Child, how happy you are sitting in the dust, playing with a broken twig all the morning.
I smile at your play with that little bit of a broken twig.
I am busy with my accounts, adding up figures by the hour.
Perhaps you glance at me and think, “What a stupid game to spoil your morning with!”
Child, I have forgotten the art of being absorbed in sticks and mud-pies.
I seek out costly playthings, and gather lumps of gold and silver.
With whatever you find you create your glad games, I spend both my time and my strength over things I never can obtain.
In my frail canoe I struggle to cross the sea of desire, and forget that I too am playing a game.

I have been a great fan of Google News for a few years now.  So much so that I read most news starting here rather than through news papers or their websites.  .  A big lacuna with it was that Tamil news was not covered in this channel.  Am happy to see that Tamil newspapers are now indexed in this system.

I’ll expand this post shortly with greater detail on how it works.

Obama’s ability to draw attention across the globe is incredible. There are even posters of him with a local political leader in many parts of Madras – something I have never seen of a foreign leader before. His appeal was clear in other parts of the world as well seen from the clamour in Israel and the crowds in Berlin. While he has the charisma to influence, I feel that he’s too stuck in the idioms of the past to bring any change in international relations.

While he talks a lot of changing partitions and a globalising world, Obama’s division of the world as the West and Rest is clear throughout the speech. He had little to talk of the rest that was positive. His references to the rest of the world was littered with terms like poverty, poppy seeds, terror, leaks of nuclear secrets, etc. The only positive reference was that of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He was also firmly stuck in the idiom of the “white man’s burden” of bringing prosperity, liberty, and peace to the world. There is no recognition in this man that the West has played a dual role in this matter. While the West has taken significant efforts to help the poor, it has also swindled. While the West has tried its hand at bringing liberty it has both imperialised nations and supports dictators.

Ignoring West’s dual role enables Obama to claim that Afgan people need “our” [Western] support against Taliban without a touch of irony. He could talk of supporting the Blogger in Iran and voter in Zimbawe but is silent on prisoner in Guantanamo or Abu Gharib. The world has seen with horror West coming to the “rescue” people of other countries time and again for many centuries as of today.

Let me reiterate here that there are two contradictory things happening at the same time: one on hand, there are people genuinely concerned in the West about people elsewhere. There is genuine commitment of money, time and lives to assist unknown people elsewhere. This is wonderful, and it must continue. At the same time the West has been the worst of colonisers and it continues to support dictators around the world. West’s role in creating and supporting Taliban, Saddam, Osama himself, and many other dictators should not be forgotten. Obama will do little service to the world by extending the idiom of White man’s burden. If he wants to bring a real politics of hope in international relations he has to start dealing with the likes of School of Americas, stop propping up puppet regimes, stop interfering with domestic politics elsewhere, stop arming dictators, and stop waging useless wars.

It would be remarkable if he could bring these issues into the public domain with the same grit and charisma the he showed when talking of race. Acknowledging West’s dual role and promising to end the oppressive side of it would be the really radical step that can bring a hopeful turn to international relations. But going by Obama’s idioms at Berlin, hope has no hope on this front.

For more pics from the trip, click here.

This is where Office Migration Plan Manger (OMPM) became useful.  It comes with a set of tools that let us find out if the files can be converted without any problems and then does the job in one go.  If one has a very large list of files, it makes sense to do the job in parts.

The whole programme is run by command prompt, which was intimidating to think about since I grew in the windows era. But once I figured my way around, it was very simple.  Infact, I barely had to know a few commands to run the whole thing.  With a few hours of work, my files are now converted into the latest format…and it should ensure that my documents are in place - at least for ten more years!

The master director’s known for his ability to extract the best from the kids - Anjali had proved that way back in eighties. But, then “Kannathil Muthamittal” truly showed how Mani Ratnam can ellicit complex adult emotions from a child.

I think his choice of movies could not have been worse.  For MR kids are only noisy, perpetually-running, yelling, brats. I sometimes feel that he merely takes a an adult character, adds a lot of yelling and running to it and makes a child act that role.  When it comes to children, I think there’s nothing to beat the Iranians.  They have the ability to craft child-like characters and get the best of the child actors.

The Government of India has been claiming that that text of safeguards agreement with IAEA is a secret document that will not be circulated even to members of the Indian Parliament. Considering that it’s an agreement that is bound to have long term consequences for India, it’s a shame that GoI refuses to even share it.

What is even more appalling is that the draft is circulating freely in DC just when headlines in India were screaming that the agreement was not available. A Washington based report by Reuters mentions that DC based ‘think tanks’ have been voicing concerns about it. The report also provides an online link to the safeguards agreement. The documented is dated 9 July 2008, the same time when India’s newspapers were voicing concerns about the agreement being kept a secret (Hindu, ToI).

