RELEGATED RURAL INDIA
I am stating the obvious and my observations are mere reiterations of the existing facts on the plight of rural India. We should be aware that still about 70% of India dwells in villages, the rural India as we refer to it. It also provides the food grain to the entire nation, if it slips we feel the effect. Though it should have equal share in the prosperity of the nation , but we have sidelined it to a sorry state. Farmers committing suicide was unheard of earlier despite the overall poor economy, because the poverty was not so sharp and was spread over the rural-urban areas alike . The farmers were not tempted to seek short term gains. Women and children suffering from malnutrition is the highest in rural India. They work the most and eat the least, such is the anomaly of liberalization. The stories of Munshi Premchandra depicting the rural India have not changed much, the mass of humanity is the same, though certain fruits of telecommunication, computerization are visible but fundamentals are still weak.
The urban picture specially in Metros tells a different tale; it is so ironical. My wife drew my attention to a weekly report of an ‘obese’ executive in a city Tabloid it carried the trials and tribulation of the man who was about 100kg and gradually reduced the weight to 80 kgs in six months time; though in itself the effort is noticeable, but when we compare the same with the consumption levels in villages where large number of people still starve on a regular basis and here we are in safe urban haven overfed to such an extent that ‘weight reduction’ is an industry in it self. News papers and magazines employ experts who comment daily on weight and health ideas. The best of hospitals, education and living is provided in urban areas. The gulf is unlikely to reduce in near future. The dream of Mahatma Gandhi to have a village Republic will remain on paper. Food security schemes, various rural employment schemes will be mere crumbs which will not change their lot. But; our exploitation will continue in the field of Dams and mining and poaching. Is it not tragic that the people of Tehri where the infamous Dam was constructed to generate electricity and channelize water on the river Bhagirthi receive only about 5 ltrs water per head whereas the people of Delhi receive more than 20ltrs.
Moreover the corporate march continues toward the rural areas. The creation of SEZ have provided a new asset in the corporate kitty for those who were not short of funds—land. Land acquisitions are rampant and the gullible farmers are selling their ancestral assets at astronomical price but forsaking their ‘ roots’. The downfall of our principles is to such an extent that there is plea of imminent lawyer Fali Nariman inSupreme Court that the word ‘Socialism’ should be deleted from our Constitution as the Government in last 20 years has veered away from the path of socialism by decontrolling the economy and now the market forces are more dominant and determine the trends and set the pace. He , therefore stated that the political parties need not be compelled to swear by the constitution as they will not be able to adhere to its Aims. The plea was rejected on the grounds that it is the political parties who should raise objection! That day may well be near and would indeed be the last nail on the coffin of ideals of our founding fathers. But; I am sure some worthy lawyer will raise the issue of not tampering with basic ‘structure of the constitution!’
There was a Prime minister who was sadly at helm for a short while. His slogan was “ Jai Jawan- Jai Kisan” implying that the farmer will provide and the soldier will protect. The ground reality has not changed for if the farmers will not provide the production and economy will crumble and even the soldier will not have the means to protect. But; the illusion of market economy and the culture which it has unleashed is seducing and restraining the people to adopt the right path . The farmers continue to suffer.
बुधवार, 28 जुलाई 2010
मंगलवार, 6 जुलाई 2010
SPARE THE CHILD
SPARE THE CHILD
Should the children be physically beaten in schools or not is in debate these days. Sparked by the news of a 13 year old boy of La Martiniere college , Kolkata who on being beaten by his teacher and mentally tortured thereafter committed suicide. Shockingly what emerges is the aloof and insensitive stance of the school management. Though ‘corporal’ punishment is banned in India it is practised widely. As is normally the case such atrocities get highlighted when it affects the urban rich. Poor rural India suffers such tragedies perennially but the matter never gets reported nor resolved. We are not even aware as to how the teachers treat children and young students in far flung areas in rural India where the Diktat of the ‘Masterji’ runs supreme. Many schools have only one teacher who teaches all subjects to all the primary classes and caning , abusing and physical assault is a routine to maintain discipline. Much of it emanates from the misuse of power . As we say the future of the child is in the hands of the teacher , but this authority cannot be handled by many , specially in areas where the supervision is non existent on teachers. Children do complain to the parents but the parents too are socially downtrodden and hence hesitant to approach for justice . In some cases the parents are willing to tolerate such atrocities if it ensures their child’s future . Children therefore continue to suffer.
