1872 122770 1881 151444 1891 194048 23.00 1901 22.37 202797 4.5 1911 22.37 178557 24240 11.95 (many people died and left the city due to plauge) 1921 22.37 216436 37879 21.21 1931 36.68 243755 27319 12.62 1941 36.86 487324 243569 99.92 1947 879419 1951 92.34 705383 218059 44.75 1961 296.66 971062 265679 37.66 1971 298.98 1275242 304180 31.32 1981 298.98 1639064 363822 28.53 1991 298.98 2029889 390825 23.84 1991 2418447 2001 2772000 An interesting point is that such a massive increase in population was not supported by the high "Birth rate". Infact as per a Government report dated 31st March 1944 number of children born was '11691' and number of people died was '14379', which shows Death rate was more than Birth rate, so Growth rate of the city was negative. But the population kept exploding a alarming rate. This was majorly due to coming of large number of workers and pesants from nearby places and nehibouring states, after the begenning of industrial development in 1860, American civil war and the two World Wars, opened new doors for development and city saw opening of one mill after another. Incoming Labourers were cheap and proved to be a boon to the industry. An estimate made in 1912, (done for water, power and other municipal reasons), shows that after 50 years(till 1962) Kanpur's population will be 2.5 lakhs. But till 1947 it was 8,79,419 . Average rise in percentage increase of population in 1931-41 was almost 100% in the city. When compared to other cities of UP, this was huge, in Lucknow it was 41%, Agra 23.6%, Allahabad 41.4%, Banaras 28%. The data in the table shows that population doubled in 10 years (1931-41) and it took just five more years to double itself again (1941-47). Population density per sq mile in 1931 was 24754 i.e 39 person/ acre and in 1958 it was 71360 i.e 111.5 person/acre. Population : 1991 Census-24.18 Lakhs and as per 2001 Census:27.72 Lakhs (Male : 14.83 Lakhs, Female : 12.89 Lakhs) Queries, suggestions and comments are welcome. peace, Maitrey Bajpai 9820844311 9320844311 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060306/2ae0f143/attachment.html From aarti at sarai.net Tue Mar 7 14:08:15 2006 From: aarti at sarai.net (Aarti) Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 14:08:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] from Goa (Communal riots) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <440D4677.3050002@sarai.net> Dear Vedavati, Thanks for this article. Opens up an interesting set of questions about how and why the media chooses to respond to certain incidents of the miscarriage of justice and not others. And also the relationship between media reportage and judicial action. Something I find interesting is that even when certain incidents acquire a velocity, such as the Jessica lal muder case, which are then taken up by the media and the general public at large, this does not seem to translate into a larger public questioning of the state of the jucial system on the whole. So even in this case the question has been limited, if one could put it this way, to a discussion on the influence of money and muscle power on judicial process. But no one has raised the issue, for instance to cite one, of the gross injustice of the justice machinary wherein thousands of undertrial prisoners are routinely held in custody for years. Often the time spent waiting for a trial is much longer than the amount of time they would have had to spend if convicted. Warmly Aarti Vedavati Jogi wrote: > dear friends, > > how do you find this article given below (appeared n 'the hoot') > written by Dasu Krishnamoorty > > vedavati > ....................................................................... > > Two judgments coming in the span of a week became the talk of the > town. There was all-round applause for a Mumbai special court awarding > life sentence to nine of the 21 accused in what has come to be known > as the Best Bakery case. The other was a Delhi court acquitting all > the accused in the murder of Jessica Lal in a restaurant socialite > Bina Ramani owns. Both cases involved capricious depositions by > witnesses. In the Best Bakery, media and NGOs zealously took the > battle into the sanctum of the Supreme Court and persuaded the apex > court to transfer the trial to a special court outside Gujarat. The > media are now worked up about the freeing of all accused in the > Jessica case and one may assume that the curtain has not come down on > the case. It figured in Parliament on Monday. The Best Bakery case > also cannot be said to have ended since the accused can still appeal > to the Supreme Court, > > Several newspapers commented on both the judgments, indicating delight > and outrage as also their perceptions on the working of the justice > and police systems. These cases, like any other case, assert the > reality that one: victims of injustice have a system to fall back upon > for relief and two: the accused get a fair trial before they are > convicted. The administration of justice is in accordance with the law > of the land and precedents that form the basis for challenging any > departure from or distortion of the two. The press, on the other hand, > is a watchdog that people look to for support. As a watchdog, the > press is different from the courts. When an issue comes up for trial > before the press, it has no written codes or precedents to go by in > assessing the merits of an issue. Also, unlike the courts, media do > not readily provide hearing to both sides. That changes the complexion > of the hearing. > > Pending the last word of the Supreme Court on a possible appeal from > the accused, one has to join the Indian Express in describing "the > silence from 11, Ashoka Road" (BJP headquarters) over Friday’s verdict > on the Best Bakery retrial case as deafening. The Express did not > spare the Congress either. "To this day, the dismal failure of > governments headed by the Congress to throw even one person into jail > for those riots that killed some 3,000 Sikhs that fateful November is > a blot that it can never erase," it said. M.J.Akbar commended the role > of the media in achieving Friday’s denouement. He wrote, "Every Indian > can declare with pride that he or she lives in a nation that has not > only democracy, but something more: institutions of justice that > deliver in matters of honour, truth, life and death. And thank God for > a free media too." > > The media gave credit to the judiciary for rescuing the case from > Gujarat courts. On several occasions, judiciary took notice of > information in the media to suo motu set in motion the due process of > law. While this media-judiciary interface is the crux of democracy, it > is essential that media are not seen as influencing the course of > justice or judiciary seen as taking cue from the media. "Still, it is > a landmark judgment, considering that it generates optimism about the > outcome of many similar cases and in a way restores some faith in the > judiciary which was rudely shaken yesterday in the Jessica Lall’s > case," said the Tribune. T.J.S. George of the New Indian Express > wrote, "When the Jessica Lal murder case turned our criminal justice > system into a farce, the Best Bakery case provided it with a > triumphant vindication. Which means all is not lost despite the > saboteurs in our midst." > > The two judgments of last week bring back memories, unless one is > struck by amnesia, of one of similar cases the Tribune mentioned > earlier. That is, the tragedy in Radhabai chawl in Mumbai on the night > of January 7, 1993. Nine persons - six women and three men, of whom > two were minors -- were locked in a room, doused with kerosene and > then set on fire. Five of them died on the spot. One died later in > hospital. The two minors and one girl survived after sustaining > disfiguring burns. The Supreme Court freed all the 11 accused, setting > aside a TADA court conviction. The court observed that the police had > framed the 11 Muslims and "somehow tried to get them identified > through witnesses who belonged to the community from which the people > were burnt alive." Courts, of course, have their own criteria to > convict or acquit accused, both in accordance with the spirit and > letter of the law. This case provides remarkable evidence of media > passivity. > > Of the Best Bakery case, the Tribune said, "But more needs to be done. > There are others guilty of equally heinous crimes who are still > roaming free. The law has to catch up with all of them if the shaken > faith of the right-thinking people, particularly the minority > community, is to be restored." True, the killers of Radhabai chawl are > some of those roaming free. They are alive and kicking somewhere while > the kith and kin of the deceased continue to nurse their unhealed > wounds.. Somebody, other than the 11 persons convicted by the TADA > court and later found to be innocent, must have done that heinous job > on a January night in 1993. This means that the real culprits are at > large. If a fair trial is a human rights issue that concerns every > citizen equally, regardless of their political orientation, one might > say fair deal eluded the survivors of those who perished in the > Radhabai chawl. > > The Indian Express said, "For this newspaper, which doggedly reported > on the tortuous course of the tragic Best Bakery case, the verdict is > a vindication." But the Express overlooked one implication: that the > newspaper had started probing the Bakery case on the assumption that > there were discrepancies in the police investigation based on the > acquittal of all the accused by Gujarat courts. Okay, why did it > assume that everything about the Radhabai chawl case was honky-dory > and therefore failed to pursue it as doggedly? Somebody must have set > the chawl ablaze. Who are they? Did the media lose all interest when > they came to know the faith of the victims? Will the killers escape > both judicial and media oversight? These questions cry for answers. > Under the law, there is no limitation for re-opening a criminal case. > Will the media press for it? > > The Express and other newspapers that took the interest of a party to > the case in Best Bakery can as doggedly work on tracing the culprits > in the Radhabai chawl case. Shivraj Patil told the Rajya Sabha, "As > the law exists today, no person should be tried twice in any > case...Supreme Court has ordered reinvestigation in some cases and it > has become a kind of law also for us. It can be followed," This means > that it is possible for the police or any other state agency to > reinvestigate the Radhabai case. To fend off charges of bias, media > have a duty to use all their investigative talent to identify the > killers. Victims are victims and need media support irrespective of > who they are. > > Vir Sanghvi of Hindustan Times said, "I share your rage, your outrage > and your determination that we must not let Jessica Lall's murder go > unpunished. To allow that to happen would diminish us as a nation." > Vir, if the Radhabai murderers go scot free, it will certainly > diminish the image of the media beside that of the nation. Akbar, > please note. > > > > Contact: dasukrishnamoorty at hotmail.com > > > >> From: PREETU NAIR >> To: reader-list at sarai.net >> Subject: [Reader-list] from Goa (Communal riots) >> Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 01:11:10 -0800 (PST) >> >> RANE AND PARRIKAR ARE BOTH CRIMINALS' – Victims of >> Sanvordem >> (Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition >> dated March 6,2005) >> >> When Godhra happened, Gujarat had a BJP government. >> Goa is ruled by a party Muslims trusted blindly… till >> they were blinded last Friday. >> >> Does anyone care to listen to the voice of the Muslims >> in Sanvordem and Curchorem? This is their verdict. You >> want to know why? Here's why. Nighar Agha was asked to >> leave her rented house by her landlady cos she was >> forced to by Hindu mobs. She ran away with her >> 4-year-old daughter with a heart problem. Seeing her >> run, the mob snatched away the medicine bag of her >> daughter. She could have died… running from the mob. >> Noorjah Sheikh broke her back but managed to cover the >> mouths of her children so that they didn't shout, >> Sheikh Rafiq locked himself and his family, but the >> mob came, broke his garage and damaged both his cars >> and 2 of his shops. The Sheikh brothers screamed out >> to the police to help when eight of their shops were >> ransacked and looted. Not a single policeman came >> forward. >> >> We looked for these victims in Sanvordem, Curchorem, >> Margao and at the Margao railway station to present >> voices that would have otherwise been numbed >> >> By Preetu Nair >> preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com >> MARGAO/SANVORDEM /CURCHOREM: It was the greatest test >> of endurance for Nighar Agha last Friday. The images >> of the riots will haunt her forever. Living alone in a >> rented house at Sanvordem, Nigar has three little >> kids. Her husband is in the Gulf and her four-year-old >> daughter has a heart problem and is easily susceptible >> to infection. >> >> "On that unfortunate day, my daughter got an eye >> infection and fever. I was scared and worried about >> her health. Though I wanted to take her to the >> hospital, I couldn't and her condition worsened. In >> the morning, our landlady, a Catholic, came to my >> help. She took my daughter to the hospital. But when >> she returned, she advised me to vacate the house as >> people from the majority community in the area were >> threatening to attack us," she recollects and pauses. >> >> Taking a deep breath, she again continues with the >> horrors she underwent on Saturday afternoon. "Along >> with some boys, who had taken shelter in my house, and >> children, I walked to my brothers' house as no one was >> ready to give us lift and it was impossible for my >> brothers to enter Sanvordem. Four boys lifted my ill >> daughter and we walked for nearly 6 km, when a mob >> surrounded us and abused us. One man snatched the bag >> containing my daughter's medicine and threw it in the >> field. They beat two boys and said, "We will ensure >> that you people are not able to raise your head for >> atleast another 10 years". When I pleaded and cried, >> they allowed us to go." >> >> 57-year-old Noorjah Sheikh still squirms in pain. "We >> were scared and helpless. When we heard that mobs were >> attacking our homes, we armed ourselves with the >> masalas and utensils. But when they started pelting >> stones and shouting slogans we got scared. So I rushed >> upstairs in the dark (they didn't switch on the light >> that night) to collect some sticks but lost my balance >> and hurt my back and neck. Though in pain, I didn't >> scream, lest the mob heard my cry. I was scared for >> the lives of the young children at home. I was really >> scared and helpless," she reveals. She admits that it >> is shocking that majority of people from the mob were >> people whom they knew, if not by name, but atleast by >> face. >> >> Revealing his tale of woes, Sheikh Rafiq from >> Sanvordem reveals that he was at the mosque when he >> got message that homes and shops of minority community >> were being ransacked. So he rushed home to be with his >> family of 10. "I locked the door from outside. We >> switched off the lights and were too scared to even >> breathe. Around 8 pm, we heard noises and a mob of >> youngsters approaching our home with torch, shouting >> "Jai Mahadev". They broke open the garage and >> destroyed two cars, while I stood near my window as a >> hapless and speechless spectator. We were so scared >> that women held the mouth of our children, lest they >> make any noise," he revealed. >> >> Questioning the role of police in the communal riot, >> he said, "I called DIG Ujjwal Mishra for help. He >> promised to send help, but then cut the line without >> taking the address. The police never came. Late in the >> night, we along with the women and children in our >> neighborhood (around 20 persons) escaped in their >> Maruti van to my brother's house in Margao." >> >> Sheikh Brothers, who own nearly 10 shops in Sanvordem >> reveal that eight of their shops were completely >> destroyed by the mob, homes attacked and vehicles >> destroyed and burnt. "Everything happened before the >> police and they stood their helpless as if unwilling >> to help us. All pleas for help fell on deaf ears," >> they added. >> >> Thankfully, an eye for an eye is not the motto of the >> minority community, who allege that just as Nero >> fiddled while Rome burned, in the same manner, Rane >> was busy attending functions even as Curchorem and >> Sanvordem was burning. "It is Congress government and >> it was the ruling government's job to protect us. In >> Congress raj if this is our fate, then what is the use >> of having Rane as the CM? More than BJP and RSS, we >> blame Rane for the communal tension," alleged Ussein >> Gazi. >> >> * People tried contacting DIG Ujjwal Mishra on Friday >> and Saturday for help. He promised help but never >> delivered. >> When they contacted CM Rane when mob was burning their >> cars and attacking homes, he said everything is under >> control. Later, he cut their calls abruptly. >> All Congress MLAs and MP's had only one answer, we >> have called DIG. >> >> * During a meeting at Margao, the minority community >> leaders criticized Rane and asked Digambar Kamat (who >> was present there) what he would do for them? He was >> absolutely silent. >> *********************** >> WAITING TO CATCH THE TRAIN TO FREEDOM! >> BY PREETU NAIR >> Preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com >> MARGAO STATION: In March 2002, Gujarat burnt as >> bloodthirsty mobs attacked homes and killed innocent >> people. In March 2005, Goa is burning. Hundreds of >> people from the minority community are rendered >> homeless and jobless. The politics of hate is slowly >> threatening to erupt the fabric of a harmonious >> society and robust democracy that Goans have always >> been proud of. >> >> Scared that people who wrongly justified the burning >> of vehicles, destruction of shops and homes, all owned >> by the Minority community, by saying that armed people >> came from Bhatkal and Hubli, would also harm them >> without any rhyme or reason, they are leaving the >> state, which was their home for long. >> >> At 3.25 pm, the Margao railway station is packed with >> women in burkha, their children and men, all waiting >> to board Jan Shatabdi express bound for Mangalore. >> Somehow their scared and agonized looks were more >> chilling than the event itself. They were scared to >> talk and appeared withdrawn. There was shock and gloom >> prevailing all over. >> >> Well, they can't be really blamed, after all their >> homes were destroyed by the very people they knew. >> They also never thought that the homes of friends and >> neighbours would be shut for them during the riots due >> to fear of a backlash. >> >> As violence flared up in Curchorem and Sanvordem and >> politicians slowly made it an insider-outsider issue >> (to quote Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar: Heavy >> influx of migrants to the state was the cause of >> creation of social tension and disharmony), it has >> left a feeling of fear and mistrust. "We have been >> living in Goa since last 20 years and had a small shop >> at Curchorem. The mob dragged us out of the house and >> burnt our house. They destroyed our shop. We came to >> Goa to earn a living, not to spread communal >> disharmony. It hurts that even after living here for >> 20 years, we still can't call Goa our home," said a >> person who was boarding the train to go to his >> hometown Bhatkal, who didn't wish to be named. >> >> Just as the train arrived at the platform at 3.32 pm, >> they eagerly boarded the train. Once in the train, >> they removed the burkha, breathed some fresh air and >> smiled in relief as they set out on a new journey. >> >> >> >> >> __________________________________________________ >> Do You Yahoo!? >> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >> http://mail.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: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 cawnpore at rediffmail.com Mon Mar 6 14:20:57 2006 From: cawnpore at rediffmail.com (Maitrey Bajpai) Date: 6 Mar 2006 08:50:57 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] appologies to Mr Rehan Chaudhari Message-ID: <20060306085057.21649.qmail@webmail9.rediffmail.com>   Mr Chaudhari, I am extreamly sorry for have taken almost a month to reply, but first a clarification, this Maitrey Bajpai is a "HE", and he is really sorry. As for your question, yes kanpur still is a Leather Hub, but its mainly into leather tanning, shoe production is majorly located in Agra. This leather business grew because fall of the Textile Mills. Kanpur along with bombay and Ahemdabad was one of the largest manufacturers of mill cloth in the country, but now things have changed. I am thankful to u for showing interest in my project. Looking for Your suggestions and queries. peace, Maitrey Bajpai 9820844311 9320844311 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060306/5a252e4b/attachment.html From gvallee at ex-centris.com Mon Mar 6 21:21:57 2006 From: gvallee at ex-centris.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Guylaine_Vall=E9e?=) Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 10:51:57 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] News from the Daniel Langlois Foundation Message-ID: <641A525B0A2A2540B1DD0A3DE660241C028294DC@exchange.terra-incognita.net> Online resource: The Centre for Research and Documentation (CR+D) database The CR+D database is an important electronic digital media arts research tool. A repository for documentation, international projects of the Daniel Langlois Foundation and various CR+D techwatch and research activities, the database contains extensive information on the history, works and practices associated with the media, electronic and digital arts: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?Url=CRD/search.xml The following are a few examples of database usage: A search conducted in the EVENT module, for example, allows a list of audio art events to be produced. http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?Url=XML/eve_liste_xml.php?Sujet=t000032~Art+audio Each entry on the list of the more than 100 events displayed provides access to a data block on the particular event and allows you to research a participant, exhibited work or document associated with the event. For example, go to the data block on the BitStreams exhibition presented at the Whitney Museum in 2001: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumEnregEve=e00003026 The DOCUMENT module allows you to search for resources in both the CR+D collection and on the Web. For example, a search on the Pockets Full of Memories project by George Legrady produces a list of documents available at the CR+D, on the DLF Web site and elsewhere on the Internet: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?Url=XML/doc_liste_xml.php?NumProSujet=pr0000060~Pockets+Full+of+Memories Researchers interested in a particular artist can access a data block via the INDIVIDUAL module, which displays all items related to the artist in question. The data block on Jim Campbell, for example, contains links to 260 documents on the artist, 21 documents by the artist, 61 works by the artist, and 105 events in which the artist participated: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumEnregIco=i00000756 Clicking on the link to the artist's 61 works leads you to a list of these works. Clicking on the title of a work produces a data block on that work, which includes information on accessible images or video: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumEnregOeu=o00000045 Database user guide: A user guide is also available to help you become familiar with the many database functions: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumPage=530 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060306/b6f03297/attachment.html From aarti at sarai.net Mon Mar 6 15:54:46 2006 From: aarti at sarai.net (Aarti) Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2006 15:54:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Talk: Lost Histories of Law, Capitalism and Colonialism in India's Present Message-ID: <440C0DEE.4030603@sarai.net> *Neoliberalism and the Good Colonial Subject: * *Lost Histories of Law, Capitalism and Colonialism in **India**'s* *Present*** Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Time: 6:30 PM Venue: NGMA auditorium, second floor, Opposite the museum, M.G.Road, Mumbai Popular discourse today reiterates ubiquitously that the India's rise as global capitalist powerhouse has much to do with its colonial history, and specifically, with the implementation of the rule of law and contract in the 19th century. Drawing from a forthcoming book, Hedging Bets, which charts the history of law, capitalism and market governance in colonial India, this lecture will address what we forget when we remember Indian capitalism as seamless transition into modernity. /Dr. Ritu Birla is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, flagship St. George campus. She holds degrees in History from the //University// of //Cambridge// and //Columbia// //University//. Her research and writing addresses Modern South Asian history; history of law and capitalism; postcolonial studies and historiography; and political and feminist theory. Her forthcoming book is entitled /Hedging Bets: Law, Market Ethics, and the Staging of Capital in Late Colonial India/ (Duke University Press). / PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 Email:: pukar at pukar.org.in Website:: www.pukar.org.in _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From dak at sarai.net Tue Mar 7 13:13:18 2006 From: dak at sarai.net (The Sarai Programme) Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 13:13:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Open Mic/Open Screen Message-ID: <440D3996.70307@sarai.net> =============================================== Open Mic/Open Screen: An Evening of Mixed Forms =============================================== **Open Mic/Open SCreen: An Evening of Experimental Video, Film, Poetry, Prose, Spoken Word, Photographs, Audio & Sonic Work and Performance** 6:00 P.M., Friday, 10 March 2006 Sarai-CSDS, 29 Rajpur Road, Civil Lines, (opp. transport authority), Delhi -110054 For details, contact: aarti at sarai.net At the last Open Screen/Open Mic on the 31st of January at Sarai, about 30 people came together to listen, watch and experience mixed media forms over a period of about three hours. We wish to continue these sessions as a way for people working across a diversity of forms to come and share their work in an open, fun and relaxed context. We like the dynamic that is produced when all kinds of forms are brought together in the same space, a feast with many dishes to choose from, so to speak. The next Open Screen/Open Mic is on the 10th of March. Perhaps you might want to transfer some older footage onto DVD/VCD format, or forage through photographs and select some you would like to share, or choose a piece to read/perform aloud. Everyone gets upto 10 minutes to screen/play video/audio works, and read/perform text based work. You can share video, audio, poetry, spoken word, a short prose piece, a performance, singly or in groups, in any language (though do be prepared to translate for those uninitiated) The screening/performance is decided on a first-come-first-serve basis. Film, Video, Animation and Audio pieces should be between 1-10 minutes long, and on DVD/VCD format only. Alternatively you can also pipe from a laptop. You can share a complete work, parts of a work, a work in progress, even stills, in B/W and/or colour. Do come, tell your friends and share an evening with us! Works Screened/Performed last time included: *Jannat Ki Rail/The Train to Heaven* Film by Yousuf Saeed *Bhojpuri Songs from the 60s* Curation by Irfan *Untitled* Photo-essay by Anand V. Taneja *Om* Poetry-Performance by Harlow *At The Midnight Hour* Film by Samit Sen *Summer Flowers* Video project by Hansa, Minu, Anita and Gissy *Green House* Film by htc *Gurgaon Girraffe* Video Loop by Ruchir Joshi *Preface to a Ghost Story* Raqs Media Collective *Location* Video by Sara Kolster *Dancing Aloud* Film by Sandhya Kumar **Tea Ceremony Likhna TV and Time The Mobile * *Animations by the Cybermohalla Ensemble *Tamasha* Image/Sound work by the Cybermohalla Ensemble *The Zoo* Sound/Text work by the Cybermohalla Ensemble *Here *and* Untitled* Films by Priya Sen *Mongrel Cities* Video Project by Iram Ghufran, Taha Mehmood, Anand V. Taneja, Aarti Sethi +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Mar 7 16:02:08 2006 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 14:32:08 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] Announcing Change Looms Award 2006 Message-ID: <62832.202.88.213.38.1141727528.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Pravah and Ashoka: Innovators for the Public are calling for applications for the ‘CHANGE LOOMS AWARD’. Change Looms recognizes the exceptional achievements of young people who are actively promoting social change in society. It provides a cash award of Rs. 20000, acknowledgement at a public event, in-depth capacity building and mentoring from leading social entrepreneurs across the country. Apart from the award, outstanding projects are also eligible for a further grant of Rs. 40,000/-. Last year there were more than 60 youth applicants from around the country and 10 were invited to a week-long development centre in Delhi. The three initiatives receiving the inaugural Award were: § Jivan Dan, launched by a young person in Assam to promote adavasi land liberalization and economic empowerment § School-based Intervention for Preventing and Addressing Child Sexual Abuse (SIPACSA), a team of three youth working in the school districts of Chennai § Pukaar, two former street youth providing innovative services to street youth in Mumbai This year up to 15 Awards will be given. We are looking for young people between the ages of 17-27 years who have launched on-going social ventures in operation for at least 6 months. These youth projects must be independent from existing organizations. Both individuals and teams may apply. If you know of any young person or a group of young people who are currently working on exciting social change endeavours, please encourage them to apply for the Award. An application form is attached and also available on www.younginfluencers.com. Applications will be received through March 15, 2006. For more information about the Change Looms Award, please call or write to me at Ashoka (dolon at dishnetdsl.net. 011-2619-0969). We are looking forward to receiving many exciting and inspiring applications from young people in your area! Thank you for your support, Regards Dolon Sen Ashoka:Innovators for the Public The Change Looms Award is supported by The Youth and Civil Society Initiative of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust Pravah is an Ashoka Fellow's organisation based in New Delhi Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From rahulpandita at yahoo.com Tue Mar 7 18:43:13 2006 From: rahulpandita at yahoo.com (rahul pandita) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 13:13:13 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Pandey Ji's Diode Message-ID: <20060307131313.60004.qmail@web31711.mail.mud.yahoo.com> The Bus Stop is no longer there. And neither is the huge billboard behind it. The flyover has devoured them. Delhi is experiencing modernisation. Everything needs to shine. With spit and polish of ambition. There is no time to value emotions. Or to preserve monuments of despair. Of hopelessness. Like the one, you could see near the Okhla vegetable market. On the yellow signboard of that Bus Stop. Before the flyover came up. While crossing the Nehru Place Bus terminus, braving the ammonia emanating from urine on its crumbling walls, you passed that Bus Stop. You could have ignored that, but the shining Plasma Televisions advertised on the billboard, towering over it, caught your attention. And then your vision slipped on to those lines scribbled on the forehead of that bus stand. In black grease, they represented the fate lines of a person. The lines were in Hindi. They read: Sab kucch adhura reh gaya Pandey Ji. Everything has been left incomplete Pandey Ji. For six months, I read these lines almost daily, while crossing Okhla market in a bus. To me, these lines signified nothing but absolute loneliness. For these six months, I imagined this person. But he remained faceless. Till one evening. A friend called me over to a pub. My friend was very fond of quoting Kafka after a couple of drinks. After he had done that, he rose all of a sudden and said: Let us go. I asked: Where. He didn’t tell me. I didn’t ask further and silently accompanied him. After some time we reached Ber Sarai. Ber Sarai is a small world behind Delhi’s Indian Institute of Technology. You have aeroplanes running over your head every now and then. Ber Sarai falls in the city’s air corridor. And below, young boys from the remotest areas of India prepare for the Civil Services. Narrow lanes, a lot of STD booths and Dhabas with dirty tables, which remain open the entire night. And boys, mostly skinny, wearing shabby shorts over vests, smoking a beedi, walk like ghosts in these lanes. Walking through a narrow lane, while I followed him, my friend stopped in front of a small house. The gate was open and the door of the front room was half closed. My friend called from outside: Ramakant. There was no response for few seconds and then someone shouted back from inside: He is not here. He has gone to eat his food. I know where he eats, my friend said and I followed him again. At the end of the road, he stopped in front of a Dhaba. His eyes scanned the place and then he smiled. My friend had spotted Ramakant. They shook hands – my friend and Ramakant. And then I was introduced to him: This is my old friend Ramakant Pandey. Ramakant was not eating food. He was smoking a beedi. He was alone. He ordered tea for us. They spoke for some time, while I looked at the other tables. Boys talked animatedly. Some of them ate rice with their hands and some were drinking tea along with patties. After tea, we rose to leave. As he was approaching the cash counter, Ramakant spoke to the owner, a middle-aged man with a pot belly. Put this in my account, he said. The owner was prepared to hit back. No more on credit, you must pay. My friend intervened. How much, he asked the owner. Four hundred seventy rupees. He handed over a five hundred rupee note. For the remaining thirty, give him a pack of cigarettes. During the entire exercise, Ramakant kept on looking at the owner with his anger-filled eyes. He almost snatched the pack of cigarettes from his hands. We shook hands again. After me, he shook hands with my friend and whispered: Thank you. My friend smiled. He kept his hand on Ramakant’s shoulder and then we turned back. In the auto, on our way back, my friend told me Ramakant Pandey’s story. Of his Gold medal. And of his unrequited love. Part 2: The students of Regional Engineering College, Warangal will always remember that statement. One sentence, spoken by Ramakant Pandey, while accepting the Gold Medal for topping in the first year of the Engineering course. Electronics stream. After he had been awarded the medal, Ramakant stood in front of the mike. He did not speak for few seconds and then uttered that historical line: Life is a Diode. Apart from Electronics, Ramakant had only one passion. To twirl his moustaches and stare at them for hours in front of the mirror. Ramakant was from Allahabad, where the legendary revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad had shot himself in a Park, after being surrounded by the British Police. As a young child, Ramakant had seen a photograph of Azad. With the sacred thread running over his shoulders, Azad could be seen playing with his moustaches in that photograph. Like a tiger plays with its cubs, without looking at them. That vision stayed with Ramakant and resulted in the growth over his upper lip. He was fondly addressed as ‘Pandey Ji’ by his classmates. Pandey Ji would get up religiously early in the morning and after a bath with cold water, he would light incense sticks in front of Azad’s photograph. It had been gifted to him by an uncle, who worked with the National Archives. It was a gearless scooter that changed the gears of Pandey Ji’s life. The sky was clear that December morning and cold winds made people shiver. The previous night, Naxalites had blown up a railway track. Sirens of Police Vans echoed in the dry air. Pandey Ji’s hair came on his face with the wind, but he was unaware of it. Some cream from the morning glass of milk had stuck on his moustache. He held a bunch of books under his left arm. Pandey Ji walked alone towards the main entrance of the college, looking for a classmate with whom he could discuss the Maximum Power Transfer theorem. As he prepared to cross the metallic road, something hit him from behind. Pandey Ji fell down and his books escaped from his grip. He got up and was about to hurl abuses, when he turned back. A girl was lifting her scooter. Mysterious are the ways of love. The sight of that girl who wore a white shirt over sky blue Jeans hit Pandey Ji like a Meteor. Peace became extinct like a Dinosaur. A shudder rose through his spine long after the girl was gone and Pandey Ji remained transfixed at the same spot. His roommate’s friend finally picked up Pandey Ji’s books and woke him up from his trance. By next morning, the news had spread like wild fire. Pandey Ji was in love. For the first time in life, he had fallen for someone. Informers sent to find the antecedents of the girl came back with information. The Girl’s name was Priya and she was from Delhi; her father a Garment Exporter. Priya, Pandey Ji was told, was a student of Computer Engineering. It was decided that a letter be sent to her. After he had forced everyone out of his room, Pandey Ji lay down on his bed. His heart was beating fast. There were butterflies in his stomach. His appetite was gone. He took out a fancy letter pad, which he had brought from the local market and began to write: ‘ Dear Priya, I don’t know what has happened to me. In the night, when I reach my room, I cannot sleep. Your dreams come. Then I take my pillow and hold it. I think of it as you.’ This letter was sent to Priya, through her classmate. But she did not approve of the proposed relationship. Pandey Ji’s love went unreciprocated. After few days, he sent another letter. And this time, Priya replied. She had scribbled few lines on a page torn from her note book: Leave me alone, you Idiot. Pandey Ji’s friends insisted that he personally talk to the girl, but Pandey Ji would not relent. He began to lock himself in his room, staring at himself in the mirror for hours. The winter passed away. Wild flowers bloomed in the spring and then began to wither away with the onset of summer. It was the time for final examinations. The entire campus was abuzz with activity. Notes were exchanged and the night canteen did a roaring business. Boys, wearing just underwear, locked themselves in their rooms. Smoking beedi and drinking endless cups of oversweet tea, they went through their notes, solving mathematical equations. Girls also disappeared in their rooms. On the first day of the exams, students began to fill their answer sheets. In one corner, towards the window side, Pandey Ji sat on his seat, with a ballpoint pen in his hand. He wrote nothing. Last year, by this time, he had filled his answer sheets and had asked for continuation sheets as well. But now, no theorem flashed in his mind. After two months, the results were pinned on the notice board. Many cries filled the air. All of them came from those, who had seen Ramakant Pandey’s results. He had failed in all subjects. His friends looked out for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. In the night there was some commotion outside the ladies hostel. Apparently a drunk Pandey Ji had tried to barge into the hostel, hurling abuses at Priya and was caught by the Guards. Later, he was summoned by the Principal and was threatened of suspension if he ever repeated the act. After this incident, Pandey Ji became quiet. He would not talk to anybody and could be barely seen attending the classes or have his meals in the hostel mess. Dark circles appeared around his eyes and he grew fat. Chandrashekhar Azad lost one of his disciples. Finally in 1996, Pandey Ji managed to complete his engineering course after seven years. He had failed thrice. Then he came to Delhi. In Delhi, Pandey Ji decided that he would now prepare for the civil services. With this dream, Pandey Ji rented a room in Ber Sarai. Where aeroplanes flew over your head, every now and then. But call it his bad luck or his destiny, Pandey Ji could not pass any of these. Then he heard of the IT revolution – the way young Indian software professionals made it big in the Silicon Valley. In no time, he enrolled himself in one of the software training institutes and would often visit some of his ‘successful friends’ who had carved out a niche for themselves in the software industry. Early in the morning, Pandey Ji would travel in a bus to the institute and spend rest of the day, brooding over Oracle and C++. Meanwhile, he applied for positions in various organisations and even attempted to walk in during various walk-in interviews. But nothing happened. He did not get a job. Frustrated after receiving answers like ‘We will get back to you’, Pandey Ji went into a bar one evening. It was evening and as the sun began to set, dust storms rose and the clouds turned grey. By the time Pandey Ji had settled in the bar, it started pouring heavily. He ordered large Rum and time slipped away. People came and went away, but Pandey Ji remained seated as empty glasses piled up on his table. It was in the bar towards the night, when suddenly someone called ‘Priya’ and Pandey Ji turned around. A family was sitting for dinner. In a heavy Sari, Priya, the love of his life, was turning her eyes over the menu. He got up, struggling to support himself on his feet. He walked towards her. ‘A sweet corn soup...’ she was about to complete it, when Pandey Ji held her wrist. The man sitting opposite Priya, probably her husband, rose and punched him on his face. He landed on the floor with a thud. His head banged against a table. A bone china plate kept on it crashed into pieces. The Guards rushed in, caught him and threw him out. Pandey Ji was drenched in rain. He could not see anything. He boarded a bus and got down at the last bus stop. He had reached the Nehru Place Bus terminal. He lay there for sometime, shivering under a tin roof. When the rain stopped, it was already night. The traffic on the road outside the terminus had lessened to a large extent. He took the road towards the Kalka Ji temple. He was hungry and ate some morsels of food outside the temple, folding his hands again and again in uncertain reverence. Pandey Ji touched his nose and saw blood oozing from it. He thought of himself. What had happened to him? He tried to see himself in a poodle of water. Rugged hair. Bloodshot eyes. Torn lips. And a bleeding nose. He smiled. ‘Life is a Diode’, he muttered to himself. He looked at the bus stop. There was a box of grease there. He dipped his finger in it. He wrote on the yellow board, awash with rain: Sab kucch adhura reh gaya Pandey Ji. Everything has been left incomplete Pandey Ji. Pandey Ji decided that Delhi was just not meant for him. He went back to Allahabad, where he started living in the Ashram of a holy man. One of the Sadhu’s more enterprising Bhakta, who ran a computer learning institute in the city in the Civil Lines area, recognised Pandey Ji’s capabilities and employed him. Pandey Ji, it has been learnt, taught students there for six months. One of Pandey Ji’s successful batch mates tells us that he is back in Delhi now; teaching Computer engineering architecture to a bunch of students in a computer institute. By the time, this story was written, Pandey Ji had written a mail to his friend, telling him about a job opportunity that existed in a reputed computer organisation, that he could clench if he managed to show some technical projects to them. Below the mail, as a footnote, he had written: Life is a Diode. Rahul Pandita www.sanitysucks.blogspot.com Mobile: 9818088664 ___________________________________________________________ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com From crd at fondation-langlois.org Tue Mar 7 21:31:13 2006 From: crd at fondation-langlois.org (CRD) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 11:01:13 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] News from the Daniel Langlois Foundation Message-ID: <641A525B0A2A2540B1DD0A3DE660241C028294DF@exchange.terra-incognita.net> Online resource: The Centre for Research and Documentation (CR+D) database The CR+D database is an important electronic digital media arts research tool. A repository for documentation, international projects of the Daniel Langlois Foundation and various CR+D techwatch and research activities, the database contains extensive information on the history, works and practices associated with the media, electronic and digital arts: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?Url=CRD/search.xml The following are a few examples of database usage: A search conducted in the EVENT module, for example, allows a list of audio art events to be produced. http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?Url=XML/eve_liste_xml.php?Sujet=t000032~Art+audio Each entry on the list of the more than 100 events displayed provides access to a data block on the particular event and allows you to research a participant, exhibited work or document associated with the event. For example, go to the data block on the BitStreams exhibition presented at the Whitney Museum in 2001: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumEnregEve=e00003026 The DOCUMENT module allows you to search for resources in both the CR+D collection and on the Web. For example, a search on the Pockets Full of Memories project by George Legrady produces a list of documents available at the CR+D, on the DLF Web site and elsewhere on the Internet: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?Url=XML/doc_liste_xml.php?NumProSujet=pr0000060~Pockets+Full+of+Memories Researchers interested in a particular artist can access a data block via the INDIVIDUAL module, which displays all items related to the artist in question. The data block on Jim Campbell, for example, contains links to 260 documents on the artist, 21 documents by the artist, 61 works by the artist, and 105 events in which the artist participated: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumEnregIco=i00000756 Clicking on the link to the artist's 61 works leads you to a list of these works. Clicking on the title of a work produces a data block on that work, which includes information on accessible images or video: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumEnregOeu=o00000045 Database user guide: A user guide is also available to help you become familiar with the many database functions: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumPage=530 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060307/14bc8ab6/attachment.html From futhamukka2002 at hotmail.com Tue Mar 7 16:29:59 2006 From: futhamukka2002 at hotmail.com (Jack Vening) Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 21:59:59 +1100 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060307/00acf517/attachment.html From linkarte at yahoo.com Tue Mar 7 18:18:58 2006 From: linkarte at yahoo.com (anna trefoni) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 13:48:58 +0100 (CET) Subject: [Reader-list] call for entries gallery2006 Message-ID: <20060307124858.85142.qmail@web26510.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> call for entries gallery2006 online This project born from an idea of a group of web-workers and a cultural no-profit association that operate between Turin, Milan and Venice promoting international art. The intention is to give a different way of reality interpretation in our IT society trought art in his main sense of espression. Every art worker can partecipate no age or nationality restriction. All support and media are allowed, are accepted photo, paper,article, short poems, flash and graphic work or websites. In particoular we are looking for web project!! Send pictures of your work with a description and a short bio to linkarte at yahoo.com website http://www.bestonweb.net/wett.htm ___________________________________ Yahoo! Mail: gratis 1GB per i messaggi e allegati da 10MB http://mail.yahoo.it From preetunair at yahoo.com Wed Mar 8 11:42:37 2006 From: preetunair at yahoo.com (PREETU NAIR) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 22:12:37 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] women's day goa Message-ID: <20060308061237.16621.qmail@web31707.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Saleli ki Rani ( Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition dated 8 March 2006) As our annual tradition, GT offers its salutations to the ‘GT Woman of the Year’, on Women’s day. After a series of deliberations our editorial team picked Chhaya Gawas who led the siege of Saleli for close to two months in a temple in the cold , waiting for the government to release over a hundred men who were arrested after a violent uprising following the death of Prithiviraj Rane. This was the first time when, the women of Saleli emerged from their homes and kitchens for a siege that changed their lives. PREETU NAIR preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com SALELI: I was born in the right time, in whole, Only this time is one that is blessed, But great God did not let my poor soul Live without deceit on this earth. And therefore, it's dark in my house, And therefore, all of my friends, Like sad birds, in the evening aroused, Sing of love that was never on land. -- Anna Akhmatova Just like Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, fearless and tireless Chhaya Gawas was born at the right time. Just as Anna was loved and lauded by her people, in the same manner Chhaya is loved and respected by the womenfolk in the remote and sleepy village of Saleli. Like Anna, Chhaya knew that though born at the right time, she and her friends lived in darkness because they were denied a just place in society and family. However, unlike the sad birds who aroused in the evening to sing of love in a land that never was, they aroused one evening to fight against the patriarchal might that had forced them to live on their knees, to bring light in their life and homes. She was an ordinary housewife, until in a moment of strength and total belief in herself; she asked herself, “Who I am”? In answering this question she not only recognized a depth, a girth but also helped other women in the village discover themselves. It happened suddenly on December 28, 2005 when Saleli villagers rose against their Khase Krishnarao Rane to fight for freedom from fear, freedom from oppression, freedom to live and earn. At first the womenfolk stood by their men like a rock, when Rane’s son Prithviraj was lynched by a mob, which was followed by violence by villagers seriously injuring several policemen. But when 103 men were arrested for rioting and six for murder of Prithviraj Rane, later they, who so far had silently adopted the powerless and voiceless world provided to them, decided to fight for their rights and their men’s release. Women of the village sat on dharna outside a temple demanding release of the incarcerated. Then Chhaya was their voice. She is and was always there when the going was tough. When you look into her eyes, you can see the sincerity and commitment. She brings out the best in others just by her presence. It isn’t her brilliance or her energy that strikes you. What really touches your heart is her simplicity. Ask her whether she knows March 8 is Woman’s Day and she replies in the negative. “We celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali etc. But nobody in the village celebrates Woman’s Day”, she says. Explain to her the significance of Woman’s Day and she asks a simple question, “Why should only one day be a Woman’s Day. Everyday should be a Woman’s Day. That way we would get more respect, better opportunities to learn and earn. Everyday women should be respected by the family and society at large. After all there is no man’s day for everyday man enjoys the privileges that probably a woman gets on March 8?” Chhaya further says, “We are so much an integral part of the family. But often we are chained within the four walls of the house. Women’s liberation can only happen if each and every woman has the opportunity to speak her mind without any fear and her dreams and aspirations are given the respect they deserve. Maybe when that happens we can all celebrate Woman’s Day in its true essence?” Talking about the last two months, when they spent most of the time outside the temple in cold season along with young children, waiting patiently for the release of their men folk, she reveals, “We were shocked and scared but determined to fight. We knew that if we remained silence at that moment, we would be silenced forever by a corrupt system that had failed to listen to our woes and plea for help.” The incident has not just brought a change in the village which has suddenly woken up to fight for its rights but it has also brought about a great change in the attitude of the men folk towards the women in the village. “Earlier, whenever we tried to opine we were asked to shut our mouth. But now that has changed. They have realized that we also have lot of inner strength and understanding of things. We are not weak. We will stand together and demand for better health facilities and socio-economic development of the villagers”, she added. Revealing the day, when she, who had studied upto Standard XII, first came to the village after marriage, admits that it was real cultural shock. “I come from Nadoda village, Mapusa, where women live better life and are aware of their rights. But in Saleli life was absolutely different. To me it appeared as if we people were living in all together different age, where they had no voice and were ignorant about their rights. What they had in abundance was goodness of heart and innocence that connected me instantly with the villagers,” she added. Finally, she admits that the time has arrived when women realize that they have rights and assert themselves so that equality of women acquires a greater meaning than just be a thrown around as a fashionable clinch on Woman’s Day. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From preetunair at yahoo.com Wed Mar 8 11:44:37 2006 From: preetunair at yahoo.com (PREETU NAIR) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 22:14:37 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] A review of a nightmare on hell street: Message-ID: <20060308061437.70450.qmail@web31702.mail.mud.yahoo.com> A review of a nightmare on hell street: GT travels with a riot victim from Margao to his "home" in Savordem. ( Article appeared in Gomantak times, Panjim, dated March 8,2006) PREETU NAIR Preetu_nair at gomantaktimes.com ON THE ROAD FROM MARGAO TO SANVORDEM & CURCHOREM: It is not often that one gets to review a nightmare, but I had that dubious fortune on Tuesday when I accompanied Sheikh Mohammed Rafiq to his hometown Sanvordem. The drive from his brother's home in Margao to Curchorem may take only 25-minute, but for Rafiq and two other boys who accompanied him, it was probably the longest drive ever, filled with uncertainty, hope, desire, expectations and fear, to the land they once called home. As we enter Curchorem there is an uneasy calm. The question on everyone's lips is, "What if the riots erupt after a lull?" The remains of the dance of hooliganism – burned and broken cars, ransacked shops and damaged homes -- all lay intact and almost untouched. We halt at Rafiq's car accessories shop near the Curchorem circle and look around. The disgust and pain in his eyes as he sees the innumerable burnt and damaged cars near his shop sends a chill down my spine. Later, with a calm and helpless smile he waits in anticipation as one of the boys opens the shutter of the shop which was broken into and ransacked by the rampaging mob. The loot and destruction is very much evident. The counter is broken; the items missing, even the plastic chairs in the shop were broken by the mob. Seeing all this he sits down on the chair, holding on to the table for support with a faint smile. "They destroyed everything. We will have to start from scratch now," he said. Things get more distressing when he says that he wouldn't get any insurance money for the loss he has incurred during the riots. "We had insured for loss of or damage to shops under a burglary policy. It is clearly mentioned that if the loss occurs directly or indirectly due rioting, it is not covered," he added. In present day Curchorem, where the ordinary citizen cannot conduct the essential business of daily life without first fearfully looking over his shoulder, would he like to come back with his family and start business all over again? "I love and understand this place. It has been my home since birth. These shops were set up by my father. How can I leave all this and migrate to another place," he replied. Then we went to the police station, where he lodged a complaint and requested the Curchorem police to conduct the panchnama. They accept the complaint patiently, saying, "This shouldn't have happened, it is an unfortunate event. It is good that people from the minority community didn't retaliate otherwise there would have been blood-shed." This they repeat to each and everyone who comes to the station. There I meet the Sheikh brothers, whose 10 shops were looted and ransacked. Their vehicles were damaged and stones pelted at their homes. But my meeting with them just reaffirmed the faith that Hindus and Muslims can still live together peacefully, however desperate some groups maybe to spread communal tension. "We were given shelter by friends from the Majority community," said Faheem Sheikh. Unfortunately, due to the fear of a backlash this goodhearted people are scared to reveal their names. What is worse, the wrath resulting in communal disturbances has spared neither the rich nor the poor. Abdul Madalis had started a small ghada sometime back. He had invested his father's pension in the shop after he incurred heavy loses in business sometime back. "I have yet to pay the earlier loan and now my ghada is also broken and goods worth Rs 40,000 stolen. I don't know whether we will ever be able to lead a normal life," he added. As we drive down to Guddemol, Sanvordem, there is absolute calm. Very many families of the minority community have left for their hometown. I went to the riot stricken areas to listen and to learn, but come out with a conclusion that these pre-planned, calculated, willfully executed attack on minority community has threatened the unity, integrity and security of the secular state. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From nithyavraman at yahoo.com Wed Mar 8 12:55:09 2006 From: nithyavraman at yahoo.com (Nithya V. Raman) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 23:25:09 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Posting Message-ID: <20060308072509.47189.qmail@web33010.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi all, My second post is up at my blog: theviewfromchennai.blogspot.com Thanks, Nithya __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From veneetas at himalmag.com Thu Mar 9 00:20:45 2006 From: veneetas at himalmag.com (VENEETA SINGHA) Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2006 10:50:45 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] Himal Southasian - March-April 2006 Message-ID: <004601c642e1$397dac10$0400a8c0@carey> Himal Southasian - March-April 2006 www.himalmag.com In the cover feature of the Himal Southasian March - April 2006 issue, we have charted the course of two forms of extremism in Nepal, scrutinising the continuing warfare and sudden democracy deficit in the country where we are based. We also present articles on Darjeeling/Sikkim, Balochistan, remittance trends, regional cinema and much more. For in-depth analyses, thought-provoking reflections, and stories that do not stop at international borders, visit www.himalmag.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060308/e2c7d681/attachment.html From turbulence at turbulence.org Tue Mar 7 20:37:15 2006 From: turbulence at turbulence.org (Turbulence) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 10:07:15 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Floating Points 3: March 15th Message-ID: <006401c641f8$de948cd0$6501a8c0@t5x1c0> Floating Points 3: Ubiquitous Computing DATE: March 15th, 7:00 p.m. PLACE [NEW VENUE]: Emerson College, Cabaret, 80 Boylston Street, Boston, and LIVE ONLINE at http://institute.emerson.edu/floatingpoints/06/index.php Panelists: Adam Greenfield, Preemptive Media (Beatriz da Costa, Brooke Singer), and Michelle Teran Moderator: Helen Thorington Emerson College and New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc./Turbulence.org announce the second panel discussion in their series, "Floating Points 3" [FP3] that will address the subject of "Ubiquitous Computing" or "Ubicomp", where computing and wireless capabilities are so integrated into the fabric of everyday life (clothing, cars, homes, and offices) that the technologies recede into the background and become indistinguishable from everyday activities. [more at http://institute.emerson.edu/floatingpoints/06/index.php] ADAM GREENFIELD is an information architect and user-experience consultant whose principal concern over the past half-decade has been "the restoration of human users and their needs to a place of rightful centrality in the design of technical systems." He is the author of "Everyware: the dawning age of ubiquitous computing," to be released this month, which he hopes will explain just what Ubicomp is, how it might effect us, and how we can effect its eventual development. Greenfield is principal of Studies and Observations, a New York City design consultancy. He was previously lead information architect for the Tokyo office of Razorfish. http://www.v-2.org/ PREEMPTIVE MEDIA (BEATRIZ DA COSTA, BROOKE SINGER) reengineers your thinking about mobile digital technologies imbedded in everyday environments. In live performances and real time actions the PM art, technology and activist collective disturbs, dislodges, and redesigns new media technologies that are often ignored, like the bar codes on driver's licenses or radio frequency information devices used for EZ pass on highways. At the forefront of what is called locative media, Preemptive Media repositions highly specialized technologies within the democratic discourse of low-tech amateurism. PM will focus on their latest project "Zapped" which addresses the mass implementation of RFID and its contribution to the ever growing field of technology-enhanced surveillance practices. http://www.preemptivemedia.net/ MICHELLE TERAN is a Canadian media artist who explores the performative potential of objects and space. Within her practice she examines the intertwining of social networks and everyday social spaces with their technological counterparts, and creates performances, installations and online works that are concerned with issues of communication, surveillance, psychogeography, presence, intimacy, social ritual, collaboration and public participation. Teran is co-founder of "LiveForm:TeleKinetics" (with Jeff Mann). http://www.ubermatic.org/misha HELEN THORINGTON is co-director of Turbulence.org Floating Points is co-presented by Emerson College and New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. (NRPA), a not-for-profit media organization with offices in Boston and New York. It is funded by Emerson College's Office of Academic Affairs, Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, School of the Arts, and Department of Visual and Media Arts. For more information please visit http://institute.emerson.edu/floatingpoints/06/index.php 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: http://turbulence.org/blog Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From kj.impulse at gmail.com Tue Mar 7 10:29:07 2006 From: kj.impulse at gmail.com (Kavita Joshi [Impulse]) Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 10:29:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Invit to scrng of film: from Kavita Joshi Message-ID: <001c01c64266$52b440c0$04ca5ecb@hpdab99e23044a> Dear Friends you are warmly invited to a screening of my film on 8th at IIC (details below). And also to the IIC IAWRT film festival. please do come Kavita _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From singhgurminder2000 at hotmail.com Wed Mar 8 21:04:37 2006 From: singhgurminder2000 at hotmail.com (gurminder singh) Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:04:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Exhibition in Jahagir Art Gallery, Mumbai Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060308/312cb141/attachment.html From chintichinti at yahoo.com Thu Mar 9 16:31:27 2006 From: chintichinti at yahoo.com (chintan gohil) Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 03:01:27 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Summer Internship Programme - tsunami reconstruction projects Message-ID: <20060309110127.46284.qmail@web32803.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear All, SIFFS (South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies) is doing two tusnami reconstruction projects in Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, in the east coast of India. One involves the construction of about 400 houses and another project involves about 1200 houses. The details of the projects such as the salient features, the approach, how it is being done etc. can be seen in the website exclusively for the project. www.tarangambadi.in We want to customize each house and there is a dialogue with each of the house owners at every stage of the construction. Construction of more than 100 houses have begun. Both the projects are going to be done with the participation of the beneficiaries and not through any contractors. In addiition to the designing of the new houses, there is the repair and upgradation of some of the existing houses which are being done. Tarangambadi is a historic town with a Danish Fort (1620 A D) and a temple (14thC AD) etc. Also SIFFS is not interested in just designing houses, but the settlement as a whole. We have done some studies, but still more to be done. >From the 15th of April 2006 onwards, we would like to start a summer internship programme. The programme will be there till July 15th. There will be some lectures, field visits and site experience is also there. The programme is open to architects, planners, urban designers,sociologists, civil engineers including the students. The number of participants are limited to 25 at one point of time. The participants have to spend at least two weeks in the village and can get involved in the various aspects of the project. SIFFS will be providing a simple accommodation in the village itself. Food is also given free. The participants of internship programme will have to pay for their travel. Hotel accommodation at a twin sharing basis can be arranged for Rs.300/- per person per night. Please tell your friends, students etc. Those who are interested, please send the details to the following email address bennykuriakose at gmail.com. With Best Regards, Benny Kuriakose. First Floor, 53, Vasantha Avenue, MRC Nagar, RA Puram, Chennai 600028. Tel: 91 44 24642941, 24614794 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From ranjithoskote at rediffmail.com Thu Mar 9 01:07:31 2006 From: ranjithoskote at rediffmail.com (Ranjit Hoskote) Date: 8 Mar 2006 19:37:31 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] PEN All-India Centre: 13 March: 'Public Silences' discussion Message-ID: <20060308193731.14471.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> THE P.E.N. ALL-INDIA CENTRE invites you, with your friends, to PUBLIC SILENCES a discussion platform featuring KUMAR KETKAR, AZAR MAHLOUJIAN & KALPANA SHARMA Date: Monday, 13 March 2006 Time: 6.15 p.m. Venue: Theosophy Hall (3rd floor) 40 New Marine Lines, Churchgate, Mumbai 400 020 Recent events in India and overseas have exposed the vulnerability of the public sphere to illiberal forces. Forces opposed to the free expression of thought and creativity; but also forces that use freedom of expression as a pretext to provoke misunderstanding and hatred. In India, this situation is worsened by the lethal combination of a State given to knee-jerk censorship; a sensationalist media; an ill-informed public; and incendiary demagogic groups. Rabble-rousing displaces debate. Dissent retreats before violence. Official censorship is matched by a cautious self-censorship. This crisis profoundly concerns writers, artists, journalists, scholars and readers. ALL ARE WELCOME: THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC KUMAR KETKAR is Chief Editor of Loksatta. He was formerly Editor of the Maharashtra Times and a senior political commentator for The Times of India. During his three-decade-long career as a journalist and writer, he has commented in depth on national as well as international issues, reporting from Moscow on the Soviet Union’s collapse, and from Beijing on China’s transformation. Ketkar has been visiting lecturer at prestigious universities in India and the USA. AZAR MAHLOUJIAN is a writer and librarian of Iranian origin, now resident in Sweden. She writes in Swedish, and is the author of Torn Pictures, an account of her flight from Iran and her life in exile in Sweden. Mahloujian’s transcultural position gives her a vantage point from which to comment on the control and repression mechanisms in Pahlavi and post-Revolution Iran, as well as on the vexed representations of the ‘East’, Islam and cultural ‘Others’ in Europe. KALPANA SHARMA is Chief of the Mumbai Bureau of The Hindu, and Deputy Editor. She has worked in various media environments including Himmat, The Indian Express and The Times of India, in the course of over three decades. Her practice straddles reportage, features and editorial comment; she writes on women’s issues, urban crises, and human rights violations. She is the author of Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia’s Largest Slum (Penguin, 2000). Ranjit Hoskote Hon. Secretary-Treasurer The P.E.N. All-India Centre ---------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060308/7c774971/attachment.html From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Thu Mar 9 20:50:34 2006 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (NetEx) Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:20:34 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Call for videos: image vs. music Message-ID: <441047C2.3040802@netcologne.de> Call for propsals Deadline 1 July 2006 http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54 . VideoChannel http://videochannel.newmediafest.org will launch in April the 1st Cologne Online Film Festival (CologneOFF) http://coff.newmediafest.org featuring film & videos on the theme "gender identity". VideoChannel is now already planning the 2nd Cologne Online Film Festival (CologneOFF) to be launched in October 2006 in the framework of KlangDrang Festival Cologne (6-7 October 2006) www.klangdrang.org and to be screened in the framework of VideoChannel screenings during the festival. ---> VideoChannel is looking for digital films/videos dealing with the interaction of image & music, a theme which is referring to the character of the festival of sonic art (KlangDrang) Film and video are basically visual media. Even if used and recognized as an important component, has music in this context mostly rather a colorizing and atmospheric character. The films/videos VideoChannel is looking for should give image & music an equal or music even a dominating status, which may be worked out in most different ways, for instance---> music as the theme of the story, films reflecting music through images and viceversa, the visalization of music, and much more. There are no restricting categories, the submission of experimental works is encouraged. The call is inviting artists to submit up to three proposals. The deadline is 1 July 2006 For being reviewed, the videos should be preferably available online and have to be submitted as URL for download. After a positive review, the artists/directors may be invited to send the video on a data DVD as mpeg2 file. Running time: 1-10 Minutes. Please use this form for submitting: 1.name of artist , email address , URL 2. short biography/CV (not more than 300 words) 3. max 3 work proposal--> a) title b) year of production, orginal format c) running time d) URL - where the video can be reviewed on or is available for download 4. work description (story included, not more than 500 words) 5. screenshot (.jpeg, max. 800x600 px) . Confirmation/authorization: The submitter(s) declares and confirms that he/she/they is/are holding all rights on the submission and give permission to include the submitted work in "VideoChannel" online/offline environment until revoke. Signed by (submitter) . Please send the complete submission to videochannel at newmediafest.org subject: "image vs music" . ***************************** Visit the online collection of VideoChannel http://videochannel.newmediafest.org or http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org or http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org/vchannel.htm ******************************************** VideoChannel is a joint venture between Cinematheque at MediaArtCentre http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org and [R][R][F] 2006 - global networking project http://rrf2006.newmediafest.org in the framework of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne www.nmartproject.net, the experimental plattform for art and New Media ********************************************** This calls is also released on NetEX - networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54. info & contact info (at) nmartproject. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From jumpshark at gmail.com Fri Mar 10 18:35:13 2006 From: jumpshark at gmail.com (Prashant Pandey) Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:35:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Music Road Shows & Celebs Message-ID: hi I have received some queries where people have asked questions on relevance of bringing in celebrities in singing Competitions like Saregama and Indian Idol...... then there are questions on how these shows are constructed. Well I do not have much to write now but I have worked on a longish posting about these shows. See the idea of bringing in a celebrity is to put them on spotlight where millions of people want them to see in a different role. Normally the celebrities have an image and they are famous for a sustainable cultivation of that image. However it puts an enormous pressure on them when they enter the studies as a celebrity judge in a say "mega" semifinal. The stakes are high. The singers (esp in Saregama) sing really really well. To come up with measured responses and also justifying a decision is a tricky thing. then there is an out of place feeling as well. Producers will get an Uday Chopra in fame gurukul or a Diya Mirza in Saregama...but they end up using words like power,romance,namak and passion.... which mean nothing really for participants yet makes good stuff for the star crazy audience. But the element of magic is certainly what audience really look for. Power Performances and quick emancipation. Subhash Ghai told a singer to sing for his next film. Farah khan gave break to good singer who was voted out. and all this happens "live" in front of everybody. Its a great treat to watch an underdog making it big. Editing too plays a great role in these shows. I remember a Saregama episode where Sanjay Leela Bhansali was supposed to come. Firstly it was established that Bhansali is a great music buff. He listens to music all the time. there are some songs that are very special. then his sense of getting a song sung by a singer is now a legend. he is the who heard Shreya Ghoshal as a teenager on Saregama and made her Aiswarya Rais voice in Devdas. So the participants were very serious. Then there was a segment in which the music directors were training the singers to sing their songs and they kept on working on the nuances which Bhansali would not otherwise miss. interestingly bhansali had given them a list of songs that he wanted them to sing. So when they sang those songs. It was like a film script being enacted. There was drama,anticipation and finally a resolution with Bhansali noticing and appreciating the nuances that the participants had put in. Prashant Pandey From singhgurminder2000 at hotmail.com Sat Mar 11 12:25:17 2006 From: singhgurminder2000 at hotmail.com (gurminder singh) Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 12:25:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?CONVENTION_ON_CHILDREN=27S_RIGHT_TO?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_FOOD__=287th_=96_9th_APRIL=2C_2006=2C_HYDERABAD_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=29?= Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060311/6135b2b7/attachment.html From pradeepdas4 at yahoo.com Fri Mar 10 22:05:01 2006 From: pradeepdas4 at yahoo.com (Pradeep Das) Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 08:35:01 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Invitation of Gorakhpur Film Festival organised by JAN SANSKRITI MANCH (Mar 23-26, 2006) Message-ID: <20060310163501.16779.qmail@web52007.mail.yahoo.com> JAN SANSKRITI MANCH Invites you to the Gorakhpur Film Festival – Pratirodh Ki Cinema Date: March 23 to 26, 2006 Venue: Samvad Bhavan, Deendayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur – 273009 (UP) Contact Person & Tel. Number – Sanjay Joshi (9811577426) A brief schedule of the Festival: 23 March 2006 06:00 to 06:15 pm Inaugural Session 06:15 to 07:30 pm A Performance by Parnab Mukherjee 07:30 to 09:30 pm Screening of the “Battleship Potemkin” 24 March 2006 Morning Session 11:00 to 11:10 am Introduction to Satyajit Ray and Pather Panchali 11:10 to 01:10 pm Screening of “Pather Panchali” 01:10 to 02:00 pm Lunch Break and discussion session Afternoon Session 02:00 to 02:10 pm Introduction to Charlie Chaplin and The Great Dictator 02:10 to 04:10 pm Screening of “The Great Dictator” 04:10 to 04:45 pm Tea Break Evening Session 04:45 to 05:00 pm Introduction to Anand Patwardhan and his film 05:00 to 07:00 pm Screening of “War and Peace” 25 March 2006 Morning Session 11:00 to 11:10 am Introduction to Vittorio De Sica and Bicycle Thief 11:10 to 01:10 pm Screening of “Bicycle Thief” 01:10 to 02:00 pm Lunch Break and discussion session Afternoon Session 02:00 to 02:10 pm Introduction to Vasudha Joshi and Voices of Balliapal 02:10 to 03:10 pm Screening of “Voices of Balliapal” 03:15 to 03:15 pm Introduction to the film Gadi Lohardaga Mail 03:20 to 04:00 pm Screening of “Gadi Lohardaga Mail” 04:00 to 04:05 pm Introduction to the film Gold Rush 04:05 to 06:05 pm Screening of “Gold Rush” 06:05 to 06:30 pm Tea Break Evening Session 06:30 to 06:40 pm Introduction to Sanjay Kak and his film Pani Par Likha 06:45 to 07:45 pm Screening of “Pani Par Likha” 07:45 to 08:15 pm Discussion 08:15 to 08:30 pm Introduction to Jiten Nandi and his film Manipur 08:30 to 09:30 pm Screening of “Manipur” 09:30 to 10:00 pm Discussion 26 March 2006 Morning Session 11:00 to 11:10 am Introduction to Akira Kurosawa and his film Rashoman 11:10 to 01:10 pm Screening of “Rashoman” 01:10 to 02:00 pm Lunch Break and discussion session Afternoon Session 02:00 to 02:10 pm Introduction to Zoltan Fabri and his film Two Half Times in Hell 02:10 to 04:10 pm Screening of “Two Half Times in Hell” 04:10 to 04:15 pm Introduction to Norman Mclaren and The Chairy Tale 04:15 to 04:25 pm Screening of “The Chairy Tale” 06:05 to 06:30 pm Tea Break Evening Session 04:45 to 05:00 pm Introduction to Akhra, Meghnath and Vikas Bandook Ki Nal Se 05:00 to 06:00 pm Screening of “Vikas Bandook Ki Nal Se” 06:00 to 06:30 pm Discussion on VBKNS 06:30 to 06:40 pm Introduction to Rakesh Sharma and his film Final Solution 06:45 to 08:45 pm Screening of “Final Solution” 08:45 to 09:15 pm Discussion on Final Solution --------------------------------- Brings words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! 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URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060310/92e8da1a/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From pukar at pukar.org.in Thu Mar 9 16:40:29 2006 From: pukar at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 16:40:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [announcements] PUKAR-Marathi Public Sphere: Talk by Sunita Bagal on March 21st Message-ID: <002601c6436a$167aaa90$2ad0c0cb@freeda> PUKAR - Marathi Public Sphere and St. Joseph's Senior College, Virar cordially invite you to a talk in Marathi by Sunita Bagal on Women's Micro-Credit Groups: Perspectives on Recent Fiscal Trends Date: Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 Time: 9:30 AM Venue: St. Joseph's Senior College, Satpala, Virar West Women's self-help groups were started as a movement for women's empowerment. Self-reliance and dignity were the key words. NGOs stepped in to facilitate the process. Now one finds that the government is showing keen interest in promoting micro-credit groups through channels such as nationalized banks. What has prompted this shift in Government policy? What role does the present economy of nationalized banks play in microfinance? Sunita Bagal, who has been actively associated with the self-help groups movement will share her observations on these and other related issues. Sunita Bagal has worked with women in Maharashtra and neighbouring states in the fields of watershed development, disaster management and microfinance, for over two decades. She represented India at the Beijing+10 conference at Bangkok. At present she is an Ashoka Fellow, working on the formation of self-employed women's union in Maharashtra. She is associated with several urban and rural organizations as a consultant and trainer. She has authored the curriculum on micro-credits for the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University. PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 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/20060309/12d21621/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From rakesh at sarai.net Mon Mar 13 16:20:49 2006 From: rakesh at sarai.net (rakesh at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:20:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Rs. 50 FM Station at Muzaffarpur in trouble Message-ID: <44154E89.6040703@sarai.net> Dear All Bhojpuria.com is regularly following the Rs. 50 Fm Station story. Below is the story of new developments. http://www.bhojpuria.com/samachar/news.php?a=351 *Rs. 50 FM Station at Muzaffarpur in trouble* Posted on Feb 26, 2006 by Sudhir Everyone praised the FM radio station managed by Raghav, Sambhu and their friends in Muzaffarpur. Now, this popularity seems to be taking them in great amount of trouble. Their Radio Station is illigal as per the Indian Laws and BAG FILMS have got the license to run a legal FM Station in Muzaffarpur. Till last month, there was no LICENSED FM Radio station in Muzaffarpur. But, now BAG FILMS have got the license to run a FM Radio Station in Muzaffarpur. Since, BAG Films have paid a license fee and would not like any competitor (Raghav Radio Mansoorpur 1), they might complain it to the authorities. As per Sajal (A visitor at Bhojpuria.com) - Raghav is running an unlicensed (or 'pirate') radio station. Under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933, he could be punished with "imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees or with both." At present, private FM radio licenses are given only cities and towns (like Patna and Muzaffarpur), but small, rural and community-based broadcasters like Raghav are not permitted to apply for a radio license. When this question was raised with raghav, his answer was very innocent "I never knew this was illigal, I am running it since past 3 years, everyone loves it. Do you think, I have any right to stop it ??? " We discussed the issue with several legal experts and two possible solutions are possible at this moment: 1. If BAG FILMS allows Raghav Radio Mansoorpur 1 to operate by not complaining against Raghav. 