This is one of the most significant initiatives of the UPA government - and it’s bound to have long term consequences. Congress spokespersons have gone overboard in the last few days trying to explain that the document is classified and need not be made public. The anti-democratic methods adopted by the government to push this bill at any cost is totally condemnable.

After spectacularly winning 13 out of 17 Zilla Parishads, CPM and it’s partners woke up to see the following headline in the Indian Express, “Not just Singur and Nandigram, CPM gets battered across rural West Bengal”. Some sections of the media have kept up the tempo to manufacture a feel that the Left Front is loosing its grip in West Bengal. Referring to the same election two months later, Economic Times mentions, “Civic poll results are not at all encouraging for the Marxists in the wake of their dismal show [emphasis mine] in the recently held May panchayat elections” (ET, 3 July 2008). The same article goes on to talk about the “Anti-CPM Wave” that became imminent in the Panchayat polls!

It’s well known that media does manufacture news…but to twist a thumping victory as a dismal show is (to put it mildly,) regrettable. I am someone who feels that CPM has not done all too well in West Bengal and that some electoral competition in the state will do it a lot of good. But I’d hate to see such a change manufactured by partisan media. Unless change comes through genuine democratic pressure, electoral competition will be of little use to the State and its people.

Ps. This post was written a day after the Left suffered serious losses in Municipal elections.

“Ohhh Vivek, I MUST tell you this” started Jubeet as Rukma took over. “Now, Jubeet and I went to watch this movie two days ago and it was very cloudy. My aunt insisted that we take this old umbrella”. “After the movie we gladly forgot the umbrella and came out”, continued Jubeet, “and Rukma realized only after we had come out of the movie hall. Since it’s her aunt’s umbrella, we decided to go back to the hall to get it”.

By the time they reached, the hall was already empty and an old man who cleans the place walked out. Upon learning their purpose he said that he had just cleaned the place and he found no umbrella, but seeing them crestfallen he let them go in and check the place. “We went in and checked not just our seats, but the entire hall”, said Rukma. After waiting a while, the old man joined the search. In minutes, he shouted, “I found it!” and he lifted an umbrella. Jubeet who was nearby went to him but it was a huge old umbrella that was not theirs. She then pointed out to the monstrous umbrella by the wall and said, “But you know what, Vivek, he said he found it with such joy, that I did not have the heart to refuse it”.

After some good food and more stories I was ready to depart. The sky grew cloudy and Rukma insisted that I take the umbrella with me. I reluctantly took it and boarded a DTC bus to go home. Two stops down the road, an old man boarded the bus and sat next to me. I started growing uneasy as he kept glancing at the umbrella. After a few long minutes he gave me a nostalgic look and said, “I work in a theatre nearby and had an umbrella just like this. Two days ago a couple of girls came to the theatre and searched for their missing umbrella. I waited for long and then decided to tease them a little. I showed them my umbrella and mischievously said ‘I found it’. One of them came to me…and you know what, she took it with such joy that I did not have the heart to refuse it”. We did not speak after that and he got down a few stops later. I heaved a sigh of relief and vowed never to touch that umbrella again.

I met TRV for an interview two weeks ago. Though he was unwell and very old, he insisted on speaking to me. “I may have a heart attack and pass away anyday”, he said, “if I talk to you, you may take my message to more people”. We went on to have a delightful 4-hour discussion on his legacy. I am sad to say that he has passed away last night and will be cremated today. This post offers a short snap shots from his inspiring that has left this world a better place for thousands of people.

Joining the communist movement

After education, TRV visited many cities across India in getting to know the country better. In this period he often worked in restaurants and other places as he moved from place to place. Upon coming to Pondichery he became a member of the Communist movement in 1950. He was deputed by the leaders in Pondichery to create and nurture the party in the Chidambaram area. TRV thus became one of the founders of the communist movement in the South Arcot District.

Pannaial padhukappu sattam

Though he worked both in urban and rural areas TRV’s main contribution was in strengthening the communist movement in the rural areas. His first initiative was to demand the implementation of the Pannaial padhukaapu sattam in the Chidambaram-Kattumanaragudi area. In the process of demanding the extension of the Act, he was jailed for six months along with many other communist and Congress leaders who were supporting this Act. They were finally released after the intervention of Mr. R Venketraman who went on to become the president of India.