The ‘violence’ need not necessarily be physical it could be ‘verbal’ and therefore mental. I remember my son studying in class 1 in Mumbai, when often I waited outside the class in order to take him back home, I found him quietly sitting in his chair. The teacher was all praise for his behaviour . It was later I learnt that students were terror stricken of her and so remained quiet as she would not only smother any whisper but not hesitate to beat the children. My son therefore withdrew himself for a while. There was this another teacher by the name ‘Gayatri’ who in order to punish my daughter who was slow in writing would make her sit on the floor. This had such an ill affect on my child that she lost her appetite for more than three months. I had to confront the teacher requesting her to dilute her novel disciplining techniques. I ; as a parent have been voicing my opposition to any kind of violence on children. At various Schools the issue was raised by me during the Annual parent teacher meet and conveyed that corporal treatment is no means to apply on children. Once a hindi teacher slapped my daughter for some minor error. The next day I confronted the teacher, though she denied having slapped; thereafter she treated my daughter with care. There was this famous Mrs Kashyap at a Convent School in Mumbai who was full of self praise for making children mentally stronger by shouting and screaming at them. In my opinion she was a poor teacher but the school management had taken favour from her and therefore she was their favourite. Once when I noticed my daughter reluctant to go to school fearing fearful treatment from Mrs Kashyap I met her and communicated my opinion on verbal and mental violence on children.
Children in my opinion should study in free and fearless environment . Few schools practice such principles in letter and spirit . The issue is that teachers are employed from the wide cross section of Indian society where teaching is considered as a means to mere employment and the nobility of the profession is never emphasised . Many of our children have battered childhood at home which gets extended to school. The memory of Charles Dicken’s novel Nicholas Nickleby are revived where in the story in a scene which is the turning point of the novel Nicholas snatches the whip from the hands of the cruel master who is whipping a boy , he then whips the master much to our delight. Situation in many parts of India may not be much dissimilar to the times of Dickens, when the poor were not only ill treated but humiliated to the point of torture.
Many of my own school teachers at St Joseph Dehradun and later Allahabad were famous for hitting children. Some names are unforgettable; Mr Thapa the well dressed hindi teacher was famous for slapping even the senior boys occasionally. Though Hindi teachers are not much feared in English medium schools Mr Tripathi did not spare any case of indiscipline. During my time despite a case of caning pending in court our Head master Father A G Rego continued with his missionary zeal. It was said that he had mercilessly caned one student and his father had initiated legal action. I remember that Father Rego did consult my father who was then a lawyer at the High Court. This aberration of father Rego was condoned by students as he was an educationist of high order and had published books on English language which were held in high esteem by students past and present. I too was caned at least on two occasions by Father Rego for having failed in class tests . The caning was on hands—Father would firmly hold the right hand palm with his left hand and and carry out execution from his right hand. It was a quick fire action and we were left nursing our pain for long in addition to the humiliation of having failed. Mr Benedict was our class teacher in class viith who was known for cold blooded tight slaps he seemed to enjoy it and would bring his victim closer by pulling him prior to the act. Soon he got married and we learnt that his wife could not tolerate the physical abuse and left him. Mr More my class teacher of class vith of Anglo Indian descent , once thrashed me for not being attentive during the assembly when the prayer was being said. Though later we met cordially on many occasions I have neither forgiven nor forgotten him because I felt that he was not fair, there was no need to hit me , he could have just scolded me . All these caning and slapping leave a mark on the mental health of children and affects them adversely in life. Disciplining children may appear to be an impossible task and teachers may find physical threat as the easiest option but we have to teach our teachers in handling situations in an innovative and subtle manner.
Parents therefore can play an active role to restrain corporal punishment but the huge gap in social and economic levels restricts us. Rousseau , Tagore and Wordsworth recommended free and fearless environment for children. That may be a utopian concept but certainly we can adopt some of their principles. Tagore and Wordsworth practiced what they preached.
Should the children be physically beaten in schools or not is in debate these days. Sparked by the news of a 13 year old boy of La Martiniere college , Kolkata who on being beaten by his teacher and mentally tortured thereafter committed suicide. Shockingly what emerges is the aloof and insensitive stance of the school management. Though ‘corporal’ punishment is banned in India it is practised widely. As is normally the case such atrocities get highlighted when it affects the urban rich. Poor rural India suffers such tragedies perennially but the matter never gets reported nor resolved. We are not even aware as to how the teachers treat children and young students in far flung areas in rural India where the Diktat of the ‘Masterji’ runs supreme. Many schools have only one teacher who teaches all subjects to all the primary classes and caning , abusing and physical assault is a routine to maintain discipline. Much of it emanates from the misuse of power . As we say the future of the child is in the hands of the teacher , but this authority cannot be handled by many , specially in areas where the supervision is non existent on teachers. Children do complain to the parents but the parents too are socially downtrodden and hence hesitant to approach for justice . In some cases the parents are willing to tolerate such atrocities if it ensures their child’s future . Children therefore continue to suffer.