2. If BAG FILMS can employ Raghav and Sambhu in their new radio Station, where they can continue the same work on much better infrastructure and salary. But, since they are not so educated, do you think it is possible??? Bhopuria calls on everyone to put in their ideas to help Raghav and his FM Radio Station. -- Rakesh Kumar Singh Sarai-CSDS 29, 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 kaushiki.rao at gmail.com Mon Mar 13 16:40:25 2006 From: kaushiki.rao at gmail.com (Kaushiki Rao) Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:40:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Rs. 50 FM Station at Muzaffarpur in trouble In-Reply-To: <44154E89.6040703@sarai.net> References: <44154E89.6040703@sarai.net> Message-ID: <53241df60603130310l40aeb556k923a3374d1c369a2@mail.gmail.com> Cant Raghav and Sambhu apply to the govt. to have their radio stations legalized? Surely there's no rule of monopoly! On 3/13/06, rakesh at sarai.net wrote: > Dear All > > Bhojpuria.com is regularly following the Rs. 50 Fm Station story. Below > is the story of new developments. > > http://www.bhojpuria.com/samachar/news.php?a=351 > > *Rs. 50 FM Station at Muzaffarpur in trouble* > Posted on Feb 26, 2006 by Sudhir > > Everyone praised the FM radio station managed by Raghav, Sambhu and > their friends in Muzaffarpur. Now, this popularity seems to be taking > them in great amount of trouble. > > Their Radio Station is illigal as per the Indian Laws and BAG FILMS have > got the license to run a legal FM Station in Muzaffarpur. > > Till last month, there was no LICENSED FM Radio station in Muzaffarpur. > But, now BAG FILMS have got the license to run a FM Radio Station in > Muzaffarpur. Since, BAG Films have paid a license fee and would not like > any competitor (Raghav Radio Mansoorpur 1), they might complain it to > the authorities. > > As per Sajal (A visitor at Bhojpuria.com) - Raghav is running an > unlicensed (or 'pirate') radio station. Under the Wireless Telegraphy > Act 1933, he could be punished with "imprisonment which may extend to > three years, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees or > with both." At present, private FM radio licenses are given only cities > and towns (like Patna and Muzaffarpur), but small, rural and > community-based broadcasters like Raghav are not permitted to apply for > a radio license. > > When this question was raised with raghav, his answer was very innocent > "I never knew this was illigal, I am running it since past 3 years, > everyone loves it. Do you think, I have any right to stop it ??? " > > We discussed the issue with several legal experts and two possible > solutions are possible at this moment: > > 1. If BAG FILMS allows Raghav Radio Mansoorpur 1 to operate by not > complaining against Raghav. > > 2. If BAG FILMS can employ Raghav and Sambhu in their new radio Station, > where they can continue the same work on much better infrastructure and > salary. But, since they are not so educated, do you think it is possible??? > > Bhopuria calls on everyone to put in their ideas to help Raghav and his > FM Radio Station. > > > -- > Rakesh Kumar Singh > Sarai-CSDS > 29, 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/ > > _________________________________________ > 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 supreet.sethi at gmail.com Mon Mar 13 20:17:43 2006 From: supreet.sethi at gmail.com (s|s) Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:17:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Rs. 50 FM Station at Muzaffarpur in trouble In-Reply-To: <44154E89.6040703@sarai.net> References: <44154E89.6040703@sarai.net> Message-ID: The laws have been open and shut about broadcasting, pricisely due to the fact that threshold for starting off is very low. While it would be very buzzword complaint, to start running internet radio or "podcast", but that is not a solution in this case. On the other hand there are still options for continuing, depending on how commited people are to such an effort. As long back Arun Mehta suggested, one can transmit using cable networks like one being run by http://www.voicesforall.org/communityradio/commradio_home.htm. So television set becomes the radio Also one can use mesh network of small transmitters with lower power than legal limit. I would be eager to help regards s From beate at zurwehme.org Tue Mar 14 01:31:32 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 21:01:32 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] zampa, anna and i went to balcan Message-ID: <434ce6c22cf2d8dc2d2aa72ff8b705fd@zurwehme.org> http://subjektivation.de/the-big-picture/anna_b.mov zampa, anna and i went to balcan fighting the monochrome army of loverz who killed mr. moonlight? 1. anna balint 2. daniel birnbaum 3. beate zurwehme 4. anna freud 5. christian schroeder 6. martin heidegger 7. lasse-marc riek 8. ryfylke 9. stroem http://subjektivation.de/the-big-picture/ please visit also: new photoworks by anna balint from the zampa front braunau 7360 2006, conceptual photowork, schirn frankfurt 30 lightboxes, each 240cm x 180cm http://designerziehung.de/vienna_salzburg/ anna balint 2003-2006, conceptual work, mmk frankfurt and ars electronica linz 26 lightboxes, each 320cm x 240cm jeff wall scholarship 2003 http://designerziehung.de/anna_balint/ nice greetings beate z. | interlinking of media | practice with gender related issues http://zurwehme.org/ From uk_ps at yahoo.co.uk Tue Mar 14 16:37:16 2006 From: uk_ps at yahoo.co.uk (udayan kumar) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:07:16 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Third Posting Message-ID: <20060314110716.73964.qmail@web26505.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Third Posting During this phase, I am dealing with some questions concerning the experience of death. I am, therefore, now engaging with some of the recent writings on the theme. Often the experience of death is juxtaposed to the notion of community. Hence, my study also relies on this dichotomy; however the major task I’m undertaking is to deeply scrutinising the interviews of those who witnessed the incident. (My fieldwork has been delayed a bit, therefore I can’t hint at anything new from the second stage of field records). Following the lines of some of the most influential studies [Jean Baudrillar (1993). Symbolic Exchange and Death. London: Sage; Jean Baudrillar (1983). In The Shadow of the Silent Majorities. New York: Semiotext (e); Ulrich Beck (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage; Ulrich Beck (1995). Ecological Politics in an Age of Risk. Cambridge: Polity Press; Ulrich Beck (2000). Risk Society Revisited: Theory, Politics and Research Programmes In Adam Beck and Van Loon (ed). ‘The Risk Society and Beyond: Critical Issues for Social Theory’. London: Sage; P. Bourdieu et al. (1993). The Weight of the World: Social Suffering in the Contemporary Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press; Veena Das and et al. (1998) Kleinman, Arthur and Lock, Margret (eds) ‘Social Suffering’. Delhi: OUP], I’m planning to bring the aspect of ‘risk’ to the ambit of my study, which forms part of the second section of the paper. When the idea of risk is brought; I’m employing the metaphor of eclipse in order to lay down a condition for my narrative. Here, the exact moment of the incident, is metaphorised as an ecliptic moment. (Astronomers pay serious attention to other secrets of cosmic phenomena during the short interval of solar eclipse). Like the way, it is assumed that the whole scheme of events illuminates deeper secrets of community life. This, in fact, is the broad silhouette of the second section of my study. As I already mentioned I will be able to talk about something specifically in this direction only by the end of May. Until then I will keep up-dating you as to where I’m up to. Thanks. Uday 14/03/2006 New Delhi ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com From mail at shivamvij.com Tue Mar 14 22:12:10 2006 From: mail at shivamvij.com (Shivam) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 22:12:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] India: The terrible price paid for economic progress Message-ID: <210498250603140842n935d6d6icf3274e517b89f27@mail.gmail.com> The article below, amongst other things, inspired this post: http://www.theotherindia.org/economy/but-why-are-we-reforming.html Shivam India: The terrible price paid for economic progress India's economic success is a modern miracle. But the dark side of the boom has been its tragic cost to the subcontinent's most vulnerable people. In a special investigation, Daniela Bezzi and Peter Popham report from Kalinganagar, a village that paid a terrible price in the name of progress The Independent Published: 11 March 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article350526.ece It was dawn on 2 January 2006 when the quiet morning rituals of Kalinganagar, a village in eastern India, were drowned in a noise like the end of the world: a stream of bulldozers and excavators and khaki-painted lorries containing more than 400 armed police came grinding into the village. For days there had been rumours that something was about to happen. The village, surrounded by dense forest but only 50 kilometres from a major iron-ore mine, already has three steel plants in its midst. Tata, a major Indian company, wants to build another, much bigger than the rest. The villagers, who belong to the indigenous Ho tribe, want none of it: last year police broke up two protest rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets. Now the bulldozers and diggers went to work, levelling a paddy field which occupied part of the site where Tata's planned new steel plant is supposed to rise. The disaster was under way. Villagers at work in the fields or tending their goats and cattle came running to see what was going on, gathering at a football ground in sight of the fields where the diggers were at work, guarded by hundreds of heavily armed police. An hour went by. The villagers debated what to do. They sent a small delegation to the officials to ask them to stop work and negotiate. A local magistrate who had accompanied the police was brusque. "You do whatever you want," he told them dismissively, "and I'll do my work." There was to be no parley. Now a group of villagers walked towards the bulldozers. Their plan, the survivors said later, was to persuade the drivers to stop, if necessary by lying down in front of them. What happened next is disputed: some of the protesters say the first injuries were caused when one of them tripped a string attached to a buried charge of dynamite or even a landmine. Enraged now, more protesters came running towards the police lines shouting abuse (the police claim they also fired arrows). And the police opened fire with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds. The villagers ran screaming in all directions. The police kept up the firing until the ground was strewn with bodies. By the time silence fell again on the site, 12 local people had been shot dead and 31 injured. One policeman had been killed by the protesters. Several of the villagers had been shot in the back. Some of the casualties were a long way from the field of action. A 14-year-old boy standing outside his home was shot in the chest and killed. A 27-year-old woman was killed by a bullet on her way to bathe in the village pond. The bodies of six of the dead were taken away by the police. When they were returned two days later, the villagers claimed that hands, genitals and breasts had been cut off. This is the India where nobody goes, the wild east, the subcontinent's heart of darkness. The three states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh contain more than 70 per cent of India's mineral wealth, from coal to gold, from bauxite to uranium. They also contain many million tribal people, those like the Ho villagers slaughtered in Kalinganagar, people who arrived in the subcontinent long before the Aryan invaders and who still worship their own gods and live in their own style. And like indigenous peoples the world over, they are f being ground under the wheels of development. India is getting rich, but it is still incredibly poor. The famous Indian IT industry employs about a million people - out of the total Indian population of more than a billion. The bitter fact about Indian growth, and what makes it qualitatively different from that in Japan, China, Thailand or Malaysia, is that the overwhelming majority obtains no benefit from it. In fact for many of the poorest, like the villagers in Kalinganagar, it is an unmitigated calamity. Professor Ram Dayal Munda, one of the most brilliant products of India's tribal belt, identifies a crucial divide in India, akin to Europe's old Iron Curtain. "Jharkhand," he said speaking of his own state, "is the paradox of India today, with all its richness in land and mineral resources and its backwardness at many other levels. It represents the frontier, the dividing line between western and eastern. Western India is well-fed India, from Punjab to Kerala, the India that has already been westernised. Eastern India, the forest land, the wild hunting land, is a region rich in natural resources but where the most elementary human rights are violated." The issue of the emancipation of India's indigenous peoples, Munda says, was fatally fudged at independence - and they have been the victims of development, not its beneficiaries, ever since. And as the Indian economy slowly comes to the boil, a vast human and ecological tragedy is in the making. We are travelling with a man who has been watching all this happen and who committed himself 18 years ago to doing everything he could to stop it. Bulu Imam is not the obvious candidate for such a role. He is a child of India's native elite, the sort of people who are doing best out of the boom. His conversation is larded with the names of old friends who are chief ministers and senior civil servants and politicians in Delhi. His grandfather was president of the Congress, the party of Gandhi and Nehru, and India's first delegate to the League of Nations. His father, Tootoo, was educated in Britain and raced Bentleys around Calcutta race track when he was not out pig-sticking or hunting tigers. Bulu got the tiger-hunting bug, too: father and son did it as a business, luring over American millionaires to try their luck in the forests of Jharkhand, in the south of the state of Bihar. Put a whisky in his hand and even today the shikar (tiger-hunting) yarns pour out of Bulu till the cows come home. Like all serious hunters, he got to know his chosen terrain intimately. That meant for him principally Jharkhand, literally the Land of the Forests. A plateau the size of Ireland, Jharkhand rises out of the Ganges plain like an immense apparition, and for many centuries it must have been quite as frightening and forbidding as the forests of central Europe in the Middle Ages. The dense sal forests (a widespread, timber-yielding tree) were full of leopard and tiger and elephant and cobra. The occasional clearings, with small mud dwellings abutting paddy fields, were peopled by adivasis, literally the "first people" who spoke neither Hindi nor Bengali, who worshipped Sing Bonga, the sun god, and were dead shots with the bow and arrow. They were rumoured to practise human sacrifice. All that was before the arrival of the British. But although many outsiders settled in Jharkhand during the two centuries after the British redcoats first showed their faces, much went unchanged. The villages remained as simple and tranquil, the forest as dense. And the tigers were still plentiful. When he was a young man there were tigers in the woods a 20-minute walk from his home in the town of Hazaribagh (the name means "One Thousand Tigers"). And because shikar was his vocation and his trade, he got to know the woods of Jharkhand extremely well. Shikar was eventually banned by the Indian government - to his father's great disgust. Then one day in 1988 Bulu was asked to put his knowledge of the forests to a special use: the English travel writer Mark Shand wanted to ride an elephant across India and he needed a guide. Bulu agreed, and for three weeks he led Shand and Tara, the elephant, across the Jharkhand plateau, rarely using metalled roads. Instead they travelled on dirt tracks and long-abandoned logging paths. "I never looked at a map," he says of the experience today. "I don't look at maps, I draw them. It was tough because in many places the forest had grown back and we had to hack a way through. It was an unbelievable experience." After weeks in the forest, one day they broke out on the edge of a vast open-caste coal mine. "We travelled through the mines for two or three days," Bulu remembers, "using the shoulders between the mines for a path. There was a 300-foot drop on either side, and the mine was about 12 miles across: it was a series of mines all linked up. With an elephant you go very slowly, and the landscape comes up to meet you." The scale and the finality of the devastation such a mine wreaks was brought home to him. Bulu knew that the government was planning another vast mine like this one, to be called the North Kanpura Coalfield. "It was here that I came face to face with what the new coal field would really mean. The impact on me was tremendous." It had to be stopped. Thus began his long immersion in the history and prehistory, the culture and the folkways of the plateau. Five thousand or more years ago, Jharkhand's inhabitants made enigmatic, superbly decorative carvings on many large rock faces in the area, carvings that have never been properly examined by experts. Two thousand years ago, Buddhists and Jains built temples and carved devotional statuary at dozens of sites across the plateau. The sites have yet to be properly documented, but even casual digging uncovers the remains of ancient statues, often in excellent condition. Now, as the coal field project grinds towards completion, one by one these sites will be swallowed up, as if they had never existed. And of course the villages go, too, without remorse and often without compensation or rehabilitation. The adivasis in the Hazaribagh area, as in many of India's tribal zones, decorate their simple mud-built houses with exuberant painted images of birds and beasts. They have lived in this region for many centuries, and until the coming of the British had it all to themselves. Theoretically their possession of the land is protected by India's Constitution. But Constitution, tribal rights, and a long history notwithstanding, two dozen villages have already been swept away like so much rubbish, their villagers decanted into the slums of Ranchi, the Jharkhand capital, or dispatched to Delhi to be domestics of the upper class. Many more villages are in the firing line. It was indignation provoked by a comparable though much smaller threat in Britain - Rio Tinto Zinc's plan to mine on Snowdon - that gave birth, in 1972, to Friends of the Earth; its first campaign success was to stop Rio Tinto in its tracks. As the local head of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Imam has been striving for 18 years to generate a similar head of steam over the fate of the plateau. But despite the support of foreign scholars and the listing of the Jharkhand sites in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) Heritage at Risk World Report and elsewhere, the state has not been deflected even an inch from its intention of sacrificing a vast, historic area of outstanding natural beauty for coal mines, dams, thermal power stations - and uranium mines. A key component of India's "miracle" is the way the country is growing more powerful. With the tests conducted in the desert of Rajasthan in 1998, India barged into the nuclear club; and this month, despite those tests and to the horror of the nuclear disarmament lobby, it has signed an agreement with the US to develop its civil nuclear programme. And once again, progress in the Indian context comes with appalling human costs. It was at about the time of those nuclear tests that we first learned about the disaster known as Jaduguda. The uranium for India's bombs came from Jaduguda, in Jharkhand, the only uranium mine in the country (though several more are now being opened up). The mine is located in the middle of a cluster of tribal villages. Not close to a village, with high barbed wire fences keeping the peasants well away, but in its midst. The pond at Jaduguda, we learnt, where the hazardous waste is dumped and allowed to settle, can be accessed by the men, women, children, dogs, cats and cows of the village. (The mine's boss claims that the pond was closed to the public, and some reports suggest that villagers may have cut their way through the perimeter fence.) In the summer the pond dried out, and some villagers used it as a short cut to get home. The village children played tag on it. The mine produced no stink, no clouds of filthy smoke, did not tear up the countryside and dye everything black like an open-cast coal mine. A uranium mine was, it seemed, the sort of mine you could live with. Then the first deformed children began to be born in the village. People of the village and the cattle they had washed regularly in the water of the pond began dying prematurely of cancer. A child was born with only one eye and one ear, mentally handicapped as well, unable to walk, and he grew bigger but no heavier. Women became infertile and their husbands abandoned them, and they began to be persecuted as witches, the true aim being to steal their land. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd maintained that none of the village's health problems were connected to their activities. Jaduguda illustrates the way that India moves into the future: this is the style of its progress. When the state wants to do something it just does it. Land is requisitioned, the earthmovers arrive. If there are rules to be followed - and, according to the Indian Constitution, land f held by tribal people in tribal areas subject to the Constitution's Fifth Schedule cannot by any means be transferred to non-tribals - it is a sound bet that they will be ignored. That's the way things worked under the lumbering, supposedly benign and paternalistic socialist system that ruled independent India for its first 50-odd years. And now the ground rules have changed; now big business is in the driving seat. In what direction are things likely to go? To the advantage of the poor and hapless, or to their detriment? Last October Jharkhand made business news headlines when Laxmi Mittal, the world's number one steel-maker and third richest man, Indian-born but now based in Europe, announced that he was making his first investment in his native land: setting up a 12-million-tonne steel plant somewhere in the state, at a cost of US$9bn. Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have signed tentative agreements with more than 100 companies to build plants. If all came good, the total investment would be more than $20bn. "If even one steel mill came into the state it would make a huge difference," said a man in the drinks trade in the Ranchi Club, the former hangout of the British in Jharkhand's capital, taken over and expanded by the local elite. "It will have a massive knock-on effect - on taxis, hotels, every other business. It's happening already thanks to the firms that have already moved here: for the first time shopkeepers here are learning what it means to have money. With a steel mill, the taxes the firm will pay will have a ripple effect all over the state. We were in Malaysia recently on holiday, and we said, God, India could be like this. Of course it may not be good for every individual adivasi ..." Five years ago Ranchi, the state capital, was a sedate, rather genteel country town with many Christian mission schools, where bicycle rickshaw was the favoured way to get around. Today it feels like some raw place on the frontier. Rickshaws fight for space on roads clogged with lorries and vans, the air is full of choking smoke, Main Road is dominated by the aluminium-clad tower of the city's first swanky hotel, Capitol Hill. Rising above the crowds of sugar-cane wallahs and beggars are huge advertisements for iron bars, nails and wire - but also for business suits. Thin young men riding bicycles with carts attached to the back struggle to move their loads, which protrude far behind the cart, of steel reinforcing rods for cement. Money is being made here, a chaotically affluent city is being thrown together. But then, two days into 2006, the bloody end to the protest at Kalinganagar south of the Jharkhand border threw the whole jamboree into question. At a demonstration held at Kalinganagar after the New Year massacre, a woman on the platform put the adivasi case very simply. "We are ready to give our lives but not our land," she said. "Because without our land we will die anyway." She wore a green salwar kameez (traditional dress) and a red headband - the uniform of the Maoist guerrillas, who are now a big factor in the struggle over how India should develop. Called "Naxalites" after the town of Naxalbari in West Bengal where their insurgency first broke out in 1967, the Maoists have had their ups and downs, but they have never gone away. And today they are stronger, more numerous and more ambitious than ever. And with the opening up of India to foreign capital and the expected arrival of millions of dollars of steel money, the dispossessed and those who fear dispossession are rallying to their cause. Inspired by dramatic Maoist successes in Nepal, the Indian comrades have been swarming into virgin terrain. In November 2003 they were active in 55 districts across nine Indian states. By February 2005 this had ballooned to 155 districts in 15 states, covering nearly 19 per cent of India's forests. The Home Ministry says they now have 9,300 "hardcore underground cardre" and possess 6,500 modern weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, Claymore land mines and modern electronic equipment. They are, it is claimed, trying to carve out a Compact Revolutionary Zone, a "red corridor of armed struggle", stretching from the Nepal border in the north via Andra Pradesh right down to Tamil Nadu in the south. The mineral-rich states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh are right in the middle of that band. But can the villagers trust the Naxalites? "All the Maoists start as ideologues with principles," said a senior Jharkhand policeman, "but after a time they find that being a Naxalite is a functioning business, fuelled by fear." Anybody who wants to do business in the areas they control knows they have to pay up, he said. "They take a levy from everyone, the coal barons, the mining companies. Those who have been here a long time know exactly who to pay and how much in order to stay out of trouble. Recently the Naxalites gave a press conference over the Nepal border in which they issued a warning to the multinational companies that are planning to set up in the state. That was advance notice of money required ... "Jharkhand is a treasure trove for the Naxalites because of the money that can be extorted from the mining companies. The foreign companies that want to come in will have to be prepared to do the same, if and when they come into the state." On 9 January this year as every year, the Munda tribe, one of the biggest in the state and who once (as their legends relate) enjoyed sole possession of the Land of the Forest, gather at a place called Dombari Hill, to commemorate another in their long series of tragic defeats. At the top of this steep, conical hill in 1900 a force of adivasis led by their most charismatic and famous hero, Birsa Munda, prepared to attack a British force that was far smaller but armed with modern weapons. The two sides faced off in the darkness, then on a muffled order the British charged up the steep slope with bayonets fixed. Seven Mundas died in the ensuing rout. The view from the top of the hill shows what the Mundas were fighting to defend. In all directions dense forest stretches unbroken to the horizon. Despite the military defeats and all their other reversals, in this corner of Jharkhand the Mundas have succeeded in clinging on to their land, and the culture and traditions handed down across the centuries. Ram Dayal Munda, former vice-chancellor of Ranchi University, was one of the speakers at the Dombari Hill commemoration. What will happen, we asked him later, as a result of the killings in Kalinganagar? "The people will close ranks," he said. "They will increasingly see themselves in opposition to the authorities. They will rebel. They will be crushed. They will rebel again. There are 90 million adivasis in India, and 20 million are on the road: lost, uprooted, displaced, wandering around ..." It was dawn on 2 January 2006 when the quiet morning rituals of Kalinganagar, a village in eastern India, were drowned in a noise like the end of the world: a stream of bulldozers and excavators and khaki-painted lorries containing more than 400 armed police came grinding into the village. For days there had been rumours that something was about to happen. The village, surrounded by dense forest but only 50 kilometres from a major iron-ore mine, already has three steel plants in its midst. Tata, a major Indian company, wants to build another, much bigger than the rest. The villagers, who belong to the indigenous Ho tribe, want none of it: last year police broke up two protest rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets. Now the bulldozers and diggers went to work, levelling a paddy field which occupied part of the site where Tata's planned new steel plant is supposed to rise. The disaster was under way. Villagers at work in the fields or tending their goats and cattle came running to see what was going on, gathering at a football ground in sight of the fields where the diggers were at work, guarded by hundreds of heavily armed police. An hour went by. The villagers debated what to do. They sent a small delegation to the officials to ask them to stop work and negotiate. A local magistrate who had accompanied the police was brusque. "You do whatever you want," he told them dismissively, "and I'll do my work." There was to be no parley. Now a group of villagers walked towards the bulldozers. Their plan, the survivors said later, was to persuade the drivers to stop, if necessary by lying down in front of them. What happened next is disputed: some of the protesters say the first injuries were caused when one of them tripped a string attached to a buried charge of dynamite or even a landmine. Enraged now, more protesters came running towards the police lines shouting abuse (the police claim they also fired arrows). And the police opened fire with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds. The villagers ran screaming in all directions. The police kept up the firing until the ground was strewn with bodies. By the time silence fell again on the site, 12 local people had been shot dead and 31 injured. One policeman had been killed by the protesters. Several of the villagers had been shot in the back. Some of the casualties were a long way from the field of action. A 14-year-old boy standing outside his home was shot in the chest and killed. A 27-year-old woman was killed by a bullet on her way to bathe in the village pond. The bodies of six of the dead were taken away by the police. When they were returned two days later, the villagers claimed that hands, genitals and breasts had been cut off. This is the India where nobody goes, the wild east, the subcontinent's heart of darkness. The three states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh contain more than 70 per cent of India's mineral wealth, from coal to gold, from bauxite to uranium. They also contain many million tribal people, those like the Ho villagers slaughtered in Kalinganagar, people who arrived in the subcontinent long before the Aryan invaders and who still worship their own gods and live in their own style. And like indigenous peoples the world over, they are f being ground under the wheels of development. India is getting rich, but it is still incredibly poor. The famous Indian IT industry employs about a million people - out of the total Indian population of more than a billion. The bitter fact about Indian growth, and what makes it qualitatively different from that in Japan, China, Thailand or Malaysia, is that the overwhelming majority obtains no benefit from it. In fact for many of the poorest, like the villagers in Kalinganagar, it is an unmitigated calamity. Professor Ram Dayal Munda, one of the most brilliant products of India's tribal belt, identifies a crucial divide in India, akin to Europe's old Iron Curtain. "Jharkhand," he said speaking of his own state, "is the paradox of India today, with all its richness in land and mineral resources and its backwardness at many other levels. It represents the frontier, the dividing line between western and eastern. Western India is well-fed India, from Punjab to Kerala, the India that has already been westernised. Eastern India, the forest land, the wild hunting land, is a region rich in natural resources but where the most elementary human rights are violated." The issue of the emancipation of India's indigenous peoples, Munda says, was fatally fudged at independence - and they have been the victims of development, not its beneficiaries, ever since. And as the Indian economy slowly comes to the boil, a vast human and ecological tragedy is in the making. We are travelling with a man who has been watching all this happen and who committed himself 18 years ago to doing everything he could to stop it. Bulu Imam is not the obvious candidate for such a role. He is a child of India's native elite, the sort of people who are doing best out of the boom. His conversation is larded with the names of old friends who are chief ministers and senior civil servants and politicians in Delhi. His grandfather was president of the Congress, the party of Gandhi and Nehru, and India's first delegate to the League of Nations. His father, Tootoo, was educated in Britain and raced Bentleys around Calcutta race track when he was not out pig-sticking or hunting tigers. Bulu got the tiger-hunting bug, too: father and son did it as a business, luring over American millionaires to try their luck in the forests of Jharkhand, in the south of the state of Bihar. Put a whisky in his hand and even today the shikar (tiger-hunting) yarns pour out of Bulu till the cows come home. Like all serious hunters, he got to know his chosen terrain intimately. That meant for him principally Jharkhand, literally the Land of the Forests. A plateau the size of Ireland, Jharkhand rises out of the Ganges plain like an immense apparition, and for many centuries it must have been quite as frightening and forbidding as the forests of central Europe in the Middle Ages. The dense sal forests (a widespread, timber-yielding tree) were full of leopard and tiger and elephant and cobra. The occasional clearings, with small mud dwellings abutting paddy fields, were peopled by adivasis, literally the "first people" who spoke neither Hindi nor Bengali, who worshipped Sing Bonga, the sun god, and were dead shots with the bow and arrow. They were rumoured to practise human sacrifice. All that was before the arrival of the British. But although many outsiders settled in Jharkhand during the two centuries after the British redcoats first showed their faces, much went unchanged. The villages remained as simple and tranquil, the forest as dense. And the tigers were still plentiful. When he was a young man there were tigers in the woods a 20-minute walk from his home in the town of Hazaribagh (the name means "One Thousand Tigers"). And because shikar was his vocation and his trade, he got to know the woods of Jharkhand extremely well. Shikar was eventually banned by the Indian government - to his father's great disgust. Then one day in 1988 Bulu was asked to put his knowledge of the forests to a special use: the English travel writer Mark Shand wanted to ride an elephant across India and he needed a guide. Bulu agreed, and for three weeks he led Shand and Tara, the elephant, across the Jharkhand plateau, rarely using metalled roads. Instead they travelled on dirt tracks and long-abandoned logging paths. "I never looked at a map," he says of the experience today. "I don't look at maps, I draw them. It was tough because in many places the forest had grown back and we had to hack a way through. It was an unbelievable experience." After weeks in the forest, one day they broke out on the edge of a vast open-caste coal mine. "We travelled through the mines for two or three days," Bulu remembers, "using the shoulders between the mines for a path. There was a 300-foot drop on either side, and the mine was about 12 miles across: it was a series of mines all linked up. With an elephant you go very slowly, and the landscape comes up to meet you." The scale and the finality of the devastation such a mine wreaks was brought home to him. Bulu knew that the government was planning another vast mine like this one, to be called the North Kanpura Coalfield. "It was here that I came face to face with what the new coal field would really mean. The impact on me was tremendous." It had to be stopped. Thus began his long immersion in the history and prehistory, the culture and the folkways of the plateau. Five thousand or more years ago, Jharkhand's inhabitants made enigmatic, superbly decorative carvings on many large rock faces in the area, carvings that have never been properly examined by experts. Two thousand years ago, Buddhists and Jains built temples and carved devotional statuary at dozens of sites across the plateau. The sites have yet to be properly documented, but even casual digging uncovers the remains of ancient statues, often in excellent condition. Now, as the coal field project grinds towards completion, one by one these sites will be swallowed up, as if they had never existed. And of course the villages go, too, without remorse and often without compensation or rehabilitation. The adivasis in the Hazaribagh area, as in many of India's tribal zones, decorate their simple mud-built houses with exuberant painted images of birds and beasts. They have lived in this region for many centuries, and until the coming of the British had it all to themselves. Theoretically their possession of the land is protected by India's Constitution. But Constitution, tribal rights, and a long history notwithstanding, two dozen villages have already been swept away like so much rubbish, their villagers decanted into the slums of Ranchi, the Jharkhand capital, or dispatched to Delhi to be domestics of the upper class. Many more villages are in the firing line. It was indignation provoked by a comparable though much smaller threat in Britain - Rio Tinto Zinc's plan to mine on Snowdon - that gave birth, in 1972, to Friends of the Earth; its first campaign success was to stop Rio Tinto in its tracks. As the local head of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Imam has been striving for 18 years to generate a similar head of steam over the fate of the plateau. But despite the support of foreign scholars and the listing of the Jharkhand sites in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) Heritage at Risk World Report and elsewhere, the state has not been deflected even an inch from its intention of sacrificing a vast, historic area of outstanding natural beauty for coal mines, dams, thermal power stations - and uranium mines. A key component of India's "miracle" is the way the country is growing more powerful. With the tests conducted in the desert of Rajasthan in 1998, India barged into the nuclear club; and this month, despite those tests and to the horror of the nuclear disarmament lobby, it has signed an agreement with the US to develop its civil nuclear programme. And once again, progress in the Indian context comes with appalling human costs. It was at about the time of those nuclear tests that we first learned about the disaster known as Jaduguda. The uranium for India's bombs came from Jaduguda, in Jharkhand, the only uranium mine in the country (though several more are now being opened up). The mine is located in the middle of a cluster of tribal villages. Not close to a village, with high barbed wire fences keeping the peasants well away, but in its midst. The pond at Jaduguda, we learnt, where the hazardous waste is dumped and allowed to settle, can be accessed by the men, women, children, dogs, cats and cows of the village. (The mine's boss claims that the pond was closed to the public, and some reports suggest that villagers may have cut their way through the perimeter fence.) In the summer the pond dried out, and some villagers used it as a short cut to get home. The village children played tag on it. The mine produced no stink, no clouds of filthy smoke, did not tear up the countryside and dye everything black like an open-cast coal mine. A uranium mine was, it seemed, the sort of mine you could live with. Then the first deformed children began to be born in the village. People of the village and the cattle they had washed regularly in the water of the pond began dying prematurely of cancer. A child was born with only one eye and one ear, mentally handicapped as well, unable to walk, and he grew bigger but no heavier. Women became infertile and their husbands abandoned them, and they began to be persecuted as witches, the true aim being to steal their land. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd maintained that none of the village's health problems were connected to their activities. Jaduguda illustrates the way that India moves into the future: this is the style of its progress. When the state wants to do something it just does it. Land is requisitioned, the earthmovers arrive. If there are rules to be followed - and, according to the Indian Constitution, land f held by tribal people in tribal areas subject to the Constitution's Fifth Schedule cannot by any means be transferred to non-tribals - it is a sound bet that they will be ignored. That's the way things worked under the lumbering, supposedly benign and paternalistic socialist system that ruled independent India for its first 50-odd years. And now the ground rules have changed; now big business is in the driving seat. In what direction are things likely to go? To the advantage of the poor and hapless, or to their detriment? Last October Jharkhand made business news headlines when Laxmi Mittal, the world's number one steel-maker and third richest man, Indian-born but now based in Europe, announced that he was making his first investment in his native land: setting up a 12-million-tonne steel plant somewhere in the state, at a cost of US$9bn. Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have signed tentative agreements with more than 100 companies to build plants. If all came good, the total investment would be more than $20bn. "If even one steel mill came into the state it would make a huge difference," said a man in the drinks trade in the Ranchi Club, the former hangout of the British in Jharkhand's capital, taken over and expanded by the local elite. "It will have a massive knock-on effect - on taxis, hotels, every other business. It's happening already thanks to the firms that have already moved here: for the first time shopkeepers here are learning what it means to have money. With a steel mill, the taxes the firm will pay will have a ripple effect all over the state. We were in Malaysia recently on holiday, and we said, God, India could be like this. Of course it may not be good for every individual adivasi ..." Five years ago Ranchi, the state capital, was a sedate, rather genteel country town with many Christian mission schools, where bicycle rickshaw was the favoured way to get around. Today it feels like some raw place on the frontier. Rickshaws fight for space on roads clogged with lorries and vans, the air is full of choking smoke, Main Road is dominated by the aluminium-clad tower of the city's first swanky hotel, Capitol Hill. Rising above the crowds of sugar-cane wallahs and beggars are huge advertisements for iron bars, nails and wire - but also for business suits. Thin young men riding bicycles with carts attached to the back struggle to move their loads, which protrude far behind the cart, of steel reinforcing rods for cement. Money is being made here, a chaotically affluent city is being thrown together. But then, two days into 2006, the bloody end to the protest at Kalinganagar south of the Jharkhand border threw the whole jamboree into question. At a demonstration held at Kalinganagar after the New Year massacre, a woman on the platform put the adivasi case very simply. "We are ready to give our lives but not our land," she said. "Because without our land we will die anyway." She wore a green salwar kameez (traditional dress) and a red headband - the uniform of the Maoist guerrillas, who are now a big factor in the struggle over how India should develop. Called "Naxalites" after the town of Naxalbari in West Bengal where their insurgency first broke out in 1967, the Maoists have had their ups and downs, but they have never gone away. And today they are stronger, more numerous and more ambitious than ever. And with the opening up of India to foreign capital and the expected arrival of millions of dollars of steel money, the dispossessed and those who fear dispossession are rallying to their cause. Inspired by dramatic Maoist successes in Nepal, the Indian comrades have been swarming into virgin terrain. In November 2003 they were active in 55 districts across nine Indian states. By February 2005 this had ballooned to 155 districts in 15 states, covering nearly 19 per cent of India's forests. The Home Ministry says they now have 9,300 "hardcore underground cardre" and possess 6,500 modern weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, Claymore land mines and modern electronic equipment. They are, it is claimed, trying to carve out a Compact Revolutionary Zone, a "red corridor of armed struggle", stretching from the Nepal border in the north via Andra Pradesh right down to Tamil Nadu in the south. The mineral-rich states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh are right in the middle of that band. But can the villagers trust the Naxalites? "All the Maoists start as ideologues with principles," said a senior Jharkhand policeman, "but after a time they find that being a Naxalite is a functioning business, fuelled by fear." Anybody who wants to do business in the areas they control knows they have to pay up, he said. "They take a levy from everyone, the coal barons, the mining companies. Those who have been here a long time know exactly who to pay and how much in order to stay out of trouble. Recently the Naxalites gave a press conference over the Nepal border in which they issued a warning to the multinational companies that are planning to set up in the state. That was advance notice of money required ... "Jharkhand is a treasure trove for the Naxalites because of the money that can be extorted from the mining companies. The foreign companies that want to come in will have to be prepared to do the same, if and when they come into the state." On 9 January this year as every year, the Munda tribe, one of the biggest in the state and who once (as their legends relate) enjoyed sole possession of the Land of the Forest, gather at a place called Dombari Hill, to commemorate another in their long series of tragic defeats. At the top of this steep, conical hill in 1900 a force of adivasis led by their most charismatic and famous hero, Birsa Munda, prepared to attack a British force that was far smaller but armed with modern weapons. The two sides faced off in the darkness, then on a muffled order the British charged up the steep slope with bayonets fixed. Seven Mundas died in the ensuing rout. The view from the top of the hill shows what the Mundas were fighting to defend. In all directions dense forest stretches unbroken to the horizon. Despite the military defeats and all their other reversals, in this corner of Jharkhand the Mundas have succeeded in clinging on to their land, and the culture and traditions handed down across the centuries. Ram Dayal Munda, former vice-chancellor of Ranchi University, was one of the speakers at the Dombari Hill commemoration. What will happen, we asked him later, as a result of the killings in Kalinganagar? "The people will close ranks," he said. "They will increasingly see themselves in opposition to the authorities. They will rebel. They will be crushed. They will rebel again. There are 90 million adivasis in India, and 20 million are on the road: lost, uprooted, displaced, wandering around ..." From patrice at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 14 22:12:21 2006 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:42:21 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Is the Right to the City a Viable Legal Concept? Message-ID: <20060314164221.GD84702@xs4all.nl> Bwo the INURA (http://www.inura.org) list --------- From: Andrea Carri�andrea at hic-net.org> To: "hic Knut Unger" Subject: Is the Right to the City a Viable Legal Concept? Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:15:03 -0300 FYI, an excerpt of the following publication: Scott Leckie; /Towards the Right to the City. A Possible Means of Internationalizing Local Struggles through Reliance on Human Rights Law/; in: How Common is Our Future? Human Settlements, Development and Environment; Habitat International Coalition; Mexico; 1992; pp. 160-165. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * IS THE "RIGHT TO THE CITY" A VIABLE LEGAL CONCEPT?* Could the acceptance of "the right to the city" * be a means of avoiding, both in practical and legal terms, the fequent legal and perceived conflicts between the inter-related themes of housing and the environment? * provide a way of guaranteeing that both housing rights and the environmental rights are included in relevant future human rights instruments? * offer a new vision of a people centered and sustainable city, permanently linking housing and the environmental rights? /Defining Terms/ To a lawyer, the right to the city might be seen as consisting of a hodgepdoge of existing human rights, viewed as one holistic unit. This would constitute the bundle of entitlements included within this right. Somewhat like systems theory in physics, the totality of the right to the city would necessarily be greater than the mere sum of its parts. Tehin lis its utility. These would include the following: * the right to life and livelihood; * the right to an adequate standard of living; * the right to adequate housing (to a place to live in peace and dignity); * the right to choose one's residence; * the right to freedom of movement; * the right to be free from any form of discrimination, on the basis of race, gender, or any other status including income level; * the right to privacy; * the right to work; * the right to popular participation; * the right to environmental hygiene; * the right to health; and * the special rights of women and children. The denial of peoples' rights to the city in almost all cases results in the direct negation of one or more of the rights comprising this larger right. Still, while this may be one vision of the right to the city defined in terms of human rights, this new right requires much greater specificity and precision, because nowhere in the body of human rights law now can we find and express mention of the right to the city. Why do we need a right to the city and how could it assist in expanding statuos qyo visions of human rights? In practical terms, the right to the city would, among other things, mean that: * the poor, squatters, those inadequately housed and others would have as much right to be in the city and be entitled to gain from its benefits as anyone else; * evictions justified in the name of beautifying the city, clearing the pavements, protecting ecological zones, urban redevelopment, to relieve overcrowding, etc. would be totally unacceptable; * trucking people back to the countryside would be forbidden; * currently labeled illegal settlements would be legalized, including the provision of fully adequate forms of tenure security; * everyone would be guaranteed the right to fully participate in any and all decisions which affect them in the urban context -from electing local politicians to influencing the planning process; * the adequacy of living conditions and access to a certain level of environmental quality wold not be roods reserved exclusively for those affluent enough to afford them; * land and public services would be provided to the poor; * the informal sector as a whole would be recognized; * public expenditures would be required to adequately address all relevant urban issues and problems within the contet of human rights. /Possible Counter Arguments to the Right to the City Idea/ There is a feeling within most law making bodies at the regional and international levels that the days of standard-setting are coming to a virtual end; emphasis needs to be applied instead to the enforcement and realization of existing human rights. Although standard-setting will never cease completely, this attitude will almost surely strike the right to the city. In opposition to the idea, we might envision a number of possible arguments which will need to be addressed by proponents of the idea in a convincing fashion. We might hear from those opposed to the idea that acceptance of a right to the city: * would encourage rural-urban migration to already overcrowded cities; * would be discriminatory to the rural population, by placing unfair emphasis or priority on the rights of urban dwellers; * would limit the value of existing rights and in effect, decrease their importance; * would be too vague as to be worth anything within a legal context; * would, even if accepted, be totally impossible to enforce; * would result in further environmental degradation by aiming to urbanize everything; * would lead to an erosion of individual rights due to this right's collective orientation; * would be redundant, because it offers nothing new; * would raise urban land prices so much as to negate any possible gains that such a right could foreseeably bring... These and doubtless other oppositional sentiments to the right to the city will require attention for this right from the realms of words, to law and deed. /The utility of the Right to the City/ Pursuing claims based on an emerging right would only be worthwhile if the proposed addition to the lawbooks has some form of legal or other utilitarian function. This right must be clear for it to mean anything in practical terms. Besides the human rights components of the right to the city listed above, what other functions would this right have in practice? We need to determine a few things: * What kind of right are we talking about: a moral right, a natural right, legal right or all three? * To whom would this right apply: individuals, families, communities, or all three? * Would this be and enforceable human right or one designed to purely encourage the Government to adopt appropriate policy and legislation? * Would this right, once accepted, really lead to the kind of positive changes we want to see? * Is our aim to create an entirely new ser of legal obligations for the State or to give further impetus to enforcing existing and directly relevant human rights? * Could indicators be applied to measure compliance with the right to the city, and if so, which ones? * Can worldwide popular support be mobilized around this right? The right to the city, I feel, is a useful and indeed imperative theme to pursue -but not before as many answers as possible can be provided to the many questions which continue to surround it. These are worth addressing, for the right to the city could provide an important means for refocusing attention, action and concern onto the phenomenal and interconnected problems of housing an the environment affecting all of our cities, as well as ensuring the practical and legal compatibility of these realms of society. From hight at 34n118w.net Thu Mar 16 06:04:24 2006 From: hight at 34n118w.net (hight at 34n118w.net) Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:34:24 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Art and Cultural Utilization of Space Exploration panel at Space Development Conference may4-7 Message-ID: <51376.70.34.212.67.1142469264.squirrel@webmail.34n118w.net> 25th annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC). los angeles, ca (on art and space panel ) May 4-7, 2006 Art and The Cultural Utilization of Space Exploration panel will include Andrea Polli and Jeremy Hight From ravikant at sarai.net Thu Mar 16 12:45:53 2006 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 12:45:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Talk at IIC Message-ID: <200603161245.53717.ravikant@sarai.net> India International Centre & The New India Foundation Invite you to INDEPENDENT INDIA Urban Crisis in Contemporary Bombay Cinema Speaker: Ranjani Mazumdar School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU Chair: Ashis Nandy On Tuesday, 21st March  2006 at 6.30 pm in the Auditorium India International Centre, 40 Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi 110003 This is the fifteenth lecture in the series Independent India From hight at 34n118w.net Fri Mar 17 14:46:43 2006 From: hight at 34n118w.net (hight at 34n118w.net) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 01:16:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Flack Attack journal produced inside second life game and in whitney artport for sale soon in whitney and now online Message-ID: <50124.70.34.212.67.1142587003.squirrel@webmail.34n118w.net> Flack Attack. A revolutionary concept in publishing, the journal was developed from wikipedia submessions reviewed inside the vr game world of "Second Life" in real time editorial meetings. The game/world is also revolutionary as it is open source and constantly being built from within and there are people working in the game world making objects and converting game world money into real dollars and subsisting. The theme was "Autonomy". The project is in the Whitney Artport. The print version is now for sale from the sale and will sell in the Whitney Museum Bookstore. I encourage people to check it out. I am also proud to have two essays in Flack Attack. "Quest for autonomy in the Datascape and Landscape "Autonomy and the constellations of Identity" artport.whitney.org/gatepages/december05.shtml From hight at 34n118w.net Fri Mar 17 14:51:43 2006 From: hight at 34n118w.net (hight at 34n118w.net) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 01:21:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] excuse the typos Message-ID: <50139.70.34.212.67.1142587303.squirrel@webmail.34n118w.net> it is late...............just caught them....off to bed....... From hight at 34n118w.net Fri Mar 17 14:52:11 2006 From: hight at 34n118w.net (hight at 34n118w.net) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 01:22:11 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] excuse the typos Message-ID: <50141.70.34.212.67.1142587331.squirrel@webmail.34n118w.net> it is late...............just caught them....off to bed....... From ektenel at hotmail.com Fri Mar 17 22:41:45 2006 From: ektenel at hotmail.com (Ah_Ek Ferrera_Balanquet) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 17:11:45 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Forum Idea 2006/Bienal de La Hababa Message-ID: Forum Idea 2006 Curadora: Dannys Montes de Oca 9na Bienal de La Habana, Cuba Marzo 30-Abril 1, 2006 QueD�30 de marzo Sesi�a�: 9:00 � 1:00 pm Tema: Ciudad: articulaci�rbana y espacio de representaci�9:00 � 9:20. Carlos Ossa (Chile) Santiago. Postales de una ciudad ensimismada 9:20 � 9: 30 am. Debate 9:30 � 10: 50 am. Joaqu�Barriendos (Espa�Habitabilidad extrema. La dimensi�micro)pol�ca de los imaginarios (macro)urbanos 10: 50 � 11:00 am. Debate 11:00 - 11:20 am. Teresa de Arruda (Brasil) Ciudad: articulaci�rbana y cultura visual 11:20 � 11: 30 am. Debate. 11:30 � 11:50 am. Jacqueline Lacasa (Uruguay) Para una ciudad sin nombre. Conferencia performance 11:50 � 12:00 m. Debate 12:00 � 12: 20 pm. Santiago Olmo (Espa�La ciudad como taller. Experiencias de talleres fotogr�cos en �rica 12:20 � 12: 30 pm. Debate 12: 30. � 1:30. ALMUERZO Sesi�arde: 2:00 � 5:00 pm Tema: Nuevos productores y nuevos p�os 2:00 � 2:20 pm. Richard Martel (Canad�Los tres principios de las cosas naturales: la materia, el movimiento, la forma 2:20 - 2:30 pm. Debate 2:30. � 2:50 pm. Humberto V�z (Panam�El espectador en el arte p�o. Notas sobre proyectos colaborativos en Am�ca Latina y Europa 2:50 � 3:00 pm. Debate 3:00 � 3:20 pm. Vera M. Pallamin (Brasil) Intervenciones urbanas y comunidades: entre la conformidad y la disconformidad 3:20 � 3:30 pm. Debate 3:30 � 3:50 pm. Zuleiva Vivas (Venezuela) Como en la tele. Arte y subversi�3:50 � 4:00 pm. Debate 4:00 � 4:.20 pm. Fernando Farina (Argentina) Semana del arte de Rosario. Arte, del museo a la calle sin concesiones 4:.20 � 4:40 pm. Debate D�31 de marzo Sesi�a�: 9:00 � 1:00 pm Tema: Modelos urban�icos y arquitect�os. Los nuevos signos de visualidad urbana y el arte 9:00 � 9:20 am. Celia Maria Antonacci Ramos (Brasil) Pol�cas y po�cas de las transgresiones urbanas 9:20 � 9:30 am. Debate 9:30 � 10:50 am. Rodolfo Kronfle Chambers (Ecuador) Cr�a del arte en tiempos de regeneraci�rbana: el caso Guayaquil 10:50 � 11:00 am. Debate 11:00 - 11:20 am. Amparo Chantada (Rep�a Dominicana) De ideas urbanas desarrolladas y de nuevas rebeliones en Santo Domingo 11:20 � 11:30 am. Debate. 11:30 � 11:50 am. Guy Sioui Durand (Canad�Urbanidades urbanas. Din�cas de la cultura urbana 11:50 � 12:00 pm. Debate 12:00 � 12: 20 pm. Susan Lord y Janine Marchessault (Canad�Colectivos de arte translocal y nuevas pr�icas ciudadanas 12:20 � 12: 30 pm. Debate 1: 00 � 1:50. ALMUERZO Sesi�arde: 2:00 � 5:00 pm Tema: Din�cas de lo global y procesos de supervivencia urbana 2:00 � 2:20. Nicolas Bourrriaud (Francia) Lo moderno y lo enraizado 2:20 - 2:30 pm. Debate 2:30. � 2:50 pm. Gabriela Salgado (Argentina-Inglaterra) El performance como boomerang: acciones performativas del d�d for Real en la Tierra de nadie 2:50 � 3:00 pm. Debate 3:00 � 3:20 pm. Mary Jane Carrol (Canad�Las artes visuales en el Nuevo Mundo. Inmigraci�multiculturalismo y aislamiento. Su repercusi�n la vida art�ica de las ciudades 3:20 � 3:30 pm. Debate 3:30 � 3:50. Magaly Espinosa (Cuba) Una ciudad camale�a: la visualidad local. (La Habana y sus fans terribles) 3:50 � 4:00. Debate 4:00 � 4:.20. Ra�arquech Ferrera-Balanquet (Cuba-M�co) Metr�is transmigratorias: M�da_MX y los �geles_Aztl� 4:.20 � 4:40. Debate D� 1 de abril Sesi�a�: 9:00 � 1:00 pm Tema: Problemas de la comunicaci�ecnol�a e interactividad urbana del arte. Ma�: 9:00 � 9:20. Herv�ischer (Canad�Metr�is digital 9:20 � 9: 30 am. Debate 9:30 � 10: 50 am. Jorge Alban D. (Costa Rica) Angie en su laberinto: narrativa, juego y cr�ca en la era digital 10: 50 � 11:00 am. Debate 11:00 - 11:20 am. Lucrezia Cippitelli (Italia) Remezclando el mundo. Los Live Media y V-jing como pr�ica colectiva de recomponer la cultura visual contempor�a 11:20 � 11: 30 am. Debate. 11:30 � 11:50 am. Jos�uis Brea (Espa�(e)Images & (e)archives in a RAM culture 11:50 � 12: 00 m. Debate. 1: 00 � 2:00 pm ALMUERZO Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet,MFA Artist/Writer/Scholar/Curator ektenel at hotmail.com From shekhar at crit.org.in Sat Mar 18 01:27:54 2006 From: shekhar at crit.org.in (Shekhar Krishnan) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:57:54 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] MIT STS: Perception, Consumption, Politics Message-ID: <441B14C2.4070206@crit.org.in> Dear All: My friend Arvind Rajagopal will be speaking in our department colloquium this coming Monday from his work on urban space, visual culture, and politics in Mumbai. Please come for this talk and forward this invitation on to others in your network. Best, Shekhar -- MIT Science, Technology & Society Spring 2006 Colloquium presents "Visual Culture in an Emerging Market: Perception, Consumption, Politics" ARVIND RAJAGOPAL New York University http://education.nyu.edu/dcc/people/bio.php?id=1221 MONDAY 20 MARCH 2006 4.00-6.00 P.M. MIT E51-095 http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?mapterms=E51&mapsearch=go As the political project of making modern citizens in India is threatened by the legitimation crisis of the political process on the one hand, and the ascendancy of Hindu nationalism and caste-based parties on the other, the pedagogical task of the developmental state has increasingly been taken up through the market itself. With the disintegration of an earlier secular consensus, and the ascendancy of a neo-liberal regime, the market becomes both a means and a model for renewing the political process. Drawing from examples of visual culture between the mid 1980s and 2004, the paper will trace the interaction of practices located in various institutional sites, such as advertising, commercial and documentary cinema, to map the changing techniques of the market in a shifting political context. The aim is to clarify the methodologies appropriate to understanding visual culture in a comparative and global context. ARVIND RAJAGOPAL is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Culture at New York University. His interests include political economy of culture, contemporary South Asia, social theory, audiences and reception theory, and globalization. He is the author of Politics after Television: Religious Nationalism and the Retailing of Hinduness (Cambridge, 2001); Guest Editor of Social Text No. 68, on Technologies of Perception and the Cultures of Globalization; Coauthor of Mapping Hegemony: Television News and Industrial Conflict (1992) and several articles in scholarly journals. To read the essay "The Violence of Commodity Aesthetics: Hawkers, Demolition Raids, and a New Regime of Consumption" by Arvind Rajagopal, published in Social Text 68 on Technologies of Perception, go to http://www.mit.edu/~shekhar/urban-media/rajagopal_hawkers.pdf -- Shekhar Krishnan Apt.302, Edgerton House 143, Albany Street Cambridge, MA 02139 U.S.A. http://www.crit.org.in/members/shekhar http://www.mit.edu/~shekhar From stevphen at autonomedia.org Sun Mar 19 13:07:59 2006 From: stevphen at autonomedia.org (Stevphen Shukaitis) Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 02:37:59 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Reader-list] Future in the Present May 2-3 Leicester UK Message-ID: <53199.71.161.253.16.1142753879.squirrel@mail.panix.com> Future in the Present: Occupying the Social Factory May 2-3, 2006 - Leicester, UK http://www.refusingstructures.net/future.html Sponsored by the University of Leicester Centre for Philosophy and Political Economy and Autonomedia >From everyday insurgencies to global antagonisms, recent decades have borne witness to multiple and overlapping cycles of social struggle, as well as attempts to incorporate these sources of social wealth and creativity. From transformations in the circuits of global capital to the morphing of state structures, border controls and forms of sovereignty, the development of neoliberal governmentality has constantly run to catch up with our multiplicitous desires to create new forms of self-determining community and sociality. Multidirectional lines of command attempt to recuperate innovations at the level of everyday life, while myriad microrevolutions branch out, weave together new possibilities, and sometimes directly attack the networks of control. What is the meaning of autonomy today, both as a theoretical category and as a practice? And what can the thought of refusal contribute to the organization of refusals in our daily lives? How can we create forms of antagonism directed against the lines of command that cut across the economic and social fabric, and which seek to incorporate affective, biological, and symbolic processes into forms of production? How can we prevent our antagonism being subsumed into the working of power and turned them against us? Rather than to creating overarching concepts that describe a new historical epoch, what would it mean to look at the specific modulations of how productive forces and regimes of command are changing in response to the social creativity and struggles of political actors? And what possibilities for political and social change are contained within these transformations? This is to start from the multiple inscriptions of power and resistance: from the bare life and bodies of the migrant worker to the precarious temp employee, from the unwaged to laborers in export processing zone archipelagos. This gathering will attempt to break down the format and constraints of the traditional academic conference as well as forms of theorizing divorced from on-going social struggles and organizing. It will seek to create a living dialogue and encuentro, a series of collisions of bodies and minds, drawing from the history of autonomist politics and organizing, to draw out possible directions for the future buried beneath the weight of the present. Rather than fixing autonomous practices as objects of study it will draw together theorists, organizers, and activists considering questions of what class composition, insurgent sociality, and autonomous political practice could mean today. Schedule Tuesday 2 May 12noon-1pm: Registration (with tea and coffee) 1-4pm Session One: Class Composition, Workers’ Inquiry and Struggle - ‘Mapping the Burrow: From Worker’s Inquiry to Militant Investigation’ – Nate Holdren and Steve Wright - ‘Inchiesta and Global Social Movements: A Renewing?’ – Emiliana Armano and Raffaele Scortino - ‘Faredodge.now: Organising Refusal?’ – Tadzio Mueller - ‘Tomorrow Women: Practical Resistance and Multiple Insurgencies in the Hybrid Spaces and Border Zones of Globalization’ – J. Zoe Wilson 4-5pm Refreshments 6-7.30pm Session Two: Roundtable on Autonomous/Autonomist Publishing 7.30 Dinner Wednesday 3 May 9.30-10am: Registration for late-comers (with tea and coffee) 10am-1pm Session Three: Exodus and Non-State Democracy - ‘Terror and Utopia: Apocalyptic Desire, Resistance and the War on Terror’ – Stefan Skrimshire - ‘“Democracy Must Be Defended”: States of Emergency and the World Tribunal’ – Ayça Çubukçu - ‘Nations of the Multitude: Antagonistic Struggles and the Political Basis for a Non-State Democracy’ – Gemma Ubasart i Gonzàlez and Raimundo Viejo Vinãs - ‘Movements across the US-Mexico Border: the Sixth, the Other Campaign, the Border Social Forum and the March against the Wall of Shame’ – Patrick Cuninghame 1-2.30pm Lunch 2.30-5.30pm Session Four: Weaving Machines of Resistance (The Warp and Woof of Refusal) - ‘The Myth of Immaterial Labour’ – George Dafermos - ‘Craft-Work and Fabriculture: Gender, Technology and Autonomism’ – Heidi Brush and Jack Bratich - ‘The Conversation’ – Kirsten Forkert Registration The registration form can be obtained from http://www.refusingstructures.net/futureregistration.html. Space is limited so individuals are encouraged to register early. Individuals interested in Future in the Present are encouraged to check out the Immaterial Labour, Multitudes and New Social Subjects: Class Composition in Cognitive Capitalism (http://www.geocities.com/ImmaterialLabour) conference that will be held in Cambridge on April 28th-30th (the weekend before FITP). For more information and directions: http://www.refusingstructures.net/future.html or e-mail future at refusingstructures.net University of Leicester Centre for Philosophy and Political Economy: http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/cppe Autonomedia: http://www.autonomedia.org -- Stevphen Shukaitis Autonomedia Editorial Collective http://www.autonomedia.org http://slash.interactivist.net "Autonomy is not a fixed, essential state. Like gender, autonomy is created through its performance, by doing/becoming; it is a political practice. To become autonomous is to refuse authoritarian and compulsory cultures of separation and hierarchy through embodied practices of welcoming difference . . . Becoming autonomous is a political position for it thwarts the exclusions of proprietary knowledge and jealous hoarding of resources, and replaces the social and economic hierarchies on which these depend with a politics of skill exchange, welcome, and collaboration. Freely sharing these with others creates a common wealth of knowledge and power that subverts the domination and hegemony of the master’s rule." -subRosa Collective From s0454533 at sms.ed.ac.uk Sun Mar 19 18:57:08 2006 From: s0454533 at sms.ed.ac.uk (A Khanna) Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 13:27:08 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] what a drag! Message-ID: <20060319132708.canchea804oc0gk4@www.sms.ed.ac.uk> hi all, my thir posting is on its way...in the meantime, here's an invitaiton to an exciting event in delhi. best, akshay **Please Forward Widely*** Nigah & Khoj - International Artists' Association invite you to An evening with Diane Torr Performer, Writer, Gender Transformer and Drag King Ambassador to the World! http://www.nigahmedia.com on Tuesday, 21st March, 2006 at 6.30 PM at Khoj Studios, S-17 Khirki Extension, New Delhi See you then! From singhgurminder2000 at hotmail.com Sat Mar 11 12:25:17 2006 From: singhgurminder2000 at hotmail.com (gurminder singh) Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 12:25:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?=5Barkitectindia=5D_CONVENTION_ON_C?= =?iso-8859-1?q?HILDREN=27S_RIGHT_TO_FOOD__=287th_=96_9th_APRIL=2C_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?2006=2C_HYDERABAD_=29?= Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060311/6135b2b7/attachment-0001.html From announcer at lists.crit.org.in Tue Mar 14 12:38:28 2006 From: announcer at lists.crit.org.in (announcer at lists.crit.org.in) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:08:28 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Citizens Protest Mill Lands Ruling Message-ID: <44166BEC.8020805@crit.org.in> MARCH FOR MUMBAI! People of Mumbai! Lets fight for open spaces, clean air, infrastructure and public housing! Maharashtra government must legislate for citizens not only mill owners and builders! The people of Mumbai, are shocked by the Supreme Court judgment on mill lands. The Supreme Court judgment has not only given commercial interests more importance than the collective needs of a dying city, it has actually supported the blatantly illegitimate demands of the builders and mill owners. Its implications are far reaching. VIOLATION OF THE BASIC PROPERTY LAW: YOU CANNOT SELL WHAT YOU DO NOT OWN! 600 acres of land in the heart of Mumbai is occupied by textile mills, most of which have been closed. Much of this land was leased to the mill owners or sold at very low rates for the purpose of starting mills over a century ago. The land could not be sold, until 1991 when the law was amended, then too mainly for reviving sick mills. Today when the mills have shut down, there is a rush to exploit it as real estate, without providing livelihood and homes to the mill workers and much needed infrastructure for the city. The judiciary and the State Government have been callous enough to support sale of this land by Mill owners with hardly any conditions. CHEATED OF OUR RIGHT TO HOUSING, INFRASTRUCTURE, OPEN SPACE, FRESH AIR! By Rule 58 of the DCR of 1991, mill lands could be sold, provided a third was reserved for public use [like parks and play grounds], a third for affordable housing and a third for owners to develop as they pleased. Mill owners got equal FSI for the land that they were 'giving up'. But they were greedy for more. A modification in 2001 by the Maharashtra Government reduced the land available for public spaces -- parks, playgrounds pedestrian areas, etc -- from 200 acres to just 32 acres. Where there would have been in 45000 low cost houses, there would now be just 5000 houses. This was struck down by the Mumbai High Court and now reinstated by the Supreme Court. The extensive unplanned commercial development that would take place as a result of this sale, would cause terrible congestion, traffic problems and put an enormous strain the on existing services which are woefully inadequate. Only Mumbaiites can truly understand what this means. A CAUSE FOR ALARM! The opening up of the mill lands as per the Supreme court judgment will set the wrong precedent for all other such large govt owned lands most of which are on lease such as the Bombay Port Trust land, the waterfront, land owned by the Railways, etc, which could be then opened up to private developers for commercial exploitation. People in Mumbai will then only be able to walk around malls instead of open spaces. DEVELOPMENT FOR WHOM? The Supreme Court in its ruling says that it "had to choose between environment and development and it chose development which it claims is "sustainable". This development is certainly not in the interest of citizens of Mumbai and cannot be described as sustainable. In this case it is not just the environment, but largely local people, citizens of Mumbai who are being marginalized for the benefit of a few. DO WE AS CITIZENS HAVE THE POWER TO RECLAIM WHAT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO US? This is valuable land in the heart of the city, can and should be used to provide affordable housing for the mill workers, rehabilitation for slums and dilapidated tenanted buildings, low income housing, green spaces and vegetation to act as pollution sinks, public amenities like markets, playgrounds, community centres, special schools and medical institutions, public Infrastructure facilities, sewerage lines and plants, that would reduce the load on the overworked infrastructure of Mumbai city and even the revival of the textile industry. No elected representatives or public servants have the right to gift it away. It is time to come together and demand our rights as citizens. We have the right to participate in the planning of the city. We demand that the Maharashtra Government immediately and urgently bring in legislation providing 1/3rd, 1/3rd and 1/3rd division of the Mill Land area in the interest of the people and the environment. We call on you to join us on the protest march to the Mantralaya on March 14th at 3 pm from Azad Maidan, to demand justice for Mumbai, to demand that the Maharashtra govt. which should represent the citizens of Mumbai, immediately legislate to protect the mill workers and the city! AGNI, AKSHARA, ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS CONFERERATION, ALL INDIA LIC EMPLOYEES FEDERATION, ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS, CENTRE OF INDIAN TRADE UNIONS, CITISPACE, COMET MEDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST), DOCUMENTATION RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTRE, EKTA, FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH, FORUM AGAINST OPRESSION OF WOMEN, GIRNI BHADEKARU SANGHARSH SAMITI, GIRNI KAMGAR SANGARSH SAMITI, INDIAN FEDERATION OF TRACE UNIONS, INDIA CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND LAW, LOK RAJ SANGHATAN, MAHARASHTRA ASSOCIATION OF RESIDENT DOCTORS, MAJLIS, MOVEMENT FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, MUMBAI ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL NETWORK, INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR TRADTITIONAL BUILDING ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISATION, MUMBAI PORT TRUST AND DOCK WORKERS UNION, NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF PEOPLES MOVEMENTS, NATIONAL FISHWORKERS FORUM, NIRBHAY BANO ANDOLAN, NIVARA HAKK SAURAKSHAN SAMITI, PEOPLES MEDIA INITIATIVE, SHAHER VIKAS MANCH, STATE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES UNION, TRADE UNION SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE, YOUNG PROFESSIONALS COLLECTIVE, YOUTH FOR UNITY AND VOLUNTARY ACTION (YUVA) Mumbai Peoples Action Committee (MPAC) 7/61, Modern Mills compound, KK Marg, Saat Rasta (Jacob Circle) Mumbai 400011 Phone +91.22.2417.4048 _____ CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust), Mumbai Announcements List http://www.crit.org.in http://lists.crit.org.in/mailman/listinfo/announcer From Cecilia66gh at aol.com Sun Mar 12 16:11:30 2006 From: Cecilia66gh at aol.com (Cecilia66gh at aol.com) Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 05:41:30 EST Subject: [Reader-list] BLANK NOISE: I ASK FOR IT Message-ID: <2b8.6287a89.314554da@aol.com> What a fabulous idea! I'm French and I've been living in Paris since I was 18. That makes it 13 years now. I've had so many painful experiences on the Tube and in the street, and I hadn't asked for it, but that's what lots of people assume. Many clothes are linked with memories of painful encounters, and I've even discarded some of them, because I was so upset. I can't very well afford to send them across to you in India, but there's one item in particular I would send over if I still had it. I used to have very long hair, which I never let free on my shoulders, but either wore in a plait or in a bun (the classic ballet dancer type). Besides my bum and my boobs, gropers would often "attack" my hair, and either finger my plait, or tug at my bun and upset or even undo it (and searching for your hair-pins in a full carriage isn't much fun, so experience taught me always to carry extra pins in my bag so that I could redo my bun). The men (or boys), mainly nth generation migrants, really seemed to be attracted by that hair of mine (ordinary chestnut) as by a magnet and on a couple of occasions, after they had bungled my hairdo, some men took advantage of the crowd to start stroking my hair as if I were a dog or a cat. I can't do away with my other secondary sexual attributes, but when I was 20, I eventually went to a hairdresser and had my hair cut off. I now wear very short hair, like a man, and I still get harassed, but at least men leave my hair alone now. I wish I had kept a hairlock, I would donate it to you to complete your collection. All the best, Cecilia -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060312/4af20a75/attachment.html From daljitami at rediffmail.com Fri Mar 17 19:51:49 2006 From: daljitami at rediffmail.com (daljit ami) Date: 17 Mar 2006 14:21:49 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Cellulooid and compact disks in Punjab Message-ID: <20060317142149.10748.qmail@webmail47.rediffmail.com> Failed urban exploration subjecting rural audience through compact disks Meeting Parwaz Kaur turns out to be a very good experience. She is M.Phil in Punjabi and her topic in M.Phil. is Puadi Jalsa (a folk dance of Punjab). She is a good singer and actor herself. After doing theatre for five-six years she along with her colleagues turn out to be initiator of the trend of films made with small budgets and sold as compact disks in local market. She is an insider of the story but her dispassionate analysis do not carry insider’s hang over. She identify this trend as rural as she stresses that its audience as well as language and topics are those with whom rural audience can identify themselves. Most of the films have been constructed from the scenes taken as it is or adapted from mainstream films or plays. Mainstream formulas of item songs have been used in these films as the rural characters (in kurta pyzama or Chadra-kurta) dance with models in their dreams. Hindi blockbuster Mugley Azam has been distorted into Murge Hazm. Parwaz explained the economy of these films from artists’ point of view, “Payments depend upon your equation with the producer. Only few artists are paid not to talk of well. Rest of the artists are makeshift or are Bollywood aspirants. They are there either for fun or to improve their acting skills. Some aspirants from well to do families even pay to act in these films.” While talking about the female artists Parwaz is very candid but certain that ‘on the sets female artists are treated as items and in their cases the exploitation is not only economic in nature.’ What drive these people to be part of this small industry if it has too small to offer and that too to a selected few? Parwaz responds, “Many reasons are there. Different people come for different reasons. There are artists who wants to act and move to Bollywood for better opportunities. They are there to rehearse their skills. Some established models are working on token payments as they feel that the career of model can’t be long so they need to learn the things that can be learnt while working on fiction. Some people want to invest in the industry they are there to explore investment options. These people will do business of equipment related to filmmaking. These are trying to feel the pulse of newly developing profession. There are failed artists trying to assert their worth and looking for opportunities on the bigger screen. Some people are Bollywood-returns who are improving their bio-datas. A selective few are making money.” Her response if stretched further can lead us to conclude that this small industry in just a via media for personal ends. Those who could not assert themselves at urban place are subjecting rural audience to their ends. Technology helped them reach out to the audience that was out of the reach of mainstream. How these films respond to the aspirations of makers and audience is to be analysed? Are the makers imposing their understanding on the audience or are they responding to the audience’s aspirations? These are the questions that arose from the interaction with Parwaz. Thanks Parwaz. Daljit Ami -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060317/65bdedd8/attachment.html From dripta82 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 16 15:32:32 2006 From: dripta82 at yahoo.com (Dripta Piplai) Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 10:02:32 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Third Posting, Dripta Piplai, I-fellow Message-ID: <20060316100232.74233.qmail@web37007.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Third Posting, Dripta Piplai, I-fellow: Record Versus Swarabitan : Who wins? When the investigations are being made regarding the songs with more than one gayan-style, it is found that the songs which are sung in more than one gayan-style-are not only Muktachhanda (without any rhythm) Rabindrasangeets, but also some songs sung in tala. E.g. the songs ‘majha majhe tobo dekha pai’, ‘tomarei koriyachi jibonero dhrubotara’ (both documented in Bramhasangeet-2 and Swarabitan-23) etc. But there are some interesting facts regarding the recorded version versus the documented notation version in terms of the teaching-learning practice of Rabindrasangeet in Calcutta. For example, the song ‘odhora madhuri’ (notation is documented in Swarabitan-62) has different styles. The style which can be found in the record of Subinoy Roy is a different style from the documented notation. And the schools will definitely follow the Swarabitan version. So, the question remains- what will happen to the version of Subinoy Roy? The song ‘tobu mone rekho’ (swaralipi documented in Satagan, Gitimala and Shephali) can also be found in different versions in records of some prominent artists. Some major institutions of Rabindrasangeet, in some cases, tend to follow the recorded version instead of the Swarabitan-version. For example- the muktachhanda songs ‘baje koruno sure’ and ‘ami rupe tomay bholabo na’ are taught in institutions following the recorded version- not the swaralipi. So- the question here is why in these cases recorded versions have become norms instead of the Swarabitan? And why these particular songs have notation forms which are documented in Swarabitan but are not taught in the Calcutta music schools? On the contrary, some recorded versions, which are different from the swaralipi, were practically thrown out by the concerned authorities!(It happened with the legendary Tagore song artist Debabrata Biswas actually). The Viswa Bharati Music Board was established in 1944 for the concerns related to, e.g. teaching-learning of Rabindrasangeet etc. Practically, this is the authority who decides the ‘norms’ of the gayan of Rabindrasangeet. Questions can be aroused regarding the role of Music Board in choosing the recorded vs. Swarabitan version. One senior member of Viswa Bharati Music Board remarks, - Muktachhanda Rabindrasangeet gayan are not very much particularly normative, some sort of individual styles may be allowed while performing these. Regarding the same issue, another authority member writes- “It is normal that in Muktachhanda Rabindrasangeet different artists will perform in different styles. But some people take advantage of their institutional gurus which are never questioned. Gharana in Rabindrasangeet!” - The senior authority member, here, has claimed strongly that, ‘gharana’ is an impossible word in the domain of Rabindrasangeet. Can’t we say that the denial of the existence of ‘gharana’ or the multiplicity of tradition itself is a threat towards the practice of Rabindrasangeet? The power game continues. I’ll be starting the recordings of songs by different artists, different schools and collect old records of some songs from next month onwards. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060316/b97b36c6/attachment.html From kamal_bhu at rediffmail.com Mon Mar 20 10:58:00 2006 From: kamal_bhu at rediffmail.com (Kamal Kumar Mishra) Date: 20 Mar 2006 05:28:00 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] 2nd posting... Message-ID: <20060320052800.16400.qmail@webmail43.rediffmail.com>    Mahmood bhai, sabse pahle to mujhe der se reply ke liye maaf kariyega wajah ye ki main is waqut dilli me nahin hoon. as i have mentioned in my first posting,the production of the jasusi fiction begins in the last decade of the 19th century when these fictions have been translated first in bengali and then in other indian languages i.e. hindi.As far as golden age is concerned i think there is not just one.so far ,my findings tend to suggest that there is a continuity of such publications.Its true that the earlier decades (1890's-1910's) saw the establishment of monthlies(Upamyas daftars) in benaras and some other centres which are devoted to the publication of detective fictions.but again we see in 20's n 30's people like gopal ram gahmari and jayram das gupta publishing these fiction monthlies from gahmar n benaras respectively.Railway pustak mala series is one such example(publishing detective stories in 20's n 30's).yes in some ways,60's 70's n 80's are the decades when the scale of such publications seems to be huge.with the emergence of new centres like Allahabad ,Meeruth n Delhi along with centres like mathura n agara.In this very period we see nikhat publication (allahabad )publishing translations of famous urdu afsananigar Ibne Safi in hindi under the title jasusi duniya,monthlies like" suspense" being published from delhi,n serial publications of col.Ranjeet,om prakash Kamboj,n ved prakash sharma earlier from Meeruth n then from delhi.Delhi n Meeruth remained the two major centres of novel publishing even in the 90's.In fact i have no clue of indrajal n other such publications.i ll be more than happy if you could suggest some thing related to. regards!!! kamal. On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 mahmood farooqui wrote : >Dear Kamal, > >Dehati Pustak Bhandar is established in the 1930s...what is the prehistory >of the jasusi novel in Hindi before that? And what do you think is the >golden age of hindi jasusi novels? The sixties and seventies? How does it >relate to the publishing status in the larger Hindi world? If I take >newspaper circulation, it seems to climax in the 1920s or 1930s before the >present days, or magazine boom which I think happens in the sixties and late >seventies or novel and book publishing boom which again happens in the >90s...so how does the production of detective fiction relate to the larger >hindi publishing scene--and also add to it the heyday of indrajal comics and >amar chitra katha and of rajan iqbal etc... > >thanks, >mahmood > >On 5 Mar 2006 10:55:43 -0000, Kamal Kumar Mishra >wrote: > > > > sorry for the delay.Following is my 2nd posting regarding publishing of > > jasusi-upanyas in Hindi. > > > > > > Commercial publishing: issues are not resolved, story > > has been left untold > > > > As we know writing and publishing "jasusi "fiction has become a highly > > profitable business in due course of time. For the flourishing Hindi > > publishing industry, this particular genre proved to be a boon. We see many > > people trying their luck in novel writing and publishing. And some times > > even without any commitment or a sense of responsibility towards their > > readers. Dehati pustak Bhandar Chawari Bazar ,Delhi could well be taken as > > an example of such publications. Established in 1930's(Reg.1936) by Late > > Lala Dhum Mal,Dehati Pustak Bhandar happened to be one of the pioneer > > publications of Delhi as far as jasusi fictions are concerned . > > > > In the two novels –" Bahram Ki Khoj dilchaspjasusiupanyas"and "Tilasmi > > Gupt Khajana" written by,anekon pustakon ke rachaita (writer of many books) > > Hukum Chand , one can see the reflections of these very tendencies. We don't > > get to know the year of publication of these novels.The price of these > > novels is a rupee and a half. But the claims are not so small as this > > "ishtehar" (summary as well) also suggests: > > > > Riyasat vijay nagar ke mahlon rajyadhikarion dwara rache gaye ek > > bhyanak kadyantra ka varnan aap ko is upanyas men bade hi rochak shali > > men milega .Sath hi vikhyat Bahram ka vilayat men wahan ke prasidh daku > > Areseen Lopen se mukabla padhne se sambandh rakhta hai.Dr.Gopal aur > > rajkumar Romi aur mantri Sahapal ke kam prasansa ke yogya hain.MaharajaVijay Chand kiMantri ki putri ko syahposhon ki kaid se chuda lena ek aisi > > ghatna hai padhne se sambandh rakhti hai. yogya lekhak ki lekhni prashansa > > ke yogya hai.Tiranga cover,sundar kagaj tatha chpai.Mulya 1.50. > > > > But the threads of narrative are left unconnected and issues are not > > resolved ,as my reading suggests. For example we don't get to know ,at all, > > what was the secret that Raja wanted to hide from Romi (his son) and why? > > What was the secret of the 'safed kagaj'(Plane paper) : > > > > Vijay Chand: yadi mujhe malum hota ki Romi mujhse itna > > Jaldi vida ho jayega to mai wah kagaj use dikha > > Deta jiske liye usne bar –bar iccha prakat ki (p.102) > > > > - - - > > > > Vijay Chand: ek kaam aap aur kijiye is safed kagaj ko > > aslee halat men le aayeye jab wah > > aslee halat men aa jaye to mujhe de den. (p.108) > > > > Who was Bahram ka GURU GHANTAAL,was it Raja or Some one else?And if Raja > > was the real Bahram then the Writer never attests it: > > > > Dr.Gopal: " bees varsh pahle kitne daler the-sansar aap se > > kaanpta tha. Kewal un baton ko aur is bhed ko > > main hi to janta hoon aap aaj raja hain par kal > > tak aap kon the? > > Vijay chand ne joshile aandaaj men kaha- "doctor kya kah rahe hon > > .choop raho." (pp.105-106). > > > > > > If the character of minister Sahpal helps to misguide the reader and > > maintain the suspense so does these above mentioned details. But then one > > can say that there is hardly a Systematic attempt towards explanation or a > > "proper" connection between clues and the puzzle.The language of these two > > fictions is not at all a sanskritize-Hindi it is popular hindi with a mixing > > of English words like Mister, Society, Address–card etc. we hardly find > > these words in the works of well known Benares or Allahabad based writers > > or publishers of this genre. > > > > In the 13th chapter of "Tilasmi Gupt khajana" by the same author n > > publisher a character called Bihari Lal starts telling story of the first > > novel ,I have just mentioned. > > > > Is par Bihari Lal ne baat katte hue kaha: > > > > Bihari Lal:aap ki baat par mujhe ek novil jiska naam "Bahram ki Khoj "hai > > yaad aa gaya jiske kuch adhyay(chapters) aapko sunata hoon suniye. > > > > - - - - - - > > > > yahan tak sunane ke baad Bihari Lal ne iisee upanyas ka chtwaan > > adhyay sunana prarambh kiya. > > > > --- --- > > pathak gan kuch adhyayeon ka vishaya mister Bihari Lal ne > > samapt kiya.shesh bhag hamare novel (upanyas) "Bahram ki Khoj" nami men > > padhiye. > > > > Samaptam. > > (Tilasmi gupt khajana,pp.110-124) > > > > > > And the real story has been left untold. so in this case the novel or > > story has been reduced to an advertisement or propaganda material and > > mystery is never resolved. The commercial writer publisher is not at all > > worried if readers feel cheated in this case. > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > 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/20060320/8e847023/attachment.html From mallica_jnu at yahoo.co.in Thu Mar 16 13:13:14 2006 From: mallica_jnu at yahoo.co.in (mallica mishra) Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 07:43:14 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Third Posting-Mallica Message-ID: <20060316074314.215.qmail@web8910.mail.in.yahoo.com> H'lo everyone!My apologies for getting late (a little!) with this one! My prior posting dealt with the perspectives and programmes of the government of India towards the education of Tibetan refugees in India. This posting will try to map out the strategies and programmes adopted by the Tibetan government-in-exile in India for the education of Tibetan children in India, the rationale for the same and the impact and outcomes of these programmes on the youth who are products of the same. Tibetan Refugees –Pre-Migration Conditions in Tibet The quality of education available to Tibetan children in Tibet appears to be largely poor. According to the Tibetan government in exile, “roughly one-third of the school-aged children in Tibet today continue to receive no education at all. This is due to the remoteness of some Tibetan regions, as also due to the prohibitively high school fees charged by the Chinese authorities. Even when a child can afford fees, bribes and other charges, they must confront blatant discrimination making it difficult or impossible to qualify for secondary or tertiary education. Tibetan children receive virtually no education on their indigenous Tibetan culture and history at the public schools in Tibet. The phasing out of Tibetan language in Tibetan schools and universities indicates the intention of Chinese authorities to deny students the right to be taught in their mother tongue. In an attempt to “sinocise” the Tibetan people, children are targeted for indoctrination ; their freedom of thought; religion and expression repressed” (www.tibet.com/humanrights/edutoday/html). The state of education can also be surmised from an observation by scholars such as Clothey(2005) who states that in China “minority children still tend to have higher illiteracy and drop-out rates from school than do the majority Han children”. Gaps between minority students, she states, and the Han at the tertiary level are “substantial, with the minority student population underrepresented in the overall university-level student population” (Clothey, 2005:396). The schools available for the Tibetan children in Tibet have been termed by Peter Lafitte as “schools of failure, consciously designed to foster failure” such that “they can hardly be improved upon”(Lafitte, 1999). As per Director Yeshi of the Dharamsala’s Children’s Village, education in Tibet has been effectively streaming out many local children.’ The Tibetans are gradually been pushed out to the backyards, “there are two systems of schools: one for the Chinese, where you have some prospect of going on to higher education, and then Tibetan schools where teachers themselves may not have finished grade four (http://www.tibet.com/govt/edu.html).” As Clothey (2005) in a study of China’s educational policies for ethnic minorities, particularly in relation to the Central University for Nationalities (CUN) in Beijing states, “students with better Chinese language skills are considered as more marketable and more modern”. By tracking students according to educational background (i.e. by the language of instruction used in their schools), the university reproduces a social structure that values the language of the dominant culture, making it more difficult for minority students who lack this linguistic competence or cultural capital upon entering the university to get good (or any) jobs after graduation. She further observes that, it could be argued that a greater emphasis should be placed on providing Chinese language instruction to linguistic minority students because of the language’s instrumental value, it is clear that minority students at CUN continue to value learning and using their native languages as important to preserving their cultural heritage”(Clothey, 2005). It is largely because of these very reasons that every year, an estimated 2,500 refugees flee from Tibet via Nepal to India; home of the exiled Tibetan government and of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The majority of these people are estimated to be young people, children escaping from the oppression of Chinese rule, often being sent by their parents in the hope that they will receive proper education- that they can build a future for themselves Thus, the desire to receive a ‘proper’ education –that preserves their cultural heritage along with providing necessary qualifications and skills i.e. basically, the motivation with which the Tibetan children come to the country can be stated to the only ‘resource’ that Tibetan children bring with them to the country. The extent of this motivation can be gauged from the fact that many children at the Dharamsala, who have crossed the Himalayas to study in India, are stated to have missing fingers and toes from frostbite on their journey. Their parents face penalties from the Chinese, including dismissal from jobs, if the flight is found out(http://www.tibet.com/govt/edu.html)cited in Mallica, 2002:90). Thus, as I’d observed in my M.Phil Dissertation (2002), “the quality of education that Tibetan children bring in from Tibet into India, might be poor, but the high level of motivation towards education and educational aspirations with which they come to the country also has to be recognized” (Mallica, 2002:90). Experiences in exile in India As already stated in my previous posting, unlike other groups of refugees the Tibetan refugees were provided recognition, granted asylum by the Indian Government, which also responded generously with regard to provision of educational assistance. The Government of India’s efforts, with regard to provision of educational assistance to the Tibetan refugees in India, have been particularly visible and noted by scholars and the Tibetan refugee community in India and aboard. As per the Dalai Lama, “ Over the years, the people and the Government of India have given us Tibetans tremendous support, particularly in the field of education. They gave us financial assistance, found us buildings, and provided dedicated and experienced Indian teachers. In addition, we received generous help from many foreign relief organizations. To all these friends, I offer my deepest thanks..” The Government of India’s sympathetic stance towards the Tibetan refugees in the country combined with generous contributions of foreign relief organizations towards the cause of education of Tibetan children and youth in India has effected tremendous development with regard to the education (not only primary, but also secondary and Tertiary/vocational) of the same in India. This has benefited the Department of Education of the Tibetan Government in exile in realization of the goal of education for all Tibetan refugee children. Financial contributions have helped in the construction of adequate number of schools along with hostel facilities enabling Tibetan refugee children in remote parts of the country to pursue their education also. The financial contributions have also enabled a Tibetan printing press to be operational, where books on Tibetan literature, folk tales etc are published and provided to children (http:///www.tibet.com/govt/edu.html). As I had mentioned in my previous posting, there are largely three kinds of schools (apart from missionary run English-medium, private schools) for Tibetan children in India: those CTS (30 Central Schools for Tibetans) run by the CTSA, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development; there are also schools run by the Department of Education of the Tibetan Government in exile (34 in number ) also by autonomous bodies (21 in number). Access to education (particularly primary and secondary) is, thus, no longer a problem. Access to higher education might still be a problem, though, with Tibetan refugees not wishing to forego their refugee status to acquire domicile certificates, the latter required to seek admissions to professional colleges and institutions of higher education /training in the country. This problem, however, as per Tsering and.Sinclair , is being adequately solved , to an extent , with State Governments ( ex-Himachal Pradesh) granting a few medical and other seats for Tibetan students. Further, major projects, with regard to schools expansion programs; teacher and academic development programs; Tibetan publications programs; scientific, professional and vocational educational programs are being planned (with many of them already having received required funding from International donors and relief agencies and support from the Indian Government and the refugee community) and implemented. The impact and outcomes of the education for Tibetan children in India can be gauged from the fact that the enrollment rate of children in Tibetan schools is stated to be almost 80 percent As per the Website of The Office of Tibet, the official agency of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in London, “ The Tibetan refugee community, which had a very low literacy rate only 30 years ago, has been able to achieve almost universal literacy among the younger generations. Many students have also been able to go beyond school to study at universities, colleges and vocational training centers. This represents one of the greatest achievements of the refugee community to education and the generosity of the Government of India, many donors such as Kinderdorf International, and many individuals. Over the next five years, the Tibetan Refugee Community is seeking to give every Tibetan child a school education and to significantly improve the quality of that education, as indicated in the goals established for the education sector. .” Thus, in comparison to other groups of refugees, for instance, the Afghan and Burmese refugees in India, the Tibetan refugees have achieved great strides in the field of education of their children and their future life-chances – this being possible because of support provided by the Government of India and a host of International relief organizations providing financial assistance /scholarships etc for the same , as also motivational follow-through and the Government-in Exile’s prioritizing of education to improve qualifications/skills of their children who will , it is believed lead ‘Free Tibet’ one day in the future. The point to be noted is that while participation of refugees in social /educational institutions requires social support and assistance from mainstream members/host government, specific refugee communities, in this case, the Tibetans, also have their own specific strategies and resources to deal with the same, or otherwise. The refugee community thus becomes, in such cases, much more than passive recipients of welfare doles but active strategizers , who also actively seek to improve their educational (as also other) conditions in exile. Education is prioritized based on the realization that it can be a major tool for producing generation after generation of Tibetans, ‘Tibetan’ to the core, even in exile. Another point is that structural factors like-residential segregation; prejudices; language barriers, along with cultural and especially religious and other differences, beyond the control of newcomers may, at times, isolate them from integrating into the refugee (as also host )community and the school. While, problems of integration into the Host society (i.e. India) and it’s educational institutions is commonly faced by all refugee groups- it can be regarded to be a lot more convenient for the Tibetan refugee children who come from Tibet (alongwith those who are born in India)in the country, with schools specially set up for the same within the protective atmosphere of Tibetan settlements in different parts of the country under the Central Tibetan Schools Society or CTSA (Government of India funded); Department of Education ( Education Ministry of the Dalai Lama’s Government in Exile or DoE and autonomous schools (funded and administered by private charitable organizations , of which the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) and the Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) are the two largest). These schools, while providing educational qualifications equivalent to other schools in the country following a C.B.S.E curriculum, also are consciously trying to ‘preserve’ Tibetan language, culture and history by prescribing Tibetan books; teaching of Tibetan dance and music and by observance and reverence of traditional Tibetan rituals, symbols, metaphors in school processes and practices. Another important point that also needs to be mentioned is the sense of respect towards the host country (for giving refuge) that is fostered in these schools. Though Tibetan children go to schools which have largely Tibetan teachers and students, thereby preventing interaction with Indian children, they are taught Hindi as a third language (along with Tibetan and English) , though largely in terms of rote methodology and at a very basic/rudimentary level so as to facilitate their adjustment (as against assimilation) with an understanding of the language(s) and culture(s) of their host country. Getting to know Tibetan Youth in Delhi: My Experiences My interactions and semi-structured interviews with Tibetan youth educated in such (and other ) schools in different parts of the country , presently residing in a youth hostel in Delhi to pursue their Graduation in Delhi University is proving to be a very profound and emotional experience for me. Sometimes , I wonder whether I share karmic bonds with them from sometime in the remote past , which has led me to choose as my area of research , the interlinkages of education, culture and indentity in exile in their lives and also , particularly, to feel for them as also for their cause and to want to contribute, to the extent possible, through my work and my life, to the former. As I interact with and (re ?)establish special bonds with these youth, interviews with them seem to be an eye-opener for me in terms of the very painful and traumatic experiences of so many of these youngsters who were sent by their parents in Tibet “to study” in India, the land of their “god”, His Holiness The Dalai Lama. There seem to be two main reasons why their parents seem to have taken this very painful and difficult step (as in many cases there has been no contact with the former fearing reprisals from the Chinese government). One is the fact that the Tibetans in Tibet fear that the education in the former regions is slowly resulting in the death of their traditional language and culture, for the preservation of which they decide to smuggle their children, through extremely hazardous and inhospitable cold and mountainous terrain. The second reason is that job opportunities for the Tibetan youth in Tibet also seem to be limited (see reference to Clothey, 2005 above). My interactions with these youth also seems to shed light on the fact as to how the experience of schooling in India is treasured by the youth (even though they do have childhood memories of being torn away from their parents and place of birth at a very tender age, sometimes, as young as three or four years of age). They say that they respect and understand why their parents sent them to India and that they did the “right” thing as their culture, language and ‘Tibettanness’ is dying out in Tibet due to the deliberate attempt at “brainwashing” that takes place in the schools therein. Some of them stated that, it was only, after coming to India and living and studying in the TCV schools run by the Government-in-exile that they came to understand the “real story” of “exploitation by the Chinese government” in Tibet; of their monasteries and places of cultural and religious importance being “systematically destroyed” by the Chinese ; of monks and nuns and political prisoners being subjected to much torture and pain. They recount experiences of how Tibetans are not allowed to talk about His Holiness The Dalai Lama or ‘things about Tibet’ nor to even “keep a picture of His Holiness The Dalai Lama” in their homes or in their person. Some of them mention the irony of the fact that, the meaning of their identity, of "being Tibetan", has awakened in them, not as children in Tibet, but in exile, in India. This has been the result of conscious effort on the part of the schools specially set up for them to preserve their identity in India. It is through the observance of everyday rituals and ceremonies replete with meanings in schools that these Tibetan youth seem to have “become truly Tibetan”. Alongwith these children who were born in Tibet but grew up in India, even those who have been born and brought up in India are taught the meaning (of being Tibetan) and trained (to grow up to become capable as the ‘seeds of future Tibet’) through educational pedagogies; curriculum and training specially designed for the said purpose in India. A brief look at the goals of the education policy of the Department of Education of the Tibetan government in exile also reiterates this fact. Goals of the Education Policy of the Tibetan Government in exile The goals of the Department of Education of the Tibetan government in exile are as follows: · To provide primary education to very Tibetan child, in order to achieve 100 per cent literacy among the younger generations · To bring up the community’s children as Tibetans, deep rooted in their cultural and national heritage · To impart to the community’s children modern, scientific and technical education and skills · To provide more opportunities for Tibetans to attend further education, especially in the vocational and technical subjects · To look after the physical, mental and spiritual needs of Tibetan children, and to make them responsible, productive and self-reliant members of society (Tsering and Sinclair,1999). What comes into attention as significantly important is the concern for the growth of Tibetan children “as Tibetans, deeply rooted in their cultural and national heritage”. Apart from teaching Tibetan language; dance and music, the medium of instruction in all the Tibetan schools till class five is Tibetan (followed by its teaching as a second language from class six onwards). The Tibetans also have a ‘Tibetan cultural printing press’, which is an autonomous body, the principal duty of it being to supply Tibetan textbooks to schools in the refugee community. A brief review of the recent education policy also seems to reflect a heightened desire to take strong measures to preserve the Tibetan identity in exile. Review of recent Education Policy: Back to the past The new basic education policy recently formulated by the Department of Education after reviewing the situation of education in exile seeks to serve the current needs of Tibetans in exile as also ‘when Tibet attains a self-governing status in the future’. This new policy calls for implementation of ‘a system of education having traditional education as its core and modern education as its essential co-partner ’. The policy further observes that ‘in an education system, having traditional education as its core, it is appropriate to have the medium in which the traditional learning abides as the medium of instruction for general education. Therefore, efforts are being made to gradually convert Tibetan language into the medium of instruction in all Tibetan institutions of learning from pre-primary level to higher research study’. The policy states that from pre-primary to class three, no other language other than Tibetan would be taught and that teaching of second and third languages shall be started from class four and five respectively. This policy, it seems is aims at ‘addressing the current problem that many Tibetan youngsters face of understanding and communicating in the Tibetan language’. The policy is also expected to solve the whole problem of many Tibetan youngsters and adults of ‘losing their identity’(Chashar et al, 2005). At the same time, however, there is also a fear amongst significant sections of the Tibetan community that it will adversely affect English language acquisition skills (with English being introduced as second language and that also only from class four or five. As Gen Druk Tsering, principal of TCV Model School, Selakui says, “the quality of spiritual and cultural education will be beneficial but the other side should also be looked into..that “if the policy is too one-sided then it is likely to cause harm to students specially while attempting to enroll for higher studies in various universities(Chashar et al, 2005). Most of the Tibetan youth in my study seemed to be torn between agreeing with the fact that there is a need to preserve Tibetan language in schools but at the same time being forced to acknowledge the fact that a lack of emphasis on the teaching and speaking of English language, will create problems for the youth in getting admission to ‘good’ universities and also in getting jobs in India. With jobs in the Government in exile having reached a saturation point, this will, they stated, will be a “big problem” for the youth who pass out of these schools. The overwhelming concern for preservation and sustenance of traditions; cultures; language and ways of life in exile (even at the cost of adversely affecting job opportunities and creating problems of successful integration into the host milieu) by the Tibetan government in exile needs to be acknowledged. The attempt is to maintain in exile a strong sense of cultural and linguistic Tibetan identity and to nurture roots while at the same time to give a ‘modern’ and scientific education also to the children so that they provide the necessary professional, scientific and technical expertise in ‘Free Tibet’. Next Step Forward Whether this sense of Tibetan identity and Tibettanness remains ‘preserved’ when Tibetan children studying in such schools pass out and come to the city of Delhi to pursue their graduate level studies, will be my area of exploration in my next few postings. The findings will be based on interviews that I have been carrying out with Tibetan youth in the city of Delhi, primarily with those residing in the Tibetan Youth Hostel, a hostel that was specifically set up by the Government in exile to enable Tibetan youth in the city to continue to retain their identity (fostered painstakingly in their schools in settlements all over the country) even while exposed to diverse and multi-faceted influences of the city. Till then! Best Wishes! Mallica --------------------------------- Jiyo cricket on Yahoo! India cricket Yahoo! Messenger Mobile Stay in touch with your buddies all the time. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060316/6e9d9cbc/attachment.html From shekhar at MIT.EDU Sat Mar 18 01:27:42 2006 From: shekhar at MIT.EDU (Shekhar Krishnan) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:57:42 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] MIT STS: Perception, Consumption, Politics Message-ID: <441B14B6.9040307@mit.edu> Dear All: My friend Arvind Rajagopal will be speaking in our department colloquium this coming Monday from his work on urban space, visual culture, and politics in Mumbai. Please come for this talk and forward this invitation on to others in your network. Best, Shekhar -- MIT Science, Technology & Society Spring 2006 Colloquium presents "Visual Culture in an Emerging Market: Perception, Consumption, Politics" ARVIND RAJAGOPAL New York University http://education.nyu.edu/dcc/people/bio.php?id=1221 MONDAY 20 MARCH 2006 4.00-6.00 P.M. MIT E51-095 http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?mapterms=E51&mapsearch=go As the political project of making modern citizens in India is threatened by the legitimation crisis of the political process on the one hand, and the ascendancy of Hindu nationalism and caste-based parties on the other, the pedagogical task of the developmental state has increasingly been taken up through the market itself. With the disintegration of an earlier secular consensus, and the ascendancy of a neo-liberal regime, the market becomes both a means and a model for renewing the political process. Drawing from examples of visual culture between the mid 1980s and 2004, the paper will trace the interaction of practices located in various institutional sites, such as advertising, commercial and documentary cinema, to map the changing techniques of the market in a shifting political context. The aim is to clarify the methodologies appropriate to understanding visual culture in a comparative and global context. ARVIND RAJAGOPAL is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Culture at New York University. His interests include political economy of culture, contemporary South Asia, social theory, audiences and reception theory, and globalization. He is the author of Politics after Television: Religious Nationalism and the Retailing of Hinduness (Cambridge, 2001); Guest Editor of Social Text No. 68, on Technologies of Perception and the Cultures of Globalization; Coauthor of Mapping Hegemony: Television News and Industrial Conflict (1992) and several articles in scholarly journals. To read the essay "The Violence of Commodity Aesthetics: Hawkers, Demolition Raids, and a New Regime of Consumption" by Arvind Rajagopal, published in Social Text 68 on Technologies of Perception, go to http://www.mit.edu/~shekhar/urban-media/rajagopal_hawkers.pdf -- Shekhar Krishnan Apt.302, Edgerton House 143, Albany Street Cambridge, MA 02139 U.S.A. http://www.crit.org.in/members/shekhar http://www.mit.edu/~shekhar From sebydesiolim at cacim.net Sat Mar 11 22:13:22 2006 From: sebydesiolim at cacim.net (Sebastian Rodrigues) Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:13:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] One more candle for Manipur Message-ID: March 11 2006 Hello and Greetings of Solidarity! Today afternoon I shared some moments at protest demonstration in Delhi condemning arrest and torture of Miss Naobi in Manipur. It was one more torture among the thousands tortured and done to death by State terror in North East. I join the protesters with my lighted candle with the hope that it may dispel horror and darkness. May this candle be the doyen of hope and courage to all those who stand up and fight in defence of Human Rights, Dignity and moreover another world that is breathing beneath our chests. Let this candle show us the way to the doors and windows and ultimately open them up for sunlight to usher in and bring the gory reality in daring day light for each on to see and each one to heal. gather up your strength, pick up your candle and pass on the light to everyone in your family, in your village, in your State and in your country. For no longer can we afford loss and torture of any more life of People in North East India. For no longer can we afford to loose any more lives of the soldiers. India has already lost too may soldiers for past half a decade and it is not at all a matter of pride but of deep concern. For no longer can we afford hatred and brutality. We need understanding, trust, affection and love instead. With these thoughts in my heart I pass on my candle to you. The leaflet reproduced below I received at the demonstration today. It is my candle. Pass it on... Sebastian Rodrigues CACIM, New Delhi. STOP STATE TERRORISM IN MANIPUR It has been hardly two years since women of Manipur staged a historic protest by shedding their clothes off against the rape and murder of Th. Manoram by the 17th Assam Rifles. the world showed its solidarity to them and demanded repealing of the armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958. Among the most painful incidents of military excesses in Manipur, the recent detention and torture of Miss Naobi has once more captured the focus of the democratic struggle against human rights violations in the State. Miss Naobi, a private school teacher , was picked up on 21st February evening, when she came to attend the last rite of Vikas, who was killed in an encounter with the Manipur police commandos on 20th February. In a Press conference on 2nd March in Imphal, she presented her tortured body to narrate the encounter with the savagery of the Manipur police for the 9 days in their custody. Her narratives bear testimony to the enormity of injustice done to the custodial victims. She sobbed, "...The police commandos got themselves gratified with everything they want from my body. But, I am grateful to them for giving me the chance to narrate my agony by sparing my life at least..." After the ritual, she was in a room with two other girls. Though she was aware of the presence of Manipur police commandos, she was not apprehensive of the presence as she thought she was innocent and they had nothing to do with her. However, to her surprise, the commandoes ordered that she, along with the other two girls, should come out. As soon as she went out alone the commandos pulled her by hair. She was pounded and later dumped into the police van. they left the place at around 3 pm. Somewhere between nowhere, seemingly at a roadside, the police van stopped. She did not know where the van stopped as she was blindfolded. She said: "They forced me to undress, I resisted but their threatening presence made my resistance gave in. I did as they wished. They were laughing to see my body. they said, I looked like an AIDS infested. They measured my body parts. They teased me telling I go a bad odor". She was again thrown into the police van. Inside the van, her body faced with the savagery of the police commandos. they touched her private parts and played with them. She cried for help when she heard some vehicles moving around. She was gagged. And the commandos were enjoying with the body. The torture continued till they reached the custody by 7 pm. In the custody, she was asked to change dress in front of the male gaze. She did it. During her detention for nine days, she encountered heavy tortures, humiliations, insults and lacerations. On 23rd February she was taken to the Chief Judicial Magistrate's office. She pleaded her innocence and told the CJM about the tortures she got from the police personnel. The Magistrate, instead of recording her statement, reprimanded her for another seven days. Later, she was taken to another police station. A widespread movement voiced for Naobi's safe release. She was released from the custody 'without any condition' on 2 March with a brutally tortured body, deeply wounded psyche and painfully dislodged dignity. What is her fault? Why do the State forces institutionalize violation of human rights? Why has woman's body been always targeted to exercise 'armed authority' of the State? These are the queries that the democratic struggle poses against the rampant violation of human rights in the State. Let's resist the savagery of the State forces; let's fight for the HUMAN RIGHTS and DIGNITY. Published by the Manipur Students' Association, Delhi, Dated 11th March 2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060311/63a0f51b/attachment.html From saniya007 at aol.com Fri Mar 17 15:59:31 2006 From: saniya007 at aol.com (saniya007 at aol.com) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 05:29:31 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] unsubscribe In-Reply-To: <1a57bfd0602250155o7bf089d7nb1d116bb80ac23bd@mail.gmail.com> References: <1a57bfd0602250155o7bf089d7nb1d116bb80ac23bd@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <8C817C4CFD567F4-1DB0-4A9C@FWM-R20.sysops.aol.com> -----Original Message----- From: Dilip D'Souza -- Sarai To: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 15:25:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Dilip D'Souza, 2nd post I'm a few days late with this. I don't feel I have truly got into my project yet -- I find I always take a little longer than I anticipate to get into the flow of these things. Nevertheless, this is a short piece about a man from the fishing village nearby. I've always found him interesting because he used to be one of the few people there who don't fish for a living. (There are more now). I hope to have more about him as I move ahead with this. This much, for now. cheers, dilip. --- Twice a Day Paper Route ----------------------- Dilip D'Souza The thing that strikes me is the mention of 60 kg. 60 kg, carried to Dadar. 60 kg, carried to Dadar on a bicycle. 60 kg, carried to Dadar on a bicycle twice a day, for some 20 years. I noticed Ramdas's strong and sinewy wrists when he first started coming to our home, especially when he would easily lift big bundles of papers hung from his spring balance to show me how much they weighed. We called him "paperwala" -- so much that I am ashamed to admit that's what I thought his name was -- because he would take away our old newspapers once a month. But it wasn't until he retired recently, and I sat him down for a chat about his life, that I really comprehended the physical magnitude of his work. That I really understood what gave him those sinewy wrists. The mathematics is simple. He had about 250 clients like me, he says. I would give him about 15 kg of paper every month. If I was typical, that meant he handled about 3800 kg of paper every month. Divide by 30, that's about 125 kg every day. Indeed: two trips to Dadar a day, 60 kg each time. And you cart that kind of load around -- not just to Dadar twice a day, but from the 250 homes to yours -- and you do it over two decades, you develop some serious muscles. >From Chimbai, the small Bandra fishing village where Ramdas lives, to Dadar is easily 5-6 km. That Ramdas biked that distance and back, twice a day with large loads, impressed me greatly. But listening to him, I was more struck by the other, the smaller, details of his life. Chimbai is known as an old fishing village. By now, it is just another part of Bandra, if a more crowded and downscale part of this upscale suburb. But even so, you'll find women every day, sitting on either side of the lane through Chimbai, calling out from behind little makeshift tables piled high with fresh, dripping, aromatic fish. The tables make the lane even narrower than it already is. Walking down the lane is difficult, let alone driving along it. When I do either, I invariably remember the time a few years ago when a kid was run over on one of Bandra's main roads during rush hour. This led to an impromptu and angry "rasta-roko" there. The traffic police had the presence of mind to quickly divert traffic through Bandra's leafy lanes. One was the lane through Chimbai. I remember watching bus after BEST bus emerge from the lane, drivers sweaty and exasperated with the effort of maneuvring their giant red beasts past the fish vendors. The women, of course, were unfazed. Some even tried selling fish to the passengers in the slow-moving buses. That kind of place, Chimbai. Fishermen, houses nearly on top of each other. And somewhere in there, a dealer in waste paper. Ramdas's family left Porbandar, Gujarat, in 1941. His father settled in Chimbai, where Ramdas himself was born in September 1947. Midnight's child? Ramdas seems hardly to think of it that way. To hear him speak, Independence was just a little blip of history. But Chimbai was Bombay, the big city, teeming even then with opportunity that Porbandar could not match. Of course, there was very little in Chimbai at the time, certainly not the narrow lane. But Ramdas's family settled in a one-room tenement on the ground floor of a two-storey chawl, owned by a Kolhapur-based landlord. They have been there since, now paying a rent of Rs 63 a month. Expectedly, Ramdas is nostalgic about the early days. "There was nothing here," he says again. The only people in Chimbai were the Koli fishermen, and for those who catalogue these things, they were of two kinds. The Christian Kolis lived at the southern end of the village, the Hindus at the northern end. Ramdas's home was bang in between the two communities. It remains that way today: turn left (south) out of his home and about the first establishment you come across is a Catholic undertaker. Turn right and there's a small Hindu shrine. The languages you hear are different, the general "feel" of the two areas are different; all this, along one short street. Ramdas speaks glowingly about both kinds of neighbours. "Very good people," he says, "very good people." And as if to drive home that point, he says nobody has ever come to ask for money when the Ganesh festival rolls around. "In other parts of Bombay," he says, "Shiv Sena people come and extort money for Ganesh. Not here." Ramdas's first job was in Mahim in the early '60s, from where he moved on to Marine Lines. He sold purses. He earned Rs 25 a month and his railway pass cost him all of Rs 3.75. As always, numbers like those leave me astonished. Passes are about 20 times as expensive as that today: has the price index gone up to that extent? But starting in 1969, Ramdas was a rice smuggler like a lot of others were at the time. He would travel beyond the city limits, to Vasai, and bring back bags of rice. This was a worthwhile way of earning because rice sold legitimately in Bombay attracted taxes. So a man who was willing to bring it in on the quiet from outside could both undercut the city retailers and make a small profit. Ramdas was such a man. He would make five or six trips a day, bringing in 10 kg of rice each time. After deducting his weekly bribe of Rs 20 or 25, he made two rupees on each kg. Not a bad salary increment. It must have also been good preparation physically for the work he would turn to next, when the rice route became unprofitable. Waste paper, that is. And it is via his paper business, 120 kg a day, that Ramdas put his two sons through English-medium schools and colleges. Do they work with you now, I ask. He gives me a withering look that I've never seen on him before. He doesn't have to say what I know he means: would he have worked this hard just to put them to the waste paper grindstone too? What he does say is, with a hint of acerbity: "No, both are educated!" That they are. One works in a cargo shipping firm, the other in an online stock-trading firm. And now that they are both educated, Ramdas has retired. Did you get tired of the work, I ask. "No, no, it's not that. There was no place in the house for us! We only have one 10 by 10 room. Papers piled to the ceiling, no brightness in the room, I was working every day till 2 am. Eating at 130 in the morning!" So he stopped, late last year. "I'm happy," he says, "but I've become lazy." He laughs. But I get the sense the laugh hasn't reached his eyes. _________________________________________ 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/20060317/e0920300/attachment.html From knoll at transartinstitute.org Mon Mar 13 20:54:52 2006 From: knoll at transartinstitute.org (Dr. Klaus Knoll) Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 05:24:52 -1000 Subject: [Reader-list] Twelve Scholarships in International New Media MFA Program Message-ID: <8B870F0C-8B47-429A-B121-234CE38B76CA@transartinstitute.org> INTERNATIONAL LOW-RESIDENCY MFA PROGRAM INVITES APPLICATIONS Transart Institute invites applications to its interdisciplinary MFA in New Media program. Students create their own course of study working on art and research projects off-site with the support of faculty and self-chosen artist mentors. The independent study is complemented by three intensive summer residencies where lectures, critiques, seminars, performances, exhibitions, and workshops take place on-site in Europe. The low-residency format permits continuing a professional life while participating in the program. Main goals of the program are: Change and the development of a sustainable artistic praxis. Twelve scholarships available. Application deadline: April 1, 2006. www.transartinstitute.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060313/38ba3cb5/attachment.html From mallroad at gmail.com Tue Mar 14 21:54:53 2006 From: mallroad at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:54:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The terrible price for India's economic progress Message-ID: <210498250603140824r34fd7298l3e0293ca3e1e6f69@mail.gmail.com> The article below, amongst other things, inspired this post: http://www.theotherindia.org/economy/but-why-are-we-reforming.html Shivam -- India: The terrible price paid for economic progress India's economic success is a modern miracle. But the dark side of the boom has been its tragic cost to the subcontinent's most vulnerable people. In a special investigation, Daniela Bezzi and Peter Popham report from Kalinganagar, a village that paid a terrible price in the name of progress The Independent Published: 11 March 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article350526.ece It was dawn on 2 January 2006 when the quiet morning rituals of Kalinganagar, a village in eastern India, were drowned in a noise like the end of the world: a stream of bulldozers and excavators and khaki-painted lorries containing more than 400 armed police came grinding into the village. For days there had been rumours that something was about to happen. The village, surrounded by dense forest but only 50 kilometres from a major iron-ore mine, already has three steel plants in its midst. Tata, a major Indian company, wants to build another, much bigger than the rest. The villagers, who belong to the indigenous Ho tribe, want none of it: last year police broke up two protest rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets. Now the bulldozers and diggers went to work, levelling a paddy field which occupied part of the site where Tata's planned new steel plant is supposed to rise. The disaster was under way. Villagers at work in the fields or tending their goats and cattle came running to see what was going on, gathering at a football ground in sight of the fields where the diggers were at work, guarded by hundreds of heavily armed police. An hour went by. The villagers debated what to do. They sent a small delegation to the officials to ask them to stop work and negotiate. A local magistrate who had accompanied the police was brusque. "You do whatever you want," he told them dismissively, "and I'll do my work." There was to be no parley. Now a group of villagers walked towards the bulldozers. Their plan, the survivors said later, was to persuade the drivers to stop, if necessary by lying down in front of them. What happened next is disputed: some of the protesters say the first injuries were caused when one of them tripped a string attached to a buried charge of dynamite or even a landmine. Enraged now, more protesters came running towards the police lines shouting abuse (the police claim they also fired arrows). And the police opened fire with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds. The villagers ran screaming in all directions. The police kept up the firing until the ground was strewn with bodies. By the time silence fell again on the site, 12 local people had been shot dead and 31 injured. One policeman had been killed by the protesters. Several of the villagers had been shot in the back. Some of the casualties were a long way from the field of action. A 14-year-old boy standing outside his home was shot in the chest and killed. A 27-year-old woman was killed by a bullet on her way to bathe in the village pond. The bodies of six of the dead were taken away by the police. When they were returned two days later, the villagers claimed that hands, genitals and breasts had been cut off. This is the India where nobody goes, the wild east, the subcontinent's heart of darkness. The three states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh contain more than 70 per cent of India's mineral wealth, from coal to gold, from bauxite to uranium. They also contain many million tribal people, those like the Ho villagers slaughtered in Kalinganagar, people who arrived in the subcontinent long before the Aryan invaders and who still worship their own gods and live in their own style. And like indigenous peoples the world over, they are f being ground under the wheels of development. India is getting rich, but it is still incredibly poor. The famous Indian IT industry employs about a million people - out of the total Indian population of more than a billion. The bitter fact about Indian growth, and what makes it qualitatively different from that in Japan, China, Thailand or Malaysia, is that the overwhelming majority obtains no benefit from it. In fact for many of the poorest, like the villagers in Kalinganagar, it is an unmitigated calamity. Professor Ram Dayal Munda, one of the most brilliant products of India's tribal belt, identifies a crucial divide in India, akin to Europe's old Iron Curtain. "Jharkhand," he said speaking of his own state, "is the paradox of India today, with all its richness in land and mineral resources and its backwardness at many other levels. It represents the frontier, the dividing line between western and eastern. Western India is well-fed India, from Punjab to Kerala, the India that has already been westernised. Eastern India, the forest land, the wild hunting land, is a region rich in natural resources but where the most elementary human rights are violated." The issue of the emancipation of India's indigenous peoples, Munda says, was fatally fudged at independence - and they have been the victims of development, not its beneficiaries, ever since. And as the Indian economy slowly comes to the boil, a vast human and ecological tragedy is in the making. We are travelling with a man who has been watching all this happen and who committed himself 18 years ago to doing everything he could to stop it. Bulu Imam is not the obvious candidate for such a role. He is a child of India's native elite, the sort of people who are doing best out of the boom. His conversation is larded with the names of old friends who are chief ministers and senior civil servants and politicians in Delhi. His grandfather was president of the Congress, the party of Gandhi and Nehru, and India's first delegate to the League of Nations. His father, Tootoo, was educated in Britain and raced Bentleys around Calcutta race track when he was not out pig-sticking or hunting tigers. Bulu got the tiger-hunting bug, too: father and son did it as a business, luring over American millionaires to try their luck in the forests of Jharkhand, in the south of the state of Bihar. Put a whisky in his hand and even today the shikar (tiger-hunting) yarns pour out of Bulu till the cows come home. Like all serious hunters, he got to know his chosen terrain intimately. That meant for him principally Jharkhand, literally the Land of the Forests. A plateau the size of Ireland, Jharkhand rises out of the Ganges plain like an immense apparition, and for many centuries it must have been quite as frightening and forbidding as the forests of central Europe in the Middle Ages. The dense sal forests (a widespread, timber-yielding tree) were full of leopard and tiger and elephant and cobra. The occasional clearings, with small mud dwellings abutting paddy fields, were peopled by adivasis, literally the "first people" who spoke neither Hindi nor Bengali, who worshipped Sing Bonga, the sun god, and were dead shots with the bow and arrow. They were rumoured to practise human sacrifice. All that was before the arrival of the British. But although many outsiders settled in Jharkhand during the two centuries after the British redcoats first showed their faces, much went unchanged. The villages remained as simple and tranquil, the forest as dense. And the tigers were still plentiful. When he was a young man there were tigers in the woods a 20-minute walk from his home in the town of Hazaribagh (the name means "One Thousand Tigers"). And because shikar was his vocation and his trade, he got to know the woods of Jharkhand extremely well. Shikar was eventually banned by the Indian government - to his father's great disgust. Then one day in 1988 Bulu was asked to put his knowledge of the forests to a special use: the English travel writer Mark Shand wanted to ride an elephant across India and he needed a guide. Bulu agreed, and for three weeks he led Shand and Tara, the elephant, across the Jharkhand plateau, rarely using metalled roads. Instead they travelled on dirt tracks and long-abandoned logging paths. "I never looked at a map," he says of the experience today. "I don't look at maps, I draw them. It was tough because in many places the forest had grown back and we had to hack a way through. It was an unbelievable experience." After weeks in the forest, one day they broke out on the edge of a vast open-caste coal mine. "We travelled through the mines for two or three days," Bulu remembers, "using the shoulders between the mines for a path. There was a 300-foot drop on either side, and the mine was about 12 miles across: it was a series of mines all linked up. With an elephant you go very slowly, and the landscape comes up to meet you." The scale and the finality of the devastation such a mine wreaks was brought home to him. Bulu knew that the government was planning another vast mine like this one, to be called the North Kanpura Coalfield. "It was here that I came face to face with what the new coal field would really mean. The impact on me was tremendous." It had to be stopped. Thus began his long immersion in the history and prehistory, the culture and the folkways of the plateau. Five thousand or more years ago, Jharkhand's inhabitants made enigmatic, superbly decorative carvings on many large rock faces in the area, carvings that have never been properly examined by experts. Two thousand years ago, Buddhists and Jains built temples and carved devotional statuary at dozens of sites across the plateau. The sites have yet to be properly documented, but even casual digging uncovers the remains of ancient statues, often in excellent condition. Now, as the coal field project grinds towards completion, one by one these sites will be swallowed up, as if they had never existed. And of course the villages go, too, without remorse and often without compensation or rehabilitation. The adivasis in the Hazaribagh area, as in many of India's tribal zones, decorate their simple mud-built houses with exuberant painted images of birds and beasts. They have lived in this region for many centuries, and until the coming of the British had it all to themselves. Theoretically their possession of the land is protected by India's Constitution. But Constitution, tribal rights, and a long history notwithstanding, two dozen villages have already been swept away like so much rubbish, their villagers decanted into the slums of Ranchi, the Jharkhand capital, or dispatched to Delhi to be domestics of the upper class. Many more villages are in the firing line. It was indignation provoked by a comparable though much smaller threat in Britain - Rio Tinto Zinc's plan to mine on Snowdon - that gave birth, in 1972, to Friends of the Earth; its first campaign success was to stop Rio Tinto in its tracks. As the local head of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Imam has been striving for 18 years to generate a similar head of steam over the fate of the plateau. But despite the support of foreign scholars and the listing of the Jharkhand sites in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) Heritage at Risk World Report and elsewhere, the state has not been deflected even an inch from its intention of sacrificing a vast, historic area of outstanding natural beauty for coal mines, dams, thermal power stations - and uranium mines. A key component of India's "miracle" is the way the country is growing more powerful. With the tests conducted in the desert of Rajasthan in 1998, India barged into the nuclear club; and this month, despite those tests and to the horror of the nuclear disarmament lobby, it has signed an agreement with the US to develop its civil nuclear programme. And once again, progress in the Indian context comes with appalling human costs. It was at about the time of those nuclear tests that we first learned about the disaster known as Jaduguda. The uranium for India's bombs came from Jaduguda, in Jharkhand, the only uranium mine in the country (though several more are now being opened up). The mine is located in the middle of a cluster of tribal villages. Not close to a village, with high barbed wire fences keeping the peasants well away, but in its midst. The pond at Jaduguda, we learnt, where the hazardous waste is dumped and allowed to settle, can be accessed by the men, women, children, dogs, cats and cows of the village. (The mine's boss claims that the pond was closed to the public, and some reports suggest that villagers may have cut their way through the perimeter fence.) In the summer the pond dried out, and some villagers used it as a short cut to get home. The village children played tag on it. The mine produced no stink, no clouds of filthy smoke, did not tear up the countryside and dye everything black like an open-cast coal mine. A uranium mine was, it seemed, the sort of mine you could live with. Then the first deformed children began to be born in the village. People of the village and the cattle they had washed regularly in the water of the pond began dying prematurely of cancer. A child was born with only one eye and one ear, mentally handicapped as well, unable to walk, and he grew bigger but no heavier. Women became infertile and their husbands abandoned them, and they began to be persecuted as witches, the true aim being to steal their land. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd maintained that none of the village's health problems were connected to their activities. Jaduguda illustrates the way that India moves into the future: this is the style of its progress. When the state wants to do something it just does it. Land is requisitioned, the earthmovers arrive. If there are rules to be followed - and, according to the Indian Constitution, land f held by tribal people in tribal areas subject to the Constitution's Fifth Schedule cannot by any means be transferred to non-tribals - it is a sound bet that they will be ignored. That's the way things worked under the lumbering, supposedly benign and paternalistic socialist system that ruled independent India for its first 50-odd years. And now the ground rules have changed; now big business is in the driving seat. In what direction are things likely to go? To the advantage of the poor and hapless, or to their detriment? Last October Jharkhand made business news headlines when Laxmi Mittal, the world's number one steel-maker and third richest man, Indian-born but now based in Europe, announced that he was making his first investment in his native land: setting up a 12-million-tonne steel plant somewhere in the state, at a cost of US$9bn. Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have signed tentative agreements with more than 100 companies to build plants. If all came good, the total investment would be more than $20bn. "If even one steel mill came into the state it would make a huge difference," said a man in the drinks trade in the Ranchi Club, the former hangout of the British in Jharkhand's capital, taken over and expanded by the local elite. "It will have a massive knock-on effect - on taxis, hotels, every other business. It's happening already thanks to the firms that have already moved here: for the first time shopkeepers here are learning what it means to have money. With a steel mill, the taxes the firm will pay will have a ripple effect all over the state. We were in Malaysia recently on holiday, and we said, God, India could be like this. Of course it may not be good for every individual adivasi ..." Five years ago Ranchi, the state capital, was a sedate, rather genteel country town with many Christian mission schools, where bicycle rickshaw was the favoured way to get around. Today it feels like some raw place on the frontier. Rickshaws fight for space on roads clogged with lorries and vans, the air is full of choking smoke, Main Road is dominated by the aluminium-clad tower of the city's first swanky hotel, Capitol Hill. Rising above the crowds of sugar-cane wallahs and beggars are huge advertisements for iron bars, nails and wire - but also for business suits. Thin young men riding bicycles with carts attached to the back struggle to move their loads, which protrude far behind the cart, of steel reinforcing rods for cement. Money is being made here, a chaotically affluent city is being thrown together. But then, two days into 2006, the bloody end to the protest at Kalinganagar south of the Jharkhand border threw the whole jamboree into question. At a demonstration held at Kalinganagar after the New Year massacre, a woman on the platform put the adivasi case very simply. "We are ready to give our lives but not our land," she said. "Because without our land we will die anyway." She wore a green salwar kameez (traditional dress) and a red headband - the uniform of the Maoist guerrillas, who are now a big factor in the struggle over how India should develop. Called "Naxalites" after the town of Naxalbari in West Bengal where their insurgency first broke out in 1967, the Maoists have had their ups and downs, but they have never gone away. And today they are stronger, more numerous and more ambitious than ever. And with the opening up of India to foreign capital and the expected arrival of millions of dollars of steel money, the dispossessed and those who fear dispossession are rallying to their cause. Inspired by dramatic Maoist successes in Nepal, the Indian comrades have been swarming into virgin terrain. In November 2003 they were active in 55 districts across nine Indian states. By February 2005 this had ballooned to 155 districts in 15 states, covering nearly 19 per cent of India's forests. The Home Ministry says they now have 9,300 "hardcore underground cardre" and possess 6,500 modern weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, Claymore land mines and modern electronic equipment. They are, it is claimed, trying to carve out a Compact Revolutionary Zone, a "red corridor of armed struggle", stretching from the Nepal border in the north via Andra Pradesh right down to Tamil Nadu in the south. The mineral-rich states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh are right in the middle of that band. But can the villagers trust the Naxalites? "All the Maoists start as ideologues with principles," said a senior Jharkhand policeman, "but after a time they find that being a Naxalite is a functioning business, fuelled by fear." Anybody who wants to do business in the areas they control knows they have to pay up, he said. "They take a levy from everyone, the coal barons, the mining companies. Those who have been here a long time know exactly who to pay and how much in order to stay out of trouble. Recently the Naxalites gave a press conference over the Nepal border in which they issued a warning to the multinational companies that are planning to set up in the state. That was advance notice of money required ... "Jharkhand is a treasure trove for the Naxalites because of the money that can be extorted from the mining companies. The foreign companies that want to come in will have to be prepared to do the same, if and when they come into the state." On 9 January this year as every year, the Munda tribe, one of the biggest in the state and who once (as their legends relate) enjoyed sole possession of the Land of the Forest, gather at a place called Dombari Hill, to commemorate another in their long series of tragic defeats. At the top of this steep, conical hill in 1900 a force of adivasis led by their most charismatic and famous hero, Birsa Munda, prepared to attack a British force that was far smaller but armed with modern weapons. The two sides faced off in the darkness, then on a muffled order the British charged up the steep slope with bayonets fixed. Seven Mundas died in the ensuing rout. The view from the top of the hill shows what the Mundas were fighting to defend. In all directions dense forest stretches unbroken to the horizon. Despite the military defeats and all their other reversals, in this corner of Jharkhand the Mundas have succeeded in clinging on to their land, and the culture and traditions handed down across the centuries. Ram Dayal Munda, former vice-chancellor of Ranchi University, was one of the speakers at the Dombari Hill commemoration. What will happen, we asked him later, as a result of the killings in Kalinganagar? "The people will close ranks," he said. "They will increasingly see themselves in opposition to the authorities. They will rebel. They will be crushed. They will rebel again. There are 90 million adivasis in India, and 20 million are on the road: lost, uprooted, displaced, wandering around ..." It was dawn on 2 January 2006 when the quiet morning rituals of Kalinganagar, a village in eastern India, were drowned in a noise like the end of the world: a stream of bulldozers and excavators and khaki-painted lorries containing more than 400 armed police came grinding into the village. For days there had been rumours that something was about to happen. The village, surrounded by dense forest but only 50 kilometres from a major iron-ore mine, already has three steel plants in its midst. Tata, a major Indian company, wants to build another, much bigger than the rest. The villagers, who belong to the indigenous Ho tribe, want none of it: last year police broke up two protest rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets. Now the bulldozers and diggers went to work, levelling a paddy field which occupied part of the site where Tata's planned new steel plant is supposed to rise. The disaster was under way. Villagers at work in the fields or tending their goats and cattle came running to see what was going on, gathering at a football ground in sight of the fields where the diggers were at work, guarded by hundreds of heavily armed police. An hour went by. The villagers debated what to do. They sent a small delegation to the officials to ask them to stop work and negotiate. A local magistrate who had accompanied the police was brusque. "You do whatever you want," he told them dismissively, "and I'll do my work." There was to be no parley. Now a group of villagers walked towards the bulldozers. Their plan, the survivors said later, was to persuade the drivers to stop, if necessary by lying down in front of them. What happened next is disputed: some of the protesters say the first injuries were caused when one of them tripped a string attached to a buried charge of dynamite or even a landmine. Enraged now, more protesters came running towards the police lines shouting abuse (the police claim they also fired arrows). And the police opened fire with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds. The villagers ran screaming in all directions. The police kept up the firing until the ground was strewn with bodies. By the time silence fell again on the site, 12 local people had been shot dead and 31 injured. One policeman had been killed by the protesters. Several of the villagers had been shot in the back. Some of the casualties were a long way from the field of action. A 14-year-old boy standing outside his home was shot in the chest and killed. A 27-year-old woman was killed by a bullet on her way to bathe in the village pond. The bodies of six of the dead were taken away by the police. When they were returned two days later, the villagers claimed that hands, genitals and breasts had been cut off. This is the India where nobody goes, the wild east, the subcontinent's heart of darkness. The three states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh contain more than 70 per cent of India's mineral wealth, from coal to gold, from bauxite to uranium. They also contain many million tribal people, those like the Ho villagers slaughtered in Kalinganagar, people who arrived in the subcontinent long before the Aryan invaders and who still worship their own gods and live in their own style. And like indigenous peoples the world over, they are f being ground under the wheels of development. India is getting rich, but it is still incredibly poor. The famous Indian IT industry employs about a million people - out of the total Indian population of more than a billion. The bitter fact about Indian growth, and what makes it qualitatively different from that in Japan, China, Thailand or Malaysia, is that the overwhelming majority obtains no benefit from it. In fact for many of the poorest, like the villagers in Kalinganagar, it is an unmitigated calamity. Professor Ram Dayal Munda, one of the most brilliant products of India's tribal belt, identifies a crucial divide in India, akin to Europe's old Iron Curtain. "Jharkhand," he said speaking of his own state, "is the paradox of India today, with all its richness in land and mineral resources and its backwardness at many other levels. It represents the frontier, the dividing line between western and eastern. Western India is well-fed India, from Punjab to Kerala, the India that has already been westernised. Eastern India, the forest land, the wild hunting land, is a region rich in natural resources but where the most elementary human rights are violated." The issue of the emancipation of India's indigenous peoples, Munda says, was fatally fudged at independence - and they have been the victims of development, not its beneficiaries, ever since. And as the Indian economy slowly comes to the boil, a vast human and ecological tragedy is in the making. We are travelling with a man who has been watching all this happen and who committed himself 18 years ago to doing everything he could to stop it. Bulu Imam is not the obvious candidate for such a role. He is a child of India's native elite, the sort of people who are doing best out of the boom. His conversation is larded with the names of old friends who are chief ministers and senior civil servants and politicians in Delhi. His grandfather was president of the Congress, the party of Gandhi and Nehru, and India's first delegate to the League of Nations. His father, Tootoo, was educated in Britain and raced Bentleys around Calcutta race track when he was not out pig-sticking or hunting tigers. Bulu got the tiger-hunting bug, too: father and son did it as a business, luring over American millionaires to try their luck in the forests of Jharkhand, in the south of the state of Bihar. Put a whisky in his hand and even today the shikar (tiger-hunting) yarns pour out of Bulu till the cows come home. Like all serious hunters, he got to know his chosen terrain intimately. That meant for him principally Jharkhand, literally the Land of the Forests. A plateau the size of Ireland, Jharkhand rises out of the Ganges plain like an immense apparition, and for many centuries it must have been quite as frightening and forbidding as the forests of central Europe in the Middle Ages. The dense sal forests (a widespread, timber-yielding tree) were full of leopard and tiger and elephant and cobra. The occasional clearings, with small mud dwellings abutting paddy fields, were peopled by adivasis, literally the "first people" who spoke neither Hindi nor Bengali, who worshipped Sing Bonga, the sun god, and were dead shots with the bow and arrow. They were rumoured to practise human sacrifice. All that was before the arrival of the British. But although many outsiders settled in Jharkhand during the two centuries after the British redcoats first showed their faces, much went unchanged. The villages remained as simple and tranquil, the forest as dense. And the tigers were still plentiful. When he was a young man there were tigers in the woods a 20-minute walk from his home in the town of Hazaribagh (the name means "One Thousand Tigers"). And because shikar was his vocation and his trade, he got to know the woods of Jharkhand extremely well. Shikar was eventually banned by the Indian government - to his father's great disgust. Then one day in 1988 Bulu was asked to put his knowledge of the forests to a special use: the English travel writer Mark Shand wanted to ride an elephant across India and he needed a guide. Bulu agreed, and for three weeks he led Shand and Tara, the elephant, across the Jharkhand plateau, rarely using metalled roads. Instead they travelled on dirt tracks and long-abandoned logging paths. "I never looked at a map," he says of the experience today. "I don't look at maps, I draw them. It was tough because in many places the forest had grown back and we had to hack a way through. It was an unbelievable experience." After weeks in the forest, one day they broke out on the edge of a vast open-caste coal mine. "We travelled through the mines for two or three days," Bulu remembers, "using the shoulders between the mines for a path. There was a 300-foot drop on either side, and the mine was about 12 miles across: it was a series of mines all linked up. With an elephant you go very slowly, and the landscape comes up to meet you." The scale and the finality of the devastation such a mine wreaks was brought home to him. Bulu knew that the government was planning another vast mine like this one, to be called the North Kanpura Coalfield. "It was here that I came face to face with what the new coal field would really mean. The impact on me was tremendous." It had to be stopped. Thus began his long immersion in the history and prehistory, the culture and the folkways of the plateau. Five thousand or more years ago, Jharkhand's inhabitants made enigmatic, superbly decorative carvings on many large rock faces in the area, carvings that have never been properly examined by experts. Two thousand years ago, Buddhists and Jains built temples and carved devotional statuary at dozens of sites across the plateau. The sites have yet to be properly documented, but even casual digging uncovers the remains of ancient statues, often in excellent condition. Now, as the coal field project grinds towards completion, one by one these sites will be swallowed up, as if they had never existed. And of course the villages go, too, without remorse and often without compensation or rehabilitation. The adivasis in the Hazaribagh area, as in many of India's tribal zones, decorate their simple mud-built houses with exuberant painted images of birds and beasts. They have lived in this region for many centuries, and until the coming of the British had it all to themselves. Theoretically their possession of the land is protected by India's Constitution. But Constitution, tribal rights, and a long history notwithstanding, two dozen villages have already been swept away like so much rubbish, their villagers decanted into the slums of Ranchi, the Jharkhand capital, or dispatched to Delhi to be domestics of the upper class. Many more villages are in the firing line. It was indignation provoked by a comparable though much smaller threat in Britain - Rio Tinto Zinc's plan to mine on Snowdon - that gave birth, in 1972, to Friends of the Earth; its first campaign success was to stop Rio Tinto in its tracks. As the local head of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Imam has been striving for 18 years to generate a similar head of steam over the fate of the plateau. But despite the support of foreign scholars and the listing of the Jharkhand sites in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) Heritage at Risk World Report and elsewhere, the state has not been deflected even an inch from its intention of sacrificing a vast, historic area of outstanding natural beauty for coal mines, dams, thermal power stations - and uranium mines. A key component of India's "miracle" is the way the country is growing more powerful. With the tests conducted in the desert of Rajasthan in 1998, India barged into the nuclear club; and this month, despite those tests and to the horror of the nuclear disarmament lobby, it has signed an agreement with the US to develop its civil nuclear programme. And once again, progress in the Indian context comes with appalling human costs. It was at about the time of those nuclear tests that we first learned about the disaster known as Jaduguda. The uranium for India's bombs came from Jaduguda, in Jharkhand, the only uranium mine in the country (though several more are now being opened up). The mine is located in the middle of a cluster of tribal villages. Not close to a village, with high barbed wire fences keeping the peasants well away, but in its midst. The pond at Jaduguda, we learnt, where the hazardous waste is dumped and allowed to settle, can be accessed by the men, women, children, dogs, cats and cows of the village. (The mine's boss claims that the pond was closed to the public, and some reports suggest that villagers may have cut their way through the perimeter fence.) In the summer the pond dried out, and some villagers used it as a short cut to get home. The village children played tag on it. The mine produced no stink, no clouds of filthy smoke, did not tear up the countryside and dye everything black like an open-cast coal mine. A uranium mine was, it seemed, the sort of mine you could live with. Then the first deformed children began to be born in the village. People of the village and the cattle they had washed regularly in the water of the pond began dying prematurely of cancer. A child was born with only one eye and one ear, mentally handicapped as well, unable to walk, and he grew bigger but no heavier. Women became infertile and their husbands abandoned them, and they began to be persecuted as witches, the true aim being to steal their land. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd maintained that none of the village's health problems were connected to their activities. Jaduguda illustrates the way that India moves into the future: this is the style of its progress. When the state wants to do something it just does it. Land is requisitioned, the earthmovers arrive. If there are rules to be followed - and, according to the Indian Constitution, land f held by tribal people in tribal areas subject to the Constitution's Fifth Schedule cannot by any means be transferred to non-tribals - it is a sound bet that they will be ignored. That's the way things worked under the lumbering, supposedly benign and paternalistic socialist system that ruled independent India for its first 50-odd years. And now the ground rules have changed; now big business is in the driving seat. In what direction are things likely to go? To the advantage of the poor and hapless, or to their detriment? Last October Jharkhand made business news headlines when Laxmi Mittal, the world's number one steel-maker and third richest man, Indian-born but now based in Europe, announced that he was making his first investment in his native land: setting up a 12-million-tonne steel plant somewhere in the state, at a cost of US$9bn. Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have signed tentative agreements with more than 100 companies to build plants. If all came good, the total investment would be more than $20bn. "If even one steel mill came into the state it would make a huge difference," said a man in the drinks trade in the Ranchi Club, the former hangout of the British in Jharkhand's capital, taken over and expanded by the local elite. "It will have a massive knock-on effect - on taxis, hotels, every other business. It's happening already thanks to the firms that have already moved here: for the first time shopkeepers here are learning what it means to have money. With a steel mill, the taxes the firm will pay will have a ripple effect all over the state. We were in Malaysia recently on holiday, and we said, God, India could be like this. Of course it may not be good for every individual adivasi ..." Five years ago Ranchi, the state capital, was a sedate, rather genteel country town with many Christian mission schools, where bicycle rickshaw was the favoured way to get around. Today it feels like some raw place on the frontier. Rickshaws fight for space on roads clogged with lorries and vans, the air is full of choking smoke, Main Road is dominated by the aluminium-clad tower of the city's first swanky hotel, Capitol Hill. Rising above the crowds of sugar-cane wallahs and beggars are huge advertisements for iron bars, nails and wire - but also for business suits. Thin young men riding bicycles with carts attached to the back struggle to move their loads, which protrude far behind the cart, of steel reinforcing rods for cement. Money is being made here, a chaotically affluent city is being thrown together. But then, two days into 2006, the bloody end to the protest at Kalinganagar south of the Jharkhand border threw the whole jamboree into question. At a demonstration held at Kalinganagar after the New Year massacre, a woman on the platform put the adivasi case very simply. "We are ready to give our lives but not our land," she said. "Because without our land we will die anyway." She wore a green salwar kameez (traditional dress) and a red headband - the uniform of the Maoist guerrillas, who are now a big factor in the struggle over how India should develop. Called "Naxalites" after the town of Naxalbari in West Bengal where their insurgency first broke out in 1967, the Maoists have had their ups and downs, but they have never gone away. And today they are stronger, more numerous and more ambitious than ever. And with the opening up of India to foreign capital and the expected arrival of millions of dollars of steel money, the dispossessed and those who fear dispossession are rallying to their cause. Inspired by dramatic Maoist successes in Nepal, the Indian comrades have been swarming into virgin terrain. In November 2003 they were active in 55 districts across nine Indian states. By February 2005 this had ballooned to 155 districts in 15 states, covering nearly 19 per cent of India's forests. The Home Ministry says they now have 9,300 "hardcore underground cardre" and possess 6,500 modern weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, Claymore land mines and modern electronic equipment. They are, it is claimed, trying to carve out a Compact Revolutionary Zone, a "red corridor of armed struggle", stretching from the Nepal border in the north via Andra Pradesh right down to Tamil Nadu in the south. The mineral-rich states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh are right in the middle of that band. But can the villagers trust the Naxalites? "All the Maoists start as ideologues with principles," said a senior Jharkhand policeman, "but after a time they find that being a Naxalite is a functioning business, fuelled by fear." Anybody who wants to do business in the areas they control knows they have to pay up, he said. "They take a levy from everyone, the coal barons, the mining companies. Those who have been here a long time know exactly who to pay and how much in order to stay out of trouble. Recently the Naxalites gave a press conference over the Nepal border in which they issued a warning to the multinational companies that are planning to set up in the state. That was advance notice of money required ... "Jharkhand is a treasure trove for the Naxalites because of the money that can be extorted from the mining companies. The foreign companies that want to come in will have to be prepared to do the same, if and when they come into the state." On 9 January this year as every year, the Munda tribe, one of the biggest in the state and who once (as their legends relate) enjoyed sole possession of the Land of the Forest, gather at a place called Dombari Hill, to commemorate another in their long series of tragic defeats. At the top of this steep, conical hill in 1900 a force of adivasis led by their most charismatic and famous hero, Birsa Munda, prepared to attack a British force that was far smaller but armed with modern weapons. The two sides faced off in the darkness, then on a muffled order the British charged up the steep slope with bayonets fixed. Seven Mundas died in the ensuing rout. The view from the top of the hill shows what the Mundas were fighting to defend. In all directions dense forest stretches unbroken to the horizon. Despite the military defeats and all their other reversals, in this corner of Jharkhand the Mundas have succeeded in clinging on to their land, and the culture and traditions handed down across the centuries. Ram Dayal Munda, former vice-chancellor of Ranchi University, was one of the speakers at the Dombari Hill commemoration. What will happen, we asked him later, as a result of the killings in Kalinganagar? "The people will close ranks," he said. "They will increasingly see themselves in opposition to the authorities. They will rebel. They will be crushed. They will rebel again. There are 90 million adivasis in India, and 20 million are on the road: lost, uprooted, displaced, wandering around ..." From octave at bol.net.in Fri Mar 17 09:03:02 2006 From: octave at bol.net.in (Sanjay Kak) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 09:03:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Free Speech Essay / Raghu Karnad Message-ID: Dear All Enjoyed reading this, and it would be great to talk around some of its excellent provocations (and briefly dwell on some of its simplifications?) Best Sanjay Kak From uddipana at gmail.com Mon Mar 20 12:51:16 2006 From: uddipana at gmail.com (Uddipana Goswami) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:51:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] third posting Message-ID: for this month, two poems on my city, written almost two decades apart: www.my-guwahati.blogspot.com From mahmood.farooqui at gmail.com Mon Mar 20 12:55:51 2006 From: mahmood.farooqui at gmail.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:55:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Free Speech Essay / Raghu Karnad In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Enjoyed reading what? Allow us to share the pleasure... On 17/03/06, Sanjay Kak wrote: > Dear All > > Enjoyed reading this, and it would be great to talk around some of its > excellent provocations (and briefly dwell on some of its simplifications?) > > Best > > Sanjay Kak > > _________________________________________ > 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 reyhanchaudhuri at eth.net Tue Mar 14 18:19:09 2006 From: reyhanchaudhuri at eth.net (reyhan chaudhuri) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 18:19:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Re-Jack Vening's fluster Message-ID: <00dc01c64765$b1420240$7bec41db@ReyhanChaudhuri> Dear Mr.Vening Jack, Do not be bogged down by making things white and black. Is there really a problem if we twist some words front or back? Do you always make the home-made snack fact to fat ,fat to fact ? Then in that case , you better divert -as a matter of convert to other Websites and reader-lists that are exact but also meanwhile mundane and Oh(!) so off-track; C'mon , the Reader list are remeniscenses, restful or restless rantings resourcings or researchings but always, open to reinterpreted re-inventions. Yours Reprovingly, Sarai Reader-list Raters. ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack Vening To: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 4:29 PM Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Hi guys. Did you actually mean to take W. H. Auden's quote and just change a couple words? Here's yours: 'The basic formula of "a Whodunit," is this: a murder occurs; many are suspected; all but one suspect, who is the murderer, are eliminated; the murderer is arrested or dies.' Here's the original quote: "The basic formula is this: a murder occurs; many are suspected; all but one suspect, who is the murderer, are eliminated; the murderer is arrested or dies." You should probably reference your quotes if you run a website. Seeya -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060314/317cd45c/attachment.html From iram at sarai.net Mon Mar 20 13:02:57 2006 From: iram at sarai.net (iram at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 08:32:57 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Confessions of Lurker Message-ID: ------ Original Message ------ Subject: Confessions of Lurker To: iram at sarai.net From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 08:26:56 +0100 Hello, I thought I should prepare at least a brief account of myself rather than sit at the edge of the pool watching all of the divers. My name¹s Samara Mitchell and I¹m a freelance writer, public artist and occasional puppet wrangler in a shadow theatre company called Plato¹s Cave. At the time of this posting my home and capital city of Adelaide, South Australia, is awash in a sea of festive events that marketing would have collapse into a single wave. Of course, no amount of arts marketing will get as many people into the front door to see a Biennial of Australian Modern Art as - The Man Who Breathes Through his Eyes - gets every hour within his carnival tent at the Fringe Festival's - Garden of Unearthly Delights. I¹m interested in varying perceptions of what constitutes a city¹s progress. At the end of a festival, I sometimes lament that the tents, rigging and prosceniums come down, and not the institutional buildings. Of course, the carnival has got to move or collapse under the weight of its own stillness :-) Kudos to all for the reading list. I look forward to the discussions. Warmest regards, Samara -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: Samara Mitchell Subject: Confessions of Lurker Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 08:17:57 +1030 Size: 4432 Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060320/c652fc31/attachment.mht From monica.mody at gmail.com Sun Mar 19 12:20:53 2006 From: monica.mody at gmail.com (Monica Mody) Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 12:20:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] What A Drag! - Delhi, 21st March 06 In-Reply-To: <20060318134653.59458.qmail@web8510.mail.in.yahoo.com> References: <20060318134653.59458.qmail@web8510.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4badad3b0603182250s54dd8c56we68da6b58fb43504@mail.gmail.com> [Please forward widely to all concerned] Nigah - Queering Perspectives & Khoj - International Artists' Association invite you to An evening with Diane Torr Performer, Writer, Gender Transformer and Drag King Ambassador to the World! on Tuesday, 21st March, 2006 at 6.30 PM at Khoj Studios, S-17 Khirki Extension, New Delhi For more information, visit us at http://www.nigahmedia.com See you then! _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Tue Mar 14 14:41:10 2006 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (NetEx) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 10:11:10 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] NetEX MARCH - new calls & deadlines Message-ID: <441688AE.9050000@netcologne.de> NetEX- networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net added recently some new calls in the external announcements section which might be of interest: ---> New!! 1. IZOLENTA /06 International Digital Film Festival St. Petersburg/Russia deadline: 20 April ---> New! 2. Call: Perform.Media Festival (Indiana/USA) is looking for art work and creative practices deadline: May 15th, 2006 ---> New! 3. Seoul Net Festival (SENEF) 2006 The 7th Seoul Net Festival is open for entries in Digital Express (International Competition) in both categories respectively : "Web-Work" and "Cinema 4 Net deadline: 8 April ---> More deadlines in April 4. 1. Call: VIII SALON Y COLOQUIO INTERNACIONAL DE ARTE DIGITAL Eighth International Digital Art Exhibit and Colloquium Havanna/Cuba Deadline 1 April ---> 5. Call: Streaming Festival {The Hague/Netherlands} Deadline: 15 April 2006 ---> 6. Call: EcoVision 2006 (Palermo/Italy) International Environment & Cinema Festival Deadline: 7 April 2006 ---> 7. Euganea Movie Movement (Padova/Italy) Shortfilm festival with national and international section Deadline: 30 April 2006 All details on these and more calls and the entry forms can be found on http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=25 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// The "internal announcements" section released following calls ---> 1. RRF2006 - call for Internet based art on the theme "memory & identity" deadline 1 April 2006 ---> 2. SoundLAB is looking for soundart for Edition IV - "memoryscapes" deadline 30 June 2006 ---> 3. VideoChannel is looking for videos/films on the theme "image vs. music" to be included in 2nd edition of Cologne Online Film Festival '06 to be launched in October 2006 online and offline deadline 1 July 2006 ---> All details on these and more calls and the entry forms can be found on http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54 ******************************************************** NetEX - networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=25 is the common weblog 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 pukar at pukar.org.in Thu Mar 16 09:45:15 2006 From: pukar at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 09:45:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [announcements] Change of venue for Dr. Ritu Birla's talk Message-ID: <000e01c648b0$3c71e920$2dd0c0cb@freeda> PUKAR cordially invites you to a talk by Dr. Ritu Birla on Neoliberalism and the Good Colonial Subject: Lost Histories of Law, Capitalism and Colonialism in India's Present Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Time: 6:30 PM Venue: Fourth floor, Kitab Mahal Near Exelsior Cinema, D. N. Road, Fort, Mumbai - 01 Popular discourse today reiterates ubiquitously that the India's rise as global capitalist powerhouse has much to do with its colonial history, and specifically, with the implementation of the rule of law and contract in the 19th century. Drawing from a forthcoming book, Hedging Bets, which charts the history of law, capitalism and market governance in colonial India, this lecture will address what we forget when we remember Indian capitalism as seamless transition into modernity. Dr. Ritu Birla is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, flagship St. George campus. She holds degrees in History from the University of Cambridge and Columbia University. Her research and writing addresses Modern South Asian history; history of law and capitalism; postcolonial studies and historiography; and political and feminist theory. Her forthcoming book is entitled Hedging Bets: Law, Market Ethics, and the Staging of Capital in Late Colonial India (Duke University Press). (Kindly note that the venue for this talk is KITAB MAHAL and not NGMA Auditorium as mentioned in the earlier mail) PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 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/20060316/e2a43faf/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From pukar at pukar.org.in Mon Mar 20 09:30:53 2006 From: pukar at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:30:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [announcements] Tuesday, March 21: Talk in Marathi by Sunita Bagal Message-ID: <005b01c64bd2$e45a0d00$2dd0c0cb@freeda> PUKAR - Marathi Public Sphere and St. Joseph's Senior College, Virar cordially invite you to a talk in Marathi by Sunita Bagal on Women's Micro-Credit Groups: Perspectives on Recent Fiscal Trends Date: Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 Time: 9:30 AM Venue: St. Joseph's Senior College, Satpala, Virar West Women's self-help groups were started as a movement for women's empowerment. Self-reliance and dignity were the key words. NGOs stepped in to facilitate the process. Now one finds that the government is showing keen interest in promoting micro-credit groups through channels such as nationalized banks. What has prompted this shift in Government policy? What role does the present economy of nationalized banks play in microfinance? Sunita Bagal, who has been actively associated with the self-help groups movement will share her observations on these and other related issues. Sunita Bagal has worked with women in Maharashtra and neighbouring states in the fields of watershed development, disaster management and microfinance, for over two decades. She represented India at the Beijing+10 conference at Bangkok. At present she is an Ashoka Fellow, working on the formation of self-employed women's union in Maharashtra. She is associated with several urban and rural organizations as a consultant and trainer. She has authored the curriculum on micro-credits for the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University. PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 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/20060320/15f77722/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From mail at shivamvij.com Mon Mar 20 15:18:02 2006 From: mail at shivamvij.com (Shivam) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 15:18:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] On Tibetan refugess Message-ID: <210498250603200148j5d4e5d01ob5824678f965e5b1@mail.gmail.com> Research posting by I-Fellow mallica Mishra. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From beate at zurwehme.org Mon Mar 20 16:08:56 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:38:56 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Gender as paradigm f o r i n t e r a c t i v e a n d m e d i a a r t s Message-ID: hello world, i have pre-published my new article on the thing. http://thing-net.de/cms/artikel252.html greetings, beate z. | interlinking of media | practice with gender related issues http://zurwehme.org/ From beate at zurwehme.org Mon Mar 20 20:56:30 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:26:30 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] New Studio Tracks stolen by GCRecords! Message-ID: <4c5c55457b148f95a748c8136967d864@zurwehme.org> good communication rec. kunst kommerz und distinkte praxis by normative vertonung http://gute-kommunikation.org/ New Studio Tracks stolen by GCRecords! "38317 feat dr matze schmidt play Sony Center 2006" download from this one: directory http://gute-kommunikation.org/ISO_9001_CD/ | interlinking of media | practice with gender related issues http://zurwehme.org/ From octave at bol.net.in Mon Mar 20 18:59:39 2006 From: octave at bol.net.in (Sanjay Kak) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 18:59:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Free Speech Essay - Again! Message-ID: Dear All Enjoyed reading this, and it would be great to talk around some of its excellent provocations (and briefly dwell on some of its simplifications?) Best Sanjay Kak http://www.openspaceindia.org/essays_31.htm Free Speech & Fearless Listening The encounter with censorship in South Asia By Raghu Karnad That week, Max Mueller Bhavan was hosting an exhibit of original German promotional posters from between the Weimar era and the Third Reich. This was a period of unequalled social transformation: Weimar Berlin was a habitat for true libertines that accommodated every sexual taste or curiousity, not excluding those with a taste for mother-daughter prostitution teams, third-trimester streetwalkers or for nudist magazines devoted entirely to children. The film posters from the middle-20s do at least capture that cabaret aesthetic and the rush of a society slipping into decadence. Flappers parade for dandies, everyone counts ice cubes into their schnapps while outside the Nazis were consolidating power, not least because of their promise of a restored moral order. In the poster art of the late twenties, there is a movement away from lush art nouveau and Viennese watercolours towards the geometric forms of Constructivism and the darkly jagged Futurist motifs that we associate with fascist art. The Nazi-era posters were not mounted, as the Director explained to me, because they didn't want visitors to the German cultural embassy to find themselves surrounded by images of supremacist nationalism. The posters only spoke of wild freedom, and were silent about the hell into which that wild freedom led. So the walls carried an ironic narrative while Max Mueller Bhavan hosted the conference of the Delhi Film Archive and Vikalp (Films for Freedom) entitled "Free Speech and Fearless Listening: the encounter with censorship in South India." The event lent itself easily to conspiracy theories: it could look like a European government patronizing a group of local patricians (at great expense) to create a counter-clamour for Free Speech while the commoners went berserk on the streets demanding European censorship and punishment. But this is unfair. The folks behind Films for Freedom are among the most upright of Indian citizens, sincerely committed to the honest (and well-shot) reportage of India's many stories. It seems like everybody in the world is writing an Op-Ed about free speech these days. More surprisingly, it seems like just about everybody, with the exception of Yaqoob Qureishi, is saying the same thing, which is the rational but somewhat banal middle route between racist excess and religious hysteria. It was terrific to hear a set of truly sophisticated and well-informed opinions about free speech and censorship coming from panels of lawyers, filmmakers, artists and journalists of whom one could say, without reservation, that they knew what they were talking about. In the South Asian context, Indian media has a comparatively liberal regime, and artists and media persons from our neighbouring countries testified to the diverse processes that constrain artistic and journalistic freedom. Jitman Basnet, an exiled Nepali journalist, told the now familiarly chilling story about media censorship under the Royal government. But if there was one salient message to retain from the conference, it was that censorship originates in many places apart from the Central Board for Film Certification (or the Royal Nepal Army). Hassan Zaidi, journalist and filmmaker from Karachi, surprised the audience with his explanation that, notwithstanding the recent decision to ban 35 Indian cable channels, the official censorship regime in Pakistan is relaxed when compared to previous administrations. A newer mode of censorship is emerging in Pakistan, one that functions within the competitive programming of the private sector, where socially responsible journalism has to really fight for its column inches. It's a systemic restraint that has less to do with what you cannot say, and more to do with what you cannot persuade people to listen to. "There are no critical or investigatory stories on MNCs," Mr Zaidi said, as an example, "because revenue streams are directly linked to how well [media firms] do by these companies." His opinion was that there are three direly important issues in Pakistan: Baluchistan, the harbouring of Taliban in the Pashtun self-ruled provinces, and the issue of water and big dams in Punjab. With the government mostly targeting electronic media, all three are issues that should be discussed in the print media. "But you can write whatever you want," Mr Zaidi concludes, "And nobody will read it." This is something Indians can't afford to be patronizing about. The nexus of commerce and journalism ­ and art, and protest, and other acts of witness - is more insidious than just the Times of India's unmarked "advertorial" policy (look out for the MediaNet logo), and may run even deeper than the evident sea-change towards Page Three journalism. Geremie Barme, in The Revolution of Resistance , wrote about the Chinese intelligentsia's response to intellectual life post-Tiananmen. My point is not to compare socio-political freedom in China and India . Barme's analysis is analogous to India because it describes a complicated relationship with consumerism that is characteristic of society just emerged from socialist planning and the restricted options of a protectionist third world economy. It is best explained in his own words: "For a time after 1989, consumerism was viewed popularly, and among many segments of the political and intellectual elite, as possessing a near revolutionary significance. The romance of resistance included a belief that quotidian activities were the site of struggle and cloaked socio-political retail therapy ­ that is, shopping for new lifestyles and accessorizing the self in contradistinction to the nation-state inculcated guise of identityŠ it was a development acceptable to economic reformers, the business elite, crony cadres, wannabe rebels, kids with 'tude, and the displaced literati alikeŠ While ballot-box democracy might be deferred until a sizable middle class existed, the free-range republic of shopping could be realized immediately." The urban 'republic of shopping' can come into existence either as the only permissible avenue of self-ex-pression or as merely the path of least resistance. Shopper-as-rebel and promoter-as-revolutionary: are these elitist norms or subaltern strategies? It's a dilemma that is recognizable in many aspects of Indian metropolitan life. This includes cultural producers riding safely on the tails of more flagrant resistance; appropriating the romantic (and saleable) postures of failed resistance. Do the current tactics of protest among the elite truly obtain fellowship with oppressed communities that have been led to rebel? Or is the intellectuals' mission being reconstituted into something that encourages circumspection and inactivity? There is a reason this article has travelled so far from the exact subject of censorship to a consideration of the nature of the discourse we're interested in holding. "Free Speech and Fearless Listening" does not need my approval nor my support for its aims, both are implicit. But in the course of its three days, the conference often stopped looking like an activist or educative project and began instead to look like a hermetic conclave of academic co-sympathy where everyone already knew the agenda and each others' old jokes. In the conspicuous absence of anyone who was middle-class or conservative, the only people listening were those who were already free speech activists or, like me, eager Delhi scene-sters content to be sitting next to Arundathi Roy. That, in itself, is an old problem of social activism, but it is especially problematic when the subject is free speech. Your correspondent is no fan of censorship - in fact, he was a volunteer at the Films for Freedom festival in Bangalore . Still, it eludes me what this conference accomplished other than spectacularly revealing a mode of censorship of its own, by conducting a dialogue ­ such as it was ­ within a community of like minds. This was awkwardly highlighted during the lecture of PA Sebastian, the Mumbai advocate who represents the director of the banned film Black Friday. He pointed out that most everyone in the audience has something that they would like to see censored. That was all. "If you say you have no ideology," he said, "You are either ignorant or you are insane!" Mr Sebastian spoke in clunky, rhetorical terms but his critique ran deep, probably deeper than he intended: it was a critique directed at, and deflected by, the barriers we allowed to shoot up in our minds the moment it was indicated by his accent and his tone of voice that he would not participate in the monologic consensus with which the rest of the group was content. The barriers became visible in suppressed giggling and eye-rolling, "Oh dear, someone should have given this fellow the memo ." Nevertheless, he was right that most people in the audience would concede some kind of censorship ­ which is precisely what made it so remiss that there was no one to represent the people who support the current kind of censorship. Not because all opinions are equal, but because if you fail to engage other opinions you'll never know how robust or facile your own are. And because they'll never allow you to settle into a position where political protest, a la the republic of shopping, is just hip. Apropos , the cartoons of the Prophet got surprisingly little airtime, considering that you could practically smell the burning effigies all week. All we got was Jawed Naqvi describing his own Koranic exegesis that it wasn't anything to get mad about at all. Then Sudhabhratha Sengupta (of Sarai CSDS) announced, but then with mock-concern declined to display, his collection of representations of the Prophet from classical Islamic tradition. No one in the room would be likely to support censoring the cartoons, but I assume everyone agreed that the cartoons problematized free speech more clearly than anything has done in a while. The mode of censorship at work in the conference was, again, audible as we left Dilip Simeon shouting at the backs of the crowd, who were already more interested in lunch, about the silence of Left when Muslims were bullying the media. Finally, this mode of censorship was most evident in the fact that no one had invited any members of the CBFC. The assumption seemed to be that the CBFC members are all archaic moralists who would be incapable of participating in a sophisticated dialogue. This is plausible but complacent ­ after all, the alternative, which was ultimately chosen, was to have no dialogue at all. There were extensive quotes of censor board officials from all the countries in the region, which quotes were undoubtedly selected to have the most asinine and illiterate quality. The officials are not, however, illiterate, and since they have the powers they do, we should be attempting to expose them to as much sophisticated discussion of censorship as is possible. Even if their intellectual stubbornness or insincerity is a foregone conclusion, it isn't clear to me why we should spare them the challenge. Tanvir Mokammel, a filmmaker from Dhaka, quoted Sufi poet Alem Mouri Sufian to us: "They are the best kings that mingle with artists, And they are the worst artists who mingle with kings." He was talking about art's collusion with state power; but when he said it, it sounded like he was talking about protest's captivity within comfortable upper-class consensus. I hope its obvious that I've been playing devil's advocate. It couldn't be more urgent that we defend free speech ­ and free speech couldn't ask for more sincere or articulate defenders. But it hardly bears repeating that we need to be vigilant of our own protest becoming a solipsism, as circular and cosmetic and cute as a Live Strong wristband. A censored silence is created when ideas cannot be spoken ­ but another kind of silence is created when only one idea speaks. The conference established that free speech entails fearless listening, but I'm not sure it demonstrated both. Notes: 1) "Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic world of Weimar Berlin," by Mel Gordon. Feral House, 2000. 2) The Revolution of Resistance , by Geremie Barme, in "Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance," ed. Elizabeth J Perry and Mark Selden. From parismitasingh at yahoo.com Mon Mar 20 14:35:59 2006 From: parismitasingh at yahoo.com (parismita singh) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 01:05:59 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Second posting - Parismita Message-ID: <20060320090559.37321.qmail@web52611.mail.yahoo.com> Parismita Second posting - a series of comic book stories. Hello! I've been very erratic with my postings, getting the whole act together has been a problem because i've been travelling a lot. But i hope to be in Delhi for the next few months, and will catch up! I've had to do more thinking about my stories - and their theme- migrants-in -the -city and stories that look back at the regions they come from. People seem to have different expectations of a project like this. And almost feel a little disapppointed when there are no tribal-girls-in-military-fatigues-by-riverside situations ( at least not without irony) or a Persepolis take. Someone posted an article about how to write about Africa some time back. Well, that made a lot of sense to me most of last month. But I've been playing around with some short two page pieces, and that's been fun. Unlike my longer stories ( 10 to 20 pages long), which are more in the traditional story telling mode, with text and image and narrative voice etc. With the shorter pieces, I'm working with just images ( no text- or minimal text), with a certain economy , capturing perhaps just the passing of a thought or a mood. The kind of thing one expects from poetry. But comics? I have a piece - At the Park ( a two page story) up on my blog. http://parismitasingh.blogspot.com/ (Some of the details need a little peering because of the resolution business) Thanks! Parismita --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060320/af4c135d/attachment.html From abhishek.hazra at gmail.com Tue Mar 21 05:23:15 2006 From: abhishek.hazra at gmail.com (Abhishek Hazra) Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 05:23:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Second posting - Parismita In-Reply-To: <20060320090559.37321.qmail@web52611.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20060320090559.37321.qmail@web52611.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6deae8300603201553j6dbd29fbu92c0067df16be520@mail.gmail.com> what is the actual size of the "At the Park" panel? and what medium? the usual Indian Ink on Strathmore? On 3/20/06, parismita singh wrote: > > Parismita Second posting - a series of comic book stories. Hello! > I've been very erratic with my postings, getting the whole act together has > been a problem because i've been travelling a lot. But i hope to be in Delhi > for the next few months, and will catch up! I've had to do more thinking > about my stories - and their theme- migrants-in -the -city and stories that > look back at the regions they come from. People seem to have different > expectations of a project like this. And almost feel a little disapppointed > when there are no tribal-girls-in-military-fatigues-by-riverside situations > ( at least not without irony) or a Persepolis take. Someone posted an > article about how to write about Africa some time back. Well, that made a > lot of sense to me most of last month. But I've been playing around with > some short two page pieces, and that's been fun. Unlike my longer stories ( > 10 to 20 pages long), which are more in the traditional story telling mode, > with text and image and narrative voice etc. With the shorter pieces, I'm > working with just images ( no text- or minimal text), with a certain economy > , capturing perhaps just the passing of a thought or a mood. The kind of > thing one expects from poetry. But comics? I have a piece - At the Park ( > a two page story) up on my blog. http://parismitasingh.blogspot.com/ > (Some of the details need a little peering because of the resolution > business) Thanks! Parismita > > ------------------------------ > Yahoo! Mail > Use Photomailto share photos without annoying attachments. > > > _________________________________________ > 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: > > -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - does the frog know it has a latin name? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060321/8fb1954b/attachment.html From pukar at pukar.org.in Tue Mar 21 10:01:06 2006 From: pukar at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 10:01:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [announcements] Wednesday, March 22 : Talk Dr. Ritu Birla at Kitab Mahal Message-ID: <000c01c64ca0$4d9e5be0$2dd0c0cb@freeda> PUKAR cordially invites you to a talk by Dr. Ritu Birla on Neoliberalism and the Good Colonial Subject: Lost Histories of Law, Capitalism and Colonialism in India's Present Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Time: 6:30 PM Venue: Fourth floor, Kitab Mahal Near Exelsior Cinema, D. N. Road, Fort, Mumbai - 01 Popular discourse today reiterates ubiquitously that the India's rise as global capitalist powerhouse has much to do with its colonial history, and specifically, with the implementation of the rule of law and contract in the 19th century. Drawing from a forthcoming book, Hedging Bets, which charts the history of law, capitalism and market governance in colonial India, this lecture will address what we forget when we remember Indian capitalism as seamless transition into modernity. Dr. Ritu Birla is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, flagship St. George campus. She holds degrees in History from the University of Cambridge and Columbia University. Her research and writing addresses Modern South Asian history; history of law and capitalism; postcolonial studies and historiography; and political and feminist theory. Her forthcoming book is entitled Hedging Bets: Law, Market Ethics, and the Staging of Capital in Late Colonial India (Duke University Press). (Kindly note that the venue for this talk is KITAB MAHAL and not NGMA Auditorium as mentioned in the earlier mail) PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 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/20060321/5dca8461/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From penguinhead at linux-delhi.org Wed Mar 22 11:17:06 2006 From: penguinhead at linux-delhi.org (Pankaj kaushal) Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 11:17:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Writing english Message-ID: <4420E4DA.5040500@linux-delhi.org> Is it just me? or do you also feel that the main criteria of getting a Sarai fellowship seems to be a total lack of any ability of writing an email? Today morning, I received around 5-6 mails. I actually had a few minutes on my hands to go through them, but, the fact that all of them were a big block of text, without any sentence/line breaks just drained the energy right out of me. If you have spent time writing something, wont you like people to read it? P. -- Wir wollen dass ihr uns alles glaubt. From naresh.rhythm at gmail.com Wed Mar 22 12:57:53 2006 From: naresh.rhythm at gmail.com (Naresh Kumar) Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 23:27:53 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] Third posting Message-ID: <9e53509a0603212327h24172fafq5cc84053f85dd532@mail.gmail.com> March15th was Holi and the following day was the spring festival of Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan at Jalandhar. So, I had to leave for that Holi night. Though I had already taken the reservation for the journey yet due to some unavoidable reasons I missed the train. Finally, I caught 6687, Navyug Express at 0.30 hours along with my friend Sunil. We managed two births and comfortably slept at night. The train takes a relatively longer route and it took almost twelve hours to reach Jalandhar. During our journey our friend Prem Sagar informed us on phone that the programmed would be at President Hotel and not at Devi Talab Mandir, the site of the annual festival. Therefore we thought better to visit the hotel first before arranging for any accommodation. We saw the four-star hotel where the programme was to be held in the evening at 6.30 pm. We went to Devi Talab Mandir and got a room there. Although I'll write about Devi Talab in a separate posting yet here I must mension that it is the place which is counted among 51 Sakti Pithas and the Samadhi of Baba Harballabh is situated here only. The place is hardly two kms from Jalandhar City station of Indian Railways and is quite close to the industrial area and other big markets of the town. Above all things you can get a very good room with attached wt-bathroom in just 100 bucks. We had fixed up an appointment with Mr. Rakesh Dada, the treasurer of the Harballabh Mahasabha at his office, which was not very far. Hurriedly we took bath, changed and ate something. At 2.30 pm we were at Foresight Computers, Tanda Road, Mr. Dada's office. He was busy in editing Kamal Sabri's performance that he gave in last annual Harballabh. Though he recognized me yet he asked all the preliminary questions about my project. I think that he was interested in knowing how my research was different from that being done by a student of music. I came to know that at least two other students of music are doing their Ph.D. on Harballabh. He spoke to me for about half an hour and many interesting things came out while he was talking to us. "In 1982 or 1983 the Sammelan was going on. Suddenly a wireless message came that some terrorists were heading towards Jalandhar with Kumar Saheb as their target. The policemen asked Kumar Saheb to stop the Sammelan. Sammelan somehow kept going on but Ashwini Kumarji was immediately taken to a safer place. In mid 80s there used to be curfew after six. So we used to organize the concert during the daytime with local artistes only because the artistes from the other parts of India were scared of coming to Punjab. In 1989, when Sardar Beyant Singh's government came to power, with his initiative and with NZCC's support the festival could be revived again. For three days of the sammelan one of the ministers of his government used to sit for the whole night to ensure the safety and fearlessness in Punjab. Naturally the police security was also extra-alert when the minister was there. But joining hands with North Zone Cultural Council, Patiyala harmed us in two ways. First, we lost all the belongings of Babaji like his tanpura, Kharaon etc along with photographs of previous years. Because they took all that to Patiyala. There was flood in Patiyala and it devastated everything and we could never get them back. Second, they gave handsome payments to the musicians but when they held back it became tough for us to entertain the artistes with their increased performance-fees." All this and many other things. He gave me the reports and souvenirs of 1966,67,69 and70. Along with these he gave me a book by Krishnanand Shastri, which also contains some information and old documents regarding Harballabh. About quarter to five we left his place saying, "See you in the concert at 6.30." We roamed here and there for some time and around seven we were in the hotel. The programme was inside the basement. There were chairs but there was sitting arrangement on the floor near the stage to maintain the traditional baithak style. The total participation was sixty out of which twenty were women although about sixty per cent of the 350 Mahasabha members are from the city only. There were four performances. The programme began with a Tabla duet by Namdharis [Gurinder Singh and Kuldip Singh] but my problem is that I can't enjoy solo performances on percussion for more than ten minutes. So I went upstairs to look for the opportunity of meeting other artistes. I could interview both the ladies who were to perform later. Then there was a young artist from Delhi, Sunil Sharma who won the Harballabh competition some years back. He sang Vilambit and Drut khyal in Puriyakalyan followed by a bandish in basant. I didn't enjoy his performance much. I stood near the gate and started interviewing some of the audience. I could also talk to Mr. Sudarshan Jyoti, one of the joint secretaries of the mahasabha, a very jolly and interesting septuagenarian. After Sunil Sharma came Anupama Bhagwat, a sitarist who is presently staying in USA and is a disciple of Bimalendu Mukharji, Buddhaditya Mukharji's father. She played raga Vihag and a composition in Bahar after that. Her melodious and technically rich presentation shows all the signs of a mature and promising artiste. I recorded the piece in raga Bahar by her. The last performance was given by P.U. Sarkhel, who has learnt from her father, Ustad Amir Khan's disciple. She began with Bageshri, then sang two compositions in Basant-bahar and finally concluded with a Hori. Sweet alap, intricate sargams and powerful tans by her made everybody spellbound. The concert was followed by a good vegetarian dinner but the appetizer was already served when Anupama Bhagwat was playing. So, the audience enjoyed raga bahar while having soup and sounds of the cutleries accompanying the artist. Moreover, the ring tones of the Cel-phones kept singing throughout the programme. We will have to think whether the ways and atmosphere of listening are really changing. Is "quiet and passive' audience sunk in music only becoming something of a bygone era? There used to be a time when even time-keeping or humming was objectionable. Are we heading towards the concerts where we'll enjoy classical music while allowing our other senses to do their work independently? Are the artistes ready to negotiate with this new performing situation? This is not the case of Harballabh only but it happens in all the open-air concerts even in Delhi. Now let me come to what I missed. Had Shyam informed earlier about Laxmi-narayan rag sabha of Amritsar, which goes on for three days on Holi, I would have visited that too. Durgiyana Mandir committee organizes this music festival. A comparative study of the two can be a very good thing but I will have to compensate with the secondary sources only. Now I have dropped the idea of visiting Sankat Mochan festival of Benaras which will be in May. In May or June when I go to Jalandhar I will extend my journey to Amritsar too but for that also, some basic knowledge is necessary. So, if you come across any press clipping, any information on net or any other document about it then please, inform me. With good wishes Naresh. From abshi at vsnl.com Wed Mar 22 14:56:42 2006 From: abshi at vsnl.com (abshi at vsnl.com) Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 14:26:42 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Discussion=3A_complex_issues_of_lesbian_women?= =?windows-1252?q?=92s_access_to_public_space?= Message-ID: PUKAR Gender & Space Project invites you to a discussion on the complex issues of lesbian women’s access to public space Date: Wednesday, 29 March 2006 Time: 6 pm Venue: PUKAR Office, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Opp. Strand Book Stall, Sir. P M Road, Fort, Mumbai 400001. Tel: 5574-8152 In a general sense it is true that in relation to men, women have relatively lower access to public space. However, such access is also mediated through class, caste, religious community and the appearance of conforming to societal norms. This is true even of spaces that appear to enhance women’s access to public space like the local trains. Many paeans have been sung to the camaraderie of the ladies compartment in Mumbai’s local trains. Our research at the Gender & Space project has also shown that public transport in Mumbai, particularly, local trains, greatly add to women’s mobility and capacity to access public space. However, the space of the ladies compartment is far from being a space of pure camaraderie or freedom. Fisher women or other women vendors who try and use the ladies compartment. at times when the vendors’ compartment is over crowded with men vendors. are met with angry demands that they leave. Commuters in the first class compartment often aggressively bar the entry of others whom they view as ‘not appearing like first class pass or ticket holders’. Hijras are met with annoyance mixed with anxiety (and unless they receive a great deal of support from each other women will not actively demonstrate their hostility towards hijras whom they also fear). Women who dress or appear non normative or unfeminine are also greeted with suspicion and many women who choose a more assertive demeanour or favour a style of dressing perceived to be masculine are also often the target of women commuters hostility and disdain. Transgender people and others who dress ambiguously are seen as a threat to the clear definition of both people and space. The ladies compartment then comes to stand for a space that can only house women who obviously look and behave like ‘women’! Access for those who refuse to conform to established gender norms is thus very contested. Also we need to distinguish between simple access to public space – that is the capacity to be in a public space and use it and a more complex claim to public space – that is the capacity to use ones identity to articulate a right to be in public space. We have discovered that the first might be sought to some extent through anonymity – that is, for women to slip into the city and occupy space without drawing undue attention if we appear to conform. The latter implies the staking of a political claim to space. For women who love women, any political claim to space is complicated by the fact that technically and legally Section 377 of the IPC renders all non peno-vaginal sex illegal in private and in public. Living an illegal love and life implies hiding and thus most public claims to space beget constant harassment. Same sex love in public might be tolerated in some up-market spaces if it’s not too overt, not too loud and if you follow the US army rule not to ask or tell. Or if you don’t mind seeking refuge in the sanctioned homo-sociality of being just good friends. Large cities like Mumbai do offer a certain kind of space that comes with anonymity but this may often bring the loss of mobilising on the basis of a political identity. What does Mumbai mean to lesbian women? What are the spaces that lesbian women can seek without fear? How does the city enhance space for articulation and how does it reduce the capacity to claim a political identity? These are only some of the questions we hope to raise at a discussion on lesbian women’s access to public space in Mumbai. We hope the audience brings their own questions and queries to make this a lively and challenging space. Members of the group Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action will introduce the discussion. Please do come and also forward this invitation to interested friends and colleagues. Date: Wednesday, 29 March 2006 Time: 6 pm Venue: PUKAR Office, Fort, Mumbai Apologies for Cross Postings From nangla at cm.sarai.net Wed Mar 22 19:45:22 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 15:15:22 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Letters from Nangla, 04 Message-ID: WHAT WAS NANGLA [01] By Dilip I met a man who was wearing blue trousers and a white shirt. His eyes were narrow, like Ajay Devgan's. He said, "There was a vast open field from Nangla till Pragati Maidan. A field where people would stand up in declare war in revolt the moment they would see king approaching from a distance. The field remained theirs, and witnessed many inventions. One of them is Nangla Maachi." BEFORE THE SUN RISES [01] By Jaanu This young man, probably fifteen to sixteen years old, sees the first rays of the morning sun only after having earned two to four hundred rupees. He keeps the length of his hair long. A sack always hangs on his shoulder. His face is dark, and he always chews tobacco. He can be seen in places where probably everyone hesitates to go. He collects money from the ground, but money which probably no one else would agree to pick up. He bends his body forward to pick up anything he finds, and puts it in his sack. Dogs and pigs follow him around. But he roams fearlessly in places around Nangla where garbage is thrown. He picks up whatever he finds - plastic bottles, scraps of paper - with his hands or a wire that he carries with him. He pokes the object with the hard, long wire, picks up the object, and it goes straight into his sack. He also carries a stick, at one end of which he has attached a magnet. Whatever the magnet catches, he deposits in the broad iron vessel with steep sides, which he also carries with himself. He finishes his work before the sun rises; and then drinks tea with everyone else in a tea stall in Nangla. He disappears with the appearance of the sun. LEAVING By Ankur It was evening. Stoves burned outside homes, some women were cooking. I walked out through my lane towards Pushta. There was a lot of activity there. I could see a group of men, but the group was not together, but spread around. Three rickshas stood in a row nearby. Household things - like canisters, sacks filed with utensils, clothes tied in bundles - were piled up in them. I couldn't see the owners or the caretakers of the rickshas anywhere. After some time, girl came there. Her hair were strewn on her round face. She was wearing a pink suit and chappals in her feet. She carried a box on her head. She out the box in a ricksha. Now I realised they were leaving the dwelling. Then I saw her relatives coming with more things towards the rickshas. There were five of them in all. They made room for themselves to sit among all this household things in the rickshas. Then they bid a final goodbye to the dwelling, and started off towards a new one. WHAT WAS NANGLA [02] By Dilip His face betrayed an unhappiness. He was wearing a waist cloth, a stick in his hand, as if he is holding his entire world in his fist. This elderly man said to me, "Sit here and listen. Where Nangla is today, was once a dense forest. Snakes, monkeys, lions ruled the forest. Some people cut down the forest and made their homes here with the wood. And today it has taken the form of a dwelling." BEFORE THE SUN RISES [02] By Jaanu The sun hasn't risen yet. There is a fog of smoke in Nangla. People who live along the Pushta have lit up their stoves. They sit by the stoves, sipping tea. These stoves are not inside the rooms, but outside, along the lanes. And the kitchen is where the stove is. When people pass by they don't touch anything, just look and go their way. A woman is sitting by her stove. She places the vessel with the kneaded dough in the lane and starts to cook. The door behind her does not have a curtain. When the kitchen is on the road, then where is the need to conceal anything else. It is winter. She has filled a canister with water and placed it on the stove. The water heats on a low flame. A young boy, about five to seven years old, comes and sits by the canister and, from time to time, he stokes the fire by moving the firewood about. He dips his hand in the water repeatedly to see how warm it is. Then he calls out, "Mother, the water is warm now." The woman appears from inside the house, empties the water from the canister into a vessel, refills the canister with more water, and carries the warm water into the house. People pass by from the lane in front. But the lanes are not only for passing! Some people are sleeping in the lane, their bodies covered with a sheet which they have tightened by tucking under their head and pulling it from the other end with their toes. For some, morning is when they go to sleep. People skirt them, and go on their way. WHAT WAS NANGLA [03] By Dilip He is 28 years old, and his hairstyle is like Salman Khan's was in the 'Tere-Naam'. He is wearing white pants and a black shirt with shining pearls sewn on it. "Friend, there was nothing but swamps here, which three to four people filled up. I was one of them, though I was so young at the time. As soon as the swamp got filled up, house after house came up here." SUNDAYS By Jaanu Look at this fellow here! From his mannerisms one can tell this is the one day in the week when he can give in to the impulse of not getting out of bed. Idleness has settled on his body. His heart says, just keep lying on your bed on the floor. The sun has risen so long ago, but he has covered his face with a sheet and is playing hide and seek with its rays. But look at this grandfather-grandson duo! They have become so active to break out of the tiredness that has accumulated in their body over the week. They are taking turns to oil each other's bodies. Now they will heat some water and take a bath. That's how it is with them every Sunday. They spend the entire day with each other, unmindful of the passing time. The rest of the week, time slips by them and they hardly get to be with each other. Sunday is their day to try making up with each other for the week. But then there are some people who get active in a different way on Sundays. A market is set up near the IG Stadium on Sunday mornings. Good quality things can be bought at cheap rates here. It is known as chor bazaar (stolen goods market). People buy second hand things, which can then be innovated with for use in their homes. Sheets, coolers, clothes, electrical goods - all kinds of things are bought from here and brought into Nangla. Look at this man, for instance. He is carrying a refrigerator with so much love. Someone is helping him carry it. Now whether this fridge has been bought to cool water in summers, or an almirah to keep clothes in, is something only he can tell us. Look at the hustle bustle on this STD booth. This is also a specialty of Sundays. The booth rather than any other shop sees the most customers. Here one can hear people's names and where they have come to Delhi from. There are long lines here in the mornings, and every few minutes one hears, “Yes, this is me, from Delhi...” BUNTY By Ankur It was one morning that I first saw that seventeen year old boy in this dwelling. He was a little dark complexioned, and was weak in one arm and one leg. He wore a white shirt and a pair of black pants that day. He had a pen in one pocket of his trousers and a glass in the other pocket. He was walking down the lane, saying "hello, good morning" to everyone who he passed by. Some children followed him around, calling out, "mad man, mad man". At that time, seeing him, I couldn't think about him further than what I saw. Slowly, through his mode of talking, his style of dressing, his ways and his mannerisms, he made a place in the heart of many in the dwelling. He would roam around the dwelling like a stranger. He could be seen anywhere. Wherever people would see him, they would say, "Bunty, do you want to eat something?" and he would reply, "No, I have already eaten with the amma there". Children would chase behind him and tease him, and when this troubled him, Bunty would pick up in his arms any passing street dog and scare them with it. But as one of his hands was weak, the dog would slip out, and this is what frightened the kids the most. They would run away. Bunty was very fond of dogs. One could often see him carry a little pup around with him. And when he would go to sleep at night – on some bench or raised ground in the dwelling – he would tie the pup up next to him. And in the morning he would walk around with him in his arms again. He came to my lane one day and started talking to everyone. It was evening. Sunlight was receding, and there was no electricity. He came and sat down on a raised platform. People gathered around him. Everyone wanted to know more about him. My father asked, very gently, "Son, tell me, where is your home?" Bunty (very quietly): Uncle, in Bihar. Papa: How did you come here? Bunty: Uncle, I was playing inside a train with my friends. Suddenly the train started moving. All my friends hopped out. But I couldn't, because of my leg. And then I got off at Nizamuddin, and came to Nangla. Here I met this sister (he said this pointing to a middle aged woman I knew). He kept chatting with everyone for some time. Then he ate at my home. He left our dwelling that day. People still remember him. BEFORE THE SUN RISES [03] By Jaanu Tamanna woke up. Unwrapping herself from her bedding, slowly opening her eyes, tightening her body, she got out of bed. She removed the soft pink curtain, opened the door and looked at her reflection in the mirror on the wall. She moved her hands through her hair, and seeing something in her own reflection, a smile began to dance on her entire face. She turned around and moved towards Sahil's bed, and then sat at his bedside. The upper half of Sahil's face peeped out to the world from beneath the sheet that covered the rest of his body. His eyes were shut, and they looked calm and rested, traveling in a dream in a deep sleep. His hair, stuck to the pillow, made a fan like pattern around his head. Tamanna pulled the sheet down a little and gently kissed Sahil on his cheek. Sahil's body stirred, he spread out his arms and embraced Tamanna. Tamanna rubbed her soft hand on his', and then, her eyes dancing, waist jerking into motion, she got up from the bed and stepped away from the bed. Sensing she had stepped away, Sahil made a "hmmm" sound, to show his displeasure, and covered his face again with his sheet. Then, as usual, Tamanna stepped out of the house, shutting the door behind her, and walked towards the pushta, to the toilets. She always went to the toilets early in the morning, before it would get crowded there. There would be one or two other women like herself there, who would come with water in some containers, and like her, step in through the doors into the identical looking box-shaped toilets. Then they would step out and pay the woman caretaker a rupee each and start for their homes. Tamanna would also start for her house. By now some men and women would have stepped out into the streets. Everyone would have containers, bottled and vessels in their hands. Some walking towards the toilets, and others towards the fields by the river Yamuna. Everyone would be wearing clothes they had slept in, or they would throw something more on their bodies, to cover them a little more. Some men would be wearing just their waist-cloths, while others would be in their knickers and vests, Roopani slippers in their feet. Tamanna watched them all, though no one looked at her. She would think in her mind, it will be fun if I were to hang around a while and give each one a name according to the shape of their early morning ruffled hair! But for now, she didn't stop. She had to return home and cook for the day, make tea for her husband, wake up the kids and ready them for school. And with this thought, Tamanna's feet moved quickly towards her house. WHAT WAS NANGLA [04]? By Dilip He calls himself the pradhan (the elected head) of this area. Clad in a kurta and a dhoti, a cap with a pointed front on his head, he said, "Listen. In the beginning there was water all around. We got it filled with sand. What we didn't fill up now flows as the River Yamuna. The settlement which came up by the river has three parts in it, all of which together are known by the name Nangla Maachhi." CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From mi_ga at o-o.lt Thu Mar 23 07:28:17 2006 From: mi_ga at o-o.lt (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=A4?=) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 02:58:17 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] mailia / http://triple-double-u.com/mailia Message-ID: <442200B9.4060900@o-o.lt> At present the rapidly expanding Semantic Web analyzes digital information in order to distinguish valuable content from digital trash. As well modern day search engines give more and more precise results of searched information yet how far will this artificial intelligence go? Will we eventually be able to leave it to machines to perform automated tasks such as creating images or writing texts? For example digital information that is delivered via email increases daily if not hourly which in turn takes more and more time to answer and sort. The email answering machine provides a solution for this as it will write the answer emails using material available online. Mailia analyzes emails coming to ones mailbox and simply replies to them. Forget automated standard 'Out of Office' replies, Mailia is as intelligent as software like Eliza and as flexible as open source products. The email answering machine works in the following way: it grabs an incoming message, analyzes it, sends requests to the Google search engine, then picks up given results, sorts them, and outputs the information into an email form which is sent back to the sender. If answers are publicly saved, search engines will index the answers again and utilize these as output for other similar replies. Ironic as this statement may seem - 'Why not let the machines live their own lives'. Mailia is free software released under the GNU General Public License. -- mi_ga. Tue, 21 Mar 2006 From eye at ranadasgupta.com Thu Mar 23 13:00:47 2006 From: eye at ranadasgupta.com (Rana Dasgupta) Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 23:30:47 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] The Sudden Stardom of the Third-World City Message-ID: <200603222330.AA1126432974@ranadasgupta.com> Dear All A recent essay, deliberately sweeping and polemical, on the sudden prominence of the Third-World city in Hollywood and big publishing. R THE SUDDEN STARDOM OF THE THIRD-WORLD CITY by RANA DASGUPTA http://www.ranadasgupta.com/texts.asp?text_id=36 Why is the Third-World metropolis suddenly taking over western culture? Tsotsi, a film about Johannesburg gangs released in the UK this month, took the 2006 Oscar for best foreign-language film. Another Oscar went to The Constant Gardener, an account of the dark forces at work in Nairobi, whose director, Fernando Meirelles, shot to international fame in 2002 with his portrait of a Rio favela, City of God. The Raindance Film Festival last October climaxed with a screening of Secuestro Express, a film about abduction gangs in Caracas. And at the end of 2004, two best-selling books explored the fiercely competitive under- and over-worlds of Mumbai: Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City and Gregory David Roberts’s Shantaram, which will be released next year as a major Hollywood motion picture directed by Peter Weir. My feeling is that these are early symptoms of a huge shift in the west’s picture of the world: the Third-World metropolis is becoming the symbol of the “new”. This is all the more thrilling for its utter improbability: surely those suffocating piles of slums and desperation are too exhausted, too moribund, to bring forth futures? But it seems to me this is exactly what is happening. If, for the better part of the 20th century, it was New York and its glistening imitations that symbolised the future, it is now the stacked-up, sprawling, impromptu city-countries of the third world. The idea of the total, centralised, maximally efficient city plan has long since lost its futuristic appeal: its confidence and ambition have turned to anxiety and besiegement, its homogenising obsession has constricted the horizons of spiritual possibility and induced counter-fantasies of insubordination, excess, and life-forms in chaotic variety. Such desires flee the West’s surveillance cameras and bureaucratised consumption to find in the Third World metropolis a scope, a speed, a more fecund ecology. Why would it be so? For a start, the rumours crackling in from the Third World have ceased to be quaint. Indian and Chinese business people rattle assumptions by buying up major corporate assets in America and Europe; there are stories of Asian billionaires buying houses at record-breaking prices in Belgravia. There is a dim awareness of something monumental happening far away, of extraordinary wealth creation that goes beyond mere imitation. More perceptive observers see something awe-inspiring in outsourcing: for a western, metropolitan outlook could not have imagined a world so devoid of centre, so unsentimentally flattened out, with no cultural boundaries to stand in the way of absolute technology and capital. They see other histories coming to the fore, they remember those networks of Asian families spread out over four continents, patiently comparing prices and moving goods across the globe from where they are cheap to where they are expensive. Some have heard rumours of “medical tourists” flocking from the UK to Delhi and Mumbai to get operations that the National Health Service could not provide; and, simultaneously awed and appalled, they wonder what kind of minds, what kind of scale must exist in those places for such plans to be dreamed up. All that was “backward” swings round to the front, full of vast and uncanny promise. But the stories do not just come from far away, for even the most intimate and secure of western refuges is now fully infiltrated by the Third-World city. Dismissive talk of Chinese “sweatshops” that would never meet EU regulations does nothing to dispel the sense of a stupendous fertility, for the contents of every western household are “Made in China”, and most Europeans and Americans are so entirely ignorant about how things are made that the production of the objects in their lives seems a kind of Asian alchemy. There is more: the Third-World city has many economies, not just one, and even this they are exporting. Large parts of western cities are now gleefully given over to an international pirate economy of CDs, DVDs, computer software and branded goods manufactured in Lagos or Shenzhen at almost the same time as the Parisian and Californian originals, and almost to the same quality. There are other, less delightful, infiltrations. While £30 “Louis Vuitton” bags have obvious charms, who can say the same of illegal immigrants? Or terrorists? Was there not a time when the West seemed to enjoy total immunity from the violence of the Third World, and is that absolute division not becoming a trifle blurred? Did not the fascination of Dirty Pretty Things, Stephen Frears’ 2002 drama about illegal immigrants in London, rest on our troubling sense that the Third World organ stealing industry might plausibly interface, now, with the cool order of western healthcare systems? Good or bad, however, it is all the same: the image of the Third-World city floats insistently behind the most startling new formations in the life of the west, and the secret of everything “we” are turning into seems increasingly to be held not “here”, but “there”. All of this would be less disruptive to thought if Third-World cities had got to such a place by following the rules. According to the time-honoured process of ‘development’, cities and states attain maturity only when they have standardised the population into one language and cosmology, contained poverty, made clear divisions between different kinds of land use – humans and animals, factories and residences – and imposed a unified code of law. Clearly, these things have not happened in Mumbai or Shanghai, and even so those places are producing things that anyone can look up to. Western tourists have been commenting for decades on the ingenuity they find on third-world streets – “I never knew there were so many ways of making money” – but now they see the improvisational ethos of these bricolage cities elevated into a form of global ambition, and realise that the unlikely potential of the third-world city was never unlikely at all. It is conceivable, in fact, that the cities from which the grand thoughts of the future will flow may look entirely unfamiliar to Americans and Europeans. This seems more likely still when you contrast the intense vulnerability of western, especially European, cities to blasphemy and difference with the radical variety of third-world cities. The happy fiction of Europe’s robust liberalism is in severe doubt as it fails even to accommodate a single group of dissenters: politically articulate Muslims who wish to assert a different vision of social life and law. Compared to this, my adopted city of Delhi, which has its own disputes and violence, seems positively tranquil when one reflects that it must balance the life demands of 15 million people with so many languages and cosmologies, and such varied notions of commerce, law, healthcare and education, that they are not a “population” in the European sense at all. “When will all the camels and cows depart, when will all these strange human varieties finally be banished and India become modern?” tourists ask. They forget two crucial truths – first, that Europe’s centuries-long project to banish all life forms it could not understand or empathise with was a destructively violent process; second, and most importantly, that Delhi already is modern, and this – all this – is what it looks like. It is an alternative kind of modernity: a swirling, agglomerative kind that seems, at this point in history, to be more capable than the western version of sustaining radical diversity – to be better equipped, perhaps, for the principle of globalisation. This brings us to the most perverse suspicion of all. Perhaps the Third-World city is more than simply the source of the things that will define the future, but actually is the future of the western city. Perhaps some of those tourists who look to the Third World for an image of their own past are reflecting uneasily on how all the basic realities of the Third-World city are already becoming more pronounced in their own cities: vast gulfs between sectors of the population across which almost no sympathetic intelligence can flow, gleaming gated communities, parallel economies and legal systems, growing numbers of people who have almost no desire or ability to participate in official systems, innovations in residential housing involving corrugated iron and tarpaulin. Is it going too far to suggest that our sudden interest in books and films about the Third-World city stems from the sense that they may provide effective preparation for our future survival in London, New York or Paris? Our fast-moving media culture, groping always for any image of the “new” that can be used to produce more astonishment, operates in a zone slightly ahead of knowledge. The “rise of China” may remain for many a fantastical rumour, but as the blind sense of such large-scale shifts accumulates, it becomes possible for the media to peddle a new form of futurism: a strange and dazzling hypermodernity that bewilders western understanding but that seems to harbour the plenitude of ideas and aspiration that the west no longer finds within itself. But the images we see in these books and films are not uniformly pretty. Far from it. The media’s grandest and most successful spectacles are invariably full of danger; and this one is no different. In the erotic delectation of these yawning life forms, which rise up with such titanic ambition, with such indifference to the history of western ethics and aesthetics, is the terror, the exhilaration of a death wish. From penguinhead at linux-delhi.org Thu Mar 23 13:03:20 2006 From: penguinhead at linux-delhi.org (Pankaj kaushal) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 13:03:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Writing english In-Reply-To: <20060322114138.10194.qmail@web52603.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20060322114138.10194.qmail@web52603.