The movement achieved a major success when the Act was extended to this area. With this TRVs struggle moved to the next phase of ensuring the implementation of the Act. This was never going to be easy since the landlords were organised and powerful. TRV was involved in numerous historic struggles in Keezhanatham, Thanathampattu, Thirucheramedu, Udaiyur, and many other villages with tenants. In Thevangudi, Melathanathampattu and others places he fought for increasing wages. Through these protracted struggles he was instrumental winning better wages and work conditions for workers and tenants across the district.

The pioneer

Being an early member of the communist movement, TRV was involved in numerous major initiatives including starting of Unions in Neyveli and the first labour union in Annamalai University. He was also involved in the consolidation of the fractured communist movement. This included starting a Taluk level Agricultural Labourers Union in 1952. He was initially a gun wielding member but gave up his gun after Stalin advised members of the Communist Party in India to give up arms and start a process of mobilisation. To put it in his words, instead of using weapons in struggle, they made struggle their weapon.

Mobilising the labourers and tenants has been his life’s task ever since. TRV and his colleagues ensured that they lived with the villagers through their struggles and in their moments of need. While the struggles he led were mainly class based, he was also involved in numerous struggles against untouchability with the Dalits. These include struggles for equal education and for basic civil rights such as wearing chappals, accessing public roads, using public wells, etc.

Politics and the personal

Politics is of course personal. Born as a Palakkad Brahmin he went on to shed the rituals of caste. His work was mostly with the Dalits with whom he ate and lived for long durations. His in-laws include Dalits, tribal people and others. When his first wife died, he insisted on cremating her in a common burial yard, rather than one reserved for Brahmins. At a time when agricultural labourers were desperately poor, he would live with them and share their life style during their struggles.

Struggles and successes

Establishing a party is never an easy task, but being a member of the communist movement meant many additional struggles. At the dawn of independence and democracy for India, the communist party was banned – and this is when TRV joined the party. He worked in an era when there were deep suspicions about the party. TRV recalled how he would be hounded by the police, and other powerful interests in the process of setting up the party. If we have a flourishing democracy today, it is due to the foundational efforts by people like TRV to take it to the poorest of people by mobilising them against all odds.

The struggles that TRV was involved in have ensured that agricultural labourers have a much better deal in their lives today. Though caste is far from eradicated, Dalits can live today with much greater dignity and can dream of a good education or a career. His struggles helped enabled the poorest and the most oppressed to make use of our democratic framework into securing a better life for themselves. He lived as an exemplar and has left us today with a much better world than it would have been without the likes of him.

One of our colleagues, Lalit Mehta, was brutally murdered  in Palamu, Jharkahand recently.  A sloppy report has prepared by the Deputy Commissioner and the SP, Palamu indicates that the Jharkhand police is either insincere in pursuing the murderers or actively protecting them. Lalit was in the process of organising a survey on NREGA along with Jean Dreze and a band of volunteers. Instead of pursuing the murders, the report casts aspersions on the survey team and even goes on to suggest that Jean could have been involved in the murder.  It also claims that the survey team manufactured evidence of fraud in NREGA works.
I have been a part of such surveys before with similar teams and I have only one word to describe the insinuations in the report - Ridiculous!  Corruption after all can thrive where it gets active support of the police.  I only understand this shabby report by the police (see details below) as a attempt to protect the corrupt murderers in nexus with them.

There is now no room to have any confidence in the police in this matter.  I demand a CBI probe into the murder so that some confidence can return to to those who want to see the culprits punished.  Copied below is a statement on that is being circulated for a signature campaign on this issue.

We are shocked by the recent report prepared by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Palamau, commenting on Lalit Mehta’s murder as well as on the survey of NREGA conducted there in May 2008 by the G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad.  This report is a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the real issues, which effectively protects those responsible for corruption and violence in the area.

The report shows that the police have made no serious enquiries into Lalit Mehta’s murder. It does not provide any credible clue to this murder, but raises a number of mischievous conjectures using selective evidence. For instance, the report refers to interviews with Lalit Mehta’s brother and his sons, without mentioning that the sons are one and three years old, respectively. Meanwhile, evidence from extensive interviews with Lalit’s wife, Ashrita, is ignored. Further, the report is full of factual mistakes. Even the date of the murder is incorrect: Lalit Mehta was murdered on 14 May, not on 15 May as stated in the report.

Instead of presenting a serious analysis of the circumstances of the murder, the report makes  absurd insinuations, such as Jean Drèze’s possible involvement in the murder, or the allegation that he and his team manufactured evidence of fraud in NREGA works. Equally ridiculous is the unsubstantiated claim of the possible role of an old family dispute about Lalit Mehta’s inter-religious marriage being the cause for the murder.