The ‘violence’ need not necessarily be physical it could be ‘verbal’ and therefore mental. I remember my son studying in class 1 in Mumbai, when often I waited outside the class in order to take him back home, I found him quietly sitting in his chair. The teacher was all praise for his behaviour . It was later I learnt that students were terror stricken of her and so remained quiet as she would not only smother any whisper but not hesitate to beat the children. My son therefore withdrew himself for a while. There was this another teacher by the name ‘Gayatri’ who in order to punish my daughter who was slow in writing would make her sit on the floor. This had such an ill affect on my child that she lost her appetite for more than three months. I had to confront the teacher requesting her to dilute her novel disciplining techniques. I ; as a parent have been voicing my opposition to any kind of violence on children. At various Schools the issue was raised by me during the Annual parent teacher meet and conveyed that corporal treatment is no means to apply on children. Once a hindi teacher slapped my daughter for some minor error. The next day I confronted the teacher, though she denied having slapped; thereafter she treated my daughter with care. There was this famous Mrs Kashyap at a Convent School in Mumbai who was full of self praise for making children mentally stronger by shouting and screaming at them. In my opinion she was a poor teacher but the school management had taken favour from her and therefore she was their favourite. Once when I noticed my daughter reluctant to go to school fearing fearful treatment from Mrs Kashyap I met her and communicated my opinion on verbal and mental violence on children.
Children in my opinion should study in free and fearless environment . Few schools practice such principles in letter and spirit . The issue is that teachers are employed from the wide cross section of Indian society where teaching is considered as a means to mere employment and the nobility of the profession is never emphasised . Many of our children have battered childhood at home which gets extended to school. The memory of Charles Dicken’s novel Nicholas Nickleby are revived where in the story in a scene which is the turning point of the novel Nicholas snatches the whip from the hands of the cruel master who is whipping a boy , he then whips the master much to our delight. Situation in many parts of India may not be much dissimilar to the times of Dickens, when the poor were not only ill treated but humiliated to the point of torture.
Many of my own school teachers at St Joseph Dehradun and later Allahabad were famous for hitting children. Some names are unforgettable; Mr Thapa the well dressed hindi teacher was famous for slapping even the senior boys occasionally. Though Hindi teachers are not much feared in English medium schools Mr Tripathi did not spare any case of indiscipline. During my time despite a case of caning pending in court our Head master Father A G Rego continued with his missionary zeal. It was said that he had mercilessly caned one student and his father had initiated legal action. I remember that Father Rego did consult my father who was then a lawyer at the High Court. This aberration of father Rego was condoned by students as he was an educationist of high order and had published books on English language which were held in high esteem by students past and present. I too was caned at least on two occasions by Father Rego for having failed in class tests . The caning was on hands—Father would firmly hold the right hand palm with his left hand and and carry out execution from his right hand. It was a quick fire action and we were left nursing our pain for long in addition to the humiliation of having failed. Mr Benedict was our class teacher in class viith who was known for cold blooded tight slaps he seemed to enjoy it and would bring his victim closer by pulling him prior to the act. Soon he got married and we learnt that his wife could not tolerate the physical abuse and left him. Mr More my class teacher of class vith of Anglo Indian descent , once thrashed me for not being attentive during the assembly when the prayer was being said. Though later we met cordially on many occasions I have neither forgiven nor forgotten him because I felt that he was not fair, there was no need to hit me , he could have just scolded me . All these caning and slapping leave a mark on the mental health of children and affects them adversely in life. Disciplining children may appear to be an impossible task and teachers may find physical threat as the easiest option but we have to teach our teachers in handling situations in an innovative and subtle manner.
Parents therefore can play an active role to restrain corporal punishment but the huge gap in social and economic levels restricts us. Rousseau , Tagore and Wordsworth recommended free and fearless environment for children. That may be a utopian concept but certainly we can adopt some of their principles. Tagore and Wordsworth practiced what they preached.
सोमवार, 5 जुलाई 2010
THICK SKINNED SIDDHARTH
THICK SKINNED SIDDHARTH
The opposition to corporal punishment is raging, after the fatal death of a young student who was caned and humiliated by the staff of the prestigious La Martinier college, Kolkata. The ‘Outlook’ weekly magazine has covered the menace of corporal punishment as a lead story and also carried out a survey on the subject seeking opinion of the parents as well. In order to make the publication interesting with varied opinions the views of Mr Siddharth Shankar Ray were also taken. As we know that he was a famous barrister who has been the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Governor of the
The caning and corporal treatment may not apparently bother Shri Ray at this juncture, but he is known to be a tough politician who carried out counter attack on Naxalites in early seventies as Chief Minister of the State. Based on his success in quelling the naxal threat he was sent to
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