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <44224F40.2010005@linux-delhi.org> parismita singh wrote: > I think it has less to do with how you actually construct the email and > send it into the readerlist... because my email does have all the > sentence stops, and tons of ellipsis etc., but when it appears on the > readerlist, it's just one block of text. I think it has to do with how braindead your email client is. You seem to be using yahoo! Its extremely difficult to create sentences and take care of alignment in that small little box that Yahoo! mail (Sigh! I work for Yahoo!) provides. A bug has been created as I write this. Most probably you edit in a text editor like MS Word and paste the contents in that little box causing the text to become a big block of text. No? > ok - somebody explain this better to Mr. Kaushal please!! Anyone has a better explanation? -- Wir wollen dass ihr uns alles glaubt. From ish at sarai.net Thu Mar 23 13:18:07 2006 From: ish at sarai.net (ISh) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 13:18:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Professors Message-ID: <442252B7.70402@sarai.net> Namaste <>' the Professors' Heard about this weird book on god tv airing a cbn news prog the '700 club' . There there was panic over how the education system is polluted by the left and radicals. The prog host quoted something like ' the left is using schools and colleges as training centers for terrorists' i think what it meant was the professors who spoke openly against the war america is pitching to the world. Also from his own political expertise the host added that the 'termites have eaten into our education system and it is high time we did something about it' . There was a general panic created while the two hosts exchange dialogs like - there is our enemy out there and now we know who the enemy is, this book tells us that, now what will we do about it. I mean are you talking about professors who have an ideology different from the national propaganda or profs teaching how to develop RDX/IDE's. I really am commenting on how the book was presented on this prog and not it's contents as i have not read this book. <> The book is called- The Professors: David Horowitz http://frontpagemag.com/ Best Ish (frEeMuZik.net/ sarai.net) From harwood at scotoma.org Thu Mar 23 21:29:38 2006 From: harwood at scotoma.org (harwood) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:59:38 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] hairy Mps Message-ID: <4422C5EA.2070906@scotoma.org> http://hairymps.mongrel.org.uk “Hairy MPs” is a project by artists’ collective Mongrel to increase hair growth for the UK Members of Parliament. The heads of the political elite are seeded with extra follicles, numerically based on their parliamentary attendance records. We look forward to profound changes in our political representatives as new hair emerges. Mongrel guarantees that the sight of your favourite UK Members of Parliament luxuriating in their new furry countenances will renew your faith in the democratic process. This unusual method of political visualisation continues Mongrel’s research to find ways to bridge the gap between the perception of information and social experience, reconnecting it within a framework of interest and accountability. Mongrel From vivek at sarai.net Thu Mar 23 13:47:49 2006 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 13:47:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Writing english In-Reply-To: <44224F40.2010005@linux-delhi.org> References: <20060322114138.10194.qmail@web52603.mail.yahoo.com> <44224F40.2010005@linux-delhi.org> Message-ID: <442259AD.4030203@sarai.net> As far as I can tell, the answer might be rather simple. Any messages to the reader-list that are not plain text are held up for moderator approval, for a variety of important reasons. People write formatted text in their word processors, then convert this into plain text. Things like paragraph breaks, get lost in this. Solution: save your text as plain text, then paste it in. Before sending, see that your mail client is sending it as plain text, and see that the sentence stops and paragraph breaks are preserved in that format. Am I wrong? Any advice from techies? Vivek Pankaj kaushal wrote: >parismita singh wrote: > > >>I think it has less to do with how you actually construct the email and >>send it into the readerlist... because my email does have all the >>sentence stops, and tons of ellipsis etc., but when it appears on the >>readerlist, it's just one block of text. >> >> > >I think it has to do with how braindead your email client is. You seem >to be using yahoo! Its extremely difficult to create sentences and take >care of alignment in that small little box that Yahoo! mail (Sigh! I >work for Yahoo!) provides. A bug has been created as I write this. > >Most probably you edit in a text editor like MS Word and paste the >contents in that little box causing the text to become a big block of >text. No? > > > >>ok - somebody explain this better to Mr. Kaushal please!! >> >> > >Anyone has a better explanation? > > > From uddipana at gmail.com Thu Mar 23 13:50:13 2006 From: uddipana at gmail.com (Uddipana Goswami) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 13:50:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] follow up on third posting Message-ID: having translated the two poems, i interviewed the poets i translated, tried to understand what is it about guwahati that enamours them yet... http://my-guwahati.blogspot.com/ From db at dannybutt.net Thu Mar 23 15:24:41 2006 From: db at dannybutt.net (Danny Butt) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 21:54:41 +1200 Subject: [Reader-list] The Sudden Stardom of the Third-World City In-Reply-To: <200603222330.AA1126432974@ranadasgupta.com> References: <200603222330.AA1126432974@ranadasgupta.com> Message-ID: Hi Rana A very fun essay. It made me wonder about the links to historically interior processes in nation states, like white U.S.' appropriation of black culture? And in Euro-Austronesia, the popularity of indigenous peoples in cultural tourism. Decline of empire psychology going global? Danny -- http://www.dannybutt.net On 23/03/2006, at 7:30 PM, Rana Dasgupta wrote: > > Dear All > > A recent essay, deliberately sweeping and polemical, on the sudden > prominence of the Third-World city in Hollywood and big publishing. > > R > > > THE SUDDEN STARDOM OF THE THIRD-WORLD CITY > by RANA DASGUPTA > http://www.ranadasgupta.com/texts.asp?text_id=36 > > > Why is the Third-World metropolis suddenly taking over western > culture? > > Tsotsi, a film about Johannesburg gangs released in the UK this > month, took the 2006 Oscar for best foreign-language film. Another > Oscar went to The Constant Gardener, an account of the dark forces > at work in Nairobi, whose director, Fernando Meirelles, shot to > international fame in 2002 with his portrait of a Rio favela, City > of God. The Raindance Film Festival last October climaxed with a > screening of Secuestro Express, a film about abduction gangs in > Caracas. And at the end of 2004, two best-selling books explored > the fiercely competitive under- and over-worlds of Mumbai: Suketu > Mehta’s Maximum City and Gregory David Roberts’s Shantaram, which > will be released next year as a major Hollywood motion picture > directed by Peter Weir. > > My feeling is that these are early symptoms of a huge shift in the > west’s picture of the world: the Third-World metropolis is becoming > the symbol of the “new”. This is all the more thrilling for its > utter improbability: surely those suffocating piles of slums and > desperation are too exhausted, too moribund, to bring forth > futures? But it seems to me this is exactly what is happening. If, > for the better part of the 20th century, it was New York and its > glistening imitations that symbolised the future, it is now the > stacked-up, sprawling, impromptu city-countries of the third world. > The idea of the total, centralised, maximally efficient city plan > has long since lost its futuristic appeal: its confidence and > ambition have turned to anxiety and besiegement, its homogenising > obsession has constricted the horizons of spiritual possibility and > induced counter-fantasies of insubordination, excess, and life- > forms in chaotic variety. Such desires flee the West’s surveillance > cameras and bureaucratised consumption to find in the Third World > metropolis a scope, a speed, a more fecund ecology. > > Why would it be so? For a start, the rumours crackling in from the > Third World have ceased to be quaint. Indian and Chinese business > people rattle assumptions by buying up major corporate assets in > America and Europe; there are stories of Asian billionaires buying > houses at record-breaking prices in Belgravia. There is a dim > awareness of something monumental happening far away, of > extraordinary wealth creation that goes beyond mere imitation. More > perceptive observers see something awe-inspiring in outsourcing: > for a western, metropolitan outlook could not have imagined a world > so devoid of centre, so unsentimentally flattened out, with no > cultural boundaries to stand in the way of absolute technology and > capital. They see other histories coming to the fore, they remember > those networks of Asian families spread out over four continents, > patiently comparing prices and moving goods across the globe from > where they are cheap to where they are expensive. Some have heard > rumours of “medical tourists” flocking from the UK to Delhi and > Mumbai to get operations that the National Health Service could not > provide; and, simultaneously awed and appalled, they wonder what > kind of minds, what kind of scale must exist in those places for > such plans to be dreamed up. All that was “backward” swings round > to the front, full of vast and uncanny promise. > > But the stories do not just come from far away, for even the most > intimate and secure of western refuges is now fully infiltrated by > the Third-World city. Dismissive talk of Chinese “sweatshops” that > would never meet EU regulations does nothing to dispel the sense of > a stupendous fertility, for the contents of every western household > are “Made in China”, and most Europeans and Americans are so > entirely ignorant about how things are made that the production of > the objects in their lives seems a kind of Asian alchemy. There is > more: the Third-World city has many economies, not just one, and > even this they are exporting. Large parts of western cities are now > gleefully given over to an international pirate economy of CDs, > DVDs, computer software and branded goods manufactured in Lagos or > Shenzhen at almost the same time as the Parisian and Californian > originals, and almost to the same quality. > > There are other, less delightful, infiltrations. While £30 “Louis > Vuitton” bags have obvious charms, who can say the same of illegal > immigrants? Or terrorists? Was there not a time when the West > seemed to enjoy total immunity from the violence of the Third > World, and is that absolute division not becoming a trifle blurred? > Did not the fascination of Dirty Pretty Things, Stephen Frears’ > 2002 drama about illegal immigrants in London, rest on our > troubling sense that the Third World organ stealing industry might > plausibly interface, now, with the cool order of western healthcare > systems? Good or bad, however, it is all the same: the image of the > Third-World city floats insistently behind the most startling new > formations in the life of the west, and the secret of everything > “we” are turning into seems increasingly to be held not “here”, but > “there”. > > All of this would be less disruptive to thought if Third-World > cities had got to such a place by following the rules. According to > the time-honoured process of ‘development’, cities and states > attain maturity only when they have standardised the population > into one language and cosmology, contained poverty, made clear > divisions between different kinds of land use – humans and animals, > factories and residences – and imposed a unified code of law. > Clearly, these things have not happened in Mumbai or Shanghai, and > even so those places are producing things that anyone can look up > to. Western tourists have been commenting for decades on the > ingenuity they find on third-world streets – “I never knew there > were so many ways of making money” – but now they see the > improvisational ethos of these bricolage cities elevated into a > form of global ambition, and realise that the unlikely potential of > the third-world city was never unlikely at all. It is conceivable, > in fact, that the cities from which the grand thoughts of the > future will flow may look entirely unfamiliar to Americans and > Europeans. > > This seems more likely still when you contrast the intense > vulnerability of western, especially European, cities to blasphemy > and difference with the radical variety of third-world cities. The > happy fiction of Europe’s robust liberalism is in severe doubt as > it fails even to accommodate a single group of dissenters: > politically articulate Muslims who wish to assert a different > vision of social life and law. Compared to this, my adopted city of > Delhi, which has its own disputes and violence, seems positively > tranquil when one reflects that it must balance the life demands of > 15 million people with so many languages and cosmologies, and such > varied notions of commerce, law, healthcare and education, that > they are not a “population” in the European sense at all. “When > will all the camels and cows depart, when will all these strange > human varieties finally be banished and India become modern?” > tourists ask. They forget two crucial truths – first, that Europe’s > centuries-long project to banish all life forms it could not > understand or empathise with was a destructively violent process; > second, and most importantly, that Delhi already is modern, and > this – all this – is what it looks like. It is an alternative kind > of modernity: a swirling, agglomerative kind that seems, at this > point in history, to be more capable than the western version of > sustaining radical diversity – to be better equipped, perhaps, for > the principle of globalisation. > > This brings us to the most perverse suspicion of all. Perhaps the > Third-World city is more than simply the source of the things that > will define the future, but actually is the future of the western > city. Perhaps some of those tourists who look to the Third World > for an image of their own past are reflecting uneasily on how all > the basic realities of the Third-World city are already becoming > more pronounced in their own cities: vast gulfs between sectors of > the population across which almost no sympathetic intelligence can > flow, gleaming gated communities, parallel economies and legal > systems, growing numbers of people who have almost no desire or > ability to participate in official systems, innovations in > residential housing involving corrugated iron and tarpaulin. Is it > going too far to suggest that our sudden interest in books and > films about the Third-World city stems from the sense that they may > provide effective preparation for our future survival in London, > New York or Paris? > > Our fast-moving media culture, groping always for any image of the > “new” that can be used to produce more astonishment, operates in a > zone slightly ahead of knowledge. The “rise of China” may remain > for many a fantastical rumour, but as the blind sense of such large- > scale shifts accumulates, it becomes possible for the media to > peddle a new form of futurism: a strange and dazzling > hypermodernity that bewilders western understanding but that seems > to harbour the plenitude of ideas and aspiration that the west no > longer finds within itself. > > But the images we see in these books and films are not uniformly > pretty. Far from it. The media’s grandest and most successful > spectacles are invariably full of danger; and this one is no > different. In the erotic delectation of these yawning life forms, > which rise up with such titanic ambition, with such indifference to > the history of western ethics and aesthetics, is the terror, the > exhilaration of a death wish. > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 beate at zurwehme.org Thu Mar 23 16:29:21 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 11:59:21 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: [thing-frankfurt] Fwd: [syndicate] Fwd: Museum of World Message-ID: <02734d680bcacc0b166920919e32b271@zurwehme.org> Detailansicht. Schliessen. Willkommen auf dem virtuellen Volvo Messestand der IAA 2003 in Frankfurt. Erleben Sie auf dem Volvo Messestand die Weltpremiere des neuen Volvo S40. 5,7 Sekunden von 0 auf 100 bei 5,2 Liter Verbrauch und einem Anschaffungspreis von unter 17.000 Dollar: Volkswagen will das Motorrad-Auto GX3 allerdings nur ... mailia beate zurwehme wrote: > > > > Weltpremiere des Avantgardefilms > > > > > | interlinking of media > | practice with gender related issues > http://zurwehme.org/ > > > \/----------------------------------------------- Distributed through The Thing Frankfurt /\----------------------------------------------- New site: http://www.cms.thing-net.de Other sites: + http://www.thing-frankfurt.de + http://www.multitrudi.de + http://www.noize-concept.de ------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> Besuchen Sie Ihre Group im Web unter: http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/thing-frankfurt/ <*> Um sich von der Group abzumelden, senden Sie eine Mail an: thing-frankfurt-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.de <*> Mit der Nutzung von Yahoo! Groups akzeptieren Sie unsere: http://de.docs.yahoo.com/info/utos.html From beate at zurwehme.org Thu Mar 23 19:11:35 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 14:41:35 +0100 Subject: Fwd: [Reader-list] Fwd: [thing-frankfurt] Fwd: [syndicate] Fwd: Museum of World Message-ID: Quoting "ctgr-pavu.com" : > http://zurwehme.org/DSC06410.JPG > crétin why "fold" ? From fmadre at free.fr Thu Mar 23 19:16:52 2006 From: fmadre at free.fr (fmadre at free.fr) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 14:46:52 +0100 Subject: Fwd: [Reader-list] Fwd: [thing-frankfurt] Fwd: [syndicate] Fwd: Museum of World In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20060323144652.tt2d6gob40wssgw8@imp4.free.fr> Quoting beate zurwehme : > Quoting "ctgr-pavu.com" : >> http://zurwehme.org/DSC06410.JPG >> crétin > > why "fold" ? this quote is by me and not released under any creative commons shit f. From aman.am at gmail.com Fri Mar 24 06:35:09 2006 From: aman.am at gmail.com (Aman Sethi) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 06:35:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Welcome to Nowhere, You are Here. Aman Sethi Post 3.0 Message-ID: <995a19920603231705r6cc72eb3xf8abe00f70bef17a@mail.gmail.com> Dear All, This is the first in a two part post for my third posting. Apologies for the delay. For all those interested in reading Ashraf ki Kahani in Hindi, Shveta has come up with a brilliant translation, that in many ways is way more poetic than the original, andshall soon be up on my blog http://abjective.blogspot.com. This is short story basedon further interviews. It is an attempt to understand the lure of Delhi. The second post shall deal with things in far more details.For now, enjoy. Best, A. Welcome to Nowhere. You are Here. Part I You are Here: Railway Station. The perfect platform for the great escape. You could not stage it better even if you tried. Hop on the train from Ithaka, Muzzafarpur, Secunderabad, Patna; put your head down and push your way in. Deep in. You are now a suitcase, a bundle of cloth, a historical baggage from the country side. A three tier, third class sleeper cell, on an unreserved ticket; camouflaged among a million self-respecting, hardworking, god-fearing, undeniably boring, do-gooding legitimate sons of married mothers; watching every move of yours – lest you decamp with their VIP strolley well before the train reaches Delhi. Dilli, Jehan goli maarke log aate hai; Goli kha ke log aate hain. The resting place for failed bullet biters. The old age home for obsolete superheroes. The revolving restaurant for retired hunters, and tiring quarry. Every kid knows Delhi – Jama Masjid, Qutub Minar, Lal Quila. Delhi is huge, sprawling, remote. Delhi is small, cozy, crowded. There are no towns in Delhi, there are no cities in Delhi. There is only Delhi in Delhi. So when you're running away from home, there is only once place you're going. "Dilli ko log dil mein yaad rakhte hain. U.P. ko kaun yaad karta hai?" Jump off. Don't look back. Abusive fathers, obsessive mothers, restless policemen, devious moneylenders: They can't find you. The trail has gone cold. A thousand bodies have rubbed against you: wearing you down, shaping you up, shaking you, breaking you, making you. Congratulations. You are now a mazdoor. By the Grace of God and the Northern Railways, you have large, hard hands, tightly coiled ropes for muscles, strong legs, and a body that just won't quit. You are the ultimate building machine; waxed, oiled, and ready to go. You are Here: Bara Tuti Mazdoor Mandi. The city is waking up and so are you. You are a beldaar. You pay attention to the head maistry when he gives you instructions. You watch as he mixes the masala. You watch his hands as he measures cement, you watch his shoulders are he mixes in water, you watch the his fingers as he sifts sand. You watch and you watch and you watch, because this is Delhi – where even kabadiwallahs become crorepatis. In two years, you are a maistry. You have your own special spot on the road. No one can dislodge you; not even the sweeper who takes five rupees from every worker to ensure his broom doesn't sweep their tools into the MCD garbage bin. You have a contractor who gives you exclusive business. You have beldaars who pay you ten bucks a day in the hope that you will give them work. But, you are not rich. Something is going wrong. And so you listen to the babble of the mandi. You listen because there is so much that you still don't know. You listen and you listen and you listen, because this is Delhi-where even kabariwallahs become crorepatis. "To make it big, you need three things," says the big man with the moustache. "Bharosa or belief, Sahara or Support, Abhilasha or Ambition." Bharosa is the belief that things will work out. In the pictorial directory of obsolete superheroes, he is the big, blue, bulky guy. He isn't very smart, but he gives you the courage to make it work in spite of contractors, policemen, MCD officials, Public Interest Litigants and Supreme Court Judges. Sahara, the support from afore mentioned policemen, contractors and officials, helps you out when the PILs and Judges want to shut you down. She is blonde, earnest and motherly, quiet and political. Abhilasha is the two edged sword of ambition. If sharpened to a knife-edge, she is dark, fast, lithe and sexy. She gives you the very drive needed to think big. She is both, the spark and the fire. She is merciless, ruthless, and topless. Bharosa, Sahara and Abhilasha. With their powers combined, you are Captain Bignuts, and no one, but no one, can stop you. But as everyone knows, no-one is also someone. Meet Sub-Commandant Samjhauta (alias Colonel Compromise). He is your best friend, and your arch nemesis. He is the ultimate double agent, on no one's side but his own. He is essential as an infiltrator of networks, as the anvil on which deals are struck. He has a paternal relationship with Sahara – without Samjhauta there can be no Sahara. He also gels well with Bharosa – using Bharosa's impressive bulk to ensure that deals once struck remain thus. It is with Abhilasha - the temptress of tempered steel, the Kaya Skincare Kali, that the Sub-Commandant crosses swords. Like White Fang fighting the bulldog Cherokee, Abhilasha's quickness and fury are no match for the stubbornness and strength of Samjhauta. Samjhauta is the silent assassin; sweet talking you right up to the moment of the final thrust. Samjhauta is the dream-killer, and like everyone else, he is at his deadliest in Delhi. "Dilli mein humne zindagi se samjhauta kar liya: na kuch bunna hai, na kuch baneinge. Joh sapne insaan dekhta hia voh chuot gaye, sub kuch mil gaya, aab kuch nahin chahiye." And then there is always the option of opting out. Forget Bignuts and forget Samjhauta, they are only occasional visitors in the dreams that you dream everyday. Forget Kabadi, it is a "do number ka business" – fit only for cut-throats and thieves. Kabaris buy stolen goods at throw-away prices, and sell them for huge margins. They are the launderers of stolen goods. They are the sifters of the city's refuse. They are excluded from even the labour mandi. They are the bhangees. More constant is the stoic path of mazdoori, mehnat, izzat and majboori. The path of the hardworking, respected and responsible man that you hope you tread everyday. You are older, wiser and a long, long way from home. Sometimes you are a drunk, sometimes you aren't. Sometimes you are hungry, sometimes you aren't. Sometimes you are poor, sometimes you feel rich. And then one day you trip over the broken pieces of a dream you once had, and out of the corner of your eye you see black leather. Abhilasha! After all, this is Delhi – where even a kabadiwallah can become a crorepati. From rajeshmehar at yahoo.com Fri Mar 24 10:17:13 2006 From: rajeshmehar at yahoo.com (rajesh mehar) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 20:47:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Rajesh Mehar (I-Fellowship): Third Posting [resending, one last time, with plain text :)] Message-ID: <20060324044713.85854.qmail@web30409.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi all, This last month has been about trying to trace the history of rock music in India; one of the planned outcomes of my project is a compilation of such a history. More here --> http://community.livejournal.com/whosemusic/1389.html If anyone can point me to people or any other resources that can help in this effort, please email me. Cheers, Rajesh. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From akashansari2000 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 21 11:50:06 2006 From: akashansari2000 at yahoo.com (Akash Ansar) Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 22:20:06 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Indiginious People's Rally Agains British Petrolium during WSF-2006 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20060321062006.99460.qmail@web50213.mail.yahoo.com> To: All Friends Hope you are fine and busy in arrangement of Word Social Forum Subject: Invitation for the participation in BRDS -20 Indigenous people’s Rally at WSF -2006 Dear Sir or Madam: Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS) is a non- profit, rights based civil society organization of indigenous people at District Badin Sindh, Pakistan. BRDS leadership is professionally sound, committed and well aware about the local and international context of people rights and movements . During its ten year age BRDS mobilized and organized thousand of marginalized groups of the society and raised voice for their social and economical rights. As you are aware that, world social forum is place for all the segments of civil society to be gather , share and raise voice for deprived people of the world . This place also gives us an opportunity to disclose the regime of multinational corporations in the world and how these people have captures the economy and dignity of nations. In the same context Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS) and Action Aid Pakistan is organizing a protest Rally against British Petroleum for the rights of indigenous People with following schedule. In this regard, your organization is cordially invited to participate in the rally during WSF-2006. Schedule: Title: Indigenous people’s rally against British Petroleum BP Time: 2:00 P.M Date: 26th March 2006 Venue: From Mazar-e-Quid to Sports Complex Karachi, Sindh Pakistan Thanks and regards, Dr. Akash Ansari President Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS), Opposite to Alhuda Public school, Kadhan Road Badin. Ph# 0297-862046 Title: Indigenous people’s rally Against British Petroleum BP Time: 2:00 P.M Date: 26th March 2006 Venue: From Mazar-e-Quid to Sports Complex Back Ground: District Badin is most southern District of the Pakistan having population of 1.4 million. District Badin is one of the coastal districts of Sindh and known as hazard-prone. Over the last five decades it has remained in the grip of an uninterrupted cycle of disasters in one form or another. Cyclones, heavy rainfalls, droughts and floods follow each other with short-lived intervals, thereby trapping communities in a complex web of vulnerabilities. By natural resources it is richest District of Pakistan and produces 32000 Barrel crude oil and million cubic feet gas per day. Presently District Badin Produces 62% of Oil and 44% natural Gas of the total production of the country. An extractive Corporation emerged Badin in early 80s, now all the extraction operations and production are carried out by a Single Multinational Company British Petroleum BP since 2000. But on the other hand the local indigenous people are excluded and deprived from any social and economical benefit from natural resources. Not only that, company is not paying attention on environmental damage caused severe health complication in the area. When ever local people asked them for local development they have been harassed by the company. In the 2000 it was declared the poorest District of the Country by World Bank. And Government of Pakistan. The poverty density rate is 90% of the masses. Since last eight months Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS) an organization of indigenous people of Indus civilization and Action Aid Pakistan have organized communities to raise voice and inform international community about the social and moral responsibility of these Multinationals. gurminder singh wrote: CONVENTION ON CHILDREN'S RIGHT TO FOOD (7th – 9th APRIL, 2006, HYDERABAD ) Dear friends, We are writing to invite you to a Convention on Children's Right to Food, to be held in Hyderabad on 7-9 April 2006. This is a follow-up to the second National Convention on the Right to Food and Work, held in Kolkata on 18-20 November 2005. The main focus of this convention will be on ICDS, mid-day meals and other means of protecting children's right to food, including maternity entitlements. Special attention will be given to "universalisation with quality" as the core demand of a united campaign on ICDS. This will be an action-oriented convention, built around plenary sessions, parallel workshops, cultural activities, and more. Preparatory meetings for this convention have already been held at the Kolkata convention last November and in Delhi on 6 January 2006 and 23 February 2006. Further preparatory activities are being planned, including field studies and regional workshops. Please consider planning some preparatory activities in your own area, to facilitate the success of the convention. Useful campaign material and research tools are available on the website of the right to food campaign. ( www.righttofoodindia.org) A modest registration fee (Rs 100 per person for three days) will be charged from the participants. This covers accommodation and food. Further resources for the convention are being raised through donations from individual supporters and participating organisations. Details about the venue will be circulated (and posted on the above website) soon. Meanwhile, please confirm your participation as well as that of your organization as soon as possible, at one of the two addresses given below. We hope to see you in Hyderabad. With regards, Dipa Sinha and Nandini Nayak [on behalf of the Programme Committee: Dipa Sinha (Children's Rights Protection Forum), Gurjeet (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti), Geeta Mahajan (National Federation of Indian Women), Hemlata (Mobile Crèches), Nandini Nayak (Centre for Equity Studies), Sachin Jain (Vikas Samvad, MP), Samir Garg (Koriya district, Chattisgarh), Vandana Prasad (Jan Swasthya Abhiyaan)] Contact addresses for confirmation and further details: (1) Secretariat – Right to Food Campaign (Correspondence Address): 257, D.D.A. flats (RPS), Mansarovar Park , Shahdara, Delhi – 110032 (E-mail righttofood at gmail.com , Tel: 09350530150). (2) Dipa Sinha, 201, Narayan Apartments, West Marredpally , Secunderabad – 500026 (Email: dipasinha at gmail.com; Tel: 09866023233). CONVENTION ON CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO FOOD (Hyderabad, 7 –9 April 2006) DRAFT PROGRAMME DAY 1 (APRIL 7th) 10.30 – 1.00 OPENING PLENARY: Introduction to the Convention and Keynote Presentations on Children’s Right to Food 2.00 – 3.00 PLENARY: Introduction of Key Issues Related to ICDS and Discussion 3.00 – 6.00 PARALLEL WORKSHOPS ON ICDS: 1. ICDS and Child Nutrition (With special focus on outreach to under three’s) 2. Pre-school Education at the Anganwadi 3. Supreme Court Orders as a Tool for Action 4. Covering every child: How and when? (Universalisation, Social Exclusion, Outreach) 5. Rethinking ICDS (Design, Flexibility, Integration) 6. Community Participation in ICDS (Role of PRIs, Accountability, Corruption, Transparency) 7. Maternity entitlements: Theory and Practice 8. The Work Environment in ICDS (Workers’ rights, Building capacities, Administration) 9. Financial and Political Resources for ICDS 8.00 onwards: Cultural Programme DAY 2 (APRIL 8th) 9.00 – 10.30 PLENARY: Reports from ‘Day 1’ Workshops and Introduction to ICDS Action workshops 13.00 – 1.00 PARALLEL WORKSHOPS: ACTION FOR ICDS. 1. Media and Advocacy 2. Anganwadi Divas 3. Research Tools 4. Right to Information and ICDS 5. Bal Adhikar Yatra 6. Legal and Policy Action 1.00 – 2.00 PLENARY: Reports from Workshops and Introduction of Issues Related to Mid-Day Meals 3.00 – 5.00 PARALLEL WORKSHOPS ON MID-DAY MEALS 5.00 – 6.00 PLENARY: Reports from Workshops on Mid-Day Meals DAY 3 (APRIL 9th) 9.00 – 12.00 PARALLEL WORKSHOPS: State-Wise Discussions on Future Action. 12.30 – 2.30 CONCLUDING PLENARY: Summing Up and Future Action. SPONSORED LINKS Jawaharlal nehru university Volunteerism Environmental issues --------------------------------- YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "arkitectindia" on the web. 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. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060320/28a8c91c/attachment.html From budhaditya_chattopadhyay at rediffmail.com Thu Mar 23 21:59:53 2006 From: budhaditya_chattopadhyay at rediffmail.com (budhaditya chattopadhyay) Date: 23 Mar 2006 16:29:53 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Second Posting: Budhaditya Chattopadhyay Message-ID: <20060323162953.21013.qmail@webmail28.rediffmail.com> Hi All My second posting is coming late because I was in Germany for the last one month and was traveling a lot. I was invited to the Berlinale Talent Campus of the Berlin International Film Festival, 2006 from India. It was wonderful to be with fellow film makers from around the world to share views on cinema and allied arts over fuming cups of espresso. http://tdb.berlinale-talentcampus.de/tdb/index.php/profile?tid=20062202 To me the most important part of my stay in Germany this time was a short workshop and visit to the Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv of Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin. It was a workshop on preservation and restoration of cylinder recordings from late 19th century. The archive posses around 20,000 such cylinders from around the world when recording techniques were still in incubation. It also has a good number of 78 shellacs. I found a few recordings from India as well, mainly from the Bake cylinder collection, recordings from theatre songs of Bombay Jews settlement. And surprisingly I could also locate a couple of recordings of Sangeetacharya Satyakinkar Bandyopadhyay from Bishnupur Gharana. I did a digital transfer of the recording to an uncompressed wave file in the archive and now working on the noise reduction of the same. In one recording he performs Khayal in raga Malkaus. It is an amazing demonstration of his mastery in Khayal. The composition is set to Taal ‘ada-theka’, the pattern of which is unique in Bishnupur Gharana. In another recording Satyakinkar sings a ‘Bangla Khayal’ in the raga Multani set to drut ektaal. Sangeetacharya Satyakinkar is one of the pioneers of ‘Bangla Khayal’, a very Bengali rendering of a north Indian raga in Bishnupur style with song-text in Bengali. As an additional bonus piece he sings a ‘Nidhu Babu’s Tappa in the raga Sindhu. Satyakinkar Bandyopadhyay hailed from a musical family from Bishnupur and a pioneer of Bishnupur Gharana Dhrupad. I am now consulting a few available texts mostly rare on Bishnupur Gharana to construct a genealogical tree of the Gharana. And planning to visit Bishnupur within next two weeks. Best wishes, Budhaditya   -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060323/b51d5c8a/attachment.html From gabyvargasc at prodigy.net.mx Tue Mar 21 22:43:47 2006 From: gabyvargasc at prodigy.net.mx (Gabriela Vargas-Cetina) Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 11:13:47 -0600 Subject: [Reader-list] Re-Jack Vening's fluster In-Reply-To: <00dc01c64765$b1420240$7bec41db@ReyhanChaudhuri> Message-ID: Sorry but I do agree: if you quote you have to give the reference. This is basic writing etiquette. Gabriela Vargas-Cetina On 3/14/06 6:49 AM, "reyhan chaudhuri" wrote: > Dear Mr.Vening Jack, Do not be bogged down by making things white and black. > Is there really a problem if we twist some words front or back? Do you always > make the home-made snack fact to fat ,fat to fact ? Then in that case , you > better divert -as a matter of convert to other Websites and reader-lists that > are exact but also meanwhile mundane and Oh(!) so off-track; C'mon , the > Reader list are remeniscenses, restful or restless rantings resourcings or > researchings but always, open to reinterpreted re-inventions. Yours > Reprovingly, Sarai Reader-list Raters. >> ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack Vening >> To: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: >> Tuesday, March 07, 2006 4:29 PM Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) >> >> >> >> >> Hi guys. >> >> >> Did you actually mean to take W. H. Auden's quote and just change a couple >> words? >> >> >> Here's yours: >> 'The basic formula of "a Whodunit," is this: a murder occurs; many are >> suspected; all but one suspect, who is the murderer, are eliminated; the >> murderer is arrested or dies.' >> >> >> >> Here's the original quote: "The basic formula is this: a murder occurs; many >> are suspected; all but one suspect, who is the murderer, are eliminated; the >> murderer is arrested or dies." >> >> >> >> You should probably reference your quotes if you run a website. >> >> >> Seeya > > > _________________________________________ > 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/20060321/bf024b24/attachment.html From geert at xs4all.nl Thu Mar 23 15:03:35 2006 From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 10:33:35 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Writing english In-Reply-To: <442259AD.4030203@sarai.net> References: <20060322114138.10194.qmail@web52603.mail.yahoo.com> <44224F40.2010005@linux-delhi.org> <442259AD.4030203@sarai.net> Message-ID: <2c074b5b25b7f6497327c571a2d34c7b@xs4all.nl> Hi, thanks so much for bringing this issue to the attention of the list. Now that we're talking, I would like to make some suggestions. Often the postings that are so hard to read are coming from Sarai fellows that are invited or required (or not, please correct me...) to post their research outcomes to this list. Many of these postings lack even the most basic formatting. Perhaps Sarai could give some basic email and web training before the scholars embark on their journey. Often there are not even subject lines. Or it says just says "second posting". No name of the author or intro, nothing. We plunge directly into the story. That's such a missed opportunity. Indeed, the fonts of the posting and the absence of the paragraphs is an issue too, but this is a little harder to tackle as every mail program that we use is different. Still... with a little design awareness we could have so much more pleasure in reading. It would be much better to migrate the very interesting sarai fellow postings to some special website or blogs and pay a bit more attention to the layout of the texts as the material is really first class. Of course this should not replace email/this list, but now a lot of the efforts are wasted, I fear. Best, Geert On 23 Mar 2006, at 9:17 AM, Vivek Narayanan wrote: > As far as I can tell, the answer might be rather simple. > > Any messages to the reader-list that are not plain text are held up > for moderator approval, for a variety of important reasons. > > People write formatted text in their word processors, then convert > this into plain text. > > Things like paragraph breaks, get lost in this. > > Solution: save your text as plain text, then paste it in. Before > sending, see that your mail client is sending it as plain text, and > see that the sentence stops and paragraph breaks are preserved in that > format. > > Am I wrong? Any advice from techies? > > Vivek > > Pankaj kaushal wrote: > >> parismita singh wrote: >> >>> I think it has less to do with how you actually construct the email >>> and >>> send it into the readerlist... because my email does have all the >>> sentence stops, and tons of ellipsis etc., but when it appears on the >>> readerlist, it's just one block of text. >>> >> >> I think it has to do with how braindead your email client is. You seem >> to be using yahoo! Its extremely difficult to create sentences and >> take >> care of alignment in that small little box that Yahoo! mail (Sigh! I >> work for Yahoo!) provides. A bug has been created as I write this. >> >> Most probably you edit in a text editor like MS Word and paste the >> contents in that little box causing the text to become a big block of >> text. No? >> >> >>> ok - somebody explain this better to Mr. Kaushal please!! >>> >> >> Anyone has a better explanation? >> >> > > _________________________________________ > 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 rajeshmehar at yahoo.com Tue Mar 21 16:54:05 2006 From: rajeshmehar at yahoo.com (rajesh mehar) Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 03:24:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Rajesh Mehar (I-Fellowship): Third Posting Message-ID: <20060321112405.10264.qmail@web30407.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi all, This last month has been about trying to trace the history of rock music in India; one of the planned outcomes of my project is a compilation of such a history. More here --> http://community.livejournal.com/whosemusic/1389.html If anyone can point me to people or any other resources that can help in this effort, please email me. Cheers, Rajesh. Gonna make a lot o'money, gonna quit this crazy scene. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060321/175dc34a/attachment.html From aarti at sarai.net Fri Mar 24 00:26:35 2006 From: aarti at sarai.net (aarti at sarai.net) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:56:35 +0100 (CET) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Friday's at Nigah: The Undergrad Message-ID: <1107.61.246.29.181.1143140195.squirrel@mail.sarai.net> *Friday's at Nigah * presents *The Undergrad* *A film about when drag kings met an Dustin Hoffman classic.* check out: www.nigahmedia.com Friday, 24th March 7pm Saheli Office D 106-108 Defence Colony Market *Above Deez Biryani, across the Nirulas* Come one, Come all! _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From chiarapassa at gmail.com Thu Mar 23 19:35:09 2006 From: chiarapassa at gmail.com (Chiara Passa) Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:05:09 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Bent Festival N.Y. 2006 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The 3rd International Circuit Bending Festival April 19-23, 2006. 15 Nassau Street, New York. Press Release: http://www.bentfestival.org/press.html Informations: http://www.bentfestival.org/info.html performances: http://www.bentfestival.org/performances.php Workshops: http://www.bentfestival.org/workshops.php Installations: http://www.bentfestival.org/installations.php Artists Info.:http://www.bentfestival.org/artists.php Contact Info The Tank 212-563-6269 http://www.thetanknyc.org -- Chiara Passa chiarapassa at gmail.com http://www.chiarapassa.it http://www.ideasonair.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060323/61483e5d/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From pukar at pukar.org.in Fri Mar 24 09:19:26 2006 From: pukar at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 09:19:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [announcements] PUKAR Gender & Space event: March 29 Message-ID: <000a01c64ef5$f6d6e3b0$2dd0c0cb@freeda> PUKAR Gender & Space Project invites you to a discussion on the complex issues of lesbian women's access to public space Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Time: 6:00 PM Venue: PUKAR Office, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Opp. Strand Book Stall, Sir. P M Road, Fort, Mumbai 400001 Tel: 5574-8152 In a general sense it is true that in relation to men, women have relatively lower access to public space. However, such access is also mediated through class, caste, religious community and the appearance of conforming to societal norms. This is true even of spaces that appear to enhance women's access to public space like the local trains. Many paeans have been sung to the camaraderie of the ladies compartment in Mumbai's local trains. Our research at the Gender & Space project has also shown that public transport in Mumbai, particularly, local trains, greatly add to women's mobility and capacity to access public space. However, the space of the ladies compartment is far from being a space of pure camaraderie or freedom. Fisherwomen or other women vendors who try and use the ladies' compartment at times when the vendors' compartment is over crowded with men vendors are met with angry demands that they leave. Commuters in the first class compartment often aggressively bar the entry of others whom they view as 'not appearing like first class pass or ticket holders'. Hijras are met with annoyance mixed with anxiety (and unless they receive a great deal of support from each other women will not actively demonstrate their hostility towards hijras whom they also fear). Women who dress or appear non normative or unfeminine are also greeted with suspicion and many women who choose a more assertive demeanour or favour a style of dressing perceived to be masculine are also often the target of women commuters' hostility and disdain. Transgender people and others who dress ambiguously are seen as a threat to the clear definition of both people and space. The ladies' compartment then comes to stand for a space that can only house women who obviously look and behave like 'women'! Access for those who refuse to conform to established gender norms is thus very contested. Also we need to distinguish between simple access to public space - that is the capacity to be in a public space and use it and a more complex claim to public space - that is the capacity to use one's identity to articulate a right to be in public space. We have discovered that the first might be sought to some extent through anonymity - that is, for women to slip into the city and occupy space without drawing undue attention if we appear to conform. The latter implies the staking of a political claim to space. For women who love women, any political claim to space is complicated by the fact that technically and legally Section 377 of the IPC renders all non peno-vaginal sex illegal in private and in public. Living an illegal love and life implies hiding and thus most public claims to space beget constant harassment. Same sex love in public might be tolerated in some up-market spaces if it's not too overt, not too loud and if you follow the US army rule not to ask or tell. Or if you don't mind seeking refuge in the sanctioned homo-sociality of being just good friends. Large cities like Mumbai do offer a certain kind of space that comes with anonymity but this may often bring the loss of mobilising on the basis of a political identity. What does Mumbai mean to lesbian women? What are the spaces that lesbian women can seek without fear? How does the city enhance space for articulation and how does it reduce the capacity to claim a political identity? These are only some of the questions we hope to raise at a discussion on lesbian women's access to public space in Mumbai. We hope the audience brings their own questions and queries to make this a lively and challenging space. Members of the group Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action will introduce the discussion. Please do come and also forward this invitation to interested friends and colleagues. Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Time: 6 PM Venue: PUKAR Office, Fort, Mumbai PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 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/20060324/8552f361/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From rajeshkumar at cds.ac.in Fri Mar 24 12:30:32 2006 From: rajeshkumar at cds.ac.in (Rajesh Komath) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 12:30:32 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Rajesh Komath's Third Posting to Sarai Message-ID: <1404.192.168.1.202.1143183632.squirrel@cds.ac.in> Dear Friends, Here is my third posting. See http://rajeshkomath.blogspot.com/2006/03/rajesh-komaths-third-posti_114317981419866623.html Regards, Rajesh Kumar.K. Doctoral Scholar Centre For Development Studies Prasanth Nagar, Ulloor Trivandrum- 695011 Kerala, India Ph : +91-471-2442481 Fax: +91-471-2447137 Mobile: 9895056659. From monica at sarai.net Fri Mar 24 13:11:45 2006 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 13:11:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Writing english In-Reply-To: <2c074b5b25b7f6497327c571a2d34c7b@xs4all.nl> References: <20060322114138.10194.qmail@web52603.mail.yahoo.com> <44224F40.2010005@linux-delhi.org> <442259AD.4030203@sarai.net> <2c074b5b25b7f6497327c571a2d34c7b@xs4all.nl> Message-ID: <567D9655-A45A-4FED-8A91-87B92ED992A7@sarai.net> Hi geert Actually fellows are told/suggestions given about posting etiquette, but its a busy world :-) and i think you missed the posting by silvan that says that a blog has been begun by him of the reader-list at least (as a whole) at http://readerlist.freeflux.net/blog/ best M On 23-Mar-06, at 3:03 PM, Geert Lovink wrote: > Hi, thanks so much for bringing this issue to the attention of the > list. > > Now that we're talking, I would like to make some suggestions. > > Often the postings that are so hard to read are coming from Sarai > fellows that are invited or required (or not, please correct me...) > to post their research outcomes to this list. > > Many of these postings lack even the most basic formatting. Perhaps > Sarai could give some basic email and web training before the > scholars embark on their journey. > > Often there are not even subject lines. Or it says just says > "second posting". No name of the author or intro, nothing. We > plunge directly into the story. That's such a missed opportunity. > > Indeed, the fonts of the posting and the absence of the paragraphs > is an issue too, but this is a little harder to tackle as every > mail program that we use is different. Still... with a little > design awareness we could have so much more pleasure in reading. > > It would be much better to migrate the very interesting sarai > fellow postings to some special website or blogs and pay a bit more > attention to the layout of the texts as the material is really > first class. Of course this should not replace email/this list, but > now a lot of the efforts are wasted, I fear. > > Best, Geert > > > On 23 Mar 2006, at 9:17 AM, Vivek Narayanan wrote: > >> As far as I can tell, the answer might be rather simple. >> >> Any messages to the reader-list that are not plain text are held >> up for moderator approval, for a variety of important reasons. >> >> People write formatted text in their word processors, then convert >> this into plain text. >> >> Things like paragraph breaks, get lost in this. >> >> Solution: save your text as plain text, then paste it in. Before >> sending, see that your mail client is sending it as plain text, >> and see that the sentence stops and paragraph breaks are preserved >> in that format. >> >> Am I wrong? Any advice from techies? >> >> Vivek >> >> Pankaj kaushal wrote: >> >>> parismita singh wrote: >>> >>>> I think it has less to do with how you actually construct the >>>> email and >>>> send it into the readerlist... because my email does have all the >>>> sentence stops, and tons of ellipsis etc., but when it appears >>>> on the >>>> readerlist, it's just one block of text. >>>> >>> >>> I think it has to do with how braindead your email client is. You >>> seem >>> to be using yahoo! Its extremely difficult to create sentences >>> and take >>> care of alignment in that small little box that Yahoo! mail (Sigh! I >>> work for Yahoo!) provides. A bug has been created as I write this. >>> >>> Most probably you edit in a text editor like MS Word and paste the >>> contents in that little box causing the text to become a big >>> block of >>> text. No? >>> >>> >>>> ok - somebody explain this better to Mr. Kaushal please!! >>>> >>> >>> Anyone has a better explanation? >>> >>> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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: >> > > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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: Monica Narula Raqs Media Collective Sarai-CSDS 29 Rajpur Road Delhi 110054 www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net From rahulpandita at yahoo.com Fri Mar 24 13:47:38 2006 From: rahulpandita at yahoo.com (rahul pandita) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 08:17:38 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Rahul Pandita's 3rd Posting Message-ID: <20060324081738.37466.qmail@web31705.mail.mud.yahoo.com> The Editing area of the Television channel resembled a temple on Shivratri. Shoes of all shapes and sizes were piled up near the entrance, while their masters jostled with each other to get hold of an editing machine. A linear leviathan with a VT editor chawing Paan in front of it. Ideally, this man should have been in Doordarshan because he was paid for working there. But like MCD safai karmacharis, they were only required to sign on the attendance register and then earn another fat salary elsewhere. Like in this private channel. Then there was Sandeep Ji (dare you skipped that Ji and you would have been made to sit on a cruise to hell), who came from Jagbharat Times. He wrote scripts with his antique fountain pen, filled with blue-black ink. His favourite pastime was to summon trainee journalists and quiz them about Mehjoor and Diego Garcia. And if his favourite people went to him, complaining to him about something, he would close his pen, then lean back on his chair and after he had closed his eyes, say: Hona to is desh mein Ram Rajya bhi chahiye tha. Pur hein nahi. Isliye philhaal aise hi kaam chalao. And when he got angry, he would always say: I cannot taalerate this Naansense... In six months, he had learnt the game. He had understood the dynamics of survival. In order to be low profile, one was supposed to follow four golden rules: 1. Never wear good clothes. 2. Never speak in English. 3. Never talk to a Girl. 4. If it is absolutely necessary, then make sure you don't speak to her in English. If you wore good clothes, spoke in English and were caught talking to a girl, you would inadvertently land yourself into trouble. These traits would always invoke this sentiment among your seniors (Copy editors, Bureau chiefs, Deputy Editors etc): Saala, bohot Hero banta hai. Two years passed like this. From one bulletin in the evening, the news gear had shifted to eight in a day. To give a live feeling, phonos would be conducted with Correspondents. Political parties had also acclimatised themselves with the emerging news scenario. Neon boards, with the pictures of their top leaders were installed in the daily Presser rooms. The party spokesperson would come, sit in front of the board and brief the correspondents. Then they would be served Samosas and tea (Both sugarless and with sugar). One day, Sandip Ji was in his quiz mood. He was checking his story, while the Correspondent who covered BJP was also sitting there. Suddenly, his eyes rose from the script and he asked the BJP Correspondent: Do you know who is that semi-bald man, whose picture you see everyday on that neon board at the BJP headquarters? The Correspondent froze. He rubbed his chin, but no name figured on his lips. And then Sandip Ji turned towards him: Do you know who he is? He replied: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Sandip Ji looked at that Correspondent, which almost felt like a slap. Then he turned back to the script. The BJP Correspondent never spoke to him afterwards. Rahul Pandita www.sanitysucks.blogspot.com Mobile: 9818088664 ___________________________________________________________ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com From beate at zurwehme.org Fri Mar 24 15:25:09 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 10:55:09 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] gerhard richter: kittelmann zyklus Message-ID: hello world, have look at gerhard richter's sensational picture canon about curatorial superstar udo kittelmann: kittelmann zyklus gerhard richter 2005, ten paintings oil on canvas, each 200cm x 200cm, mmk frankfurt http://designerziehung.de/kittelmann_zyklus/ now pre-published excerpts of my new text on the thing: http://thing-net.de/cms/artikel252.html greetings, beate z. | interlinking of media | practice with gender related issues http://zurwehme.org/ From lawrence at altlawforum.org Fri Mar 24 14:51:39 2006 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (lawrence at altlawforum.org) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 04:21:39 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] IGF theme proposal: asserting the public-ness of the Internet as a guiding principle for Internet Governance Message-ID: <380-22006352492139953@M2W114.mail2web.com> Hi All Please see below a request for endorsements from organizations on the role of public interest conseiderations in the Internet Governance Forum, as a part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process. Do get in touch with Parminder (Parminder at ITforChange.net) for more details. The last date for the endorsements is the 31st of March Lawrence Original Message: ----------------- Dear friends, We wish to bring to your notice what we think is an important issue regarding the future of the Internet. The most important institutional gain from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is the setting up of an Internet Governance Forum (IGF) which is mandated to take up important public policy issues relating to the Internet. Even though it is not a negotiating or decision making body, in the present context wherein the governance of the Internet is captured mostly by dominant interests, the IGF becomes an important global policy space for pushing progressive and pro-development agenda in relation to the Internet. A noteworthy thing about the IGF is that civil society has important, and almost equal, official status in the IGF as governments and the private sector. Therefore, if the IGF does indeed evolve into an effective global policy space, it can serve as an important global governance innovation as well. We write this with concern over that fact that progressive forces promoting the public domain, communication rights, media rights etc do not seem to be engaged with the possibilities of the IG Forum sufficiently. And as the Internet increasingly emerges as a main arena for these issues, this lack of engagement can be disastrous. The imperative NOW: IGF has called for submission of themes for its first meeting. The way the substantive business of the IGF takes off initially will in many ways determine and delimit the scope of the IGF. Civil society groups need to put forward progressive themes early enough to be able to define the substantive spaces within the IGF. (Experiences in forums like WIPO for pushing development agenda are instructive on how it is necessary to capture thematic spaces early in these global policy forums) We are especially concerned that with issues like network neutrality already threatening the Internet in very basic ways, (please see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4552138.stm for one such report on how a multiple tiered Internet with content, services and access differentiated by ability to pay, and other considerations, is already taking shape) there is a need for the public and egalitarian nature of the Internet to be asserted unequivocally as a fundamental principle for global public policies regarding the Internet. Why your participation in this process is URGENTLY REQUIRED Fostering the Internet's 'public' character- as a principle and in its concrete policy expressions is an urgent imperative. The implications for policy span the three layers of the Internet - logical, content and physical infrastructure - and the essential public and egalitarian nature of the Internet concerns all three layers. (Openness in Domain Name System space pertains to the logical layer, network neutrality and preserving the public domain issues implicates the content layer, while issues like open spectrum, community/municipality wireless, wireless commons etc concern the physical layer). The IG Caucus (a civil society caucus that has been involved in the WSIS process) had invited themes for submission to the IGF and from IT for Change we have made a proposal on 'defining and fostering the public nature of the Internet' to be submitted for being taken up at the first meeting of the IGF. We are of the view that this issue should get wider support. If you feel that this is an important issue which must be taken up by the IGF, please send your endorsement to this proposal. As you will appreciate, the number of organizations backing this issue will decide whether it will be taken up by the IGF or not. The last date for submissions is 31st March, and therefore your endorsement should reach Parminder at ITforChange.net by the 30th. In case you have further clarifications, please write to us. Thank you. Parminder Suggested theme for the first meeting of the Internet Governance Forum: Defining and fostering the 'public-ness' of the Internet - issues of public interest, public domain, public infrastructure and public good in the context of the Internet. a. A concise formulation for the proposed theme In determining global public policy issues and directions for IG, it is important to first define and characterize the Internet. Its essential public and egalitarian nature must be asserted as basic principles through open discussions at the IGF. And these principles can then be interpreted in terms of specific issues that face us today - content issues (protecting and promoting the public domain, network neutrality) infrastructure issues (universal access, public infrastructure, open spectrum, Internet as public good), as well as many other issues. b. A brief description of why it is important The Internet, as understood by most of us, is what it is basically because of its egalitarian and public nature. It is important to articulate these fundamentals of the Internet strongly, and use them as the guiding principles to debate and develop global public policies on IG. WSIS was an arena that required quick resolutions for consensus positions. This imperative did not allow sufficient informed debates on developing public policy principles for IG, including characterizing the essential public and egalitarian nature of Internet as the technology that promises a 'better world for everyone'. IGF is the right forum for initiating this process, and taking it forward in a sustained manner. Formulating these 'essentials' of the Internet, and due exposition of their implications in various contexts, will enable better global policy responses to pressing issues including network neutrality and universal access. If these essential principles that define the Internet are not discussed and settled urgently, the Internet is likely to disintegrate, along both political and economic lines. Even if it is going to be a difficult and protracted process, discussing and resolving this is essential and the IGF is the right forum to initiate it. c. How it is in conformity with the Tunis Agenda of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) The WSIS Declaration of Principles assert ". . our common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life.. ". The earlier mentioned issues of characterizing the global resource of the Internet fall within these overall ideals agreed at the WSIS. Para 31 of the Tunis Agenda declares "We recognise that Internet governance, carried out according to the Geneva principles, is an essential element for a people-centred, inclusive, development oriented and non-discriminatory Information Society." d. How it fits within the mandate of the IGF as detailed in para 72; Discussion on the stated issue is important in order to develop guiding principles for laying down a public policy framework on IG. (72 a of Tunis Agenda: Discuss public policy issues related to key elements of Internet Governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet;) Such discussions will lay the guiding principles for, and help clarify, possible policy responses to important emerging issues of network neutrality, public internet infrastructure, spectrum de-licensing etc. (72 g: Identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public, and, where appropriate, make recommendations;) And most importantly, it puts IG discussions in the context of the broad guiding principles adopted at Geneva, and later in Tunis. (72 i: Promote and assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in Internet Governance processes;) e. Who the main actors in the field are, who could be encouraged to participate in the thematic session All stakeholders - from governments, civil society, business and multi-lateral organizations to those organizations currently involved with IG, like the ICANN, have an important role in discussing these issues. However, more stress needs to be placed on the inclusion of representation from developing countries and (2) the development community without core ICT backgrounds. f. Last but not least, why should this issue should be addressed in the first annual meeting of the Forum rather than in subsequent ones. The first phase of Internet development was driven purely by enterprise and innovation, and in many ways by private sector leadership, which served us well. Internet grew mostly autonomous of public policy in this phase. But now with the power of Internet firmly established, and its economic and political threat to many entrenched interests increasingly obvious, we are into an important phase of development of the Internet where its egalitarian and public nature is increasingly under threat. To stem this trend and possibility, global public policy response in the form of clearly establishing the public and egalitarian nature of the Internet, and laying out its policy consequences, needs to come in urgently. In the absence of this, it may soon be too late to reclaim the promise of the Internet for developing a "people-centred and development oriented information society" as envisioned by the WSIS. As a commentator recently said in the context of the issue of 'network neutrality', if urgent policy action is not taken, the situation may soon become intractable, and it will then be like trying to push the 'genie back into the bottle'. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . From karunakar at freedomink.org Sat Mar 25 15:08:19 2006 From: karunakar at freedomink.org (Guntupalli Karunakar) Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 15:08:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: [ilugd] Confirmed. First Creativedot Meet. All invited. Message-ID: <20060325150819.092b03c1.karunakar@freedomink.org> sorry for the late post! Karunakar Begin forwarded message: Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 13:07:17 +0530 From: "Linux Lingam" To: "The Linux-Delhi mailing list" Subject: [ilugd] Confirmed. First Creativedot Meet. All invited. Confirmed! 26 Mar 2006, Sunday, First Creativedot Meet. http://creative.linux-delhi.org Time: 2:30pm. Venue: Sarai. The venue, a little beyond ITO, is well-connected with metro stations. Karunakar will hold a workshop on introduction to photographing night skies and celestial events. Topics: 1. Introduction to celestial events. 2. How to learn about astronomical events above your night sky. 3. Overview of telescopes. 4. Challenges of photographing celestial events. 5. Going digital. 6. How to create a stitched panorama shot. 7. Q & A. Total time: 45 minutes approx. Who else would like to hold another talk, on any other topic relevant to creativedot? Please step forward. the meet would be in the spirit and style of ilug-d meets, complete with kishore gouging people to pay for tee and snakes, especially garam garam samosas. get the picture? those interested, please confirm your participation by leaving a message at the web-forum on creativedot: http://creative.linux-delhi.org/?q=node/614 :-) niyam _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd at lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd at lists.linux-delhi.org/ -- ************************************* * Work: http://www.indlinux.org * * Blog: http://cartoonsoft.com/blog * ************************************* From zainab at xtdnet.nl Sun Mar 26 14:00:29 2006 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 12:30:29 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] Mustafa revisited Message-ID: <1123.219.65.11.181.1143361829.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> 25th March, 2006 Everyone calls me Aga, says where is Aga? We are missing him. (I wonder whether he likes to give himself these titles?!?!) But he is Aga, Aga Mustafa - His Highness Mustafa, Lord Mustafa. This evening I stepped into Café Khushaali. Aga Mustafa was eating lunch at 6:30 PM. He turned around to collect his (royal) photograph from me (His photograph, which has been with me for more than three months now) It's an interesting picture which captures Mustafa, but what he actually is and what he actually does is captured as a reflection in the mirror. Mustafa calls his twin images in the photo 'Ram aur Shyam'. Ram ki leela rang layee, Shyam ne bansi bajayee, he starts to sing the lines of the song from the film. He looks at the photo, Black-and-white, he asks, why not colour? He is not very impressed with the photograph But he shows off the photograph to everyone entering the shop And as each one praises the picture, he starts to change his opinion. Yes, lovely picture, he says. And then, he turns around and points to me Zainab, aks Zainab (Meaning, this photograph has been given to me by Zainab) Aks Zainab, karazdar (I am indebted to her for this photograph.) For him, my being Zainab means something (Perhaps a reinforcement) (Perhaps, an encouragement) (Perhaps, a relationship) (Perhaps, a brethren) He points to me, as if I were a reflection of the photograph. (Aks Zainab!) He is Mustafa And I am Zainab. Today, Muzaffar and Salim are not in the shop. Another fair skinned boy is doing the errands. Mustafa tells me that Muzaffar has gone back to his village. He says he will make marriage in his village, Mustafa tells me. Salim, the younger boy, also went away along with Muzaffar. Hence, I have this new boy now. Mustafa is definitely not pleased with this new fellow. He is a thief, Mustafa tells me. The other day, he served three glasses of cold tea to the cuustommers/custombers and then, he pocketed the nine rupees. Cuustommers/custombers came and complained to me about the cold tea. I questioned the boy. I gave him two tight slaps and asked him to come out with the money. He apologized. Said he only wants space to sleep at night. I told him no problem of sleeping at night. But he must be honest. Mustafa is clearly not pleased with this boy. Ramzaan bhai later comes out and says, earlier, the boy Muzaffar was managing the shop because Aga was not around. Daily, the shop would do business of five hundred rupees. Boy would pocket two hundred and fifty rupees and leave the other two hundred and fifty in the galla (cash counter). The owner would be surprised. Would say, what only business of two fifty? But what could the owner do? He felt it was better to have the shop running than closing it down. But the day Aga stepped into the shop, the shop made a business of six hundred and twenty-five rupees. And the owner was surprised. Yes, the owner was surprised, Mustafa said, as a fact of matter of self-praise. Six hundred and twenty five rupees! Ramzaan bhai concluded, there is no honesty these days, dearth of honest people! Mustafa is totally displeased with the new fellow. He pats him on his head, says he does not know how to make tea. My tea, my tea, Mustafa bandies. Boy makes many mistakes. Gets wrong change. Takes wrong orders from the client And each time, Mustafa is nagging him, sitting on his head, telling him how he will drive away the cuustommers/custombers if he does not learn soon. I am interested in this relationship, in this space, which gets created as 'migrants' come and take employment under Mustafa in Café Khushaali. A certain notion of migrants circulates in Khushaali. And the most interesting and ironical fact (to me) remains that both Mustafa and Ramzaan bhai are migrants of some sort themselves - Mustafa from Iran and Ramzaan bhai from Jaamnagar in Gujarat. And both have certain attitudes towards the migrants who have been in employment in Khushaali, migrants who have so far been from the various districts and villages of Uttar Pradesh. While I say this, I don't mean it in the sense of denigration, but I say this in a fact of personal realization that attitudes and notions of migrants circulate among all persons, irrespective of class. And perhaps it is this circulation/imaginaries of notions and attitudes that creates power and power hierarchies in different forms, in different spaces, in different places and different locations. And the power hierarchy and power is practiced among different classes in interesting ways and means. Mustafa starts talking about his house. I live here, here in Imambada. But I have another three storeyed house under repairs, near Zam Zam Hotel. I tell him I know Zam Zam Hotel. I was living there once upon a time. Where? Where the famous qawalli singer Aziz Naaza was living. Oh, Palkhi Mohalla you mean. Yeah. Oh, but that area has become very bad now. Lots of fighting takes place there. I know, I know. There is a hotel, a circular hotel right beneath Nazaa's house. Yeah. Exactly. Area has become quite bad now. Area has become quite bad now, I think a bit, a little while, over Mustafa's words. This again strikes as interesting. Mustafa's words create an imagination and production of space, then and now. Living in Palkhi Mohalla was an experience of living in a world that is now glamourized in Bollywood films. It was an experience of living with crime, with illegality, with people around knowing everything you do, people prying on you, yet a sense of brethren because of communal identity, girls and boys in love eloping, boys taking to crime sometimes to support the love, the operation of the 'eye' among people, forms of surveillance outside 'the state', etc. etc. And living with crime and illegality in those days, was a matter of living life everyday. Crime and illegality were not the glamorous aspects of our lives then. They were our life. And they weren't crime and illegality. They just were, our everyday lives - that's it! Fights between young boys, between petty gangs, was not new to us. Rumour would circulate - this gang boy knifed that gang fellow. And this rumour was entertainment, outside of state entertainment Doordarshan channel. Today, it interests me that the notions of legality and illegality are being defined more clearly, more distinctly, and this is happening in a neighbourhood which is marked in the media and in the imaginations of 'citizens' as 'dangerous', 'crime infested'! And as these notions of legality and illegality circulate and are narrated, I once again think of power and the relationships between narratives, images and circulation of information. How is the notion of citizenship being constructed? The evening continues. Mustafa is back in action. He is working hard. I have prepared cakes from home and have brought them here to sell. These are Mustafa's 'specal mava cakes for six rupees each'. Mustafa now wants to expand the business of the shop. I want to sell samosas, patties, cutlets in this shop. I want to expand it. Ramzaan bhai agrees. What is this business of black tea that you are doing? What will selling only black tea bring to you? You must sell snacks as well. There will be more business. Mustafa agrees. But the space is too little. The shop is too small. Yeah, when you were not around Mustafa bhai, cuustommers/custombers would flock to your shop and say that the space is less. Some even suggested that you put out benches for people to sit down, I said. He murmurs about delicacies that he can cook and sell. (And yet, he is aware of how lazy he can be when it comes to implementation!) I just have to settle some matters with the municipality and then I can expand this shop, Aga Mustafa says. Meanwhile, an interesting drama unfolds outside, on the streets. A havalar stands near a man selling clothes on the street and negotiates and collects hafta. Both Ramzaan bhai and I are keenly watching the drama unfolding and the negotiation happening. The havaldar has slanted himself slightly, his body language one of intimidation and power. The seller on the street is carrying out business and negotiating with the havaldar simultaneously. Ramzaan bhai smirks and laughs. Look there Aga, see what is happening. The havaldar is out on his rounds to collect hafta. He is collecting twenty rupees from all these street sellers. If you put out two benches, then this havaldar will come and collect twenty rupees from you too, daily. Mustafa shouts in defiance, says he will not pay. What do you mean you will not pay Aga? You will have to. These days rules and regulations are very strict, Ramzaan bhai says with irritation. I will not pay. Why should I pay? Mustafa argues back. Look at that restaurant in Dongri. He has a shop inside but he has put benches outside and he is selling his wares there. If he can do it, so can I! But he must have paid the municipality, bribed, etc. to do it this way, Ramzaan bhai retorts. No, whatever it is, I will not pay, Mustafa declares. Ramzaan bhai looks at me and smiles, as if indicating that Aga has lost his head. It's time for me to move now. But let me just narrate the last event of the day which took place at Khushaali this evening. As the evening wore on, cuustommers/custombers started to pour into Khushaali. Everyone was pleased to see Mustafa back in action. Two Irani men came into the shop. One of them excused himself to me and went straight to the kitchen area to wash his hands. I have watched this practice earlier as well. Some cuustommers/custombers come into the shop and make way for the washbasin. They make the shop their space, their place. And I think that this production of space stems from the intimacy of relationship with Mustafa. And maybe even from the fact that the people I have seen performing this practice have been Irani men themselves, so maybe there is a communal linkage to it as well. Mustafa showed off his photograph to the two Irani men. One of them looked at it carefully and asked me about the details of the picture. I mentioned that my friend (Zeeshan) had made the picture. Is 'she' a photographer too? he asked I did not correct the 'she' to 'he' (Because the truth was that 'he' had made the picture!) Zainab, Mustafa repeated to this man. What Zainab? he asked She is Zainab, Mustafa responded. Zainab, are you Zainab? he asked me Yes, I am Zainab. Are you Bohra? he asked me. No, I am Shia, I replied. Oh, really? Is that so? Because when I looked at you, I thought you are Bohra. I am not surprised by this man's marking of me. Modernity and Shias are somewhat too distant to imagine and perhaps to see a Shia girl like me, dressed in the way I am, talks in the way I do, I just cannot be Shia. I can only be a 'modern' Bohra girl or Parsi in the least. This man got interested and started talking to me. He offered to treat me to a round of tea and cakes. Today I experienced hospitality, a practice of this neighbourhood. When I had brought Zeeshan to Khushaali for the first time, his words to me were, 'I feel a sense of belonging here. I feel like I am among my people. I don't feel alienated'. I think the space and the publicness of Khushaali is becoming a very interesting exploration. And while I write and observe, I constantly have to negotiate between the space there is (and which is unfolding as a trajectory) and Aga himself, Mustafa, who creates the some aspects of the trajectory of the space of Khushaali! Aga Mustafa. I give him twelve rupees, six rupees for two cups of chai and six rupees for a specal mava cake. He gives six rupees back to me. Keep the money, he says quietly. The specal mava cake is a special present to me from Aga. Aga Mustafa. My Mustafa! Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From beate at zurwehme.org Mon Mar 27 02:46:57 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 23:16:57 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: dan flavin in frankfurt Message-ID: <3cb692b7fbb04c98a6c95fef18fe1ffe@zurwehme.org> hello citizens, my friend dan flavin did an installation at braan's flat. you can see it vis-a-vis right from the corner bleichstrasse/grosse friedberger, over three windows at third floor on top of freebase recordstore. the installation will be shown every night during the summer months and will be featured at this year's luminale. here you get a short preview from the inside: http://subjektivation.de/the-big-picture/dan_flavin.mov thanks for your attendance, nice greetings beate | interlinking of media | practice with gender related issues http://zurwehme.org/ From fmadre at free.fr Mon Mar 27 02:56:17 2006 From: fmadre at free.fr (Frederic Madre) Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 23:26:17 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] RE: [kfor] Fwd: dan flavin in frankfurt In-Reply-To: <3cb692b7fbb04c98a6c95fef18fe1ffe@zurwehme.org> Message-ID: <20060326212620.5595673124@smtp2-g19.free.fr> this video is much too long f. > -----Original Message----- > From: Sympa Owner [mailto:sympa at kilby.copyleft.no] On Behalf > Of beate zurwehme > Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 11:17 PM > To: kfor at anart.no; Liste Sarai.Net; syndicate at anart.no; rhizome > Subject: [kfor] Fwd: dan flavin in frankfurt > > > hello citizens, > > my friend dan flavin did an installation at braan's flat. you can see > it vis-a-vis right from the corner bleichstrasse/grosse friedberger, > over three windows at third floor on top of freebase recordstore. the > installation will be shown every night during the summer months and > will be featured at this year's luminale. > > here you get a short preview from the inside: > http://subjektivation.de/the-big-picture/dan_flavin.mov > > thanks for your attendance, > nice greetings > > beate > > > > | interlinking of media > | practice with gender related issues > http://zurwehme.org/ > > > > From daljitami at rediffmail.com Sat Mar 25 14:07:53 2006 From: daljitami at rediffmail.com (daljit ami) Date: 25 Mar 2006 08:37:53 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] compact disks and Celloloid in Punjab Message-ID: <20060325083753.1126.qmail@webmail28.rediffmail.com>   Farmers’ suicides and Compact Disks. With the collapse of Green Revolution the peasantry of Punjab is in crisis. The manifold crisis is being manifested in rising debts, increasing social tension and suicides. Social scientists and journalists are obviating it through studies and reports. The telefilm industry has also responded to this through two films i.e. Karza (Debt) and Rulda Jatt (Suffering Farmer). These two films are exception in the overall trend of comedy and masala films. Both these films have been released by a Bathinda based Audio-Video company Priya. These films have remarkable similarities of theme, language and end. The language is Malbi (a dialect of Punjabi spoken in the south of Satluj river), the theme is indebtedness of peasantry and end is suicide by the farmers. In Rulda Jatt the farmer commits suicide and in Karza the farmer’s whole family commit suicide. The treatment of these films shows the story is to narrate the things rather then things being natural part of the story. The films have one location (village) and most of the action happens in the house of farmers. The dialogue seems to be lines of an article rather then part of natural conversation. The sound track of these films has been made in completely unorthodox manner. We are familiar with play back singing but here we have play back artists. The dialogues are recorded in advance and artists take care of lip sync during shooting as the dialogues are played on audio player. In Karza a male voice has been used on three characters whereas a female voice have been used for two characters. No location sound or ambience sound is there whereas there is action going on that is supposed to make sounds. In both the films the tradition story telling singing style (Dhadhi) has been used. In Rulda Jatt the singing and dialogues are in continuity of story whereas in Karza the songs are to add masala (dream sequence, item song) or emotive appeal. Almost all the artists and both the directors are new to the medium. The Director of Karza has experience of making music video so the hand held camera, crane and track has been used as they are being used in music videos. In the films village seems to be laughing at itself, as there is no other reason to laugh. Regards Daljit Ami -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060325/03ec9f33/attachment.html From debjanisgupta at yahoo.com Sat Mar 25 11:34:28 2006 From: debjanisgupta at yahoo.com (debjani sengupta) Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 22:04:28 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] tritiyo posting Message-ID: <20060325060428.91225.qmail@web54214.mail.yahoo.com> Dear All, here is my third posting. Sorry for being very late. The city of Calcutta had attracted millions of refugees before 1950 and a large number of colonies emerged within the Calcutta Corporation area itself. The refugees were interested in building their huts of 'darma and bamboo in the low lying and marshy areas near Calcutta and many of them, belonging to middle-classes, wanted to be near the metropolis for occupational interests. Till May, 1955, there were about 25 lakh regugees in Calcutta which rose to about 27 lakhs by 1955. One of the areas of concentration of the refugee colonies was the south east portion of the CMD in the Tollygunj, Jadavpur, Kasba, Santoshpur Garfa areas. In this area, about 40 pre 1950 Squatter's colonies were located. By 1959, many of these colonies had been regularised and 268 of them were within the Calcutta Metropolitan District. Besides the government sponsored and squatter's colonies there is another group of colonies known as private colonies which grew haphazardly where ever the displaced poeple could get together and purchase a bit of land. This sharp growth of settlements in the Calcutta Metropolis is certainly due to the influx of refugees. Apart from the demographic and cartographic changes, this entailed other far reaching changes in the whole economic and social foundation of West Bengal. Although the successive West Bengal governments tried to absorb the bulk of refugees within the economic set up of the state, it was a daunting task. The traditional livlihoods of the displaced people could not be reatined and many agricultural families had to take up other kinds of occupations because of the non availability of land. The displaced population had a different language, different culture, different food. Although they spoke Bengali, their dialect soon came to be known by a term 'Bangal' that had often derogatory implications. The colonies tried to replicate, in a minuscule way, the plants and trees of the land the refugees had left behind and many houses were built around a large pond that satisfied the water loving Easterners. The refugge colonies were solitary havens in the midst of the din of Calcutta, a city that had now assumed terrifying anonymity to many who had earlier been aquainted with it. Calcutta had always attracted a fair number of men from Esat Bengal who came to study and work in the city. Living in messes, this population would return to their village homes in East Bengal during holidays and be a part of the festivities at home. Their connection to Calcutta were firm but not of the heart. That remained back home. Coming to the city as refugees changed in very subtle ways their connection to the place. The fight for dole, for a job, for a place to live, organising themselves to build their colonies created a different impact on the city. The political atmosphere in West Bengal changed to a large extent when the refugees organised themselves and demanded proper rehabilitation. Their daily fights for survival spawned a large amount of literature that is of special interest. So also the social impact of the shortening of distance between the two Bengals.The impact of the 'Bangal' culture, custom and social behaviour on the city of Calcutta is of great significance. --------------------------------- New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC for low, low rates. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060324/33151cf5/attachment.html From sidharth.srinivasan at gmail.com Mon Mar 27 12:58:46 2006 From: sidharth.srinivasan at gmail.com (sidharth srinivasan) Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 23:28:46 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] 3RD posting Message-ID: <83e991100603262328h3c308f97u7b05de98120505e4@mail.gmail.com> Dear Fellows, my progress report has been delayed owing to a grand irony - the Indian Institute of Technology (where I stay) server was down for the last two days and its only now that I have been able to get the past month off my chest...its no coincidence that we lovingly refer to the institution as the Institute of Indian Technology. In the course of digging up information regarding my project I was told by an old college friend about a small, innocuous-looking book called "The Delhi that No-One Knows" by R.V. Smith. Apparently the book was out of print but by a queer quirk of fate I was able to lay my hands on it. Was it irony(again) that I bumped into my friend after a gap of over 4 years at Neemrana, where the re-designed turrets and bowers and especially the nearby "bauli" (well) seem to be crying out loud for some peace and quiet, I don't know? Coming back to Mr Smith's text - it is a treasure trove of anecdote and little-known fact about the capital's past - by a gentleman who has evidently spent many a day wandering about by foot and DTC. Some of the stories, for example that of a churail(banshee) outside Delhi Gate, a White lady who appears outside Kashmere Gate and the many palaces Feroz tughlaq erected for his many mistresses, are truly bizarre and described with great affection for the past of the city. I myself, after reading portions of the book, visited some nearby mausoleums adjacent to Green Park Mkt. and Aurobindo Place Mkt. with my F-3 at hand. I am struck by these beautiful constructions that exist cheek by jowl with affluent residential colonies and markets and yet no one knows the names of those buried there. The placards outside these tombs declare them to be protected monuments by the ASI but no background and needless to add no names are mentioned. Certainly the tombs belong to noblemen of repute or minor royalty, but if that were the case there should have been proof of the same. I wonder if the people residing in the vicinity sleep peacefully at night, or are they disturbed by spirits of the past 'dying' to make their presence felt after all these centuries. A man has spread a mattress in the lawns of one of the tombs and is having a siesta while nearby there is a taxi stand, a tea-stall, a dhobi, and of course the incessant buzz of traffic. I am not even an armchair historian yet these spots seem to have some crazy allure which invites one, beckons one to freeze time and be still. Of course, the romantic in me wants anecdote and myth where there is amour-fou involved, or something akin to it. But the fact is that countless couples must have made out at these places, hidden away from the glare of society, yet bang in the thick of it! I have also begun compiling a list of as many inscriptions and etchings marked into the walls and facades of these buildings as I can. They will come in handy while scripting. Some great examples of amour-fou in the cinema (asides from the Romeo Juliets and Heer Ranjhas) that come to mind are Leonard Castle's The Honeymoon Killers, Arturo Ripstein's Deep crimson (based on the same story of the lonelyheart killers), Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (Kate Winslet's first) and of course - our very own Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, Amir Khan's first feature as leading man. Was it a coincidence that Mansoor Khan chose Delhi as the city where the star-crossed lovers live? I don't think so. I have also zeroed in on one of the leads for my proposed photo roman, the female lead to be more exact. I hope to have more info for your benefit next time round. All the best, SIDHARTH -- MR. SIDHARTH SRINIVASAN Reel Illusion Films New Delhi/Mumbai India From nicheant at yahoo.co.uk Mon Mar 27 14:56:43 2006 From: nicheant at yahoo.co.uk (Nishant) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:26:43 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Scholarship in Andaman & Nicobar Islands for Journalist and Writers Message-ID: <20060327092643.10778.qmail@web25109.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Scholarships in Andaman & Nicobar Islands for Journalist and Writers (Writing in English) Community Enterprise Forum International (CEFI) works with developing communities and civil society organisations to secure livelihoods through enterprise centric sustainable initiatives. CEFI works through cross-sector partnerships across South Asia. CEFI through its secretariats works across commodity supply chains to enable livelihoods of primary producers across developing countries and enable access to markets. CEFI is offering three-month scholarships for deserving and experienced journalist and writers writing in English to travel to and work at its Livelihood Resource Centre in Port Blair No. of Scholarships - 5 Scholarship: Rs. 10,000 per month along with travel – to and fro (by air) and lodging for the period of stay Duration: 15th April to 15th July 2006 Requirements & Responsibilities: * Experience of writing for atleast 2 years in mainstream English newspapers, website and/or other publications * Very good analysis, writing, editing and copy editing skills, good at comprehension skills, natural sensitivity to errors in language * Good understanding of development issues particularly livelihoods Interested candidates please apply: with your latest resume and copy of your work, the same to be emailed or send to: Last Date: 10th April 2006 Note: Selected candidates would have to join immediately max by 15th April 2006 Contact: Secretariat Community Enterprise Forum International C-2/6, First Floor Safdurjung Development Area New Delhi – 110 016 Tel: +91 11 41657166 Email: jobs at cefi.org.in ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Photos – NEW, now offering a quality print service from just 8p a photo http://uk.photos.yahoo.com From anjalijyoti at yahoo.com Mon Mar 27 15:52:22 2006 From: anjalijyoti at yahoo.com (anjali jyoti) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 02:22:22 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Of late postings and faulty paradigms Message-ID: <20060327102222.66997.qmail@web34608.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi all, Having completed disappeared from the postings after the introductory first post- I shame facedly resurface with my second and third postings back to back. I must say that my initial explorations have been a humbling experience. I must also say that there is a huge difference in what I had envisaged and what I find happening in reality. Anyways, here is what I have: Chapter 1:The ladder of street child society Based on their state of employement ,their income and thus their lifestyle a clear cut hierarchy emerges among the children of the streets of Delhi. The bottom most rung, the majority and the ones who get eliminated under the definition of a ‘street child’ by most NGOs are the kids who get adopted by poor families. They may have run away from home but on arriving in Delhi and living on streets for a while they get taken in my some of the poor familes who live in pockets in small groups in tented structures in various parts of the city. Here they get trained on how to beg or sell things like flowers, newspapers etc at street lights- flags on Republic and Independence Day. The mother floats around a nearby red light with a baby hanging on her side. The families may have kids of their own but the adopted children help bring in more money. The girls specially get taken in by such families. Some boys get attached to men for various reasons which will be discussed in the next post, and form relationships by the names of Chacha, Mama, Tau, Bada Bhai etc and stay with them, beg and get money bak to them. The next category would be of those children who run away from home and land up at anyone of the railway stations in Delhi. Here they get befriended by boys who have been staying at the station for months or years. They usually have a gang. The boys stay on the station, live off the food served on the trains with a backup at some dhabad nearby. Their work is centered around collecting pet bottles from trains and/ or rag picking. Some work in tea stalls. The third category is more affluent. They have acquired more money over time or have an elder brother or uncle who invests some money in buying books from Daryaganj which are then sold at most red lights across the city. They buy the latest books which have been diligently photocopied by our industrious local industry, who shamelessly laugh at the notion of piracy, at a fixed price of around Rs. 50, pack them in cellophane and sell them. Paulo Coelho, Vikram Seth, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jeffrey Archer- you name it, they have it. All the profits are theirs because its their money which they have invested. Then there are these boys, around 11-15 years , wearing jackets or T-shirts with ‘Maxim’, ‘HT’ written on them and selling magazines of those particular companies.They get a daily wage of Rs 100 to Rs. 90 from the company irrespective of whether they sell anything or not. If they do sell anything they get 10% of the price of the magazine. This makes their monthly wages more than Rs 3000 a month. In the day they eat at local ‘thelas’ around the red lights where they work, paying Rs 15 to Rs10 for a plate of Rajma chawal, or Channa chawal. At night they cook at home. Home is a flat which has been rented by around 10-12 boys who stay together. These the rent is around Rs1500 a month which they all share. Whatever they earn at the end of each month is saved up with the ‘thekedaar’ who gives them the magazines and they collect it whenever they require it. The children who operate at the South Delhi red lights, stay mainly in Dakshin puri and Ganesh Nagar. They have a TV and most times a VCD player in their rooms. The last category which again may not qualify as street children but more under the category of working children are the children who work in small industries within the city. Motor parts, garages, bearings, rubber parts. It also includes children who have been brought to the city to do fine work like zardozi embroidery. They sometimes stay with relatives who brought them from the village to work in Delhi. Sometimes they take up a place together and some of them stay with their parents. They earn to a tune of Rs 2,500-3,500 a month. Coming up next: Chap2: Home Truths __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From vivek at sarai.net Mon Mar 27 18:00:07 2006 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 18:00:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Visit to the Joydev Mela - posting by Averee Chaurey Message-ID: <4427DACF.1070307@sarai.net> THIRD POSTING My next visit was to the Joydev Mela , at Kenduli in Birbhum ,where the largest number of Bauls congregate. This was my first visit to Kenduli , a place close to the hearts of all Bauls . From Kolkata I take the train to Shantiniketan and onwards by taxi to Kenduli which takes about 2 hours .Kenduli is a small village , on the banks of the river Ajay . This is the mecca for the Bauls .Kenduli is home to a shrine of Joydev and Padmabati , whose love story has been sung for many years . Joydev is the famous poet who wrote `Geet Gobind’. The annual mela is held here in his honour . Thousands of people have gathered here for the festival ; as far as the gaze goes all you can see is countless heads of people .Small tents , about 50 in number , have mushroomed all over ; all of them housing Bauls .These tents are known as ` akhras ‘. A huge open stage or Mukta Mancha stands in the centre .It is from here that I hear beautiful music and get to speak to some Bauls and Baulinis .Interestingly , I get to meet Purna Das Baul ,who has been responsible for popularising Baul music all over the world .In spite of his busy schedule I did get to have a chat with him .He is probably one of the most famous Bauls around having even found a place on the cover of Bob Dylan’s 1968 album .I asked him to comment on the current trends of Baul music ,the publicity it is getting and on Baul fusion .`Most Bauls do not stick to authentic tunes,’he says,`though the popularity of the music has brought in a welcome change.’Purna Das thinks the older generation shies away from the publicity blitz .He is not averse to the idea of Baul fusion because as long as he chants the name of Krishna ,he thinks it does not mean drifting away . As dusk sets in , the crowd has now swollen to scary proportions . I meet a Baulini who lets me into her small hut .She looks after her Baul sangi (partner) and rears children .Still she finds time to sing and has inducted her child into the tradition . I hear the little Chatu Das regale the audience .He is just 10 years old . I noticed that the music too has changed . Instruments like harmonium and tabla which traditionally are not played with Baul songs , now form a part of their renditions .Group shows with musicians accompanying Bauls seemed to be an emerging trend . Yet, the philosophy remains the same : Dwija Sudra itar bhadra , nai re bhedabhed bichar . Brahmon ,Kshatriya ,Sudra mile mishe ekakar – Krishna Dasi (Brahmin Sudra, the high and the low , there is no difference ; all are mingled together ) The next part of my work will focus more on women Bauls . The gender bias notwithstanding ,I intend to culminate my work in a play which will highlight the lives of these Baul women . From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Mar 27 10:29:48 2006 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:29:48 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "Packing up and leaving from Nangla has begun." Message-ID: <2897C6B8-EA4E-45B9-B1C3-4AB094B3EBDB@sarai.net> Dear friends, Over last 35 years we have seen many an internal dislocation of habitations and life world within the city, Delhi. This is something that started with high intensity in Delhi from early 70s. Now the process of this internal dislocation has become intense and harder. Nangla Maachi is a 30 year old habitation. It was made by its inhabitants over this period. It is along the river bank and next toPragati Maidan (Progress Ground). It is now become an valuable real estate.. Built on prime land for the new urban development, the process of its dislocation has begun. Also, in Nangla Maachi Sarai/Ankur had set up a cybermohalla lab two years ago. Many a practitioner have been through the lab. Over these two years, diaries have been written by the lab practitioners They have many an entry about life in Nangla. These diary entries are also a way to stubbornly remind us all that Nangla was made into an lively, heterogeneous habitation by countless peoples effort and needs to be remembered for this creative act of making and finding ways of living together. Recently, an entry read - "Packing up and leaving from Nangla has begun." The diary is now a record of a contested terrain of the violence of dislocation. We have set up a blog in both English and Hindi, to share with a wider public the various diary entries of the practitioners. Do visit it, read it, circulate it, share it and link it further. Your comments and stories will be very valuable. English language blog: http://nangla.freeflux.net/ Hindi language blog: http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net/ More posting from the practitioners will be made. Countdown to another disappearance of self organised urban space has begun. best Jeebesh From ceci at rhizome.org Tue Mar 28 00:58:32 2006 From: ceci at rhizome.org (Ceci) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 11:28:32 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Rhizome Commissions Program- Deadline April 7th! Message-ID: I just wanted to let you know, in case you missed the announcement on our site, that Rhizome is now accepting proposals for its 2006-2007 commissions cycle. Our deadline – extended to April 7th – is now just under two weeks away! Awards will range from $900-$3000. There is no required theme for submission. Works can manifest offline, as long as the Internet is a primary vehicle in the creation of the work, and it is accessible online in its final form. More information on the Commissions program and the submission form is here: http://rhizome.org/commissions/ Best, Ceci Moss -- Sales Associate, Rhizome.org tel. 212.219.1288 x211 fax. 212.431.5328 email. ceci at rhizome.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060327/bcdf7b28/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ctgr at free.fr Mon Mar 27 14:05:38 2006 From: ctgr at free.fr (ctgr-pavu.com) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:35:38 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: [kfor] Fwd: dan flavin in frankfurt In-Reply-To: <3cb692b7fbb04c98a6c95fef18fe1ffe@zurwehme.org> References: <3cb692b7fbb04c98a6c95fef18fe1ffe@zurwehme.org> Message-ID: > my friend dan flavin I met him yesterday he told me he doesn't kno you. From monica at sarai.net Tue Mar 28 01:20:05 2006 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:20:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The End of the Internet Message-ID: The End of the Internet By Jeffrey Chester, The Nation Posted on February 6, 2006, Printed on February 9, 2006 http://www.alternet.org/story/31753/ The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online. Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency. According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets -- corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers -- would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out. Under the plans they are considering, all of us -- from content providers to individual users -- would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail. Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received. To make this pay-to-play vision a reality, phone and cable lobbyists are now engaged in a political campaign to further weaken the nation's communications policy laws. They want the federal government to permit them to operate Internet and other digital communications services as private networks, free of policy safeguards or governmental oversight. Indeed, both the Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are considering proposals that will have far-reaching impact on the Internet's future. Ten years after passage of the ill-advised Telecommunications Act of 1996, telephone and cable companies are using the same political snake oil to convince compromised or clueless lawmakers to subvert the Internet into a turbo-charged digital retail machine. The telephone industry has been somewhat more candid than the cable industry about its strategy for the Internet's future. Senior phone executives have publicly discussed plans to begin imposing a new scheme for the delivery of Internet content, especially from major Internet content companies. As Ed Whitacre, chairman and CEO of AT&T, told Business Week in November, "Why should they be allowed to use my pipes? The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment, and for a Google or Yahoo! or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts!" The phone industry has marshaled its political allies to help win the freedom to impose this new broadband business model. At a recent conference held by the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a think tank funded by Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and other media companies, there was much discussion of a plan for phone companies to impose fees on a sliding scale, charging content providers different levels of service. "Price discrimination," noted PFF's resident media expert Adam Thierer, "drives the market-based capitalist economy." Net Neutrality To ward off the prospect of virtual toll booths on the information highway, some new media companies and public-interest groups are calling for new federal policies requiring "network neutrality" on the Internet. Common Cause, Amazon, Google, Free Press, Media Access Project and Consumers Union, among others, have proposed that broadband providers would be prohibited from discriminating against all forms of digital content. For example, phone or cable companies would not be allowed to slow down competing or undesirable content. Without proactive intervention, the values and issues that we care about -- civil rights, economic justice, the environment and fair elections -- will be further threatened by this push for corporate control. Imagine how the next presidential election would unfold if major political advertisers could make strategic payments to Comcast so that ads from Democratic and Republican candidates were more visible and user-friendly than ads of third-party candidates with less funds. Consider what would happen if an online advertisement promoting nuclear power prominently popped up on a cable broadband page, while a competing message from an environmental group was relegated to the margins. It is possible that all forms of civic and noncommercial online programming would be pushed to the end of a commercial digital queue. But such "neutrality" safeguards are inadequate to address more fundamental changes the Bells and cable monopolies are seeking in their quest to monetize the Internet. If we permit the Internet to become a medium designed primarily to serve the interests of marketing and personal consumption, rather than global civic-related communications, we will face the political consequences for decades to come. Unless we push back, the "brandwashing" of America will permeate not only our information infrastructure but global society and culture as well. Why are the Bells and cable companies aggressively advancing such plans? With the arrival of the long-awaited "convergence" of communications, our media system is undergoing a major transformation. Telephone and cable giants envision a potential lucrative "triple play," as they impose near-monopoly control over the residential broadband services that send video, voice and data communications flowing into our televisions, home computers, cell phones and iPods. All of these many billions of bits will be delivered over the telephone and cable lines. Video programming is of foremost interest to both the phone and cable companies. The telephone industry, like its cable rival, is now in the TV and media business, offering customers television channels, on-demand videos and games. Online advertising is increasingly integrating multimedia (such as animation and full-motion video) in its pitches. Since video-driven material requires a great deal of Internet bandwidth as it travels online, phone and cable companies want to make sure their television "applications" receive preferential treatment on the networks they operate. And their overall influence over the stream of information coming into your home (or mobile device) gives them the leverage to determine how the broadband business evolves. Mining Your Data At the core of the new power held by phone and cable companies are tools delivering what is known as "deep packet inspection." With these tools, AT&T and others can readily know the packets of information you are receiving online -- from e-mail, to websites, to sharing of music, video and software downloads. These "deep packet inspection" technologies are partly designed to =20 make sure that the Internet pipeline doesn't become so congested it chokes off the delivery of timely communications. Such products have already been sold to universities and large businesses that want to more economically manage their Internet services. They are also being used to limit some peer- to-peer downloading, especially for music. But these tools are also being promoted as ways that companies, such as Comcast and Bell South, can simply grab greater control over the Internet. For example, in a series of recent white papers, Internet technology giant Cisco urges these companies to "meter individual subscriber usage by application," as individuals' online travels are "tracked" and "integrated with billing systems." Such tracking and billing is made possible because they will know "the identity and profile of the individual subscriber," "what the subscriber is doing" and "where the subscriber resides." Will Google, Amazon and the other companies successfully fight the plans of the Bells and cable companies? Ultimately, they are likely to cut a deal because they, too, are interested in monetizing our online activities. After all, as Cisco notes, content companies and network providers will need to "cooperate with each other to leverage their value proposition." They will be drawn by the ability of cable and phone companies to track "content usage...by subscriber," and where their online services can be "protected from piracy, metered, and appropriately valued." Our Digital Destiny It was former FCC chairman Michael Powell, with the support of then-commissioner and current chair Kevin Martin, who permitted phone and cable giants to have greater control over broadband. Powell and his GOP majority eliminated longstanding regulatory safeguards requiring phone companies to operate as nondiscriminatory networks (technically known as "common carriers"). He refused to require that cable companies, when providing Internet access, also operate in a similar nondiscriminatory manner. As Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig has long noted, it is government regulation of the phone lines that helped make the Internet today's vibrant, diverse and democratic medium. But now, the phone companies are lobbying Washington to kill off what's left of "common carrier" policy. They wish to operate their Internet services as fully "private" networks. Phone and cable companies claim that the government shouldn't play a role in broadband regulation: Instead of the free and open network that offers equal access to all, they want to reduce the Internet to a series of business decisions between consumers and providers. Besides their business interests, telephone and cable companies also have a larger political agenda. Both industries oppose giving local communities the right to create their own local Internet wireless or wi-fi networks. They also want to eliminate the last vestige of local oversight from electronic media -- the ability of city or county government, for example, to require telecommunications companies to serve the public interest with, for example, public-access TV channels. The Bells also want to further reduce the ability of the FCC to oversee communications policy. They hope that both the FCC and Congress -- via a new Communications Act -- will back these proposals. The future of the online media in the United States will ultimately depend on whether the Bells and cable companies are allowed to determine the country's "digital destiny." So before there are any policy decisions, a national debate should begin about how the Internet should serve the public. We must insure that phone and cable companies operate their Internet services in the public interest -- as stewards for a vital medium for free expression. If Americans are to succeed in designing an equitable digital destiny for themselves, they must mount an intensive opposition similar to the successful challenges to the FCC's media ownership rules in 2003. Without such a public outcry to rein in the GOP's corporate-driven agenda, it is likely that even many of the Democrats who rallied against further consolidation will be "tamed" by the well-funded lobbying campaigns of the powerful phone and cable industry. Jeffrey Chester is executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (www.democraticmedia.org). © 2006 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/31753/ Monica Narula Raqs Media Collective Sarai-CSDS 29 Rajpur Road Delhi 110054 www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net From abshi at vsnl.com Tue Mar 28 10:48:14 2006 From: abshi at vsnl.com (Shilpa Phadke) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:48:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Reminder: Tomorrow: Discussion on the complex issues of lesbian women's access to public space References: <20060327194736.91D6D28DC07@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <002601c65227$9c1594a0$8119fea9@abshi> PUKAR Gender & Space Project invites you to a discussion on the complex issues of lesbian women's access to public space Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Time: 6:00 PM Venue: PUKAR Office, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Opp. Strand Book Stall, Sir. P M Road, Fort, Mumbai 400001 Tel: 5574-8152 In a general sense it is true that in relation to men, women have relatively lower access to public space. However, such access is also mediated through class, caste, religious community and the appearance of conforming to societal norms. This is true even of spaces that appear to enhance women's access to public space like the local trains. Many paeans have been sung to the camaraderie of the ladies compartment in Mumbai's local trains. Our research at the Gender & Space project has also shown that public transport in Mumbai, particularly, local trains, greatly add to women's mobility and capacity to access public space. However, the space of the ladies compartment is far from being a space of pure camaraderie or freedom. Fisherwomen or other women vendors who try and use the ladies' compartment at times when the vendors' compartment is over crowded with men vendors are met with angry demands that they leave. Commuters in the first class compartment often aggressively bar the entry of others whom they view as 'not appearing like first class pass or ticket holders'. Hijras are met with annoyance mixed with anxiety (and unless they receive a great deal of support from each other women will not actively demonstrate their hostility towards hijras whom they also fear). Women who dress or appear non normative or unfeminine are also greeted with suspicion and many women who choose a more assertive demeanour or favour a style of dressing perceived to be masculine are also often the target of women commuters' hostility and disdain. Transgender people and others who dress ambiguously are seen as a threat to the clear definition of both people and space. The ladies' compartment then comes to stand for a space that can only house women who obviously look and behave like 'women'! Access for those who refuse to conform to established gender norms is thus very contested. Also we need to distinguish between simple access to public space - that is the capacity to be in a public space and use it and a more complex claim to public space - that is the capacity to use one's identity to articulate a right to be in public space. We have discovered that the first might be sought to some extent through anonymity - that is, for women to slip into the city and occupy space without drawing undue attention if we appear to conform. The latter implies the staking of a political claim to space. For women who love women, any political claim to space is complicated by the fact that technically and legally Section 377 of the IPC renders all non peno-vaginal sex illegal in private and in public. Living an illegal love and life implies hiding and thus most public claims to space beget constant harassment. Same sex love in public might be tolerated in some up-market spaces if it's not too overt, not too loud and if you follow the US army rule not to ask or tell. Or if you don't mind seeking refuge in the sanctioned homo-sociality of being just good friends. Large cities like Mumbai do offer a certain kind of space that comes with anonymity but this may often bring the loss of mobilising on the basis of a political identity. What does Mumbai mean to lesbian women? What are the spaces that lesbian women can seek without fear? How does the city enhance space for articulation and how does it reduce the capacity to claim a political identity? These are only some of the questions we hope to raise at a discussion on lesbian women's access to public space in Mumbai. We hope the audience brings their own questions and queries to make this a lively and challenging space. Members of the group Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action will introduce the discussion. Please do come and also forward this invitation to interested friends and colleagues. Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Time: 6 PM Venue: PUKAR Office, Fort, Mumbai PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 5574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 5664 0561 Email:: pukar at pukar.org.in Website:: www.pukar.org.in From induverma_virgo at yahoo.co.in Tue Mar 28 11:33:30 2006 From: induverma_virgo at yahoo.co.in (Indu Verma) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:03:30 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Reel Life and Real Life - by INDU VERMA Message-ID: <20060328060330.5358.qmail@web8502.mail.in.yahoo.com> Real life and Reel life Third Posting by: INDU VERMA Not an apt statement for me to use, but...... I am a 'Non-Actor' in Reel life and... I am a perfect 'Actor' in Real life. Don't be surprised, the fact is that to be a good Actor you should ideally not act in front of the camera. You got to live the scene.... the emotion.... the moment.... you must become the character. On the other hand, as you are already living the moment, you can afford to act in Real life. Well, I guess that we all do. Anything which is consciously intended can easily pass as Acting. Real to Reel: Apart from taking emotions from the Real life, we do take or carry a lot of other things while we face the camera. What is that? It is the family... the sleep... the health... the mood swing...the finance... and not to miss- the mobile phone. All of it lives with us while the camera rolls. Any Actor not getting affected by any such thing is a rare breed. But still Actors live two characters at the same time. Because Actors supposedly get into another character but do not stop living their own character. Well, I don't literally mean breathing your own self but observing the act you are doing, which would mean observing things like -the right emotion you play, right lines and most importantly your ear to hear 'Action and Cut'. There is a very thin line between this so called transformation, where one transforms, but actually doesn't. Now for me, this transformation starts as I head for the shooting location. As most of the Actors make their hobby of Acting as their profession, the burden of going for work is generally not there. I get a kick as I drive to the sets. It is a proud feeling which stays till you are back home (sometimes it stays forever). As I reach the set, it is a different space where I get in, with a feeling to perform. Hunger for recognition gets into the nerves. As the spot boys start getting mineral water and tea, the transformation reaches yet another level. This is even before I get my scene. This is the Actor's role I start to play. What I mean is that after reaching the set and before the camera rolls I am yet a different character. I am not what I am. It is the high which Actors get when they are looked after with some extra special care. The special treatment makes them feel above others. Then starts the physical transformation, where I start wearing make-up and costume. It is a genuine change of appearance which starts to play on my mind. As I get the scene, I start to memorize and then is the wait for the call. As I rehearse the lines with the Co-Actor in the actual space, before the take, I start to get the idea of the extent of possible transformation. But for me, the roll call does the trick. It takes the most which I always hold back in rehearsals. Once the shot is over, I come back into the Actor's role which continues till I leave the sets. Reel to Real: Then starts the real acting which is the real me seeking attention from the family. Being pampered after a long day of shoot is the motivation. One can say, that it is a natural instinct but believe me, we Actors still can do it better. I even bargain on the amount of attention I want. Many a times I subconsciously carry the same facial expressions which I used for the character I played on my shoot. This is a rather interesting aspect that I noticed very recently. As individuals we have a limited stock of expressions. Out of this stock, we as Actors tend to pick up the expressions we feel are needed for a part being played by us. The same expressions are then used in real life situations unintentionally, thus blurring the divide between the two personae. You can call it an Actor's hangover, but it is unavoidable. Some actors accept it, others do not. One of the easiest way to witness an Actor's hangover is to observe a popular Actor in a public space. You can most of the time witness a subtle transformation taking place in the same person who looked so normal just a little while back! Most Actors (including me) are a victim of this confusing phenomena. So, we have a Soap Bahu acting like an Ideal Bhartiya Naari in public gatherings, we have a TV Action Hero giving out Superman smiles (without any reason) to people around him, and we have a God from TV Mythology playing Mr. Know-All & treating his fans as lesser mortals. DONT LAUGH!... WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGICALLY CHALLENGED PEOPLE. Well, I am no exception to this confused state. Let me give you an example: Sometime back, I was on a visit to Pune with my husband. One day on some trivial issue we picked up an argument. As we stood on the road side trying to convince each other, a crowd started to gather around. First there were some kids, then they were joined by their mothers and then came some men. The crowd kept getting bigger. We were so involved in talking and arguing with each other that we almost forgot that I was a TV star and these people were slowly recognizing me! Soon the kids started to get their autograph books between me and my husband. They cared a damn about our conversation. As my husband gave a confused look, I slowly transformed into my TV character and started to sign autographs with my trademark smile. Our argument evaporated in thin air as I got mobbed by a hundred people. It took us some time to realize what was happening and as the fan following began to reach dangerous levels, my husband pulled me into an Auto Rickshaw and we bid goodbye to a memorable moment of recognition. But there is an explanation to this psyche of the Actors. Even if we wish to be normal, people do not let us be. A screen image remains in the minds of the masses who actually start loving or hating us as those screen characters we play. They do not allow us to come out of that created image. Initially when you are recognized by the name of the character, you feel good about it but in a way the Actor looses his/her own identity. It, in a way harms the Actor, especially if you have played a character which has become extremely popular. Then for the rest of your life you are identified with that particular character and you do not get roles you could have got, if you had not played that popular character. It rather comes as a signal to the Actor, that he/she is finished. I have a perfect example to this situation. Forget the public, I myself could not remember the name of the Actor who played 'RAM' in the famous “RAMAYANA' of Late Sh. Ramanand Sagar. I met him on a show we were supposed to shoot together, where he was to play my father's role. Believe me I did not realize that he would not like if I would address him 'Ram ji'. It was quite unintentional but he was highly embarrassed and introduced himself to me. Another incident which was a kind of a revelation to me, because I was pretty new to the industry, was when I had to shoot with a famous 'Father' of films and television(would not like to name). The Actor is a big TV star and I was pretty excited to shoot with him as he also happens to be my senior from the National School of Drama. An outdoor location half way to Goa: All the crew members are eagerly waiting for this television star. He arrives in a white Mercedes and waves to the onlookers. The crowd shouts in excitement. The Producer heads to greet him. Followed by the Director, the cast is introduced to him. My introduction comes as a graduate from the Drama School. He is happy to meet me. Later, I am told by the Director that he wants to meet me. I rush to his room but as I enter, I get the shock of my life. He is having his drinks and smoking to the extent of suffocation. A polite gentle 'Father' on screen, looked a normal man. Believe me, I couldn't accept this sight, though I did not show him my change of expression. Reason of shock was valid. The image which I had in my mind was that of an ideal 'Father'. I had not known him as an Actor behind the screen, who has his own life and identity, different from the screen image. Hence, the Character we see on screen, gets imprinted in our minds as an image of each particular Actor. More importantly in Television, an Actor is dominated by the Characters he/she plays and it becomes very difficult to break out of this dominance. The Actor continues to live multiple lives transcending the worlds of Reel and Real. --------------------------------- Jiyo cricket on Yahoo! India cricket Yahoo! Messenger Mobile Stay in touch with your buddies all the time. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060328/d5dee69b/attachment.html From ravig1 at vsnl.com Tue Mar 28 13:02:14 2006 From: ravig1 at vsnl.com (Ravi Agarwal) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:02:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Mango Tango Bush's Secret Biotech Deal In New Delhi Message-ID: <03CC932EFBBB4EEFABB51C809A580D62@ToxicsLink.local> The Mango Tango Bush's Secret Biotech Deal In New Delhi March 10th, 2006 Pamela Drew President Bush announced that Americans would soon be eating India's farmed mangoes, but he failed to explain why. It has a lot to do with why he's willing to negotiate on the nukes. The real power in the US is biotech and the US and India have another, more covert deal made especially for them. While many in Congress and the American press have questioned the President's nuclear deal with India, no one has looked at what the bio-techs are getting. As always, the hidden agenda tells more than the stated one. In the Bush playbook it has always been a resource grabbing strategy. In this case food is definitely on the table. It is a 1000-crore project called the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agricultural Research and Education. The announcement in the Indian press read, "Promising a second "green revolution," US President George W. Bush was cited as announcing Friday an investment of 130 million dollars to boost Indian agriculture and biotechnology as he wrapped up a visit here, stating, "By working together, the United States and India will develop better ways to grow crops and get them to market and lead a second green revolution." American press covered the protests surrounding the President's visit as general anti-US sentiment. Sure there's some of that. Many Americans share their anger over US policies. But in India, much of the protest relates directly to the loss of farms and depressed economy caused by Monsanto's Bt cotton. Monsanto is a known enemy. Indian farmers have suffered terribly with the introduction of genetically modified cotton. The Bt variety GM crop yields have been so terrible there have been widespread economic losses, record farm failures. The GM cotton is cited as the leading cause of suicide among India's farmers. That is no problem for the bio-techs who sweep in and snatch up the land just as they're doing in America. The rate of loss for family farms in America is 350 family farms per week. That's the "green revolution" Bush style. That's the American lifestyle the trade deal will share with India and why many in India are angry and protesting. The President went on to add, "We are establishing a new 30-million-dollar science and technology commission that will fund joint research in promising areas like biotechnology". Anyone who has spent time on Capitol Hill knows that Commissions are a way to have your friends look into something and fix the results. What they can't fix they classify. The Warren Commission investigated Kennedy's shooting before half of America was born and we still don't know what they found. That's the type of commission the President's 30 million dollars is setting up for India. The "Indo-US Knowledge Initiative" means that the bogus science funded through industry front organizations, we Americans have, can now take hold in India. With the proper "tools" they can improve the way they do their math and science. The math tracks the profits, and the science finds what ever it needs to, so the math works out. The Bush team and K Street created the environment for everything from ENRON's accounting to cancer causing hormone milk in the school lunch programs and others can learn. The "green revolution" is about profits for the bio-techs and the India deal is a sweet package. Bush has promised the approval of new varieties of 'Frankenfoods' grown in India for export to the US. This coupled with the Congressional attack on the food labels will assure no Americans can know what any of the profiteers are feeding us. It also gives India access to the vast US food markets. It's a way of thanking us for our jobs. Specifically what the deal in New Delhi involved was installing Monsanto's hand picked henchmen in the key positions with India's research and regulatory boards. While the strategy is the same everywhere Monsanto and the Bushwackos go, the names change. From my view it's easiest and best to use the words of the local experts to summarize the situation. "There is a complete blackout at the top about what's going wrong. This is the worst agrarian crises since Independence," says Devinder Sharma an agricultural scientist, who is also a food policy analyst on the forum for biotechnology and food security. Sharma says the Initiative's board is dominated by large multinationals like Walmart and Monsanto, who are all set to determine the Indian agricultural research agenda. "The American IPR regime offers patent holders rights to life form, plants and seeds, so there is also the threat of losing rights to indigenous genetic resources. There is also the additional fear that India could become the dumping ground for all the genetically modified crops that there are no takers for in Europe and many other parts of the world," Sharma says. When President Bush announced on Friday that Americans would soon be eating India's famed mangoes, he failed to explain why. Maybe now it will be in perspective. * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060328/7dfdec1e/attachment.html From fb at raumtaktik.de Tue Mar 28 02:19:26 2006 From: fb at raumtaktik.de (Friedrich von Borries) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:49:26 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: BOOK ON GAMES, ARCHITECTURE, URBANISM Message-ID: please feel free to forward to colleagues, lists, blogs...apologies for cross postings, thanks & best regards, friedrich von borries steffen p. walz ulrich brinkmann matthias böttger editors at spacetimeplay.org ================================================================= ***Call for Book Contributions and Project Presentations*** SPACE TIME PLAY Games, Architecture, and Urbanism. ABOUT SPACE TIME PLAY What is computer and video game space – and: is there an architectural history of game space-time? How do architectures, city spaces, and landscapes change when they are transformed into physical game boards, or when they become an extension of a desktop computer game? How can architects and urban designers apply games and game technologies as tools for drafting and planning? Across 500 pages, the edited book publication Space Time Play will investigate these questions by compiling designs, best practice examples, as well as essays, interviews, succinct statements, and game space analyses. The editors have already confirmed contributions to Space Time Play by internationally renowned theoreticians and practitioners, including: Gerhard M. Buurman, Kees Christiaanse, Drew Davidson, Alberto Iacovoni, Jesper Juul, Heather Kelley, Neil Leach, Lev Manovich, Jesse Schell, Mark Wigley, and Eric Zimmerman. Space Time Play will not only feature these authors, but also aspiring players from the fields of architecture, urbanism, game design, game studies, and the arts. These researchers and artists will present their thoughts, games, and/or theme related works and designs. The editors are looking for contributions to Space Time Play in the form of essays, project descriptions, and statements. We would like to ask potential contributors to consider the following questions, which are shaping the three main sections of Space Time Play. Please note the submission requirements and procedure in the bottom of this call. 1. THE ARCHITECTURE OF COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES A Brief Space Time History of Interactive Entertainment. Theory: -In which ways are computer and video games constructed spatially and architecturally? -Which games are milestones concerning their spatial quality, and why? -Which methods of architectural history and theory could be used to evaluate the spatial development and spatial quality of computer and video games? -What is the relationship of game space and game time? -What kind of experience or method in the field of game design could be applied to the development and evaluation of architecture and urban design? -Which architectural projects should be considered milestones of a new playful architecture, and why? -Which physical architectures have been influenced by computer or video games? -In how far do innovations of "real" architecture influence game architecture, and vice versa? -What can architects and level designers learn from one another? -What kinds of interfaces exist between game design and architectural design? Projects: -You use your game experience to design spaces in the "real" world? -You are a game designer and your games have been influenced by specific architectural objects or urban situations in the real world? We are looking forward to presenting your projects (realized or design stage, commercial or artistic). 2. PERVASIVE GAMES Computerizing Dwellings, Cities, and Landscapes for Play Experiences The city has always been offering spaces for games and play, for example stadiums, coliseums, theaters, playgrounds, or street grid labyrinths. In recent years, computer games have progressed beyond the computer desktop and have acquired a new play dimension by using areas such as cities, buildings, or parks as playing fields. Theory: -How do mobile games (as well as augmented, hybrid, and mixed reality play scenarios) modify the perception and usage of physical space? Which design and behavioral patterns can be identified? -How will public space as well as public activities and performance change if interactive entertainment leaves the private home behind to enter public space? -What new types of spaces, buildings, and cities might emerge when games are superimposed on existing spatial structures, thereby embedding a novel (urban) function? -What kinds of new architectures, urban spaces, and landscapes are emerging by the way of pervasive games? -Will pervasive games open up a new horizon of a playful city or will pervasive games be the Trojan horse of new technologies of surveillance and control? Projects: -You have developed pervasive or ubiquitous games? -You designed new computing devices, tools, interfaces, or techniques which could also be used for games in urban space or in computer / sensor integrated buildings? Whether your background is more design or art related, technological, or economical - we are looking forward to present your game (realized or design stage). 3. SERIOUS FUN Utilizing Computer Games and Technologies for Architectural and Urban Planning. Theory: -When games are being used in planning processes - what is the relation of everyday affordances and the integrity of the magic circle? -What is the spatial, social, and economical relation of "real space-time" and alternate reality? -What can architects and planners learn from the spatial and social experiences that games grant? -What can we learn from the history of games as simulation tools - be it in military, urban planning or business contexts - today? -Which new game technologies or gameplay methods could be used for which aspect of architectural planning and design? Projects: -You are using game engines to design or communicate your projects? -You developed a game as a tool to analyze, change, or modify real spaces? -The design of games is part of your practice as an urban planner, architect, or artist? -You are using games as tools for participation or participatory design? Please send us your project (board games, role playing scenarios, computer games etc.), and / or tell us about your design experience. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE / REQUIREMENTS AND CONTACT Please e-mail your proposals to editors at spacetimeplay.org. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions. -> Essays and statements Please submit your 500 word abstract for either a 3'000 - 5'000 word essay or for a 1'000 word statement. This abstract should be a Word document that also contains your name, affiliation, address, and contact information. In addition, please indicate the section you are submitting for. -> Projects descriptions and designs Please send us a one page description for each design project as a PDF. The description should contain image material. Please help us understand your project by including the following aspects in your presentation: Scope and goal of the design project, partners, realization status, design challenges, lessons learned, and, possibly, a URL where we can play your project, download a trailer movie (please specify requirements such as codec), or additional material. If you explicitly consider your project a game, please let us know in your PDF in which way your design space reflects or constitutes (a) formal game elements, e.g. rules, player interactions, objectives, rewards, and conflict; and (b) dramaturgical elements, e.g. premise, story (arc), characters, and challenges. DEADLINES FOR CONTRIBUTION PROPOSALS Essays and statements (Word doc): 15.05.2006 Projects descriptions and designs (PDF): 15.05.2006 EDITORS Friedrich von Borries (Agentur raumtaktik, Germany) Steffen P. Walz (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) Ulrich Brinkmann (bauwelt Magazine, Germany) Matthias Böttger (Agentur raumtaktik). PUBLISHER Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture, Basel / Boston / Berlin. www.birkhauser.com PUBLISHING DATE Spring 2007. SPONSORS -ETH Zurich, Chair for Computer Aided Architectural Design, Prof. Dr. Ludger Hovestadt -Swiss National Science Foundation, NCCR Mobile Information and Communication Systems (MICS) -University for Art, Media, and Design Zurich (HGKZ), Interaction Design / Game Design Program, Prof. Dr. Gerhard M. Buurman -ETH Zurich, Chair for Architecture and Urban Planning, Prof. Kees Christiaanse -KCAP, Rotterdam, and Astoc, Cologne ----------------------------------------------------------- space time play ----------------------------------------------------------- a book project by friedrich von borries steffen p. walz ulrich brinkmann matthias böttger ----------------------------------------------------------- editors at spacetimeplay.org ----------------------------------------------------------- birkhäuser publishers basel / boston / berlin spring 2007 ----------------------------------------------------------- www.spacetimeplay.org editors at spacetimeplay.org ================================================================= _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From beate at zurwehme.org Tue Mar 28 14:20:52 2006 From: beate at zurwehme.org (beate zurwehme) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:50:52 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: [The_Development_CAFE] Awarness article: Biotech deal by Bush in India Message-ID: <6b4245d2f003d715d16ecbb7af24974e@zurwehme.org> The Mango Tango Bush’s Secret Biotech Deal In New Delhi March 10th, 2006 Pamela Drew President Bush announced that Americans would soon be eating India’s farmed mangoes, but he failed to explain why. It has a lot to do with why he’s willing to negotiate on the nukes. The real power in the US is biotech and the US and India have another, more covert deal made especially for them. While many in Congress and the American press have questioned the President’s nuclear deal with India, no one has looked at what the bio-techs are getting. As always, the hidden agenda tells more than the stated one. In the Bush playbook it has always been a resource grabbing strategy. In this case food is definitely on the table. It is a 1000-crore project called the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agricultural Research and Education. The announcement in the Indian press read, “Promising a second “green revolution,” US President George W. Bush was cited as announcing Friday an investment of 130 million dollars to boost Indian agriculture and biotechnology as he wrapped up a visit here, stating, “By working together, the United States and India will develop better ways to grow crops and get them to market and lead a second green revolution.” American press covered the protests surrounding the President’s visit as general anti-US sentiment. Sure there’s some of that. Many Americans share their anger over US policies. But in India, much of the protest relates directly to the loss of farms and depressed economy caused by Monsanto’s Bt cotton. Monsanto is a known enemy. Indian farmers have suffered terribly with the introduction of genetically modified cotton. The Bt variety GM crop yields have been so terrible there have been widespread economic losses, record farm failures. The GM cotton is cited as the leading cause of suicide among India’s farmers. That is no problem for the bio-techs who sweep in and snatch up the land just as they’re doing in America. The rate of loss for family farms in America is 350 family farms per week. That’s the “green revolution” Bush style. That’s the American lifestyle the trade deal will share with India and why many in India are angry and protesting. The President went on to add, “We are establishing a new 30-million-dollar science and technology commission that will fund joint research in promising areas like biotechnology”. Anyone who has spent time on Capitol Hill knows that Commissions are a way to have your friends look into something and fix the results. What they can’t fix they classify. The Warren Commission investigated Kennedy’s shooting before half of America was born and we still don’t know what they found. That’s the type of commission the President’s 30 million dollars is setting up for India. The “Indo-US Knowledge Initiative” means that the bogus science funded through industry front organizations, we Americans have, can now take hold in India. With the proper “tools” they can improve the way they do their math and science. The math tracks the profits, and the science finds what ever it needs to, so the math works out. The Bush team and K Street created the environment for everything from ENRON’s accounting to cancer causing hormone milk in the school lunch programs and others can learn. The “green revolution” is about profits for the bio-techs and the India deal is a sweet package. Bush has promised the approval of new varieties of ‘Frankenfoods’ grown in India for export to the US. This coupled with the Congressional attack on the food labels will assure no Americans can know what any of the profiteers are feeding us. It also gives India access to the vast US food markets. It’s a way of thanking us for our jobs. Specifically what the deal in New Delhi involved was installing Monsanto’s hand picked henchmen in the key positions with India’s research and regulatory boards. While the strategy is the same everywhere Monsanto and the Bushwackos go, the names change. From my view it’s easiest and best to use the words of the local experts to summarize the situation. “There is a complete blackout at the top about what’s going wrong. This is the worst agrarian crises since Independence,” says Devinder Sharma an agricultural scientist, who is also a food policy analyst on the forum for biotechnology and food security. Sharma says the Initiative’s board is dominated by large multinationals like Walmart and Monsanto, who are all set to determine the Indian agricultural research agenda. “The American IPR regime offers patent holders rights to life form, plants and seeds, so there is also the threat of losing rights to indigenous genetic resources. There is also the additional fear that India could become the dumping ground for all the genetically modified crops that there are no takers for in Europe and many other parts of the world,” Sharma says. When President Bush announced on Friday that Americans would soon be eating India’s famed mangoes, he failed to explain why. Maybe now it will be in perspective. New Yahoo! Suicide with electricity. Call regular phones from your PC and get flashed. | interlinking of media | practice with gender related issues http://zurwehme.org/ From bawree at yahoo.com Tue Mar 28 15:08:06 2006 From: bawree at yahoo.com (mamta mantri) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:38:06 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Shlok ki Maa- Veergati, mamta Message-ID: <20060328093806.18263.qmail@web33109.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Shlok ki Maa yesterday was an interesting one. Eight of my students accompanied me to the theatres to watch a film with me.The group comprised of 3 girls and 5 boys,all of them 19 or 20,upper middle class, a multiplex generation, born and bought up in the distant suburbs of Mumbai and never been to these places. I asked them to see the posters, films and the theatre, and then decide the film to be viewed. Super had a Bhojpuri film (they said we wont understand the film), Shalimar showed "Garam"(it looked obscene, so no-no). Nishat showed "Fight Club"(we can watch it in a multiplex, so no again). Alfred had"Judge Mujrim"(they were oblivious to the existence of the film, so again no). Gulshan had "Badla", but we finally decided to watch "Veergati"(Salman Khan) in New Roshan. I finally bought 7 tickets for a mere 105 Rs.(Thank god, i only had 100 Rs with me). Anyways, by this time, two of them, bhuvan and tanvi, got very uncomfortable with the place, and decided to leave (they went to Bandra, where they felt better). Anyways, I showed them the place, the dargah, the stage,and the projector and they were amused. All of them kept on sipping loads of cola and discuused if these products were genuine or fake. the discussion lasted for a very long time, but they were still consuming all of it. we sat in the balcony and began with the film. But they could not even watch the film till the interval, and we left 30 minutes before interval, and sat in the promenade-balcony, smoking gloriously and chatting.SO I am writing about their responses, including mine, in brief: 1) Amit: He watched the film with real ease and wathced other finer aspects of the film. He said, "I have watched this film on cable at home","the class difference is so starkly visible". He enjoyed every bit of it. when Salman Khan got on screen for the first time, the audience clapped, and he said, "it is these claps that decide and make the hero." 2) Khushita: she came with a consciuously open mind, expecting the worst or unexpected, and felt better about the whole experience. she said, "the audience is very well behaved", "I cannot watch these kinds of films"( she[and othe other girl] was refering to 'Salaam Namaste' as her kind of film). she remembered her childhood, when she visited her mother's maiden house in chawls, when she saw the neighbourhood. 3) MOhnish: he was a little bored, but fine with the whole experinece. He related it to his parents and said," My dad watches and likes these kinds of films. but my Mom, who has gradually refined her tastes, would never watch these kinds of films. ( we all agreed to the fact that our fathers, all of them enjoy these films). 4) Janhavi: She counted the number of cieling fans(5 on her side),exhaust fans(5 in the entire hall), the dust bins. she did not enjoy the film much, but did like the place. 5) Varun: both Varun and Janhavi were pretty bored, and requested me if we could leave.Varun did not speak much, but was keeping a close track on the style and fashion quotient in the film. 6) Ashutosh: he found the hall crampy and suffocating. the seat was comfortable, but he did not find much leg-space and got restless. he commented on the song and dance sequence in the film and said, "What moves, man!". 7) Myself: i like salman Kahn anyways and i like this film of his, so i was enjoying the film as well. but what struck my attention was the fact that the audience (the hall got housefull in 45 minutes after the film started) watched the film with great attention and alertness, not missing any moment.the film looked like an extension of the place and neighbourhood, i.e. Kamathipura. the mention of the name of the neighbourhood in the film, evokes response in the audience in forms of smiles and claps. for me, the mythical cinematic space kept flowing into the real, physical space outside the cinema hall(of course, i felt like this, only because i saw this film). the group generally agreed to the fact that it is not very hard to relate to these kind of films which feature basic desires. they were impressed with the well behaved audience, although not very comfortable. they know such another world does exist, but seeing it right in front of your eyes was a bit disturbing.they did want to get out of the place as soon as possible, of course, not without complementing me for the kind of work that i was doing here all alone. the girls found it credible.(while i write this statement, i understand that the readers can misinterpret it, but there is a context to it, which i shall put in following postings). by the way, this is only a certain part of the conversation which i thought was striking. i have asked them to write their detatiled responses as a part of the project exercise, and submit them with the final submissions. mamta __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From anivar at gaia.org.in Tue Mar 28 15:20:13 2006 From: anivar at gaia.org.in (Anivar Aravind) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:20:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] PLACHIMADA STUDY MEETINGS In-Reply-To: <35f96d470603280149g7159afe6r26bf82bbbab7e809@mail.gmail.com> References: <35f96d470603280149g7159afe6r26bf82bbbab7e809@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <35f96d470603280150o418a9154rdad0be0319c11abc@mail.gmail.com> PLACHIMADA STUDY MEETINGS On 2nd April 2006 At Chavara Cultural centre Near Ernakulam South Station, Kochi 10am -1pm : Methodological issues in Correlating Drinking Water Pollution at Plachimada and Waste discharge from Coca Cola Factory Moderator : Vilayodi Venugopal Inauguration: Justice P.K. Shamsudheen Method of study draft proposal presentation Prof. N. Chandramohan kumar (School of Marine Studies, CUSAT) Method of Study draft Proposal evaluation Dr. V. Sivandan Achari (School of Environmental Studies, CUSAT) Discussants : Prof. P.K. Raveendran (KSSP) Dr. K. Sreekumar (Dept. of Applied Chemistry, CUSAT) Dr. S. Sankar (KFRI, Peechi) M. Suchithra (QUEST, Kochi) Dr. Francis Xavier (Veterinary College, Pookodu) Dr. C.M. Joy (Sacred Heart College, Thevara) C.R. Neelakandan (Plachimada Padana Samithy) 2 – 5 pm : Critical thinking on Plachimada CWRDM Report Moderator : R. Ajayan Inauguration: Adv. K. Ramkumar Theme presentations : Dr. R. Ajaykumar Varma (CESS, TVM) K. Madhavan Namboothiri (Water Management Consultant) Discussants : Dr. N.S. Soman (School of Legal Studies, CUSAT) Dr. R. Nandakumar (Plachimada Legal Committee) Organised by : PLACHIMADA PADANA SAMITHI, Post Box No. 100, Thrissur – 1. Contact persons : Robin : 0487-2421385 Geo Jose : 9446000701 ------------ Anivar Aravind Global Alternate Information Applications(GAIA) Peringavu. P.O , Thrissur -18 From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Tue Mar 28 15:22:17 2006 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:22:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] PLACHIMADA STUDY MEETINGS In-Reply-To: <35f96d470603280150s188a40b3h1fe363b6a94e630c@mail.gmail.com> References: <35f96d470603280149g7159afe6r26bf82bbbab7e809@mail.gmail.com> <35f96d470603280150o418a9154rdad0be0319c11abc@mail.gmail.com> <35f96d470603280150s188a40b3h1fe363b6a94e630c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <35f96d470603280152o417e10te020c308e13164cc@mail.gmail.com> PLACHIMADA STUDY MEETINGS On 2nd April 2006 At Chavara Cultural centre Near Ernakulam South Station, Kochi 10am -1pm : Methodological issues in Correlating Drinking Water Pollution at Plachimada and Waste discharge from Coca Cola Factory Moderator : Vilayodi Venugopal Inauguration: Justice P.K. Shamsudheen Method of study draft proposal presentation Prof. N. Chandramohan kumar (School of Marine Studies, CUSAT) Method of Study draft Proposal evaluation Dr. V. Sivandan Achari (School of Environmental Studies, CUSAT) Discussants : Prof. P.K. Raveendran (KSSP) Dr. K. Sreekumar (Dept. of Applied Chemistry, CUSAT) Dr. S. Sankar (KFRI, Peechi) M. Suchithra (QUEST, Kochi) Dr. Francis Xavier (Veterinary College, Pookodu) Dr. C.M. Joy (Sacred Heart College, Thevara) C.R. Neelakandan (Plachimada Padana Samithy) 2 – 5 pm : Critical thinking on Plachimada CWRDM Report Moderator : R. Ajayan Inauguration: Adv. K. Ramkumar Theme presentations : Dr. R. Ajaykumar Varma (CESS, TVM) K. Madhavan Namboothiri (Water Management Consultant) Discussants : Dr. N.S. Soman (School of Legal Studies, CUSAT) Dr. R. Nandakumar (Plachimada Legal Committee) Organised by : PLACHIMADA PADANA SAMITHI, Post Box No. 100, Thrissur – 1. Contact persons : Robin : 0487-2421385 Geo Jose : 9446000701 ------------ Anivar Aravind Global Alternate Information Applications(GAIA) Peringavu. P.O , Thrissur -18 From fi22 at cornell.edu Tue Mar 28 15:54:05 2006 From: fi22 at cornell.edu (Farhana Ibrahim) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:54:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] third posting Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20060328155248.02e06310@pop.gmail.com> Apologies for this delay – I hope to become more regular at these postings once I stop traveling around in Kachchh and return to some archival research in Delhi and Mumbai. I still am on my search for some clues about the lives of the Kachchhi merchants who were once based in Kachchh and have now moved out in all kinds of directions. After Jakhau (I discussed it in my last posting), I moved to Bhadresar, another old port of Kachchh, close to the contemporary port of Mundra. Mundra is becoming highly mechanized – it has been taken over by the Adanis – and is increasingly the new face of industrialized Gujarat. On the other hand, Bhadresar is now little more than an old fishing village. Once a shallow-water port known as Bhadravati Nagari and then Bhadresar, it was home to large shipping magnates of the region. In the old part of town, and old temple and dargah sit side by side, frequented by the fishermen and what is left of the once-thriving port town. It is almost as though the post-earthquake reconstruction drive in Kachchh has passed by this area. Old houses stand disheveled and dilapidated, but not as a result of the 2001 earthquake. These structures fell apart over time and have not been rescued from decay by the state government. Recently a Japanese heritage conservation project has identified a cluster of old buildings to restore and maintain. There has been much controversy among local level leaders over the proposed plan to restore an old Ismaili Muslim Jama’at Khana. The Jain temple should be restored first said the panchayat, then the Jama’at khana. These divisions are relatively recent in Kachchh. As far as the villagers are concerned, they seem to be relatively unconcerned about these fractious debates. As I walked into the village with my research assistant, the call to prayer was sounding from a nearby mosque. He went in to pray, while I sat outside for him, admiring the frescoes and sculptures on the imposing house just across the mosque on the narrow street. Soon I was engaged in conversation with an elderly man smoking a bidi next to me. The Khimji family house that we were admiring so ardently was once a towering structure of three storeys. The family lived here while they traded in Muscat and Zanzibar, dealing in spices and silks. As they prospered, they decided to add storeys onto their single floor. Painters were invited from all over Kachchh to decorate the facades and sculptors who were employed by the royal families of the area were secretly spirited away to embellish the house. They were warned not to go higher than the dome of the mosque, and once they did, they began to lose their business. Then the old man fell and broke his leg. The upper storeys have never been inhabited again, I was told. All the villagers know this tale, and believe it carries a powerful portent for the future; they bow their heads in respect as they pass the mosque, regardless of their religious or sectarian allegiances. From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Mar 28 20:56:46 2006 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 19:26:46 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] Musings on society and space Message-ID: <1274.219.65.9.97.1143559606.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> 27th March 2006 This evening, I am at Marine Drive. It has been several days since I have come to Marine Drive. My fascinations and preoccupations with Khushali and Aga Mustafa kept me away from here. But the experience of the picnic yesterday with Mustafa and his relatives and friends made me think that I am missing out on something if I am not coming to Marine Drive. Let me explain a little here. All this while, I have been on Mustafa and Café Khushaali’s case. A fancy of community space, defining public and space within the confines of a neighbourhood kept me probing. But I realized that I needed to go back to the ‘public space’ with which I started my first research excavations i.e. Marine Drive. There is definitely something different to the publicness and the space of Marine Drive. There is anonymity and yet marking, unlike Café Khushaali where anonymity is non-existent (based on the observations thus far). However, what is present in the space of Café Khushaali are contests of various sorts – contests based on identity, contests of definition of legality and illegality, contests between the neighbourhood and the city in terms of imaginations and representations in the media (I say representations, as in plural, because Imambada and the Muslim World in this part of the city are from time to time, represented as illegal, dangerous and yet, ‘cultural’ and adding to the ‘diversity’ of the city in the print media), etc. I landed at Marine Drive at about 7 PM. Work on refurbishing the promenade has gradually begun. ARC Associates (the consortium awarded the contract for refurbishing) has begun a little bit of work. Interestingly, little concrete cube bricks have been laid out on the promenade, about two feet away from the edge of the footpath. It seems like two walking tracks have been created. For a moment, I felt that the concrete bricks are being laid to create a clear boundary between the footpath and the main road. It presented a sense of boundedness, something that is new to the space of the promenade. Earlier, the story of the space of the promenade was a flow characterized by un-boundedness, by a flow of people from the roads to the promenade, the flow of traffic, etc. In essence, there were no physical boundaries and yet, behaviours and practices of space helped maintain certain boundaries. Now, with the concrete bricks laid down, the first physical boundary has been created. And it makes the space of the promenade distinctly different. The plan for refurbishing the promenade is that it will be made to look world-class, adding to the image of Mumbai as a mega-city, a world-class city! Perhaps the designs have gained ‘inspiration’ from the promenade in Dubai. Some consultations were held with the residents of the area as the design was being finalized. And yet, my question remains that if Marine Drive is a ‘public space’, then whose aspirations should be reflected in the refurbishing and additions to the space. Which public has a ‘stake’? Is there any ‘stake’ at all? The residents owning flats and living around Marine Drive are largely individuals who have visited ‘abroad’, seen Manhattan and New York, been to Dubai, etc. and in a sense, their aspirations are reflected in the new design. (Interestingly, most of the residents owning flats and living around Marine Drive are ‘migrants’ themselves, most being Sindhis who arrived here after Partition, Gujaratis in the textile business who, prior to the creation of Bombay, had bought property here as investment of their riches, and some Arabs and Parsis, which largely makes up the composition of the ‘Marine Drive neighbourhood’.) It is look at the refurbishing of Marine Drive and I question the notion and practice of ‘intervention’, particularly interventions by architects, planners and designers. How do these interventions impact space? What kind of consciousness and environments do architects, designers and planners work under? Is design free of politics? I walk along the promenade, up and down. It appears that the space of the promenade has been flattened. Yeah, seriously! Contests have been flattened out. Hawkers appear here and there, but there is no sense/perception of power, of hierarchy, of politics. A public is here, oblivious of transformations in the urban, enjoying the sea breeze. Yeah, space has been flattened. And as I walk past NCPA this evening, I start to think of society. It appears to me that these days, contests are either flattened, or eliminated or subverted. And power has now begun to move into the insides of structure, structure as represented by the new built forms and spaces, emerging structures of power, top-down politics, faceless leadership, structures of organization within multi-national companies, controls of media, etc. And as the politics and contests of the street are made less and less visible (I will not say invisible because they are still there, except that now they are not visible to the ‘naked eye’), power and politics begins to become inaccessible. Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Mar 28 07:29:47 2006 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:29:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] third posting In-Reply-To: <6.2.3.4.2.20060328155248.02e06310@pop.gmail.com> References: <6.2.3.4.2.20060328155248.02e06310@pop.gmail.com> Message-ID: <35021742-0B50-4F4E-8472-B2EEFE6BC73D@sarai.net> In this list archive there will be fifty postings by the name "third posting" or "second posting".....that is not very intelligent way of getting people to read..... comrades..please post with an nice subject header.... On 28-Mar-06, at 3:54 PM, Farhana Ibrahim wrote: > Apologies for this delay – I hope to become more regular at these > postings once I stop traveling around in Kachchh and return to some > archival research in Delhi and Mumbai. > > I still am on my search for some clues about the lives of the > Kachchhi merchants who were once based in Kachchh and have now > moved out in all kinds of directions. After Jakhau (I discussed it > in my last posting), I moved to Bhadresar, another old port of > Kachchh, close to the contemporary port of Mundra. Mundra is > becoming highly mechanized – it has been taken over by the Adanis – > and is increasingly the new face of industrialized Gujarat. On the > other hand, Bhadresar is now little more than an old fishing > village. Once a shallow-water port known as Bhadravati Nagari and > then Bhadresar, it was home to large shipping magnates of the > region. In the old part of town, and old temple and dargah sit side > by side, frequented by the fishermen and what is left of the once- > thriving port town. It is almost as though the post-earthquake > reconstruction drive in Kachchh has passed by this area. Old houses > stand disheveled and dilapidated, but not as a result of the 2001 > earthquake. These structures fell apart over time and have not been > rescued from decay by the state government. Recently a Japanese > heritage conservation project has identified a cluster of old > buildings to restore and maintain. There has been much controversy > among local level leaders over the proposed plan to restore an old > Ismaili Muslim Jama’at Khana. The Jain temple should be restored > first said the panchayat, then the Jama’at khana. These divisions > are relatively recent in Kachchh. As far as the villagers are > concerned, they seem to be relatively unconcerned about these > fractious debates. As I walked into the village with my research > assistant, the call to prayer was sounding from a nearby mosque. He > went in to pray, while I sat outside for him, admiring the frescoes > and sculptures on the imposing house just across the mosque on the > narrow street. Soon I was engaged in conversation with an elderly > man smoking a bidi next to me. The Khimji family house that we were > admiring so ardently was once a towering structure of three > storeys. The family lived here while they traded in Muscat and > Zanzibar, dealing in spices and silks. As they prospered, they > decided to add storeys onto their single floor. Painters were > invited from all over Kachchh to decorate the facades and sculptors > who were employed by the royal families of the area were secretly > spirited away to embellish the house. They were warned not to go > higher than the dome of the mosque, and once they did, they began > to lose their business. Then the old man fell and broke his leg. > The upper storeys have never been inhabited again, I was told. All > the villagers know this tale, and believe it carries a powerful > portent for the future; they bow their heads in respect as they > pass the mosque, regardless of their religious or sectarian > allegiances. > _________________________________________ > 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 avereec at hotmail.com Tue Mar 28 22:37:05 2006 From: avereec at hotmail.com (Averee Chaurey) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 22:37:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: THIRD POSTING My next visit was to the Joydev Mela , at Kenduli in Birbhum ,where the largest number of Bauls congregate. This was my first visit to Kenduli , a place close to the hearts of all Bauls . From Kolkata I take the train to Shantiniketan and onwards by taxi to Kenduli which takes about 2 hours .Kenduli is a small village , on the banks of the river Ajay . This is the mecca for the Bauls .Kenduli is home to a shrine of Joydev and Padmabati , whose love story has been sung for many years . Joydev is the famous poet who wrote `Geet Gobind�. The annual mela is held here in his honour . Thousands of people have gathered here for the festival ; as far as the gaze goes all you can see is countless heads of people .Small tents , about 50 in number , have mushroomed all over ; all of them housing Bauls .These tents are known as ` akhras �. A huge open stage or Mukta Mancha stands in the centre .It is from here that I hear beautiful music and get to speak to some Bauls and Baulinis .Interestingly , I get to meet Purna Das Baul ,who has been responsible for popularising Baul music all over the world .In spite of his busy schedule I did get to have a chat with him .He is probably one of the most famous Bauls around having even found a place on the cover of Bob Dylan�s 1968 album .I asked him to comment on the current trends of Baul music ,the publicity it is getting and on Baul fusion .`Most Bauls do not stick to authentic tunes,�he says,`though the popularity of the music has brought in a welcome change.�Purna Das thinks the older generation shies away from the publicity blitz .He is not averse to the idea of Baul fusion because as long as he chants the name of Krishna ,he thinks it does not mean drifting away . As dusk sets in , the crowd has now swollen to scary proportions . I meet a Baulini who lets me into her small hut .She looks after her Baul sangi (partner) and rears children .Still she finds time to sing and has inducted her child into the tradition . I hear the little Chatu Das regale the audience .He is just 10 years old . I noticed that the music too has changed . Instruments like harmonium and tabla which traditionally are not played with Baul songs , now form a part of their renditions .Group shows with musicians accompanying Bauls seemed to be an emerging trend . Yet, the philosophy remains the same : Dwija Sudra itar bhadra , nai re bhedabhed bichar . Brahmon ,Kshatriya ,Sudra mile mishe ekakar � Krishna Dasi (Brahmin Sudra, the high and the low , there is no difference ; all are mingled together ) The next part of my work will focus more on women Bauls . The gender bias notwithstanding ,I intend to culminate my work in a play which will highlight the lives of these Baul women . _________________________________________ 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: | | | | Junk E-Mail | Inbox Get the latest updates from MSN Home | My MSN | Hotmail | Groups | Search | Messenger Feedback | Help � 2006 Microsoft TERMS OF USE Privacy Statement Anti-Spam Policy From shveta at sarai.net Tue Mar 28 22:51:37 2006 From: shveta at sarai.net (Shveta) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 22:51:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] X-1 days to disappearance / Nangla Message-ID: <442970A1.6000503@sarai.net> Dear All, NM (Nangla) was lively today (Tuesday, 28th March). There were two new faces - Riyaaz and Omveer. Mukesh (who I sometimes run into in Bhogal, near where I live) had also come. Akhilesh and Dilip had come. Of course, Jaanu was there. "NM is not breaking this week, so you are seeing so many faces." Ankur's family is packing the last few remains in their house. We had heard yesterday that his family had decided to shift on Sunday. As I entered Nangla, there was a tempo with an entire house packed in, ready to move. Akhilesh said, "Wadhwa Tempo." I met him at the entrance. "It's not an NM tempo. They have got someone from outside to move their things". There was a huge rally yesterday at Jantar Mantar. Rajdar Babbar, VP Singh... all political leaders were present. Anwari Aapa, who everyone knows but whose name it takes everyone time to remember, had walked around NM yesterday with a big stick, catching young men by their collar and telling them, "Go to the rally". She has lived in NM forever. A young man walked around saying, "This is where I grew up, this is where my grandmother died. What should I leave behind here, what should I take with me?" Many went to the rally. It was a huge rally. Women went in big numbers. They lost their slippers in the rush of the rally. And also because they took them off and beat police. And there was police. Tear Gas. Firing. Water hose pipes. "Mistryji" is just one who has come back with a hole in his arm with a bullet hit. "We beat them with all our might. We had worn old slippers and gone so we would not regret losing them, or their breaking." They all went with belans and sticks too, and used them. But faces are smiling today. They have been told the demolitions will be postponed by three months. What the truth value of this is, I guess will be known once some of our comrades go to the nearby police station to ask them on which date they have been asked to be present to oversee and control the "crowd" during demolitions. Jaanu had gone to the police station yesterday, with Avantika and Shabana (Ankur). The head constable looked at them, then through his papers, then around the room, then at them. "Oh break it will. See I don't want to break it. But break it will. If not today, then tomorrow. But sooner than later. Our force will be present. It has to be. Otherwise how will it happen. See, demolitions will happen over four days. First two days of peacefully trying to evict, and the last two days to make it happen one way or the other. First the most illegal ones, and last the pre-98 ones." So now we all have a clearer image, and can rehearse it in our minds before it happens. The landlord of the house in which the lab is, and who lives above the lab, has emptied the house. "If it is postponed by three months, maybe I can let it out to someone else. I have packed up. When it has to break, then why wait?" She had gone to some meeting today morning, and was not there when the lab had to be opened, and Jaanu just undid the screws of the bolt and opened the lab. She had come in, her child to her breast, laughing and saying, "I will have you reported for house break!" She spent the entire morning washing the house and the corridor, cleaning everything. There is no electricity in Nangla, since yesterday morning. "It's probably a local cut." Jaanu said. "Maybe they cut it or people would not have gone to the rally. I am sure they are replacing cables right now. I am sure it will be back by evening." Everyone agrees. "You should have seen this place yesterday." Jaanu again. "I walked around after people had left for the rally and put stickers [It quenches the thirst of the thirsty...] on everyone's thresholds. I almost got beat up. But everyone is hapy with them today. Make sure we have more tomorrow to stick, ok? We've finished the ones we had here." It was as if the entire locality had gone fluid today... so many people just came into the lab. Just dropping in, chit chatting, and going away. Old men, drunk men, young men, all men. "What are you people doing?" Just general chit chat. Jaanu has decided not to remove the photographs he has stuck on the walls. "When the basti breaks, and this room is broken, they will fly around and people who pass through will pick them up as puzzles without a location." We made plans today, for a broadsheet, for texts, for photographs of decorated (saji huwi) Nangla, for mails to be written on the CM list, for companion conversations in the other labs, about the speed of time in thinking about the making of NM and the speed of time as we wait for it to be broken, about how to write about people who just dropped in for a while today, about the texts everyone had written, about Jaanu's plans to play his recording of the "Loudspeaker" text maybe from a deck or from the microphone of the masjid, about making the lab a convivial space for the coming little time, about mails sent out on various lists and about how many stories will now slowly link in, about people shifting, about cricket, about things in general. Now I am waiting to see what tomorrow morning will bring. shveta Keep reading http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Mar 28 09:14:06 2006 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 09:14:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <79026FE5-A12D-4E01-8CC0-C7C08B6BA8C7@sarai.net> dear Fellows, Please please please post with a proper subject header. All these mails are archived and with a proper subject header it will be easier to locate and read later. Please understand this simple request. best jeebesh On 28-Mar-06, at 10:37 PM, Averee Chaurey wrote: > > > > > > > THIRD POSTING > > > > My next visit was to the Joydev Mela , at Kenduli in Birbhum ,where > the largest number of Bauls congregate. > > This was my first visit to Kenduli , a place close to the hearts of > all Bauls . From Kolkata I take the train to Shantiniketan and > onwards by taxi to Kenduli which takes about 2 hours .Kenduli is a > small village , on the banks of the river Ajay . This is the mecca > for the Bauls .Kenduli is home to a shrine of Joydev and > Padmabati , whose love story has been sung for many years . Joydev > is the famous poet who wrote `Geet Gobind’. The annual mela is held > here in his honour . > > Thousands of people have gathered here for the festival ; as far as > the gaze goes all you can see is countless heads of people .Small > tents , about 50 in number , have mushroomed all over ; all of them > housing Bauls .These tents are known as ` akhras ‘. A huge open > stage or Mukta Mancha stands in the centre .It is from here that I > hear beautiful music and get to speak to some Bauls and > Baulinis .Interestingly , I get to meet Purna Das Baul ,who has > been responsible for popularising Baul music all over the world .In > spite of his busy schedule I did get to have a chat with him .He is > probably one of the most famous Bauls around having even found a > place on the cover of Bob Dylan’s 1968 album .I asked him to > comment on the current trends of Baul music ,the publicity it is > getting and on Baul fusion .`Most Bauls do not stick to authentic > tunes,’he says,`though the popularity of the music has brought in a > welcome change.’Purna Das thinks the older generation shies away > from the publicity blitz .He is not averse to the idea of Baul > fusion because as long as he chants the name of Krishna ,he thinks > it does not mean drifting away . > > As dusk sets in , the crowd has now swollen to scary proportions . > I meet a Baulini who lets me into her small hut .She looks after > her Baul sangi (partner) and rears children .Still she finds time > to sing and has inducted her child into the tradition . I hear the > little Chatu Das regale the audience .He is just 10 years old . > > I noticed that the music too has changed . Instruments like > harmonium and tabla which traditionally are not played with Baul > songs , now form a part of their renditions .Group shows with > musicians accompanying Bauls seemed to be an emerging trend . > > Yet, the philosophy remains the same : > > Dwija Sudra itar bhadra , nai re bhedabhed bichar . > Brahmon ,Kshatriya ,Sudra mile mishe ekakar – Krishna Dasi > (Brahmin Sudra, the high and the low , there is no difference ; all > are mingled together ) > > > > > > The next part of my work will focus more on women Bauls . The > gender bias notwithstanding ,I intend to culminate my work in a > play which will highlight the lives of these Baul women . > > > > _________________________________________ > 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: > > > > | | | | Junk E-Mail | Inbox > > Get the latest updates from MSN > Home | My MSN | Hotmail | Groups | Search | > Messenger > Feedback | Help > © 2006 Microsoft TERMS OF USE Privacy Statement Anti-Spam Policy > > > _________________________________________ > 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 nirupama.sekhar at gmail.com Wed Mar 29 07:29:12 2006 From: nirupama.sekhar at gmail.com (Nirupama Sekhar) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 07:29:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Of Pixels, Kohlis and other ideas.. Message-ID: <87927e9c0603281759x3e1c8b10u9aa3c2ec3a55a7fe@mail.gmail.com> URBAN STORIES: A collection of graphic essays Collaborative project by Nirupama S. & Sanjay R. For those still a little unclear about the nature of our project, 'Urban Stories' is essentially a series of visual "posters" or "panels" encompassing various facets of Mumbai. Our final product at the end of the project will be a series of visual panels. Each poster/panel deals with a different aspect of the city, and the visual treatment of the subject will also vary in each piece. Each individual poster endeavors to be both visually engaging and conceptually innovative. Every piece will also be labeled/ identified by an aspect of time.. any aspect of time. For example: - Monsoons - 1972-2004 - Past Continuous Future Tense - 3 a.m. etc This will serve as the unifying factor to the entire project, considering that the concept and designs vary in each piece. Following are some concepts for individual panels that we have been toying with.. pls feel free to comment. In fact, as our project is more creative than research-based, opinions and suggestions are welcome. WORKING TITLE: Past Continuous > Of Pixels and Kohlis VISUAL TREATMENT: The entire panel is an elaborate video game in typical 2D, pixel-based style. But the actual game is a depiction of life in a Mumbai chawl, complete with characters, scores, enemy targets (the guy who gets to the loo que before our protagonst for example), rounds and time taken, personal ammunition etc. CONCEPT: A fresh perspective on an old subject. Life in a Mumbai chawl is by no means easy and comes with its own peculiarities and problems unique to the city's 'wadi's'; its a game you play against time and against other tenants. 'Sim City', the video game about building cities, proved to be an interesting starting point for this idea. THEMES DEPICTED: Mumbai Chawls. Over Population. Migration. Lack of living space. WORKING TITLE: Sunday Morning > Raju, Live at Eagle Hairdressers VISUAL TREATMENT : An advertisement for the local barber. The concept of the ad will proclaim him to be everything but a barber: soothsayer of the future of Indian politik, your own parental advisory unit in an alien city. Visual treatment will hark back to older times, like a 1940s newspaper ad with bold serif typefaces, screen printed material and sporadic images; a strong retro look. CONCEPT: A fun look at one of the thousands of interesting characters that make up the city. The ad will feature the kind of character everyone can relate to; content will be witty, light-hearted and tongue in cheek. THEMES DEPICTED: Dreams and aspirations of immigrants. WORKING TITLE: From Dawn till Dusk > VISUAL TREATMENT : (Inspired from a true story..) Following the same concept of an ad for a particular character, is an ad for a unemployed filmmaking student looking for a job in films. His accolades include being so involved in cinema that even a real life event is explained in terms of zoom in shots and jump cuts. Meeting a girl is not real unless accompanied by a background score; and all punch lines are always dialogues from Tarentino films. CONCEPT: Lighthearted in vein, this piece is also a take on the different characters that ultimately define the city. This piece addresses an ever-increasing bracket of urban youngsters who come to the city to find jobs in film and television, but not always with success. THEMES DEPICTED: Influence of Cinema. Bollywood. Bombay as the city of dreams. Regards. Nirupama Mumbai From eye at ranadasgupta.com Wed Mar 29 11:16:15 2006 From: eye at ranadasgupta.com (Rana Dasgupta) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 11:16:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Paris is safe Message-ID: <442A1F27.6000309@ranadasgupta.com> came across this yesterday when browsing for maps of paris. it is a notice on a hotel booking site reassuring potential tourists that paris is, despite what they have heard, perfectly safe. thought the language was interesting. "the media blurred the lines between Paris and its suburbs. Paris remains Paris. Paris is not its suburbs." R http://www.hotel-paris-france-reservation.com/paris-hotels/paris-hotels-paris-arrondissement-15.htm News : Is Paris Safe These Days? Despite all the media hype, the situation here in Paris is quiet and it is "business as usual". The portraying of Paris as a city under civil strife is simply untrue. The mass media simply blurred the geographical lines between Paris and its suburbs. Paris remains Paris, nevertheless. Paris is not its suburbs. In the last 2 weeks Paris has only seen two isolated instances of hooliganism within its walls. Both incidents did not last more than 1/2 hour. Why is Paris quiet when the suburbs aren't? For one thing, the police force in Paris is strong, well armed, and very efficient in its interventions. Suburban thugs rarely look for trouble in Paris as they know full well they would be promptly arrested, and thrown in jail. Secondly, Paris is rich, and does not face any of the problems afflicting certain suburban areas. To put it bluntly, the troublemakers do not live in Paris: they can't afford the cost of housing. So Paris has remained very quiet throughout the recent events. You are and will be perfectly safe in Paris. Probably even safer than usual since more policemen are patrolling the streets. To their credit, the media correctly reported that the commotion is now receding: the troublemakers are being neutralized by the police and the army. They will be brought to justice. Count on the French government to do just that. As far as you are concerned, there is no need for you to cancel your travel plans. There was no civil strife in Paris in the first place. From rajeshmehar at yahoo.com Wed Mar 29 15:28:58 2006 From: rajeshmehar at yahoo.com (rajesh mehar) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 01:58:58 -0800 (PST) Subject: The debatable subjects (Re: [Reader-list] third posting) In-Reply-To: <35021742-0B50-4F4E-8472-B2EEFE6BC73D@sarai.net> Message-ID: <20060329095858.28692.qmail@web30410.mail.mud.yahoo.com> On the other hand, on a high-volume list like this one, it helps people like me know that a particular mail is part of the I-Fellow postings rather than general Reader List traffic. So, just an interesting (but oten cryptic?) subject that does not mention the I-Fellowship in any way makes it easier for one to miss the postings. Postings are more noteworthy than other Reader List mails for some of us. Or is it just me? --Rajesh --- Jeebesh Bagchi wrote: > In this list archive there will be fifty postings by > the name "third > posting" or "second posting".....that is not very > intelligent way of > getting people to read..... > > comrades..please post with an nice subject > header.... > > On 28-Mar-06, at 3:54 PM, Farhana Ibrahim wrote: > > > Apologies for this delay � I hope to become more > regular at these > > postings once I stop traveling around in Kachchh > and return to some > > archival research in Delhi and Mumbai. > > > > I still am on my search for some clues about the > lives of the > > Kachchhi merchants who were once based in Kachchh > and have now > > moved out in all kinds of directions. After Jakhau > (I discussed it > > in my last posting), I moved to Bhadresar, another > old port of > > Kachchh, close to the contemporary port of Mundra. > Mundra is > > becoming highly mechanized � it has been taken > over by the Adanis � > > and is increasingly the new face of industrialized > Gujarat. On the > > other hand, Bhadresar is now little more than an > old fishing > > village. Once a shallow-water port known as > Bhadravati Nagari and > > then Bhadresar, it was home to large shipping > magnates of the > > region. In the old part of town, and old temple > and dargah sit side > > by side, frequented by the fishermen and what is > left of the once- > > thriving port town. It is almost as though the > post-earthquake > > reconstruction drive in Kachchh has passed by this > area. Old houses > > stand disheveled and dilapidated, but not as a > result of the 2001 > > earthquake. These structures fell apart over time > and have not been > > rescued from decay by the state government. > Recently a Japanese > > heritage conservation project has identified a > cluster of old > > buildings to restore and maintain. There has been > much controversy > > among local level leaders over the proposed plan > to restore an old > > Ismaili Muslim Jama�at Khana. The Jain temple > should be restored > > first said the panchayat, then the Jama�at khana. > These divisions > > are relatively recent in Kachchh. As far as the > villagers are > > concerned, they seem to be relatively unconcerned > about these > > fractious debates. As I walked into the village > with my research > > assistant, the call to prayer was sounding from a > nearby mosque. He > > went in to pray, while I sat outside for him, > admiring the frescoes > > and sculptures on the imposing house just across > the mosque on the > > narrow street. Soon I was engaged in conversation > with an elderly > > man smoking a bidi next to me. The Khimji family > house that we were > > admiring so ardently was once a towering structure > of three > > storeys. The family lived here while they traded > in Muscat and > > Zanzibar, dealing in spices and silks. As they > prospered, they > > decided to add storeys onto their single floor. > Painters were > > invited from all over Kachchh to decorate the > facades and sculptors > > who were employed by the royal families of the > area were secretly > > spirited away to embellish the house. They were > warned not to go > > higher than the dome of the mosque, and once they > did, they began > > to lose their business. Then the old man fell and > broke his leg. > > The upper storeys have never been inhabited again, > I was told. All > > the villagers know this tale, and believe it > carries a powerful > > portent for the future; they bow their heads in > respect as they > > pass the mosque, regardless of their religious or > sectarian > > allegiances. > > _________________________________________ > > 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: > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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: > > Gonna make a lot o'money, gonna quit this crazy scene. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From lawrence at altlawforum.org Wed Mar 29 15:47:56 2006 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 15:47:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Profiting From A More Creative Copyright In-Reply-To: <1766.10.127.133.110.1143626466.squirrel@gpo.iitb.ac.in> Message-ID: Reply-To: Please come to the forum and spread the word! Shishir K. Jha ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Creative Commons India (http://creativecommons.org & http://cc-india.org) is organizing a forum, titled: ³Profiting from a more Creative Copyright.² It is being organized for filmmakers, musicians, artists, writers and others with a creative persuasion. Venue: Come Media Foundation, Topiwala Lane School, Lamington Road City: Mumbai Date: 1st April, 2006 [Saturday] [5:00 pm to 8:00 pm] It is being organized with multiple-objectives: 1. The broad pool of creative professionals are continuously grappling with the fundamental issues of Copyright law. How does copyright influence the borrowing, the sharing and the gaining from the creative process? What are the rights and limitations that copyright places on a creative individual¹s functioning, growth and professional fulfillment? 2. The forum will aim to hear, document and share stories of the denial, abuse and the exploitation of our rights on our creations. Do individual artists face considerable challenges in legitimately gaining from and sharing their creative work? 3. What are some new developments with respect to copyright law happening across thw world? Why are creative individuals engaging in more of sharing and the promotion of ³free [access] culture.² How does the ³economy of sharing² function? What are the pre-requisites for it to grow and develop? Discussion of all of this within a single meeting is an ambitious undertaking. However we intend to seriously build on such a momentum. This forum would like to create opportunities for us to bond together with instituions, organizations and individuals who share our concern for the creative individual and the public role of her creations. Such forums will be held every few months. The discussions will often be continued on our blog and elsewhere. These discussions will prepare the ground for the scope of the activity of Creative Commons India and the licenses it plans to launch later this year. Please visit the above web-sites for more information. -------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ commons-law mailing list commons-law at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law ------ End of Forwarded Message From aasim27 at yahoo.co.in Wed Mar 29 18:10:54 2006 From: aasim27 at yahoo.co.in (aasim khan) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 13:40:54 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] X-1 days to disappearance / Nangla In-Reply-To: <442970A1.6000503@sarai.net> Message-ID: <20060329124054.65755.qmail@web8703.mail.in.yahoo.com> Hi.. I am sure you guys have heard the Delhi high Court verdict...Clean up all the slums on the banks of yamuna by 30th april.No stays on the verdict allowed.Is this the final countdown?I don't know and may be no one will until the deadline...Ours is a city of many secrets. but my question is who is counting whom??? Aasim. --- Shveta wrote: > Dear All, > > NM (Nangla) was lively today (Tuesday, 28th March). > There were two new > faces - Riyaaz and Omveer. Mukesh (who I sometimes > run into in Bhogal, > near where I live) had also come. Akhilesh and Dilip > had come. Of > course, Jaanu was there. "NM is not breaking this > week, so you are > seeing so many faces." Ankur's family is packing the > last few remains in > their house. We had heard yesterday that his family > had decided to shift > on Sunday. > > As I entered Nangla, there was a tempo with an > entire house packed in, > ready to move. Akhilesh said, "Wadhwa > Tempo." I met him at the entrance. "It's not an NM > tempo. They have got > someone from outside to move their things". > > There was a huge rally yesterday at Jantar Mantar. > Rajdar Babbar, VP > Singh... all political leaders were present. Anwari > Aapa, who everyone > knows but whose name it takes everyone time to > remember, had walked > around NM yesterday with a big stick, catching young > men by their collar > and telling them, "Go to the rally". She has lived > in NM forever. A > young man walked around saying, "This is where I > grew up, this is where > my grandmother died. What should I leave behind > here, what should I take > with me?" > > Many went to the rally. It was a huge rally. Women > went in big numbers. > They lost their slippers in the rush of the rally. > And also because they > took them off and beat police. And there was police. > Tear Gas. Firing. > Water hose pipes. > > "Mistryji" is just one who has come back with a hole > in his arm with a > bullet hit. "We beat them with all our might. We had > worn old slippers > and gone so we would not regret losing them, or > their breaking." They > all went with belans and sticks too, and used them. > > But faces are smiling today. They have been told the > demolitions will be > postponed by three months. What the truth value of > this is, I guess will > be known once some of our comrades go to the nearby > police station to > ask them on which date they have been asked to be > present to oversee and > control the "crowd" during demolitions. > > Jaanu had gone to the police station yesterday, with > Avantika and > Shabana (Ankur). The head constable looked at them, > then through his > papers, then around the room, then at them. "Oh > break it will. See I > don't want to break it. But break it will. If not > today, then tomorrow. > But sooner than later. Our force will be present. It > has to be. > Otherwise how will it happen. See, demolitions will > happen over four > days. First two days of peacefully trying to evict, > and the last two > days to make it happen one way or the other. First > the most illegal > ones, and last the pre-98 ones." So now we all have > a clearer image, and > can rehearse it in our minds before it happens. > > The landlord of the house in which the lab is, and > who lives above the > lab, has emptied the house. "If it is postponed by > three months, maybe I > can let it out to someone else. I have packed up. > When it has to break, > then why wait?" She had gone to some meeting today > morning, and was not > there when the lab had to be opened, and Jaanu just > undid the screws of > the bolt and opened the lab. She had come in, her > child to her breast, > laughing and saying, "I will have you reported for > house break!" She > spent the entire morning washing the house and the > corridor, cleaning > everything. > > There is no electricity in Nangla, since yesterday > morning. "It's > probably a local cut." Jaanu said. "Maybe they cut > it or people would > not have gone to the rally. I am sure they are > replacing cables right > now. I am sure it will be back by evening." Everyone > agrees. > > "You should have seen this place yesterday." Jaanu > again. "I walked > around after people had left for the rally and put > stickers [It quenches > the thirst of the thirsty...] on everyone's > thresholds. I almost got > beat up. But everyone is hapy with them today. Make > sure we have more > tomorrow to stick, ok? We've finished the ones we > had here." > > It was as if the entire locality had gone fluid > today... so many people > just came into the lab. Just dropping in, chit > chatting, and going away. > Old men, drunk men, young men, all men. "What are > you people doing?" > Just general chit chat. > > Jaanu has decided not to remove the photographs he > has stuck on the > walls. "When the basti breaks, and this room is > broken, they will fly > around and people who pass through will pick them up > as puzzles without > a location." > > We made plans today, for a broadsheet, for texts, > for photographs of > decorated (saji huwi) Nangla, for mails to be > written on the CM list, > for companion conversations in the other labs, about > the speed of time > in thinking about the making of NM and the speed of > time as we wait for > it to be broken, about how to write about people who > just dropped in for > a while today, about the texts everyone had written, > about Jaanu's plans > to play his recording of the "Loudspeaker" text > maybe from a deck or > from the microphone of the masjid, about making the > lab a convivial > space for the coming little time, about mails sent > out on various lists > and about how many stories will now slowly link in, > about people > shifting, about cricket, about things in general. > > Now I am waiting to see what tomorrow morning will > bring. > > shveta > > Keep reading http://nangla.freeflux.net > > http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net > > _________________________________________ > 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 partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From rana at businesswireindia.com Wed Mar 29 11:06:27 2006 From: rana at businesswireindia.com (Rana Dasgupta) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 11:06:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Paris is safe Message-ID: <442A1CDB.9030105@businesswireindia.com> came across this yesterday when browsing for maps of paris. it is a notice on a hotel booking site reassuring potential tourists that paris is, despite what they have heard, perfectly safe. thought the language was interesting. "the media blurred the lines between Paris and its suburbs. Paris remains Paris. Paris is not its suburbs." R http://www.hotel-paris-france-reservation.com/paris-hotels/paris-hotels-paris-arrondissement-15.htm News : Is Paris Safe These Days? Despite all the media hype, the situation here in Paris is quiet and it is "business as usual". The portraying of Paris as a city under civil strife is simply untrue. The mass media simply blurred the geographical lines between Paris and its suburbs. Paris remains Paris, nevertheless. Paris is not its suburbs. In the last 2 weeks Paris has only seen two isolated instances of hooliganism within its walls. Both incidents did not last more than 1/2 hour. Why is Paris quiet when the suburbs aren't? For one thing, the police force in Paris is strong, well armed, and very efficient in its interventions. Suburban thugs rarely look for trouble in Paris as they know full well they would be promptly arrested, and thrown in jail. Secondly, Paris is rich, and does not face any of the problems afflicting certain suburban areas. To put it bluntly, the troublemakers do not live in Paris: they can't afford the cost of housing. So Paris has remained very quiet throughout the recent events. You are and will be perfectly safe in Paris. Probably even safer than usual since more policemen are patrolling the streets. To their credit, the media correctly reported that the commotion is now receding: the troublemakers are being neutralized by the police and the army. They will be brought to justice. Count on the French government to do just that. As far as you are concerned, there is no need for you to cancel your travel plans. There was no civil strife in Paris in the first place. From ravig1 at vsnl.com Tue Mar 28 16:01:28 2006 From: ravig1 at vsnl.com (Ravi Agarwal) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 16:01:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] High Court to monitor relocations Message-ID: <238E05F72DD44936AA353063A5F9CE32@ToxicsLink.local> HC appoints judge to head Yamuna monitoring panel A division Bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Justices Vijender Jain and Rekha Sharma, appointed Justice Usha Mehra to head the Yamuna removal of Encroachment Monitoring Committee.The Bench, in its order, observed that that the hope and expectation of the Delhiite to see the Yamuna restored to its pristine glory should be fulfilled.The Division Bench also observed that despite the claim of the Delhi Government that it was spending crores of rupees under the 'Clean Yamuna' project, people did not find any change. The Committee was launched on January 2, 2006 at the India Habitat Centre. It would monitor the removal of all encroachments from both banks of the Yamuna. "We direct the Committee to take up the task in right earnest and on a day-to-day basis track the removal of encroachments upto 300 metres from both sides of the Yamuna, in the first instance. No encroachments either in the form of jhuggi jhopdi (JJ) clusters by any person or organisation shall be permitted," the order stated. The Committee had removed more than 300 jhuggies along the eastern bank of the Yamuna, near the Nizamuddin Bridge Highway.At the instance of the Committee, the Commissioner of Delhi Police assured that no fresh encroachments would be allowed in the area. The committee had chalked out a road map to ensure that all encroachments are removed from the banks of Yamuna lying between the Old Railway Bridge and the ITO Bridge by April 30. Similarly, the Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh, Okhla Barrage has also promised that more than 200 jhuggies would be removed from the eastern bank of Yamuna opposite Samachar Apartments by April 30. Encroachments on riverbeds and embankments have become the order of the day. No effective steps have been taken to make the Yamuna free from encroachments and pollution of all kinds. It is because of this realisation that we have entrusted the task to the Committee, said the Bench. Toxics Link H-2 Jangpura Extension New Delhi - 110014 ph + 91 11 24328006/ 24320711 fax: + 91 11 24321747 (NOTE :This is not a spam mail as it consists complete sender's details. If you have received this communication by error, please delete the email and destroy all copies of it & in case you wish to unsubscribe our special offerings / promotions kindly send us a email with Subject "UNSUBSCRIBE". excuse us if this was an unwanted mail for you.) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060328/f0070a8f/attachment.html From parismitasingh at yahoo.com Wed Mar 29 19:12:56 2006 From: parismitasingh at yahoo.com (parismita singh) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 05:42:56 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Who is this young girl in a kimono? Message-ID: <20060329134256.21485.qmail@web52602.mail.yahoo.com> I-Fellow Parismita Singh's research posting. Read it here with the visuals: http://parismitasingh.blogspot.com/2006/03/who-is-this-young-girl-in-kimono-and.html Who is this young girl in a kimono, and other things. I chanced upon two ' quotations' this week that seemed interesting in the light of my project. The first one - ' Who is this young girl in a kimono ?' was a reference to an assamese mekhla skirt worn by somebody with, err..small eyes. It's a fantastic anecdote with all the elements that I'm trying to touch on in my work. I can't narrate it here - but I find it fascinating the way 'ideas' of 'race'( or 'feelings' of race , I'm tempted to say!) are woven into our lives. I'd like to somehow make my work reflect this, it's not easy.As of now,I'm going to use this line as a title to one of my stories. The other quotation is from Yves Chaland,a comic book artist talking about style.Yves Chaland worked in the 1980s and created Freddy Lombard - a comic book in the 1950s style.Chaland died young though and one gets the sense that he would've done more important work if he didn't go so early. You get the feeling from his work ( and from his ideas on where his work was heading ) that he was only warming up. Well, here's what he wrote about style in a letter to a friend - "I believe in treating the reader badly, in making sure he never forgets that the writer is in charge. I can make a tiny event that takes three minutes fill 43 pages, and I can tell a person's entire life story in one page if I want to. I want to really grab the reader's attention, I want him to know that if he skips one image , he could miss a bloody masacre with 583 casualties. That's also why there can be pages with no text and others with more text than the reader can stand to read. You have to do the opposite of what other people do and invent the rules of a new style, because style is the most important thing, and the author has to spend the most time on it." Yves Chaland September 18, 1985. Also I've posted in another two page story 6 o'clock. It's the same style as At the Park ( my last posting) but different in many ways too ...( it perhaps doesn't strictly conform to the migrant's story theme.)I'm working on a long story thats closer to the research idea , but will take a while before it's done. Thanks! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Mar 29 08:09:50 2006 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 08:09:50 +0530 Subject: The debatable subjects (Re: [Reader-list] third posting) In-Reply-To: <20060329095858.28692.qmail@web30410.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <20060329095858.28692.qmail@web30410.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <970E9183-1546-476B-A157-13C3415EBBFF@sarai.net> That is not such a critical problem. The first line of posting can say, it is an Ind.Fellow posting. My only contention is that these postings are being archived and subject headers will help. best j On 29-Mar-06, at 3:28 PM, rajesh mehar wrote: > On the other hand, on a high-volume list like this > one, it helps people like me know that a particular > mail is part of the I-Fellow postings rather than > general Reader List traffic. > > So, just an interesting (but oten cryptic?) subject > that does not mention the I-Fellowship in any way > makes it easier for one to miss the postings. Postings > are more noteworthy than other Reader List mails for > some of us. > > Or is it just me? > > --Rajesh > > --- Jeebesh Bagchi wrote: > > >> In this list archive there will be fifty postings by >> the name "third >> posting" or "second posting".....that is not very >> intelligent way of >> getting people to read..... >> >> comrades..please post with an nice subject >> header.... >> >> On 28-Mar-06, at 3:54 PM, Farhana Ibrahim wrote: >> >> >>> Apologies for this delay � I hope to become more >>> >> regular at these >> >>> postings once I stop traveling around in Kachchh >>> >> and return to some >> >>> archival research in Delhi and Mumbai. >>> >>> I still am on my search for some clues about the >>> >> lives of the >> >>> Kachchhi merchants who were once based in Kachchh >>> >> and have now >> >>> moved out in all kinds of directions. After Jakhau >>> >> (I discussed it >> >>> in my last posting), I moved to Bhadresar, another >>> >> old port of >> >>> Kachchh, close to the contemporary port of Mundra. >>> >> Mundra is >> >>> becoming highly mechanized � it has been taken >>> >> over by the Adanis � >> >>> and is increasingly the new face of industrialized >>> >> Gujarat. On the >> >>> other hand, Bhadresar is now little more than an >>> >> old fishing >> >>> village. Once a shallow-water port known as >>> >> Bhadravati Nagari and >> >>> then Bhadresar, it was home to large shipping >>> >> magnates of the >> >>> region. In the old part of town, and old temple >>> >> and dargah sit side >> >>> by side, frequented by the fishermen and what is >>> >> left of the once- >> >>> thriving port town. It is almost as though the >>> >> post-earthquake >> >>> reconstruction drive in Kachchh has passed by this >>> >> area. Old houses >> >>> stand disheveled and dilapidated, but not as a >>> >> result of the 2001 >> >>> earthquake. These structures fell apart over time >>> >> and have not been >> >>> rescued from decay by the state government. >>> >> Recently a Japanese >> >>> heritage conservation project has identified a >>> >> cluster of old >> >>> buildings to restore and maintain. There has been >>> >> much controversy >> >>> among local level leaders over the proposed plan >>> >> to restore an old >> >>> Ismaili Muslim Jama�at Khana. The Jain temple >>> >> should be restored >> >>> first said the panchayat, then the Jama�at >>> > khana. > >> These divisions >> >>> are relatively recent in Kachchh. As far as the >>> >> villagers are >> >>> concerned, they seem to be relatively unconcerned >>> >> about these >> >>> fractious debates. As I walked into the village >>> >> with my research >> >>> assistant, the call to prayer was sounding from a >>> >> nearby mosque. He >> >>> went in to pray, while I sat outside for him, >>> >> admiring the frescoes >> >>> and sculptures on the imposing house just across >>> >> the mosque on the >> >>> narrow street. Soon I was engaged in conversation >>> >> with an elderly >> >>> man smoking a bidi next to me. The Khimji family >>> >> house that we were >> >>> admiring so ardently was once a towering structure >>> >> of three >> >>> storeys. The family lived here while they traded >>> >> in Muscat and >> >>> Zanzibar, dealing in spices and silks. As they >>> >> prospered, they >> >>> decided to add storeys onto their single floor. >>> >> Painters were >> >>> invited from all over Kachchh to decorate the >>> >> facades and sculptors >> >>> who were employed by the royal families of the >>> >> area were secretly >> >>> spirited away to embellish the house. They were >>> >> warned not to go >> >>> higher than the dome of the mosque, and once they >>> >> did, they began >> >>> to lose their business. Then the old man fell and >>> >> broke his leg. >> >>> The upper storeys have never been inhabited again, >>> >> I was told. All >> >>> the villagers know this tale, and believe it >>> >> carries a powerful >> >>> portent for the future; they bow their heads in >>> >> respect as they >> >>> pass the mosque, regardless of their religious or >>> >> sectarian >> >>> allegiances. >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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: >>> >> >> >>> >>> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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: >> >> >> > > > Gonna make a lot o'money, gonna quit this crazy scene. > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.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: > From nangla at cm.sarai.net Wed Mar 29 23:59:51 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:29:51 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Reaching Nangla, Today Message-ID: <88228583b48e7523d2dad791dc94cf1e@sarai.net> Dear All, As we lock the NM Lab today, we are unsure of whether we will return to a standing room tomorrow. Police has arrived, in a huge strength, in protective gear and with water canons. Close to forty tempos stand along the Ring Road, some shared, some hired by a single family, to pack and leave. The cost of hiring tempos has become prohibitive today. Lanes are busy with families. Everyone has stepped out and is sitting in front of their house with all their samaan. The lanes are also busy with Nangla being emptied out. Men, young men, old men, young women, older women, boys, girls, all walk up and down, carrying things. There are suitcases, and there are bundles, snowcem buckets - 5 together - with smaller items, cots, big beds, cartons, buckets, single items like chairs being taken out of Nangla. Some things need two people to be carried - like a blue refrigerator, asbestos sheets pulled out from roofs, a set of two green doors... Two men stop to rest as they carry a cupboard. The lanes leading out of Nangla have lengthened today. All of these will be carted into the tempos, laid up in an arrangement outside the dwelling, or in the beginning of the green Indraprastha Park opposite the locality, and when the entire house has been emptied, the family will sit by it, on it, or in a carefully set up chair along it. As the day progresses towards afternoon, some have opened their umbrellas and sit under its shade, right outside their houses. A young girl passes by with her younger sister, through the gathering families and their stock of things from the house, asking, "Is our tempo further away? Is it that one... the last one?" A small collection from a house - a white box with 'Shalu kufi' painted in red on it, a table fan, two bundles with some household samaan, lies unattended in the corner of the lane through which one enters Nangla. But the other entrances and exits to Nangla, which were sealed up with chest-high walls two months ago, are also active today. A pile of bricks as steps, or short ladders have been set up. And houses flow out from Nangla in bits and pieces through a relay by being passed from inside by one person, and being carried away by another from the outside. There is a vidaai in progress as the lane turns. A bride decked in bright red stands surrounded by the smiling faces of her husband's male relatives and friends. Two more weddings are due for tonight and tomorrow. A woman, carrying things from her house on her head, stops by a group of policemen to say, "Let the houses towards the inside be for a while more. There is a wedding there." All along the lane, bright red and pink sequined dresses are drying after a wash. One can reach the lab today by walking along where the police is standing inside the locality. Jaanu has dismantled all the computers in the lab. He will pack the lab first. "My neighbour, the amma, is looking for me all over. My house is yet to be packed." His father has not come back yet - most people had left for work before the police arrived, and are now returning, if they can be contacted. Dilip's father and elder brother can't be. Only his mother and younger sister are at home. "I have gone home so many times already. But there is no activity there right now. Nothing is about to happen there today. No one is packing." Only conversations, soft conversations, with almost each strand discernable. The deck that plays loudly outside the lab, but is made softer when Ankur, Dilip or Akhilesh request that it be, for the sake of conversation in the lab, is quiet today - and the young man with long hair who plays it is sitting at the end of the lane on a cot. Doors and thresholds are being quietly dismantled, the screws of bolts being unscrewed with a screw driver, the roofs being removed by gently scraping of the cement from the edges. Nangla is quiet today. Our neighbour, who often lent us knives and utensils when we cut fruits in the lab has left. One can walk into and out of the one room house at will. Stand at the door and watch people pass. One can climb up the stairs of the landlord and look around at tarpauline roofs, watch the landlady walk up and down the lane umpteen times, her child in a pink dress to her breast, her young daugther, Preeti, walking at her side in a black and white frock. She stops from time to time and says, "My heart is shrinking. Will they bring the bulldozers in today?" The bulldozers arrive after two. Two of them. Today the shops are being razed. Men have come with rickshas to pick up from the rubble intact bricks, which can be used again. Today shops, tomorrow the peripheral houses, and the day after, the remainder of Nangla. The Nangla Gaon and some houses built before a cut off date will be allowed to be. They will take time to think of rehabilitation. There is no rehabilitation for the majority of Nangla, which is being dispersed into the city today. Jaanu packed much of the lab material before leaving to pack his home. Prabhat has organised a room in Shashi Garden (Khichri Pur) for him to shift. From tomorrow Jaanu will come to Nangla in the mornings, and leave at night. We will begin again, and Prabhat and other comrades from Ankur will slowly recover and pick up the dispersed threads of relationships from the lab, the kitaab ghar, the baal club, the learning centre, by finding out if there are places in the city to which more than two families have shifted together. Looking now towards tomorrow, shveta CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From nangla at cm.sarai.net Thu Mar 30 00:01:36 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:31:36 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: <0ad20c3e13dda3f25ba75667f4a77002@sarai.net> Wednesday, 29th March. Nangla has swollen and is hurrying today. Police is sitting in a long, endless straight line in front of Nangla. Bundles with household materials are lying in clusters all over in the space between the Ring Road and where the houses of the dwelling begin. In the lanes, there is sound of peoples' conversations. A cot is spread outside a house, and a television set, some bundles tied in a tight knot are kept on it, and between them a man is sitting with some diaries and a telephone in his hand. He is looking at the people passing by from in front of him. Some faces are smiling. Maybe there is some comfort in knowing, “I am not alone in this”. A 7-8 year old boy is standing on top of all the carefully packed, tied together, household material. He has a stick in his hand, which he is rotating in the air. He is looking at everyone around him, slowly turning round and round as he watches. Almost no one is inside the house today. Everyone is outside, sitting at their doors, or along lanes. A 40-45 year old woman, wearing a saree, is standing, her back resting on the wall of a house. She keeps fixing her pallu on her head. Her eyes keep shifting, as if searching something. A man is carrying things in both his hands – a fan in one and a bunch of tube light holders in the other. He has anger in his eyes. He speaks suddenly in a loud voice, angry with the MLA, with the government. He looks around to see who is listening to him, who will join him in this. A 60 year old woman is standing in the middle of a group of five policemen and saying, “Don't do it today. There is a wedding here today. What are you doing?” She looks around at their faces, which remain expressionless. Neelofar, CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From nangla at cm.sarai.net Thu Mar 30 00:03:00 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:33:00 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Reaching Nangla, Today (02) Message-ID: Wednesday, 29th March. Nangla has swollen and is hurrying today. Police is sitting in a long, endless straight line in front of Nangla. Bundles with household materials are lying in clusters all over in the space between the Ring Road and where the houses of the dwelling begin. In the lanes, there is sound of peoples' conversations. A cot is spread outside a house, and a television set, some bundles tied in a tight knot are kept on it, and between them a man is sitting with some diaries and a telephone in his hand. He is looking at the people passing by from in front of him. Some faces are smiling. Maybe there is some comfort in knowing, “I am not alone in this”. A 7-8 year old boy is standing on top of all the carefully packed, tied together, household material. He has a stick in his hand, which he is rotating in the air. He is looking at everyone around him, slowly turning round and round as he watches. Almost no one is inside the house today. Everyone is outside, sitting at their doors, or along lanes. A 40-45 year old woman, wearing a saree, is standing, her back resting on the wall of a house. She keeps fixing her pallu on her head. Her eyes keep shifting, as if searching something. A man is carrying things in both his hands – a fan in one and a bunch of tube light holders in the other. He has anger in his eyes. He speaks suddenly in a loud voice, angry with the MLA, with the government. He looks around to see who is listening to him, who will join him in this. A 60 year old woman is standing in the middle of a group of five policemen and saying, “Don't do it today. There is a wedding here today. What are you doing?” She looks around at their faces, which remain expressionless. Neelofar, CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From nangla at cm.sarai.net Thu Mar 30 00:06:14 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:36:14 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Reaching Nangla, Today (03) Message-ID: <1524c2c1bd41523befeb76a44212e14c@sarai.net> Wednesday, 29th March Nangla Time has a weight, and people carry this weight with them. For instance, just now I crossed a man who stopped me. His face was wet with sweat from carrying a heavy load, his breathing was heavy, his clothes had become dirty from carrying so many things. He said, "Madam, listen... Is our dwelling going to be broken as well?" I didn't understand. He asked his question again. Then he said, "We don't have anything - our ration card was made in 1990." Whenever I have spoken with anyone in Nangla, there is a pride in them of having made this place. They say, "It was nothing before we came here." They say, "We have lived here for so many years." Names of shops are painted on the walls. Tailor's shop, STD, Beauty Parlour, and more. Doors and threshold have been decorated with care and love. Neither the walls, or what has been painted on them, nor the decoration, and not the time which these hold can be taken along with anyone today. But doors and shutters can be removed and carried. So hammers are knocking at them. But these sounds are few, and far between. Neelofar CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From nangla at cm.sarai.net Thu Mar 30 00:09:08 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:39:08 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Reaching Nangla, Today (04) Message-ID: Wednesday, 29th March Many conversations reached my ear when I walked into Nangla. There was a restlessness, and there was hope that someone would put in a word in their favour to “higher authorities”, for them and the dwelling would not have to be emptied today. But still, they were emptying the houses, collecting all the samaan in one place outside the house. I walked on ahead and saw a woman was washing her clothes. How could she not know? How did she look so relaxed? She did not let her restlessness become manifest. A few steps ahead. An old man and two young children were taking all the samaan out of their house. Just ahead, I heard the sound of beating drums. Then I saw some rituals were in progress. A lot of people had gathered. The drums beat loudly. A man danced to the drum beats, in the middle of the crowd. The face of the new bride, being sent to her new home, was awash in tears. I walked on. The lab was around the corner. As I waited outside the lab, the street was very quiet. There was no activity here like there was in the lane before. A lot of people had gathered in the house next door to the lab. The deck was not playing any music today. We met the aunty, who lives in the house above our lab. She started talking to me and told me there was another marriage to take place taht night, and the girl had even been through the haldi-besan ceremony. Aunty was very sad, she kept saying, "where will we go at such short notice?" We talked for a while. The lab was still locked. I started retracing our steps towards the outside. Someone was removing the roof of his house. Two people were carefully packing their china and glass utensils. Everyone was talking. Someone said, “What will we do now?” Someone said, “Can't the politicians do something?” Someone said, “It doesn't look like this dwelling will stay any longer.” Someone cursed the police and someone said, They are only following orders from above”. Someone said, “They will carry the curse of the poor with them when they leave.” Outside, the road was lined with tempos. A boy stood inside one tempo. He was putting the heavier samaan at the bottom. Three young girls walked to the tempo and handed him some more things. The boy took them and quickly put them in their new place in the tempo. People sat in the space between the road and the dwelling by their samaan. Some sat on cots. A voice from behind me asked, “What are you doing?” I turned around. It was a police jeep with three policemen inside. I said, “I am waiting for a friend.” “What are you doing here?” I told him we had a lab in NM, and that is where we were going. Then I asked, “Will Nangla be broken down today?” He said, “Beta, it will not be broken just yet.” I looked at him. I thought, he is giving me false hope. Just then his mobile range and he got busy. I moved on. Nasreen. CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From nangla at cm.sarai.net Thu Mar 30 00:11:13 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:41:13 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Reaching Nangla, Today (05) Message-ID: <8fd4532112729a111514e2a57129dc90@sarai.net> Nanglamachi, Wednesday, March 29th 2006 How do I begin to write about today? I have hardly begun to absorb it. When we were leaving the compughar at 4 this evening, Prabhat, while locking the familiar green door said, so we have seen this too. In my 13 years I have not witnessed something like this. I had nothing to say. Neither had I. The compughar was emptied in the course of the day. The computers, furniture, lights, fans, files, negatives, cassettes, boards, were moved. They were loaded onto a tempo that was standing with many others on Outer Ring Road. Traffic was heavy on Outer Ring Road as usual. Except today, it was much slower. To those passing by and going towards Nizamuddin Bridge, it seemed like the settlement on the left, was spilling onto the streets today. Strange. The settlement had become part of the scenery. And like the scenery, it was not supposed to be spilling onto the street. Along with the tempos, there were truckloads of policemen in riot gear. Those cane shields they hold always remind me of garden chairs. Maybe that’s what they are. And the padding on the khaki slip-on half robes is so thin that they look like they’re in line for haircuts. Sadly police presence looks like police presence, and it is enough to make thousands and thousands of people do what they want them to do. In phases. First the shops would go. Then the structures on the outer edges. Then the homes that had a painted sign that said NDS – No Documents, and finally the ones that said P98 – post 98. All on different days starting from today. The Peepal tree that patterned the light coming into the lab has a way of seeming omnipresent. Today I saw that it was. Looking up from the roof of the lab that is also the 1st floor people’s terrace, the Peepal tree spread into the sky for miles. On the other side was a three storied structure that was being broken in parts by the people who lived there. The funny thing was that everything was so noiseless. If I hadn’t followed the hand movements of the two men who were hammering the wall of the house, I wouldn’t have registered it. I had the MD headphones on for a while sitting up there, and the loudest sound was of the birds. I believe they were on that tree. There had been a wedding this morning in the adjoining lane. There are two more to go. One tomorrow and one the day after. The dholaks and the sequined pink and red outfits on the children playing on the video game consoles that were now outside, made me wonder how different it might have been yesterday. Not that much. On one of the main roads of the basti, that also leads to the edge of the Yamuna, there was a sea of things. Inside out upside down and waiting to move in the direction of Outer Ring Road into tempos that would scatter them into a headless city. For now they formed patches of shade. Walking alongside took much longer than usual not only because they came in the way of covering ground. There was no longer a self contained line between inside and outside. And perhaps boundaries have something to do with the speed with which one maneuvers different terrains. I don’t know. Blur. -------------------------------------- Priya CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From monica at sarai.net Thu Mar 30 00:31:04 2006 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 00:31:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MoMA Keeps the Walls Clean Message-ID: http://www.observer.com/ 20060403/20060403_Tyler_Green_culture_newsstory1.asp MoMA Keeps the Walls Clean; Islamic Show Sans Politics As an Iranian-American artist who was effectively exiled from her homeland, Shirin Neshat was happy to be included in an exhibition of artists from the Islamic world. But when the opportunity came—Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking opened at the Museum of Modern Art on Feb. 26—Ms. Neshat was upset. Without Boundary is the most important exhibit MoMA has launched in at least a decade, and it's the first exhibition of contemporary art from the Islamic world in a major American museum since 9/11. The show features 14 artists from Islamic countries, an Indian born to Muslim parents, and two Americans (Mike Kelley and Bill Viola were added late in the show's development). Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Turkey and Pakistan are represented in the exhibition, though nearly all of the artists from those countries now primarily work in the West. The exhibition is a reminder of the difficulties that museums face when it comes to merging—or not—art and politics. "My immediate reaction was, how could anyone today discuss art made by contemporary Muslim artists and not speak about the role the subjects of religion and contemporary politics play in the artists' minds?" Ms. Neshat said. "For some of us, our art is interconnected to the development of our personal lives, which have been controlled and defined by politics and governments. Some artists, including Marjane Satrapi and myself, are `exiled' from our country because of the problematic and controversial nature of our work." Ms. Neshat is right: Many of the artists in the show have addressed the exilic condition and geopolitics in their art, but you wouldn't know that from Without Boundary. There's not a single reference in the show to the United States being at war in two Muslim countries, to its running intelligence operations in others, to its "war" against an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organization, or to how the civil liberties of many Muslims have been affected by the governmental response to 9/11. Without Boundary often seems more a product of RISD than Ramallah. Much of the work in the show, such as Shahzia Sikander's painted and drawn manuscript-style works, or Rachid Koraïchi's silk tapestry, update traditional Islamic media. Mona Hatoum and Shirana Shahbazi present takes on the traditional prayer mat, as does Mr. Kelley. What relation Mr. Kelley has to the other artists on view is unclear, except that his piece pokes traditional Islamic art in the arabesque. Artists such as Emily Jacir, Ms. Hatoum and Ms. Neshat, who are best known for aestheticizing complicated sociopolitical situations, are represented by less sensitive work. "Given the conservative nature of the United States and the restrictive policies in American institutions, there is not the freedom to directly address certain sociopolitical situations like Iraq and Afghanistan," Ms. Jacir said. That artists included in a show at the Museum of Modern Art would speak out against that show is highly unusual. MoMA is the most powerful art museum in the world, and the pressure from gallerists and collectors to not criticize the museum is intense. Outspokenness can hurt relationships that could lead to important sales or inclusion in exhibitions. For Ms. Neshat and Ms. Jacir to be willing to speak out is an indication of the complicated politics involved in this kind of show—and of how the show's apolitical nature has frustrated its artists. MoMA has ensured that its presentation elides global affairs. Museum director Glenn Lowry even wrote an essay for the magazine ARTnews about the exhibit, an uncommon step for a museum director to take. "The tension between old and new, past and present," he wrote, "is still being played out today as artists from the Islamic world confront the challenge of making contemporary art for an international audience grounded in European values and ideas." The show's introductory wall text also steers viewers away from thinking about geopolitics: "This exhibition addresses the application of the unexamined rubric `Islamic' to contemporary artists," wrote curator Fereshteh Daftari. (Ms. Daftari was unavailable for an interview, according to MoMA, as was Mr. Lowry.) "In the complex expressions that draw inspiration from different traditions and defy simplistic categorizations, these artists belie the mentality of division and the binary oppositions of present-day politics." In other words: There are no politics here. Come look at the pretty things that are all, somehow, `Islamic.' "What I found disappointing was how, when Glenn Lowry wrote a lengthy article discussing the exhibition, he managed to reduce his discussion and analysis of so-called `contemporary Islamic art' to only those who avoided the subject of politics all together," Ms. Neshat said, adding that she had already shared these thoughts with Mr. Lowry. "Much of the discussion remained on, for example, how certain artists have succeeded in transforming traditional Islamic art and aesthetics into a contemporary interpretation. "My conclusion was then that either Mr. Lowry had a distaste for political content in art, or that by avoiding discussion of political artists, he was avoiding political discussion altogether." Like her art, Ms. Neshat's frustration is born from her biography. She was born in the Shah's Iran, but left as a teenager to attend school in the United States. During the Islamic revolution, one of Ms. Neshat's friends was killed, and the new government, headed by the Ayatollah Khomeini, stole her family's farm. Ms. Neshat decided to stay in the United States. Then, after a 1996 visit home—and just as Ms. Neshat's artwork was beginning to receive substantial international attention—the Iranian government detained her as she was leaving Tehran International Airport for home. "They gave me just enough trouble so that the message was: I shouldn't re-enter," Ms. Neshat said. She hasn't been back in 10 years. On view in Without Boundary are two photographs from Ms. Neshat's mid-1990's Women of Allah series, which questions Islamic gender norms, and a photographic still from her 2003 film installation, The Last Word. That the photograph is here instead of the film is strange: The Last Word has never been shown in a United States museum. It is intensely sociopolitical and quintessential Neshat. It shows a woman being confronted by an interrogating oppressor, and how the beauty of Islamic poetry gives her the strength to defy her oppressor. The film is about hiding fear and showing strength in the face of dictatorial oppression and, less directly, about Islam and gender. Ms. Jacir, a Palestinian-American artist, also makes work that directly challenges political arrangements. She is best known for art that spotlights the treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government. In Sexy Semite, Ms. Jacir placed personal ads for Palestinians looking for Israeli mates in The Village Voice. "YOU STOLE THE LAND, MAY AS WELL TAKE THE WOMEN," one ad said. In another work, Ms. Jacir took advantage of her U.S. passport to quickly pass through Israeli military checkpoints and to perform tasks for Palestinians in Palestine. She photo-documented her experiences, and pieces from the project were shown in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. In Without Boundary, Ms. Jacir's video installation Ramallah/New York shows a series of scenes—a barbershop, a convenience-store checkout counter—from both Ramallah and New York, displayed side by side. In each scene, it's hard to tell which video was shot in Ramallah and which was shot here. Ms. Daftari skipped all of Ms. Jacir's more political work and chose to exhibit the tamest Jacir imaginable. "Historically, any Palestinian narrative is regularly censored in this country," Ms. Jacir said. "This makes it extremely challenging to show work here. So now with the fact that we are living under the Bush administration, with its policy of occupation, torture and detention, and are battling for civil liberties, freedom of expression and political activism, it is clear why contextualizing the political situation some of us in the show are coming from would be whitewashed." Historically, MoMA has been politically inclined, and it has often been willing to exhibit work with political content. During its recent installation of contemporary art from its permanent collection, the museum showed South African William Kentridge's Felix in Exile, a video in which Mr. Kentridge revisits his country's apartheid past, and Russian Ilya Kabakov's The Man Who Flew Into His Picture, which addresses the repression of life in the Soviet Union. But those takes had the distance of time to soften their content. MoMA's political involvement has extended well beyond its gallery hangings. In 1952, MoMA inaugurated its "International Program." A kickoff grant for the program was steered to the museum by MoMA board president Nelson Rockefeller, who was in charge of the U.S. government's World War II intelligence operations in Latin America. Under Rockefeller, the overlaps between the Central Intelligence Agency, its front organizations, and MoMA's board of trustees and funders were overwhelming. Rockefeller even hired a museum director, Rene d'Harnoncourt, who had worked for the same government intelligence agency that Rockefeller had led. "There is no prima facie evidence for any formal agreement between the C.I.A. and the Museum of Modern Art," wrote Frances Stonor Saunders in The Cultural Cold War, her remarkable history of the period. "The fact is it simply wasn't necessary." During the Cold War, the International Program circulated dozens of exhibits that made clear the cultural glory possible in a free society. Today, that's more difficult. Circulating shows in 2006 is immensely more expensive than it was in 1956. Jay Levenson, the current director of the museum's International Program, pointed out that now art is more financially valuable and has to be insured at a higher level. Shipping costs more. The museums, artists and collectors who circulate shows expect host institutions to have climate control and other modern amenities. And, perhaps most importantly, during much of the Cold War the dollar was much stronger than it is now. Still, Without Boundary may travel outside the United States, and maybe context will make the show seem more engaged. "I think it's still a possibility, if someone expresses interest in it," Mr. Levenson said. "What sometimes happens with a show if they're put together fairly late is that it's not so easy to travel it, because most of the exhibition centers are planning their schedule several years in advance. "Also, working with professionals from [the Islamic] world is something we'd have moved into earlier, but I don't have a feeling yet how easy it is to get people back and forth," Mr. Levenson said, referring to the visa problems that have plagued American cultural institutions since the federal government cracked down on foreign travel into the U.S. after 9/11. "It wouldn't surprise me if this is the start of some additional discussions." Perhaps the real change between the way MoMA was involved in politics during the Cold War and now is the maturation of the museum. Today, MoMA is more corporate, more like General Motors or McKinsey than the New Museum. At least by merely opening Without Boundary, MoMA has made it easier for smaller museums to create shows of contemporary work from the Islamic world. Now, if a curator in, say, Des Moines suggests this kind of show to her board and some of its members express unease with the idea, the curator can say, "But MoMA did it. And they included artists from Palestine, Iran and Lebanon. So why can't we? Heck, we can even do better." Monica Narula Raqs Media Collective Sarai-CSDS 29 Rajpur Road Delhi 110054 www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net From bhatt_rudra at yahoo.com Thu Mar 30 01:08:26 2006 From: bhatt_rudra at yahoo.com (Rudradep Bhattacharjee) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 11:38:26 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] THE BEGINNING OF THE END Message-ID: <20060329193826.11171.qmail@web32904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Greetings, fellow Fellows (and everyone else who's listening in) First things first. Sincere apologies to Vivek and the Mumbai fellows who met the other day for keeping you guys waiting and not turning up. As I mentioned in my second posting, the library research was going to be on the whole of this month. No major original theories yet, but things are slowly but surely beginning to move (at least, that's what I would like to believe!) Some semblance of a structure (finally!) Also, needed some help in trying to piece together a history of the Internet in India during the period 1988-1994 when it was only available in select educational institutions. Any info, contacts or comments on that are welcome. I begin traveling in April. The next posting will be definitely longer! Cheers, Deep. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Mar 29 19:11:42 2006 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:11:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] UN flays India for slum demolition Message-ID: http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/30un.htm UN flays India for slum demolition Ehtasham Khan in United Nations | March 30, 2005 23:39 IST Last Updated: March 30, 2005 23:44 IST The United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has criticised India for demolishing slums in Mumbai and New Delhi in his report submitted at the ongoing 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Miloon Kothari presented an overall situation of slums across the world. In his report, he specially mentioned the poor condition of slums and people living in shanty towns in India, and said it a 'matter of concern'. Countries and voluntary groups from across the world are debating human rights issues during the session. Adequate housing is considered part of the human rights of citizens. Kothari stated that in Mumbai 80,000 homes were demolished between December 2004 and January 2005, rendering 300,000 people homeless. For majority of those evicted there was no advance notice, the evictions were violently carried out and their belongings damaged. Those evicted were not even offered alternative accommodation. He said, "The chief minister (Vilasrao Deshmukh) explained these brutal demolitions as the only way to create a world-class city." Coming down heavily on the Indian legal system, the special rapporteur noted with concern the impact of laws that directly or indirectly criminalised homelessness. According to the UN, in India, 40 per cent of the total urban population is classified as poor. Children and families of the urban poor often live in slums and squatter communities under intolerable and subhuman conditions. Millions of urban and rural dwellers around the world live in fear of eviction. The impact of eviction on children and women are particularly devastating. The special rapporteur, on July 12, 2004, in a letter of allegation sent to the Indian government asked about reports of large-scale demolitions of slum dwellings and forced evictions allegedly undertaken by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi Development Authority since February 2004 in the Yamuna Pushta area. According to reports from civil society groups, a fire gutted about 2,000 slum dwellings on April 18, 2004 in the area. On September 6, 2004, the Government of India, replying to the letter, said the slum clusters encroaching upon the Yamuna river bed were cleared as per the directions of the high court of Delhi issued in March 2003. The government said the evicted people had been compensated. The special rapporteur said there was an urgent need to develop a comprehensive policy and strategy to address the housing rights of the poorest segments of society, including the homeless. He regretted that at the time of the finalisation of his report, no reply to the communication was received from the Indian government. The UN also expressed concern regarding the eviction of people and destruction of villages affected by the Narmada and Sardar Sarovar dams. From eye at ranadasgupta.com Thu Mar 30 09:05:17 2006 From: eye at ranadasgupta.com (Rana Dasgupta) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 09:05:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nangla Machi Message-ID: <442B51F5.6080608@ranadasgupta.com> quick description of my time there yesterday: first thing one saw were hundreds and hundreds of police who had come prepared as if for war - or perhaps to intimidate. a row of riot control trucks was parked in front of the entrance, and all the cops had batons, masks and shields. the first day's demolition work had finished, and the two JCBs were parked ceremonially either side of the entrance. a stream of people were coming out of the area carrying boxes, cases, chairs etc. there were about 2O trucks parked around loaded up with all these things and people were sitting outside with all their belongings. inside the whole place was taken over by the police who were standing around and making sure people moved. one day's work had done a lot - many of the houses were totally destroyed and just a pile of bricks, and the streets were completely blocked with these piles as high as a man, so everyone who was coming out carrying all their stuff had to climb over them. the whole place was strangely quiet considering the number of people and the drama of what had happened. people were thinking about future constructions and were working to rescue materials from the rubble - electric wiring, corrugated iron, steel beams, etc. the people i spoke to had no idea where they would go and had no option but to stay there as long as it was viable, but there were others who clearly had plans or options and had emptied their houses and left. there was that strange incredulity of destruction: everyone wanted to show me what had happened to their houses and was light-headed with it, half laughing half furious. "tell people," they said, "because no one else will believe it. it can only happen here." a boy took me into his bedroom which now had no roof or second floor: he had decorated the window frames and door frame with pink paper cut into patterns which was now incongruous given the pile of bricks and plaster in the middle. a young man came along with me and showed me many places; he worked as a guard at the WHO, just down the street. when people saw me with a camera they directed me down streets where they thought i might get dramatic shots. "vahan pe pura tora!" i spoke to a group of middle-aged men who were sick with everything that was happening, and the precariousness they were in. they didn't know how long they would be there, or how bad conditions would get before they left, or what would happen afterwards. many people said they could neither eat nor drink in this destruction, and i saw a lot of people trying to excavate water taps that had been buried. in one house a woman was cooking dal and the family was crouched around her: it was a strangely normal scene. obviously a lot of debate was happening, and information circulating. there were rumours that VP Singh would turn up later. the cops were part of this: they had little to do except just be there, so they sat and chatted with everyone. From radiofreealtair at gmail.com Thu Mar 30 10:47:36 2006 From: radiofreealtair at gmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 10:47:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nangla Machi In-Reply-To: <442B51F5.6080608@ranadasgupta.com> References: <442B51F5.6080608@ranadasgupta.com> Message-ID: <8178da990603292117i4b03a429tdc4cf2fd62e330da@mail.gmail.com> Reading all these accounts of what happened yesterday in Nangla Machi/Majhi yesterday reminds me of a few months ago, when I witnessed the demolitions around the Jama Masjid. What shocked me then was the overwhelming presence of the police in heavy riot gear. They had, in an extremely clinical fashion, surrounded the whole place. The areas to be demolished were under siege. No one could escape. Or even think of any protest, beyond tears and gesticulation, in the face of such overwhelming force. People were still busy dismantling asbestos roofing, and whatever else could be salvaged and crated away, when they were forcibly made to move, as the bulldozers began their work, a few hours before the verbal assurances of the night before. Many people pointed at their electricity meters, visible as the walls collapsed. We had legal electricity connections, we had licenses, we used to pay the MCD rent. All except one man saying it quietly, flatly. The one man weeping and cursing and shouting; railing at the policeman using the polite phrase 'Dukandar Bhaiyon' over the megaphone, once the camera crews came in. I have an image from that day that haunts me, which seems to me to be a leitmotif of the loss and the displacement invisiblised in the brutal process of transforming a 'Walled City to a World City', as the TOI campaign goes. The image is here http://synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/2006/03/leitmotif.html And this is the link to the TOI campaign's website (which, especially after this, almost physically sickens me) http://chalodilli.indiatimes.com/ I have been aware of Nangla Majhi for a few years now, from when I was doing research on the Purana Qila. It turned out that many of the Archaeolical Survey's Class 4(?) employees, who lived inside the Qila till the early eighties were forced to leave, and found shelter in Nangla Majhi. Workers from the zoo used to live in the illegal Chidiya Ghar Wala Colony, between the railway tracks and the east boundary of the zoo, completely invisible . All the stories I heard about NM were always stories of precarity - about how there were almost constant attempts to demolish the colony and remove people, but how Tajdar Babar's interventions always saved them. For me she became an almost mythic figure, someone who fought for 'her people', and stemmed the tide of the city's transformation. I guess it's a sign of the tectonic shifts Delhi is undergoing that the 'populist' tactics of an old style politican whick kept NM and other, similar spaces relatively secure for over two decades no longer work. Anand On 3/30/06, Rana Dasgupta wrote: > > quick description of my time there yesterday: > > first thing one saw were hundreds and hundreds of police who had come > prepared as if for war - or perhaps to intimidate. a row of riot > control trucks was parked in front of the entrance, and all the cops had > batons, masks and shields. the first day's demolition work had > finished, and the two JCBs were parked ceremonially either side of the > entrance. a stream of people were coming out of the area carrying > boxes, cases, chairs etc. there were about 2O trucks parked around > loaded up with all these things and people were sitting outside with all > their belongings. inside the whole place was taken over by the police > who were standing around and making sure people moved. one day's work > had done a lot - many of the houses were totally destroyed and just a > pile of bricks, and the streets were completely blocked with these piles > as high as a man, so everyone who was coming out carrying all their > stuff had to climb over them. > > the whole place was strangely quiet considering the number of people and > the drama of what had happened. people were thinking about future > constructions and were working to rescue materials from the rubble - > electric wiring, corrugated iron, steel beams, etc. the people i spoke > to had no idea where they would go and had no option but to stay there > as long as it was viable, but there were others who clearly had plans or > options and had emptied their houses and left. there was that strange > incredulity of destruction: everyone wanted to show me what had happened > to their houses and was light-headed with it, half laughing half > furious. "tell people," they said, "because no one else will believe > it. it can only happen here." a boy took me into his bedroom which now > had no roof or second floor: he had decorated the window frames and door > frame with pink paper cut into patterns which was now incongruous given > the pile of bricks and plaster in the middle. a young man came along > with me and showed me many places; he worked as a guard at the WHO, just > down the street. when people saw me with a camera they directed me down > streets where they thought i might get dramatic shots. "vahan pe pura > tora!" > > i spoke to a group of middle-aged men who were sick with everything that > was happening, and the precariousness they were in. they didn't know > how long they would be there, or how bad conditions would get before > they left, or what would happen afterwards. many people said they could > neither eat nor drink in this destruction, and i saw a lot of people > trying to excavate water taps that had been buried. in one house a > woman was cooking dal and the family was crouched around her: it was a > strangely normal scene. > > obviously a lot of debate was happening, and information circulating. > there were rumours that VP Singh would turn up later. the cops were > part of this: they had little to do except just be there, so they sat > and chatted with everyone. > _________________________________________ > 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. (with apologies to Dilbert) http://www.synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ Only that historian will have the gift of fanning the spark of hope in the past who is firmly convinced that without a sense of humour you're basically pretty f***ed anyway. (with apologies to Walter Benjamin) http://www.chapatimystery.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060330/3ca72f74/attachment.html From stevphen at autonomedia.org Thu Mar 30 14:02:40 2006 From: stevphen at autonomedia.org (Stevphen Shukaitis) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 03:32:40 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Reader-list] UN flays India for slum demolition In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <50130.85.156.168.240.1143707560.squirrel@mail.panix.com> Reading this as well as the heart breaking messages about the eviction of Nangla Machi has made me wonder if there is any planned solidarity campaigns / actions / etc that are being planned around these types of evictions - which given what has been announced about development and demolitions in Delhi only seem like it can get worse in the near future? While in the US and Europe there are relatively solid networks to struggles in Latin America (Argentina, Boliviia, Mexico, Brazil) - I'm not really aware of anything like with India - which is kind of strange given that the last People's Global Action meeting last year was in Haridwar... stevphen > http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/30un.htm > > UN flays India for slum demolition > > Ehtasham Khan in United Nations | March 30, 2005 23:39 IST > Last Updated: March 30, 2005 23:44 IST > > The United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has > criticised India for demolishing slums in Mumbai and New Delhi in his > report submitted at the ongoing 61st session of the UN Commission on > Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. > > Miloon Kothari presented an overall situation of slums across the > world. In his report, he specially mentioned the poor condition of > slums and people living in shanty towns in India, and said it a > 'matter of concern'. > > Countries and voluntary groups from across the world are debating > human rights issues during the session. Adequate housing is > considered part of the human rights of citizens. > > Kothari stated that in Mumbai 80,000 homes were demolished between > December 2004 and January 2005, rendering 300,000 people homeless. > For majority of those evicted there was no advance notice, the > evictions were violently carried out and their belongings damaged. > Those evicted were not even offered alternative accommodation. > > He said, "The chief minister (Vilasrao Deshmukh) explained these > brutal demolitions as the only way to create a world-class city." > > Coming down heavily on the Indian legal system, the special > rapporteur noted with concern the impact of laws that directly or > indirectly criminalised homelessness. > > According to the UN, in India, 40 per cent of the total urban > population is classified as poor. Children and families of the urban > poor often live in slums and squatter communities under intolerable > and subhuman conditions. > > Millions of urban and rural dwellers around the world live in fear of > eviction. The impact of eviction on children and women are > particularly devastating. > > The special rapporteur, on July 12, 2004, in a letter of allegation > sent to the Indian government asked about reports of large-scale > demolitions of slum dwellings and forced evictions allegedly > undertaken by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi > Development Authority since February 2004 in the Yamuna Pushta area. > > According to reports from civil society groups, a fire gutted about > 2,000 slum dwellings on April 18, 2004 in the area. > > On September 6, 2004, the Government of India, replying to the > letter, said the slum clusters encroaching upon the Yamuna river bed > were cleared as per the directions of the high court of Delhi issued > in March 2003. The government said the evicted people had been > compensated. > > The special rapporteur said there was an urgent need to develop a > comprehensive policy and strategy to address the housing rights of > the poorest segments of society, including the homeless. > > He regretted that at the time of the finalisation of his report, no > reply to the communication was received from the Indian government. > > The UN also expressed concern regarding the eviction of people and > destruction of villages affected by the Narmada and Sardar Sarovar dams. -- Stevphen Shukaitis Autonomedia Editorial Collective http://www.autonomedia.org http://slash.interactivist.net "Autonomy is not a fixed, essential state. Like gender, autonomy is created through its performance, by doing/becoming; it is a political practice. To become autonomous is to refuse authoritarian and compulsory cultures of separation and hierarchy through embodied practices of welcoming difference . . . Becoming autonomous is a political position for it thwarts the exclusions of proprietary knowledge and jealous hoarding of resources, and replaces the social and economic hierarchies on which these depend with a politics of skill exchange, welcome, and collaboration. Freely sharing these with others creates a common wealth of knowledge and power that subverts the domination and hegemony of the master’s rule." -subRosa Collective From mahmood.farooqui at gmail.com Thu Mar 30 14:09:44 2006 From: mahmood.farooqui at gmail.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:09:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] new translation of amir hamza Message-ID: A new translation of Amir Hamza-the one volume Bilgrami edition-is coming out this year... The following is the link for excerpts and other comments... Enjoy. http://www.amirhamza.com/ Best, mahmood From diya at sarai.net Thu Mar 30 19:22:50 2006 From: diya at sarai.net (diya at sarai.net) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 15:52:50 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Delhi demolitions/Protests Message-ID: <556b34ae193cf893118edcc96405d69c@sarai.net> Adding to the posts on Nangla Machi - In Delhi, the main opposition has come from the Jan Chetna Manch, under the leadership of ex-Prime Minister V P Singh. On March 27, a rally was called by the Manch and attended by over 15,000 people. In the afternoon, members of the rally decided to court arrest and moved towards the barriers, breaking one of them in the process, before the police countered with water cannon and tear gas and took the leaders into the police station. V P Singh, who is quite unwell, lay down on the podium to mark his protest to the police action and the government's response to slum demolitions. Finally, in the late evening, the Minister of State for Urban Development came and gave specific assurances that demolitions would be stopped and people relocated within a distance of 2 kilometres from the original site. The next day, news has begun coming in that notices for forcible eviction and demolition have been served on settlements at Bhatti Mines, Banuwal Nagar, and Wazirpur. Since his first visit, Mr Singh is being detained every time he makes an attempt to visit Nangla Machi. From nangla at cm.sarai.net Thu Mar 30 21:19:55 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:49:55 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Has he left? Are you leaving? Message-ID: <1ab97a2939478ba6c1f44346da58b9fd@sarai.net> Thursday, March 30th Nangla Maachi [I] "When someone is executed, they are asked what their last wish is. We were not asked even that. 'We will tell the date, we will tell the date' and look where they have brought us today. You tell us what sense to make of this? First they came and wrote numbers on our doors, and said, 'this one will not break', and then came and painted over the numbers themselves. What are we supposed to do now?" [II] Two people, breaking their own house to each other: "When did he leave?" "Arre bhaiya, just last night he lifted a committee for Rs. 20,000 in Rs. 5000. He didn't have any money for hiring a tempo. Having gathered his utensils and other things around him, he sat on them and cried." "Yes, how can someone not cry after having lifted a committee at a loss of Rs. 15,000." [III] Two men in yellow hats are constantly hitting the wall with big hammers, testing their strength. Next to them, their supervisors sat under a shade, papers in their hands, surveying the lanes with their eyes. Eight to nine people stood near the hammering men. One man stood, something bundled up in his hand, leaning against the wall nearby, watching the hammers without blinking. Someone walked to the group of men and asked, "Has the one whose house is being broken, left?" A man in a green shirt replied, "No, I don't think he has left still." The other man left. A man standing near me told me, pointing to the man in the green shirt, "It's his house." [IV] When my eyes fell on it, the words, "Oh look, what a beautiful house" escaped my lips. The man sitting atop a rubble inside the house turned to look at me. A woman sitting next to him spoke, her eyes moist, “Arre bhaiya, we got it painted just three months ago. The colour was my elder daughter's choice, who searched a lot before she found it. She insisted on this parrot green colour. And look how we are all scattering now. Where will we go now? There was no notice, and look the entire dwelling is broken. It was morning, we were drinking tea when we got word that this was going to happen today." [V] "You want to take this as well?" "Why not? It is ours." "But the tempo is filled, there is no more space." "So what? I am not going to leave anything of mine here, whatever you say." "You have pulled it apart, but how am I to lift it? Just look at it, it has fallen into the drain." "Don't argue, just lift it up." "Oh you won't listen to me." Then, calling out, "Hey Bablu, just see if it will pass through the lane." [6] “Why are you breaking it, you wretched doers of ill. Why are you burying us alive? May your chest rip open, may it be infested with worms. You yourself sit in ventilated rooms and don't let us rest even in the sun." A woman walked up to the old woman and said, "They won't listen to you. But we won't go from here. I'm not one to leave because they are here. I have all the documents. Let me see how they touch my house. I will make him tremble, let him try." And speaking in this way, she sat down by the door, and kept muttering to herself. "I won't let them touch my house. I won't let them break it." Sometimes her voice would remain to herself, and at others, it would boil out of her, and reach others. -------------------------------------------------------- Lakhmi CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From chintichinti at yahoo.com Thu Mar 30 21:39:26 2006 From: chintichinti at yahoo.com (chintan gohil) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 08:09:26 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] seminars in london Message-ID: <20060330160926.67685.qmail@web32812.mail.mud.yahoo.com> *** i am helping a dear friend and fellow urbanist to organise seminars this spring in london and would like views/suggestions on the topics... *** Who Owns Britain and what's it got to do with urbanism? In this salon I want to explore the impact of the tiny minority of old families that own over 60% of the land and what this means for urbanism in the UK. Kevin Cahill's book 'Who owns Britain' would create the baseline and then the panel can present and discuss the implications on the urban form, politics, etc. *** Healthy Cities: Dense Danger? I am partial to density, quite high density. I am also very aware of the implications / ramifications that very high density for places other than the city has manifested the birth of the suburb for example and the moral and ethical landscape that then was the cities albatross. I want to explore the health implications that may occur - such as MRSA (superbug) jumping out of hospitals (its now in gyms) and explore this with bio-ethics thinkers and urbanists ... looking to 'pre-empt' the reactions - whilst looking over historical examples - such as the infrastructure movement and free air movement. *** Moral and Sociological Landscapes: City Power and The Urban Age without Energy. Addicted to Oil? No, addicted to electricity! Cities have banked almost everything on electricity. (and all the eggs are in one basket) Cities are entirely dependant on electricity and with oil having peaked it is understood that we can not and its likely, will not, be able to increase or maintain the energy demands. Interestingly it is said that we have also past the point of being able to create 'alternative energies' that can meet the need(s), as they need significant energy investment at the start. We can only be in cities cause we feel safe in them. I want to explore the moral and sociological landscapes of cities without/ with reduced power / without energy. *** Is the City being Suburbanised? David Harvey's winter lecture this year at the LSE ended with the challenge to the audience that the city was being suburbanised, that the values and aims of the suburbs were now starting to dominate the city. This salon takes up the challenge and looks deeper into this argument showcasing policy documents that promote this and who and how these ideas have gained currency. *** warm regards c __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From nangla at cm.sarai.net Thu Mar 30 22:37:26 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:07:26 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Remains Message-ID: <8def0607924c11a4fab18aaa62dfd17d@sarai.net> Thursday, March 30th Nangla Maachi Suraj Everyone is lost in the rhythm of a drum beat today. Someone is busy packing, someone is sitting near the samaan. All around, things are being packed, things are being broken. And things are being chosen and picked up from what has been broken. Children are collecting scrap metal and buying ice-cream in exchange for it. Some people are thinking of leaving, others plan to stay here a few days – like ice cream sellers, gram sellers, scrap dealers, etc. Some are looking at the road, hope in their eyes. And some are sitting in their houses, their dreams and desires shrinking from around them into their eyes. It takes many kinds of people, many kinds of small environments, to come together and make a dwelling. But in this time of sadness, everyone is looking alike. The same kind of household things, the same kind of wishes for the present, and they will gather all these and move to a new place now. After so much has happened, the streets and lanes are still intact. Some children, playing, and some women cooking, can still be seen in the lanes. Many people have emptied their house. But they have left their shadows on the walls. Each wall tells of who lived by it, with it – what kinds of stubbornness and desires they lived with. It's as if this remains printed on the walls. Suraj, CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From aarti at sarai.net Thu Mar 30 23:39:53 2006 From: aarti at sarai.net (aarti at sarai.net) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 20:09:53 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [Reader-list] nangla.. Message-ID: <1066.61.246.29.171.1143742193.squirrel@mail.sarai.net> Dear All, Today the ring road was jammed, traffic crawling almost at ants pace. On the left streched the necropolis of Delhi, acres of undulating green land dedicated to the bodies of five great leaders of this nation. A little way down, across the red-light, yellow barricades marked the spot beyond which the road was blocked. Blue water canons, about 500 policemen kitted out in riot gear, VP Singh standing in the middle, surrounded by a crowd of about 250 people, and everywhere a thrumming noise. As if a beehive is emptying itself. "They are not letting him come to the basti," a man sitting on a charpai surrounded by what remains of his house is saying. "They know that he stopped the demolitions near noida mod. Not one jhuggi was touched because he lay down in front of the bulldozer and refused to let it pass.They know this and so they wont let him get till the basti." Groups of people are standing around, talking. To eachother, to us. Sitting in groups people are recounting when they came, what nangla was, how it was made, speculations on what the future holds. "There were pits of ash everywhere. Huge pits. Pits as high as this wall. Ash would get into everything, into food, into your mouth when the wind blew in the opposite direction." Laughingly, "You didn't need surma, there was so much ash." Then earth was brought in carts, carried on heads and shoulders, and the pits were filled, and bricks were laid to make the floor, and Nangla was built." "We came later. After the earth had been already been filled by those who came before". "I hope you are not staying here too late. Since they cut the electricity three days ago the mosquitoes are terrible and won't let you stand still for a second." A group of four men are playing cards, their backs leaning against the boundary wall which marks the limits of the locality. A huge assortment of household belongings strech in either direction, piled on top of eachother. In between the broken houses on both sides, one or two are still standing. They have P-98 marked on their doors. People whose houses have already been broken are using their roofs to store their belongings. A young woman stands near her still erect house. A staircase winds up to the terrace. A woman hurries towards her with two large white sacks on her back. She climbs up and puts the sacks on the roof atop an already large pile of saaman. A man laughs ironically, as he tells the man standing next to him, "When they began breaking my house, I thought I would run to the Sardar's house. But they had come for his before mine." A little baby is running along the path, screaming. He is covered in what looks like red paint. His mother catches hold of him, and scolds, telling the woman next to her, "Its the heat that is making him restless. He's had two baths already today, but he's gone and mucked about in the keechad again. There's no water now." In groups people are speculating whether VP will be able to do much this time. Not really seems to be the general consensus. One man is standing in the middle of the lane, by turns enraged, by turns sarcastic. "What would be the price of Ajay Makhan's kothi do you think?" he asks me. I tell him I don't know. "Well, if nothing else, we can buy it off him. And it doesn't even require all of us, one of us is enough." There are so many policemen. Some of the policemen themselves look like they must be about 60 yrs old. One of them is sitting and smoking a beedi, kitted out in his riot controll shuttlecock shaped outfit. He is telling the policeman next to him, "They should have at least told them. They should have at least told." In solidarity with all in CM and Nangla Maachi, Aarti From karim at sarai.net Fri Mar 31 05:22:39 2006 From: karim at sarai.net (Aniruddha Shankar) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:22:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call this a home. Message-ID: <442C6F47.9090202@sarai.net> Today Nangla continued to break, not with a whimper, nor a bang, but with something I can only call an eerie, almost quixotic calm. I've memorized the way I used to get to the Nangla Machi lab - winding my way through narrow lanes, always watching where I step. My landmarks - the particularly broad drain, the perennial card game on the big charpoy and the gaggle of women combing each others' hair under the peepul tree Today I couldn't get to the lab because rubble from broken houses was blocking my path. I waited under the fizzing high tension wire until Rakesh and Lakhmi from our Dakshinpuri lab came out of a lane I had never gone into. Like all lanes in Nangla, the road we set off on together is paved with bricks. Most people were sitting listlessly in whatever shade they could squeeze out of the sun, but some were lading handcarts with belongings, tying them with wire and twine. Cops strolled about, unbothered, their guns and batons lolling. People break a house with pointed iron bars and sledgehammers with bamboo handles. They bash and bash and bash and bash and bash and bash until graffiti, plaster, mortar and brick part ways and shatter. You don't really have to be a grown up to break a house or help break one. I saw one girl, not more than 7, help her younger brother carry bricks away from the rubble that had been their house. She would take two steps with a big red brick in each hand, hand them to her brother, turn around and slap her tiny hands together fussily to get rid of the brickdust before picking up another two bricks. A little way down the road, I saw an older boy. He had an iron bar in his hands and was slamming the pointed end into one of the bricks that made up the road. The brick had been here longer than the boy had, it was stubborn, well entrenched amongst its comrades, but the boy was quietly determined, he would bash away at it from one angle, then chip at it from another, then scuff at it with his rubber slippers. Before your locality is demolished, people who are just doing their duty will come and paint some acronyms on your front walls - NDS, P98. Depending on the exact acronym slapped on your wall, your house might be spared till some tomorrow. If you protest along with everyone else - violently or nonviolently, the 4 sleeping bulldozers will join the 3 working ones, the guns and batons will be readied, and the entire locality will break, in one day. Your house will be broken if it is locked, even if you put the big Aligarh wala godown lock on it. You can't salvage the mortar that held your house together but if you're really determined, you can salvage the bricks, doors, bolts, doorframes, rolling shutters, windowframes, posters, idols, curtains, mousetraps, old jeans, underwear, pictures of Durga, shoes, sweatpants, television antennas, tarpaulins and the reeds woven together for roofing. Or you can leave them behind, as some did. Jaanu, like so many of my friends from Nanglamachi, is magnetic, mercurial. He was laughing for most of the time today, as we walked through Nangla, stopping here and there to take pictures with our digicams. Were we from the media, people wanted to know. We told them no, our lab too was going to break. We told them that were going to publish something on Nangla, that would bear witness to what was happening, to the place it had been and the people it had borne. A house lies empty, old clothes and unwanted material lying on the floor. Jaanu knows the people who used to live there. I enter, feeling like an intruder. A shelf with an odd shoe. A picture of a goddess on a board, once fair and lovely, now dark with age. An Indian Navy Sea Harrier is taking off from an aircraft carrier on a once-glossy picture calendar dated August 2004. The calender can't be thrown away or turned to a newer month, obviously, because it has Sanju's mobile phone number on it. Sanju's number has been joined by almost 20 others over time, Ram Lal's, Kishens, Sheela's, and by numbers with no name next to them, somehow skirting the fighter plane and the aircraft carrier. We continue walking. Another pile of rubble, tarpaulin and woven reeds. Jaanu turns and grins hugely at me, and says "This was my shelter". Like an idiot, I ask him if *this* was his house. He grins again, yes. I take photographs, engrossing myself in framing, light, battery levels. We meet up with one of Jaanu's friends - he used to run a tea shop. We sit in the shade - Jaanu's friend has managed to "buy" a small plot in another basti, where he will continue to work. We asked him about his shop - and he says it's broken - he broke it himself. Bahut mazaa aaya todney mein - It was great fun. Jaanu didn't want to break his house - he let the municipal workers break it. Jaanu's friend gives me the impression that after having maintained the shop for so long, if anyone was to break the shop, he'd be damned if it was anyone other than him. Posters of lush meadows completely cover what's left of one wall, once on the inside of someone's home. Rakesh steps near it to take a photograph. Where once people ate, cooked, laughed, dreamt, coughed, fought and fucked, Rakesh stands, photographing a private poster of some impossible meadow. One woman comes and joins us; we chat. She does not know what the young people - those whose life has not yet started - will do. Her life, she says, is over - but what will the young do? We circle back towards the lab. A carefully tended mehendi bush stands next to some rubble. Some women tell us that a beggar with only one hand and one leg used to live in the house that was broken - that he was assured, by people doing their duty, that being an invalid, his house would not be be one of the first to be broken. It was broken, no doubt by people doing their duty. Are you from the media? Will you print this? Wait a second, I'll call the person who lived here, the invalid, and you can take a photograph of his one-armed, one-legged body, sitting on the rubble that was his house. He comes. We take the photograph. No, we're not from the media, but we will print something about Nangla. The words are beginning to sound hollow to me. One woman speaks out, her voice not shouting, yet filled with fury. Her eyes seek mine out, stabbing. We built this place, she says, with our own hands, on a swamp. We never had any government job, we worked hard, did business. When the policemen came, we could have broken their heads, but we didn't. We don't want riots. But what do we tell the boys who want to be violent? We protested peacefully but what effect did that have ? Sarkar gareebon ke pet pe laath maarta hai - the state kicks the stomach of the poor. India azaad hai par hum azaad nahin - India is free, but we are not. I can't meet her eyes anymore. The night before, I had spoken to a friend who is a committed leftist. A member of a radical students union, she believes that armed struggle against the state is appropriate and effective in some circumstances. I disagreed with her the night before. I still do but my thoughts on what can and should be done are more confused. The thump and crash of hammers and rods on brick and asbestos roofing can be heard throughout the basti. Tempos and minitrucks rev their engines as the back up, ready to carry Nangla away. More winding alleys. A house is being broken. One man is squatting on a wall, bashing at the bricks above the metal doorframe with another brick. As his brick crumbles, someone hands him another one. He continues beating. The woman who owns the house is complaining - she had it refurbished just a few months ago. Indeed, it's well-made, freshly painted, larger than most, with neat rooms, iron doorframes. Look what a nice jhuggi I built, she laments. Jaanu is dead serious as he turns, his clear brown eyes catching the sun. "Don't call this a jhuggi. Call this a home." Aniruddha Shankar Cybermohalla practitioners have set up a Hindi blog to document what's happening with Nangla, at http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net/ with English at http://nangla.freeflux.net/ Nanglamachi is being demolished to make way for a flyover/overpass for the Commonwealth Games 2010. From hight at 34n118w.net Fri Mar 31 07:45:42 2006 From: hight at 34n118w.net (hight at 34n118w.net) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:15:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] George Landow's new book "Critical theory and new media in an era of globalization: hypertext 3.0 is out Message-ID: <51492.70.34.212.67.1143771342.squirrel@webmail.34n118w.net> Major narrative and new media narrative theorist George Landow's new book has come out in the last few months. It expands beyond hypertext into new forms. I am thrilled and proud that my work in creating spatialized narrative is discussed in the book. The book is an amazing resource. jeremy hight From nangla at cm.sarai.net Fri Mar 31 09:12:08 2006 From: nangla at cm.sarai.net (CM@Nangla) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:42:08 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] "Everything is under control" Message-ID: <3ac1bdfe0552c822a6b6983a87c5391f@sarai.net> March 30, Thursday Nangla Maachi A group of policemen is standing at the corner of the lane as soon as you enter.They are chatting. One of them is holding a black walky-talky, shaped like a potable radio. It suddenly came to life with a voice wafting through it. The policeman holding it replied, "Sir, yes, work is progressing well. Everything is under control. The houses which are supposed to be broken are being broken. Everything is underc ontrol. Yes sir, our force is all over, sir. We have spread ourselves all over the basti." "What's the latest?" "People whose houses have to be broken are removing their things quickly and leaving, or sitting together somewhere. Sir, I will keep reporting to you sir." The disembodied voice sounds satisfied. The policemen have pasted their backs to the walls of a house, so that people walking down with their bed, bags and other things are not blocked, don't stop. An official in plain clothes and two policemen are walking around in a set. The plain clothes man looks around. He is holding a bound sheaf of papers. He looks around, then looks at his bound papers. Then he pointed - "one, two, three". People who had come with him with hammers began to move towards the first house he had pointed at. People and families who know their houses are to be broken have been emptying their houses. Their hands are not stopping in breaking apart their decorations, what they have made, with their own hands. A man stops before a family packing their things and says, "Bhai sahab, take the plastic and metal things you can take, sell the rest to a scrap dealer." There is a mela of scrap dealers in the lanes of Nangla today. They are filing big plastic sacks with plastic and iron and weighing them. The dealers in scrap have no rest today, no quiet moment. They have not only come on cycles, but with push carts today. Among the scrap being sold today are the foundations of peoples' houses. A man walks in with his cycle and instruments, calling out, "Get your stoves repaired, get your stoves repaired." Maybe he is also searching his everyday in the lanes of Nangla. He keeps calling out, and then passes through one lane, into another. Love, CM Lab, Nangla Maanchi http://nangla.freeflux.net http://nangla-maachi.freeflux.net ----------------------------------------------- It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, Such is Nangla, It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, Such is Nangla. ------------------------------------------------ From daljitami at rediffmail.com Thu Mar 30 20:06:33 2006 From: daljitami at rediffmail.com (daljit ami) Date: 30 Mar 2006 14:36:33 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Celluloid and compact disks in Punjab Message-ID: <20060330143633.27043.qmail@webmail46.rediffmail.com>   Ghabbar’s son is grown up; Poolan and Laden are in the same gang When Jai and Biru killed Gabbar Singh in Sholey his wife migrated to Punjab with their son, Jabbar. On his father’s footsteps Jabbar is the name in Punjab, mothers use to make their kid keep quiet. Jabbar is equipped with Baseball sticks leaving his father’s two-barrel guns in the hills of Ramnagar. His mode of mobility is new brand motorbikes rather then horses running in hill terrains. Hairstyle and costume is similar to his father. His choices are different from last generation. This time his art-loving nature does not entrap him in police ambush rather Mahbobba-Mahboobba is performed at his Adda. He has to take revenge of his father’s death from Thakur who kick his father to death. Jabbar got the news that Thakur died sometime ago — Jai and Basanti are untraceable. One day Jabbar lands in police station by mistake in an over-drunk state to be freed by his colleagues under the leadership of Sambah’s new incarnation Tambah. This time five colleagues of Jabbar have returned unsuccessfully so they have to be punished but his revolver has six cartridges. Unlike his father he does not fire the extra round in air as he value ammunition so a sixth person is added. This is not about Sholey remake that Ram Gopal Verma is attempting. This is Dilawar Sidhu directed Murg-e-Hazm released by T-Series on compact disk. Punjab police equipped with rickshaw, cycle and sticks is chasing Jabbar. The lower caste women fight on trivial issues and expose each other’s pre/extra marital relations with upper caste men. The husband-wife fights seem to be perennial part of their lives. The film is an eighty-five minute long melodrama placed in central malwa region of Punjab. Two spoilt brats are making fool of everyone and promise to convert a donkey into man at the cost of rupees five hundred. When converted man is demanded they identify Jabbar who has refused to accept that he was a donkey. The two ladies (played by males), dressed shabbily and speaking foul language chase and allure him with green grass. The mood swings of the characters and film are far better then any electrically operated seesaw. Police personnel use every opportunity to make money but change themselves, suddenly, to take care of needy and arrest Jabbar. When police is back to its money making business Jabbar break jail in his father’s style. Continuing the same story in the second part, Sabh Pharhe Jaange (Everyone will be arrested) Jabbar has new allies and foes. In the changed situation Jabbar want to revenge his arrest. Those who arrested him have been suspended. Jabbar and police are following two suspended police personnel, separately. They are trying to save themselves by disguising as different characters. Jabbar reaches the home of police officer to find that his lost sister is married to the police officer. The sister pledge to avenge his brother’s humiliation and kill her own husband. Here is Phoolan in the Jabbar’s gang. They have the support of Mr. Lenh Denh (literally give take). He is look like of Bin Laden and ready to train Jabbar in hijacking the plain to hit them into the two-storey house of Police Officers. This way Jabbar has cross border connection to avenge the humiliation he suffered when he was arrested. Suspended police personnel (dressed as females) survive molestation as Jhabbar lends helping hand to free them from the rival group. Jabbar is in love with his enemy who is in female attire. Jabbar chase her (him) and wash dishes for her (him) at roadside Dhaba. Mr. Lenh Denh bombards the Dhaba to take Jabbar back. In the end police did what even America could not. They arrest Mr. Lenh Denh and an award is expected from the American government. Mr. Lenh Denh talks of his human bombs whereas Jabbar is hopeful that his sister will return after training abroad to get him free. It is quite possible that we may get the third film in which Phoolan is central character; Biru and Basanti have been traced with their two-dozen children and many more grandchildren imagine Biru as doing finance business or driving old modeled tractor and waiting for Basanti. What about Basanti coming on her moped named Dhano Regards Daljit Ami -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060330/f51faad1/attachment.html From peerzadaarshad at gmail.com Thu Mar 30 18:37:28 2006 From: peerzadaarshad at gmail.com (arshad hamid) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:37:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Coping with stress Message-ID: <83db55e00603300507v63e148c0x26856615a81d9a3e@mail.gmail.com> Coping with stress Peerzada Arshad Hamid Mar 28, 2006 In my previous posting I pointed out that root cause behind the sharp increase in the number of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) in valley are the stressful prevailing conditions here. Exposure to violent incidents and feeling of insecurity, besides the daily humiliation experienced by inhabitants in the name of frisking also contributes to mental disorders. The current posting deals with the case studies of some of the patients I have interacted with, who have fallen prey to the conflict in Kashmir. The objective is to determine the impact of continual violent episodes like killings, bloody scenes, bomb explosions, etc. on the psyche of patients. The accounts of the patients have been duly cross-checked with their families. CASE STUDY: 1 Shaheena (29) living in Bijbehara town of Anantnag district was studying in class XII when a tragedy fell on her family. Her younger brother, Bashir aged 16 years then, was the only male member in the family. On Octoiber 22, 1993, he fell prey to unprovoked firing by Border Security Force personnel (BSF). He along with other people of the township was marching in a peaceful procession demanding the lifting of siege from Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar. That year some militants had entered the shrine, which Indian paramilitary forces had cordoned off following the information about their presence inside the shrine. Entire valley was observing strike and shutdown against the siege and sacrilege to the holy shrine, which was in jeopardy. Bashir's bullet pierced body was brought to his house in a hand driven cart and everywhere there was a pall of gloom in the town. That day some 43 persons were killed and about 150 people received injuries. "The tragedy is unforgettable. It was a complete blood bath. Those who died passed away, those who survived could not forget the roar, which at times still makes me restless. I survived harmlessly but the rattling of guns and wailing and chest beating episodes make an echo within me," says Shaheena. Sight of Bashir's body huddled along other bodies in the cart took Shaheena by awe and she was left shocked. Initially Shaheena's problem was not taken differently owing to the melancholic ambience in the house. However, when Shaheena could not bring herself back on rails, her family was forced to take her to a general physician. She took medicines for anxiety and sleeplessness as prescribed by the doctor but her conditions worsened day by day. "The death episode of my brother always occupied my subconscious. I used to think why my brother got killed, what would happen to us, why he got killed in such a way, etc. Images of Bashir's bullet pierced body huddled with other bodies were reverberating in my mind and giving me restlessness. First I would weep, then getting violent and many a times I thought of ending my life," Shaheena recalls. Shaheena was brought to psychiatric hospital in the year 2000, exactly seven years after the incident. Today she is in a good condition and showing improvement. For Shaheena, doctors at Psychiatric hospital Srinagar are the only hope. "Before coming to Psychiatric hospital, the doctors whom I approached used to pressure me to give up the worries, when the fact is that I was not worried at all. They were not empathizing with my situation as if I was pretending the illness," Shaheena said. Doctors at Psychiatric Hoispital Srinagar has declared Shaheena as PTSD patient and put her on medical advice and counseling. CASE STUDY: 2 Meet Ghulam Qadir Bhat (42). His son Javid Ahmad Bhat (15) was picked up by the soldiers of Rashtriya Rifles on May 7, 2005, along with four other men after militants exploded an improvised explosive device outside his native village Doonipora in South Kashmir. Late in the evening when all the persons were released, Ghulam Qadir was told that his son escaped from the police custody. Refusing to accept the police version, for ten days the family continued to visit the local police station and army camp but could not get the right information. However the released villagers informed Ghulam Qadir that his son was beaten savagely by the troops and was detained in a separate vehicle. They also told him that he was not able to talk or move, leave aside running away. Unable to get the whereabouts of his son, Javid's family approached a local newspaper with their woeful tale about enforced disappearance of their ward. Late in the evening Javid's bullet-ridden body was fished from river Jehlum and brought to the village. Next day alongside the disappearance story, information about fishing of javid's body appeared on the front page. Javid though a chap was working as a labourer and thus contributing towards helping his father to make two ends of the family meet. Javid's demise brought miseries to the family and Ghulam Qadir fall prey to trauma. With Javid all the happiness vanished. "After my son's death, Ghulam Qadir got shattered. He used to remain lying on the bed, often weeping. In solitude, he was murmuring, What can I do now? He was totally innocent.they will kill me also. Now I too will die, etc. etc.," says Ghulam Qadir's wife Zaina Begium. "I have shown my Husband to many doctors and priests, then one day someone in a private doctor's clinic suggested me to take him to Psychiatric hospital, Srinagar. Ghulam Qadir too has been brought to the Psychiatric hospital for treatment. His complaints include that he is not able to come out of the panic and fear that he too may get arrested and killed in custody. CASE STUDY: 3 Abdul Majeed Bhat (65) is a retired government employee. Hailing from Gureewat, a village in district Budgam, Bhat's home was blown by mortar shelling and explosive devices and reduced to rubble in the year 1999. The incident happened when para-military forces zeroed Bhat's house, where militants had taken shelter. In the ensuing gunbattle that continued for serveral hours, Bhat witnessed motar shelling aimed at his newly constructed house and watching the destruction helplessly. In the meantime Bhat along with his cousin were brought and used as human shields by the army personnel, while proceeding towards the house. Suddenly a bullet hit the chest of Bhat's cousin, who breathed his last on the spot. Bhat was watching that incident too. Thereafter army detonated the house to neutralize the hiding militants. After the encounter operation Bhat was taken in to custody by the army and interrogated for giving shelter to militants. "In front of my eyes, everything got destroyed. My entire earning in the shape of house and belongings got damaged. Killing of my cousin and the physical torture at the army camp. How can I forget it? All this is a sort of burden on my mind," says Bhat. According to Bhat's son when Bhat was released, his behaviour was abnormal. He was not speaking to anyone and was very much scared. He was not interested in the reconstruction of the house. He lost the desire to live and even today mere presence of troops or news about encounters, makes him to run away in panic. Prior to coming to Psychiatric hospital Bhat's family took him to several doctors and religious priests but his condition was deteriorating day by day. Bhat like many others too is struggling hard to cope up with the stress. CASE STUDY: 4 Shiraz Ahmad Wani (20) hailing from Srinagar was normal till one day in 2001 while walking towards the market place, he witnessed a series of the bomb blasts carried out on State Assembly. He remembers the smoke fading the entire street and the deafening sound of the explosions followed by indiscriminate firing. As he was about to run in panic, the sight of charred bodies and human flesh scattered all around left him unconscious. After being brought home, Shiraz continued to weep and scream all the night, says his mother. Such was the intensity of the grief that he refused to go to school the next day. For months together he did not come out of his home and was indulged in self-conversation. His behaviour was source of inconvenience for his family. The focus of his self-conversation was centered on army raids, bomb blast, killings, firing, etc. When someone in the family would try to persuade him, he resorting to fighting, a quite opposite behaviour, contrary to his earlier one. "He was very submissive and gentle. Some evil spirit has cast shadow on my son, otherwise who would like to come to a hospital, where mental retarded persons are being treated," says Shiraz's mother swabing tears from her chubby face. However Shiraz's father is very much optimistic about the recovery of his son. He has brought Shiraz to Psychiatrist hospital on the recommendation of a general physician. "I have been taking my son to all the leading physicians in the city. Then one day a doctor advised me to take him to Psychiatric hospital. Initially I refused because of the social taboo attached with it then I thought that life of my son is precious than caring for the social obstructions. In the above cases Psychiatrists have helped them to overcome psychological problems. In all the cases the main problems were lack of sleep, undue aggression, abnormal heart beat, violent tendencies and self-conversation, etc. Talking to patients dawned upon the reasearcher that mere prescription of the medicine to psychiatrists is not the treatment. However empathizing with the patient that he/she is suffering from diseases, interaction and therafter lending them effective counseling resolve their intra-psyche conflicts to a large extent. Regarding the inhibitions shown by people about psychiatric diseases, it is an assumed assertion that many people do not like to visit the Psychiatric hospital despite suffering from psychiatric diseases. The underlying reason is the social ostracism attached to visiting the hospital. -- Peerzada Arshad Hamid +91-9419027486 +91-1932-234488 Address Baba mohalla Bijbehara c/o Tak Trading Company Bijbehara Jammu & Kashmir INDIA www.kashmirnewz.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060330/a98a0b95/attachment.html From rammurthi at rediffmail.com Thu Mar 30 20:03:15 2006 From: rammurthi at rediffmail.com (ram murthi) Date: 30 Mar 2006 14:33:15 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Content Analysis of Braille Magazine Message-ID: <20060330143315.32341.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com>   Third Posting (Content Analysis of Braille Magazine) Dear Friend have a great time. In my last posting I reported that how did I manage to get the magazine (Sprashsettu) from NFB (Brial Press) at Bhadurgarh. In this posting I am presenting brought classification of the content of this magazine. Before going to elaborate content classification it will be useful to give a brief history of this publication. Magazine (Sprashsettu) was started in 1988 by the federation. Ever since its beginning it is been continuously published. At this movement this magazine have readership of nearly 300 person & it is widely circulated across the various states. The nature of this magazine is in general of current affairs magazine. This it contain information, news and reports about various activities which are undertaken particularly by central office of the federation along with some coverage of activities of state & afflictive branches. Classification of contents: - I went through all the issues of this magazine or said period of my proposal after looking at all aspect of the contents this can be classified in following categories. 1. Politics/Political. 2. Social Issues 3. Scientific information 4. Information about current economic issues 5. Cultural & Musical affairs with particular reference to bollywood film industry. 6. General knowledge 7. Literature (Poetry, Stories & Stairs) 8. Sports (Largely Cricket with passing reference or other games). 9. Health & Hygiene 10. Issued related to women 11. Information related to carrer & employment approached 12. Current Affairs (National & International Issues) 13. Environment Generally most of the content can be looked at by those above categories how ever there are some coverage to those kind of issues which are overlapped & can go to some alternative categories. They cannot be put into mutually exclusive category. Organization has appointed an editorial board which is comprised of four people. Editorial board writes an editorial in each issue of the magazine which seem to based on an opinion of individual particularly editor in chief (whose name is not mentioned specifically). Editorial contain generally views on spirituality, religion & other metaphysical aspect of life with some inspirational statements and comments in between. This magazine borrows it contents from various magazine which are regarded popular magazine. These magazines are generally red by lower middle class people who do not have an advance exposure to academic world. This magazine include among other 1. SARITA 2. GARHIH SHOBHA 3. MUKKTA 4. NIROGDHAN 5. AROGGYADHAM 6. PRATIYOGAYITA-DARPANH 7. OUTLOOK /INDIA TODAY 8. KALYAN 9. VIGYAN PRAGTI ETC. In additional it borrow material from daily newspaper such as Dainik Jagran, Navbharat Times etc. Apart from first issue of Jan.2004 (where there is no mention of any author of any article and no mentioning of source of material) rest of all other issues, I did not find any article which has not been borrowed from any of above sources. An attempt has been made to make list of the article or item according to above categories of classification which will be used later on for content analysis. Which will be presented in subsequent postings with best wishes and regards Ram Murti. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060330/b9423667/attachment.html From nmajumda+ at pitt.edu Thu Mar 30 21:38:24 2006 From: nmajumda+ at pitt.edu (Neepa Majumdar) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 11:08:24 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Reader-list] A Visit to the Joydev Mela - posting by Averee Chaurey In-Reply-To: <4427DACF.1070307@sarai.net> References: <4427DACF.1070307@sarai.net> Message-ID: Your posting was very interesting, especially what Purna Das Baul has to say about authenticity in Baul music. Authenticity is a slippery slope and especially ironic coming from Purna Das Baul, whom many regard as the first commercial exploiter of Baul music, seemingly unable to perform without a microphone. Kenduli Mela itself is a sign of the slipperiness of notions of authenticity considering the enormous changes it has undergone in the last 20 years with the introduction of electric lights and microphones not just in the central stage, but in virtually all akhras. As is often the case with authenticity as an obscure object of desire, one now hears of other "more authentic" baul melas elsewhere, though of course, those melas too are undoubtedly always already in transition. -------------------- Neepa Majumdar On Mon, 27 Mar 2006, Vivek Narayanan wrote: > THIRD POSTING > > > > My next visit was to the Joydev Mela , at Kenduli in Birbhum ,where the > largest number of Bauls congregate. > > This was my first visit to Kenduli , a place close to the hearts of all Bauls > . From Kolkata I take the train to Shantiniketan and onwards by taxi to > Kenduli which takes about 2 hours .Kenduli is a small village , on the banks > of the river Ajay . This is the mecca for the Bauls .Kenduli is home to a > shrine of Joydev and Padmabati , whose love story has been sung for many > years . Joydev is the famous poet who wrote `Geet Gobind�. The annual mela is > held here in his honour . > > Thousands of people have gathered here for the festival ; as far as the gaze > goes all you can see is countless heads of people .Small tents , about 50 in > number , have mushroomed all over ; all of them housing Bauls .These tents > are known as ` akhras �. A huge open stage or Mukta Mancha stands in the > centre .It is from here that I hear beautiful music and get to speak to some > Bauls and Baulinis .Interestingly , I get to meet Purna Das Baul ,who has > been responsible for popularising Baul music all over the world .In spite of > his busy schedule I did get to have a chat with him .He is probably one of > the most famous Bauls around having even found a place on the cover of Bob > Dylan�s 1968 album .I asked him to comment on the current trends of Baul > music ,the publicity it is getting and on Baul fusion .`Most Bauls do not > stick to authentic tunes,�he says,`though the popularity of the music has > brought in a welcome change.�Purna Das thinks the older generation shies away > from the publicity blitz .He is not averse to the idea of Baul fusion because > as long as he chants the name of Krishna ,he thinks it does not mean drifting > away . > > As dusk sets in , the crowd has now swollen to scary proportions . I meet a > Baulini who lets me into her small hut .She looks after her Baul sangi > (partner) and rears children .Still she finds time to sing and has inducted > her child into the tradition . I hear the little Chatu Das regale the > audience .He is just 10 years old . > > I noticed that the music too has changed . Instruments like harmonium and > tabla which traditionally are not played with Baul songs , now form a part of > their renditions .Group shows with musicians accompanying Bauls seemed to be > an emerging trend . > > Yet, the philosophy remains the same : > > Dwija Sudra itar bhadra , nai re bhedabhed bichar . > Brahmon ,Kshatriya ,Sudra mile mishe ekakar � Krishna Dasi > (Brahmin Sudra, the high and the low , there is no difference ; all are > mingled together ) > > > > > > The next part of my work will focus more on women Bauls . The gender bias > notwithstanding ,I intend to culminate my work in a play which will highlight > the lives of these Baul women . > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 isast at leonardo.info Fri Mar 31 05:29:15 2006 From: isast at leonardo.info (Leonardo/ISAST) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 23:59:15 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Leonardo and SFAI co-sponsor Raqs Media Collective/Steve Cisler Artists' Salon Message-ID: The Strange Destiny of Open Source in the Nation State Artists' salon co-sponsored by Leonardo and the San Francisco Art Institute Center for Media Culture featuring the Raqs Media Collective of New Delhi, India and Steve Cisler of San Jose, CA, USA Thursday, April 6, 2006, 7 P.M. San Francisco Art Institute Café 800 Chestnut Street San Francisco, CA94133 Leonardo, The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, is pleased to co-sponsor with the San Francisco Art Institute Center for Media Culture a lively evening salon with the Raqs Media Collective and Steve Cisler. Drinks and supper will be served before the presentations, and dessert will follow. The Raqs Media Collective (Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi, Shuddhabrata Sengupta) from Delhi, India, investigates the technological forms that underwrite contemporary urban experiences and the social practices through which the city is acted upon and imagined. The collective is the co-initiator of Sarai: The New Media Initiative, a program of interdisciplinary research and practice on media, city space and urban culture. Currently acting as Spring 2006 Fellows for the SFAICenter for Media Culture, the Raqs Media Collective will intersect with several of SFAI's degree, community education and public programs. At the April 6 salon, Raqs will initiate a discussion on the topic of “The Strange Destiny of Open Source in the Nation State.” Steve Cisler is a librarian by training who began using computers when he was middle-aged. Starting in 1985 Cisler ran a WELL forum on information and libraries. In 1988 at Apple Computer library he started a grant program called Apple Library of Tomorrow, through which he made dozens of grants to U.S. and Canadian museums and libraries. Cisler worked on the de-regulation of the radio frequencies and standards that became known as 802.11 or Wi-Fi. Over the past 7 years Cisler has consulted in Latin America, Thailand, Jordan and Uganda on short-term projects involving telecenters, school computer labs and indigenous groups. Cisler is Chair of the “Piracy and the Pacific Working Group” at the upcoming Pacific Rim New Media Summit, a pre-symposium to ISEA2006. Cisler will give a presentation at the April 6 salon on intellectual property issues. San Francisco Art Institute's Center for Media Culture links artistic practice and the study of culture. Students explore the ways in which different media, including film, video, photography, sound and technology, shape—and are shaped by—concepts of identity and community. The Center offers students opportunities to foster agility in their artistic practice through the study of the cultural and aesthetic shifts that characterize diverse societies. The results are technically informed media practitioners and comprehensive critical thinkers prepared for a broad variety of career and artistic opportunities. Leonardo, The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, serves the international arts community by promoting and documenting work at the intersection of the arts, sciences and technology and by stimulating collaboration between artists, scientists and technologists. As Leonardo/ISAST nears its 40th anniversary, its programs and activities have expanded to include print and online publications, an awards program, involvement in workshops, conferences and symposia (including the Pacific Rim New Media Summit, a pre-symposium to ISEA2006, August 2006, in San Jose), and collaborative projects focused on twenty-first-century media involving art, science and technology. http://www.sfai.edu http://www.leonardo.info -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060330/05e48c4b/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Fri Mar 31 13:54:35 2006 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (NetEx) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 10:24:35 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] 10 questions on Internet based art Message-ID: <442CE743.1010109@netcologne.de> 10 questions on Internet based art open call - deadline 1 May 2006 --> JavaMuseum - Forum for Internet Technology in Contemporary Art http://www.javamuseum.org is currently preparing "JIP - JavaMuseum Interview Project" & invites via this open call professionals and "amateurs" to answer 10 questions on Internet based art , in order to enable a broader discussion about the still undervalued genre of new media art through a variety of different approaches, definitions and opinions. The questions and the entry details can be found on "JIP - JavaMuseum Interview Project" weblog http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=11&cat=78 where the answers will be posted, as well. A selection of the most interesting answers will be included in JIP - JavaMuseum Interview Project http://jip.javamuseum.org to be launched in September 2006. ************************************************ released by NetEX - networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net powered by [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne www.nmartproject.net . info (at) nmartproject.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From arshad.mcrc at gmail.com Fri Mar 31 21:39:48 2006 From: arshad.mcrc at gmail.com (mohd arshad) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 08:09:48 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] WITH THE EDITORS OF MADRASA MAGAZINES Message-ID: <2076f31d0603310809m7cdbe673u6d1985de6f1b96fe@mail.gmail.com> Hi all, I'm extremely sorry for being late. This is my third posting on the theme of "Journalism in Madrasas and Madrasas in Journalism".In the last posting, I studied the journalism of the Ahle Hadees madrasas.In this posting , I have analyzed the problems editors of madrasa journals face and other issues related to them. WITH THE EDITORS OF MADRASA MAGAZINES (With reference to the Deobandi madrasa journals) (Deoband is a small town in the district of Saharanpur, UP. Here in 1867 a small maktab was raised to the status of a Darul Uloom which soon began to attract the attention of students of Islamic learning from far and near. The guiding spirit of this venture was Maulana Qasim Nanatowi.He also exhorted the muslims to start such madrasas at different places. His appeal was soon responded with opening of series of them at a number of places first in UP and then all across the country. Thus a network of madrasas, with the Deoband madrasa as its center, got established in the country. Established within few years after the unsuccessful uprising of 1857, in the very bases of these madrasas lies a tradition of loyalty to the Hanafi School of jurisprudence and disloyalty to the British rule. It is to this school of thought these madrasas belong whose magazines have been analyzed here.) "To bring out a magazine from a madrasa and that's too in Urdu is tantamount to wage Jihad at this juncture of history", says Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Hilal Usmani,the editor-in -chief of the monthly Darus Salam, Malerkotla. Sitting on the thinly carpeted floor in his office which constitutes a part his house known as Mufti House in Malerkotla, he continues "I write articles, edit the magazine, get it published and then I myself carry its copies to the post office to send them to the subscribers. I get assistance from my son Tariq Omair Usmani who is the editor of the magazine." Born in Deoband in 1937 and a graduate of the famous muslim seminary Darul Uloom of the same town, he "came to Malerkotla in 1973 to spread the message of Allah in every corner" of Punjab which had become almost "vacant of Muslims" after Partition. Descendent of Maulana Fazlur Rahman Usmani who was one of the founders of Darul Uloom, Deoband, Mufti Fuzailur Rahman founded Darus Salam Islamic Centre (DSIC henceforth) in 1986 at Malerkotla. The DSIC imparts correspondence courses in various Islamic disciplines. The monthly Darus Salam (DS henceforth) is the organ of the institution. DS is being published regularly since April 1988. Mr.Vinod Sharma, my fellow-traveller in a bus from Patiala to Malerkotla, informed me in a hushed tone that Malerkotla was regarded as "Mini Pakistan" in the region. Malerkotla has a Muslim majority of around 70 per cent, with a sizeable Sikh and Hindu population, but has never witnessed a single riot since 1947. It is a Muslim majority town in a Sikh majority state in a Hindu majority country, which makes it really unique in some senses. Stressing the unique character of Malerkotla, which derives from the shrine of Sheikh Haider Shah and from the fact that the town is the only place where Muslims remain in large numbers in the Indian Punjab, actually helps all the different communities in the town since it gives the town a disproportionate influence in Punjabi politics. Generally, the elected member of the legislative assembly from Malerkotla, usually a Muslim is, included in the state cabinet. (http://www.islaminterfaith.org/jan2005/interview.htm) Mufti Fuzailur Rahman, in an interview with me, laments that it was very difficult to continue the publishing of the magazine as subscribers and agents were not very punctual in sending their dues money which became astronomical. DS made appeals, he continues, writing to them as well as publishing announcements in the magazine but in vain. Then he handed a copy of the DS over to me, which carried sucn an announcement. It read: "…this magazine has been brought out bearing heavy monetary loss. For this our subscribers and agents are responsible….as 90% out of them don't pay their dues on a regular basis, even after being reminded a lot…Madrasa magazines don't get advertisements, and if they get any then the payment is delayed for months, even for years in some cases…Now the magazine is not in position to undergo more loss and it is hard to go on with it….Halfheartedly its pages have been cut down…" (DS, May 2000.P32.).Till April2000, The DS whose circulation ranges from 3000 to 3500, used to carry 48 pages which were slashed down to 32 from May2000 onwards. Apart from the cost of composing, designing and postage, according to Maulana Tariq Omair Usmani, the editor of DS, something around Rs.5000. gets spent in printing the magazine and out of which only Rs.1000 is recovered from subscription fee. A graduate of Darul Uloom, Deoband, Tariq Usmani says: "Subscribers, in most cases, forget to send their annual subscription fee after doing so once. There are instances that we sent the magazine for 11 years but the subscriber didn't take the pain to pay his dues". Almost all madrasa magazines are run under the same circumstances. The experiences of Maulana Naushad Alam Qasmi, who looks after the printing and postage of the monthly Tarjuman-e-Darul Uloom, New Delhi for the last seven years, are not different from those of the editor of the DS. "We spend Rs.18-19,000 in printing 1300 copies of Tarjuman-e-Darul Uloom (TDU henceforth) out of which 500 are sent to the eminent citizens for free of cost and also in exchange with other magazines. Moreover, subscribers are not regular with renewing their subscription. So, the TDU always runs in loss. ", says Maulana Naushad who graduated from Darul Uloom in 1994.He once tried to make the TDU available on the newsstands in UP, Bihar and Karnataka but the venture did not bear the desired fruit. "We lacked the human resources to follow the transactions with news agents and ,also the management was not very zealous about the new marketing technique I have introduced as ours is not a commercial enterprise". But TDU had never to take recourse to such a drastic measure of decreasing the number of pages in the magazine as was the case with the DS. For this deficit, Maulana Naushad Alam says, Tanzim Abna-e-Qadeem Darul Uloom Deoband (Darul Uloom Deoband Old Boys Organization) whose organ is the TDU recompenses with its own fund. Tanzim Abna-e-Qadeem Darul Uloom Deoband (TAQDUD, henceforth) came into existence in 1990. Situated in Zakir Nagar, New Delhi and headed by Maulana Mohammad Afzalul Haq Jauhar Qasmi, though TAQDUD is an autonomous body, independent of Darul Uloom Deoband, it shares the ideology with the latter. It started the TDU in 1992 to keep the masses informed of the activities of the organization and also as a serious intervention into the field of madrasa journalism. The magazine is ceaselessly in print since then. Not including its various activities, the TAQDUD runs Institute for Specialization in Arabic Language which provides a two year course in advanced studies in Arabic language and literature for those Deobandi talibilms who have the degree of Fazilat, the highest degree provided by an Indian madrasa. "The TAQDUD is more active than its predecessor Mo'tamar Abna-e-Qadeem Darul Uloom Deoband.Iinstituted in early 80s; the latter is now almost defunct. It issued a monthly magazine named Al Qasim from Deoband of which I was the editor. Its publication came to an end just after two years." says Maulana Habibur Rahman Azmi, editor of the monthly Darul Uloom, organ of Darul Uloom Deoband madrasa.Unlike Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Hilal Usmani who does all what needs to be done for bringing out the DS, Maulana Habibur Rahman Azmi does not do more than editing and compiling his monthly Darul Uloom (MDU, henceforth).He asked one of those students present at the time when I was doing his interview, to show me the way to daftar, the office of the TDU. As we left Azmi Manzil, a student hostel where Maulana Azmi has his residence as the warden of the hostel and proceeded towards the Madani Gate, one of the four gates of Darul Uloom Deoband, he told me in a lighter vein that all that starts with Meem (an Urdu alphabet equivalent to M in English) are in abundance in Deoband; like muslims, madrasas, machchhar (mosquitoes) etc. In the office of MDU, I met Maulana Mohd Ishrat Qasmi who graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1989.It is his job to look after the composing, publishing and the dispatching of the monthly. As he has been recently transferred to the office after serving for 10 years in the main library of Darul Uloom madrasa, he is at loss to guess how much the monthly budget of the MDU is. "There is a huge communication gap among the departments involved in the process of bringing out the journal. Moreover, the guy who was earlier in charge of this office did not maintain the records properly. So I can't provide you with the exact expenditure of the MDU." Though the computer typists have replaced the traditional calligraphers, in Maulana Ishrat's lexicon the term kitabat (calligraphy) is yet to be replaced by the computer typing. Advancements in the fields of technology, management and commerce (marketing) have contributed significantly in shaping the contours of the print media in the post Independence India. As a result, journalism which had been a mission for the freedom fighters to wage a war against the British imperialism, transformed into a thriving industry .At the same time, it embraced the corporate values and professionalism became the buzzword within the industry. Now, the proprietors are more concerned about the departments of advertisements and the circulation than the editorial board. But the madrasa journals remained untouched with such a transmutation in the nature and the objectives of journalism. Here is the world where it is the message which gets preference. Monetary concerns and all other essentials are secondary to it. DS, Malerkotla will be an apt example. Though the magazine is run in heavy deficit due to the irregularities on the part of the subscribers in paying the dues in the time, Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Usmani, its editor-in-chief, is not ready to accept any grant which will force him to publish stuffs he does not consider them worth publishing. "We can easily get grants but we don't accept them because donor agencies generally try to impose their own agenda while we are not prepared to toe their line", says Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Usmani. In short of human resources, he, with the help of his son Maulana Tariq Omair Usmani, does all that is required to bring out DS..So the responsibilities are not well defined. In the case of TDU, New Delhi and MDU, Deoband, there are divisions of labour as the editors carry out only the editorial works and other persons are responsible for the printing and dissemination of the journals. However, this effort to demarcate the responsibilities of different departments engaged in the process of bringing out the journal is not proving helpful .in the case of MDU as is evident from what Maulana Ishrat Alam Qasmi says: "there is no coordination between different departments engaged in the publication of the monthly." As the madrasa journals don't offer any remuneration to the contributors, it would be interesting to look into the manner their editors arrange for the articles. Maulana Waris Mazhari Qasmi who joined the TDU as the editor in 2001,is a graduate of the Deoband madrasa.He has also studied at the Nadwat ul-'Ulama, Lucknow, and the Jami'a Millia Islamia, New Delhi. As he is a fervent champion of madrasa reform,. he initially faced a lot of problems, as he puts it ,in arranging quality articles on a range of issues relating to the present day situation of the muslim ummah and that of the Indian madrasas. "Generally nothing new gets published in the madrasa journals. Repetitions are rampant in them. But I wanted to provide my magazine a difference among other madrasa periodicals. So I contacted peoples from different walks of life. Among them, the professors of the central universities responded with their frequent contributions. Then I myself started translating articles from the national press to keep my readers aware of what is at the centre of debate in the mainstream media. In this connection, contributions by the young generation of the Deoband graduates who are now enrolled in any of the central universities, proved shot in my arms". The TDU has, under his editorship, contributed significantly to the debate of the madrasa reform, publishing 13 articles on the theme within four years. It should be acknowledged that it is the highest number of pieces published ever by any madrasa journal on the issue. His outspoken views have won him both applause as well as criticism from his fellow Deobandis.In his own words, "My writings have been severely criticized within the circles of the hawks of the Deobandi ulema. So, now they (members of the executive body of the TAQDUD) scrutinize every word I write and make amendments in it, sometimes cutting down pages and pages, in the interest of the Deobandi school of thought." Maulana Habibur Rahman Azmi has a different take on the issue. He never feels any dearth of good and relevant articles for his magazine TDU. He states with self-importance, "The TDU is the organ of the Deoband madrasa. Among its graduates who are spread all over the world, a sizeable number of them are really good at writing and are very frequent with their contributions to different magazines. They attach preference to get published in the magazine brought out from their alma mater. So; I always have a plenty of quality pieces piled up in my office. I don't have to run after people to arrange the articles for my monthly. My job is to just select out of the stock of articles the ones which are up to mark and are neither anachronous nor the antithesis to the essentials of the Deobandi school of thought.". If once in a while he needs a piece on a particular issue, unlike Maulana Waris Mazhari, Maulana Azmi himself writes the required piece instead of asking someone else to jot down for his journal. Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Usmani's technique of putting together the DS, Malerkotla, is very interesting. There is no denying the fact that his DSIC is not at par with the Darul Uloom Deoband in terms of reputation, resources and repertoire. As a result, he does not have a pool of writers who pen down analytical and crisp write-ups on his request.So; it is his son Maulana Tariq Omair Usmani who generally writes the editorial and Mufti Fuzailur Rahman also jots down one or two pieces for every issue. The rest of magazine is just the reproduction of articles from the smaller and lesser known Indian as well as Pakistani journals which are out of the reach of the Urdu readers of the country. It has to be acknowledged that in this way Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Usmani manages to edit a magazine which offers a range of interesting and positive readings to his target readers who generally come from the lower middle class and are layman practioner of Islam. The DS has the policy not to name the source of the articles it is reproducing. It is interesting to mention here that the DS presented in 2001 a special issue called "Shagofey".It was the combined issue of the months of June and July of the year. It is the anthology of the satirical pieces published in the DS so far. Though it makes an interesting reading, what is really disturbing about it is the names of the authors did not get mention. It was considered sufficient to cite only the reference of the issue in which the piece had been initially reproduced. The DS and the TDU are open to the commercial advertisements, though with some conditions. In this regard unlike any other madrasa magazine, the TDU goes to an extent that its every issue carries the rates for printing ads in the TDU at the very first page of the magazine. At the same time, Maulana Habibur Rahman Azmi does not feel any need to publish any advertisement as the Darul Uloom has enough budgets to support the expenses of the MDU. "It's our policy not to publish any advertisement from any outside agency. If Darul Uloom has something to publicize then it is a different case", informs Maulana Azmi.Another exclusive aspect of the TDU which really makes it distinguished among the all madrasa journals is its web edition. The current issue of the magazine is available on the website of the Darul Uloom, Deoband (www.darululoom-deoband.com). Maulana Aijaz Arshad Qasmi, the web editor of the site, is working on it since 2000.He tells, "Every month we make it online with great punctuality. Apart from the TDU, we also put Al Daa'i, the Arabic monthly journal of Darul Uloom on the website. As Urdu is yet to develop its own software and font, we face recurrent problem in uploading the content of the TDU. So we need to convert the content into GIFF files which consume a lot of space. This is the reason why the previous issues of the TDU are not available online. At the same time, previous issues of Al Daa'i are available on the site as Arabic has its own softwares and fonts which are really advanced and users' friendly". Apart from the updated editions of both the magazines, the website provides stunning visuals of the campus of this historical seminary and ample information about it as well as about the services it has been rendering to the nation and the society. It has an interesting link called "Online Fatwa" which has the facility to answer to queries of a fatwa seeker within 3-7 days. arshad amanullah 35,masihgarh, jamia nagar new delhi-25. From vasundhara.prakash at gmail.com Fri Mar 31 19:09:07 2006 From: vasundhara.prakash at gmail.com (Vasundhara Prakash) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:09:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Photo feature Message-ID: <489e03b80603310539n6d6fee55o3fdba48cc7fdfcf0@mail.gmail.com> I'm sending a link to my third posting http://vasundharaprakash.blogspot.com/ It's bottom to top......:) Vasundhara Prakash -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060331/decde20c/attachment.html