The report also makes insidious allegations about the survey team, Vikas Sahyog Kendra, and Lalit Mehta’s family. For instance, the report presents a ludicrous picture of the social audit activities conducted by the survey team, and even accuses the team of using devious means to collect testimonies. No-one familiar with the team’s work (which was conducted in a transparent manner in full view of the public and the media) can take this seriously. Casting  unwarranted aspersions on people like Jean Drèze, who is a member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (and therefore mandated to monitor and investigate NREGA implementation anywhere in the country), and on students from Delhi University  and other reputed universities, is in fact an attempt to snuff out any independent monitoring of government expenditure.

The report reinforces earlier suspicions that there is an entrenched and deep rooted nexus of corruption and violence surrounding NREGA in Palamau, with powerful connections. Otherwise, why would the district’s seniormost officers go to such length to undermine a forthright examination of the use of NREGA funds in this area?

We demand that the report of the DC and SP Palamau be rejected by the Central Government as well as by the State Government, and that a CBI enquiry into Lalit Mehta’s murder and the corruption in NREGA works in Palamau District be initiated immediately.

Short video on the treaty

Poor coverage in Indian media

The coverage by Indian media is so un-reflecting that Zee News could carry the headline “111 nations adopt cluster bomb treaty, but not US”…being an Indian media outlet, were they not obliged to highlight India’s stand? The issue was so hushed up, that I had to discover it through Al Jazeera that carried the video above. Thanks to Indian media’s slience, we know not why India did not even participate in the treaty.

Poor media coverage is not a reflection of media’s priorities alone. It reflects the fact that no one in India must have campaigned actively for India to join the treaty. It’s a failure on the part of the civil society here. Even if a small group had taken interest, it would have made it to the media.  Unfortunately, the way a lot of international treaties work is through Western mediation with an agenda set in the West without much domestic consultation.

It looks like India is one of the major producers of cluster bombs. It is unlikely that commercial interests will make way for moral and social concerns without strong public support - no effort has gone into securing it in this country.

Set in the tune of the Sinhalese song “Surangani” that took India by storm, “American war par da” is a spoof of US foreign policies.

Around the same time, Lalit Kumar, a committed activist working for the rights of people in one of India’s poorest sates was murdered and it did not get a whimper in the media. Lalit’s murder is but a grave form of intimidation to people working against corruption and vested interests in India. Between the two awful cases, Lalit’s murder clearly represents India’s deeply rooted social and economic problems a lot more. It is of much greater significance to all our lives. Unfortunately in a world driven by market price, what’s important is not what is of value.

Right from the word go combating corruption in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been a major agenda of activists of the Right to Food Campaign. Needless to say, it brings activists into conflict with the vested interests that are deeply rooted in India today. This week in Palamu, a young and committed activist - Lalit Kumar - was murdered, perhaps a result of his actions to secure the poorest of people their rights. I am reproducing an appeal below from the website of the right to food campaign on this issue:

We are deeply disturbed by the recent murder of Lalit Kumar Mehta, member of Vikas Sahyog Kendra (Palamau District), who was brutally killed on 14 May 2008 as he was returning from Daltonganj to Chhattarpur on a motorcycle.

The circumstances of this murder are disturbing. Lalit (aged 36), an active member of the right to food campaign and Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, has been working in this area for more than 15 years on issues related to the right to food and the right to work. He was a very gentle person and his work was widely appreciated. However he was also fearless in exposing corruption and exploitation, and often came in the way of vested interests.

At the time of this incident, Lalit was helping a team of volunteers from Delhi and elsewhere to conduct a social audit of NREGA works in Chainpur and Chhattarpur Blocks of Palamau District. Attempts had already been made to dissuade the team from conducting this investigation, particularly in Chainpur Block. Is it a coincidence that Lalit was murdered just one day after the investigation began?

If this murder was an act of intimidation, it did not succeed. Friends and supporters from all over Jharkhand gathered at Vikas Sahyog Kendra on 17 May. They unanimously resolved to continue the campaign against corruption and exploitation in this area.

A public hearing of NREGA will be held in Chhattarpur on 26 May. We appeal to all those who stand in solidarity with Lalit and his work to participate in this event.

Our immediate demands: (1) CBI enquiry into this incident; (2) strict action on all the complaints and irregularities emerging from this social audit of NREGA.

Balram (Right to Food Campaign), Jean Drèze (Allahabad University), Jawahar (Vikas Sahyog Kendra), Meghnath (Akhra, Ranchi), Vinoy Ohdar (ActionAid) and others including all members of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan.

Local contact: 06566-290013 (Vikas Sahyog Kendra) or rozgar@gmail.com

Ambedkar is easily one of the finest Indian thinkers ever. Academically, he has a degree in law, a Masters in economics (from London School of Economics), and a doctorate in social sciences (from Columbia University). At Columbia he majored in sociology and economics for his M.A. with a smattering of anthropology, politics and philosophy as other subjects. He also had a stint at University of Bonn. His experience ranges from being a untouchable boy to the principal architect of India’s Constitution. He started and ran a political party and is arguably the most influential person ever in politicizing Dalits towards demanding a better lives for themselves.

This breadth of thinking and experience makes Ambedkar a fascinating and a purposeful writer. Many of his works are now available online at Ambedkar.org, and the collection is growing. This is a fantastic resource for anyone thinking of social issues in India today.

There are hundreds of formats for citations like Chicago, APA, etc.  The only thing in common between them is that each of them is a nightmare!  I cannot imagine how people did extensive citations before the coming of automated help.  I am a big fan of refworks, endnote and other bibliography managers.  Unfortunately, these are costly and cannot be afforded by everyone.  For those who did not have the fortune of having one of these, websites like Citation Machine provided some free help.  Basically, one can enter the name of one’s book, article, and other details and get the citation in the correct format.  We can then copy and paste this into our editor.  MS Word 2007 has now introduced an ability to add citations and create bibliographies with ease.

There is now a tab called “references”.  After clicking this we can add a new source (article, book, book section, etc.) by clicking on insert citation button.  The citation gets added to that point automatically. Word 2007 offers many styles including MLA, Chicago, APA, ISO, etc.  Once we are ready, click the bibliography button to get a neatly formatted bibliography at the bottom of the file.

Adding page numbers

To add page numbers, put your cursor anywhere on the in-line citation.  A drop box will appear on the bottom right.  Once we click it would have a button called “Edit citation”.  Click this button and it will have a box where we can add a page number.

Advantages over Citation Machine

Word 2007 offers significant advantages over online citation generators like Citation Machine.  To begin with, there is no need to copy and paste the inline text and the formamted citation.  When we copy and paste, it takes a while to ensure that the order is maintained in the bibliography at the bottom.  Worst of all, if we choose to change our style, say from APA to MLA, we have to start all over again in citation machine.  With Word 2007, we can do this with a click of a button.

No substitute for Refworks, Endnote, Bibtex

Word 2007 is no substitute to Refworks or other bibliography managers.  It lacks many useful functions that come with one of these managers. Most importantly, there is no ability to import citations from sources such as econlit or JSTOR.  It does not offer folders, search facilities, etc. for using it as a useful database.   While the drop down box for inserting citations is very useful for a limited number of citations, it’d be a nightmare if we have a large database.

On the whole, Word 2007’s bibliography functionality is useful with limited citations but is un-evolved to serve as a bibliography database as yet.

…Muito mais. Tal vez tu sei que há muitas linguas na India. Muitos disso tem um grande indústria do cinema. O muito famoso é o indústria do Bombay chamo “Bollywood”. Muitos estrangeiros pensem que só Bollywood produz filmes na India; mas ha muitos outros centros do produção. O grande centro é Madras no sul do India. Também há Hyderabad, Calcutta, Kerala e outros centros.

Tal vez, o filmes do Bengal são o mais famoso depois que o Bollywood. Begal é famoso para produzir os filmes artísticas e seu director Satyajit Ray recebida o Oscar para “lifetime achievement”. Seus filmes com o Pather Panchali, os Appu trilogia recebem acclaim crítico. O meu favorito é Agantuk.

Normalmente os filmes Indianos tem um combinação do musico, dança, comedia, alguns combates, sexo, etc. Devido da issos elles são chamados “masala” i.e. um combinação dos especiarias. O maior parte do musico na India é produzido nas cinemas. Enquanto esta é a norma, alguns filmes são differentes.

Dilwala dulhania le jayenge, Dil chata hai, Sholay, Lage raho munna bhai e Gol mal são alguns filmes famosos em Hindi. Issos são os filmes-masala. Eu recomendo o Anbe Sivam (o amor é o deus, em Tamil), Hazaron Kwaishein Aisi (um mil sonhos com isso, em Hindi), Tare Zamin Par (Estrelas na terra, em Hindi), Hey Ram (uma cinema sobre o partição do India e um pouco sobre o Gandhi), Shwaas (um filme muito excelente em Marathi), Mrs. and Mr. Iyer (não perda isso), Ondanodo Kalladhalli (em Kannada), Appu triologia (3 cinemas com o Appu em Bengali), Sangara Paranam (em Telungu) são alguns que são aclamados pela crítica e também interessante.