let them fall in love and rise in life

Let them fall in love and rise in life!

Yesterday, in Udumalpet, a usually sleepy town in Tirupur witnessed one of the most unlikely scene that was captured on a CCTV camera. A group of men drag a man and a woman and maul them down and escape on a motor bike wielding deadly weapons. The next we hear is that the man was dead and the woman was grievously hurt and is fighting for life. Just a few moments ago some media montages tell us that the father of the woman surrendered to the police. This is becoming a pattern in Tamil Nadu: Girl from a higher caste marries a boy from a dalit community. He is targeted and killed and the girl is forcefully taken away. In some cases the entire village is burnt down. They do it with no guilt and conscience. Or rather just because the person's caste conscience was hurt and would be deemed guilty by fellow caste beings.

This I am sure is a result of severe social pressure and loss of face for the parents who felt that their child left them without their approval. She has profaned their caste and brought a bad name for their family. Now the family stands at risk of being ostracised from its own kith and kin. There may be another unmarried daughter in the family who may not get married for this reason, and the fear of polluting the family lineage are some common excuses that are imagined. This even makes people hire jobless goons and mercenaries to kill the hapless partner and the children. They trust that they can get back their lost glory by punishing them. The least is to separate them the worst is to kill them and come out to the world and thump the chests and say, ‟Look what I did”. Some times it sounds like the gorilla after establishing its alphaness.

How do we tell our people that caste is just a mental construct and has nothing to do with what we look or what we do or what we eat or how we dress or how we speak? There is no difference in the DNA or the way we are made of? We have been stratified to be controlled by some vicious myth and we refuse to believe that we are capable of overcoming it even in this time and age. We see honor in protecting something that is not even real as a mirage! But we do not see it as an honor that our sons and daughters are capable of deciding a suitable future that is built on self confidence and love.

I think there is a lot that can be made to change this system in schools, colleges, churches, temples, mosques and all establishments. May be a preferential system can be evolved in the process. I don't mean to touch the existing reservation but I want much more to be done.

I want to teach children to love and to live. So let them fall in love and rise is life! I want to us to trust them and believe that they will accept the challenges that come about.

Will the next CM please stand up!

Literally and figuratively will the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu stand up against the gross injustices and be intolerant to mediocrity and babudom?

Will he/she be ready to take bold steps that promote radical systemic changes?

Will the next CM be ready for public scrutiny, by being transparent in all operations pertaining public works.

Will the next CM be ready to sweat and bleed for the poor not only in the screen but in real life.

Will the next CM be willing to cut all the unnecessary paraphernalia and take public transport to work, go only to the government hospital where sick and put their children, grand children or great grand children which ever applies only to government schools.

Will the next CM assure the people of Tamil Nadu that they will get safe drinking water out of the tap.

Can the next CM declare his/her assets along with the family's earnings on a quarterly basis.

Will you be willing not to use banners, biriyani and liquor to mobilize crowds for your political meetings.

All this may really sound strange on this day and time. But all this was possible and has happened.
Your predecessors have actually done it.

If you tell us that all that is a thing of the past and not possible, all of us will hit the BS BUTTON.

Please remember the word minister comes from a Latin word which means servant. Much more is demanded from a Chief Minister which means Chief servant.

Now will the next CM be ready to bow before the people rather than make them bow till they break their backs.

Can the next CM restore the rational spirit that gave us self respect.

If you dare to do it put your hat in and try to run a fair race with some self respect.

The Budget

Dear FINMIN,

we all know from the sweet that was made to kick start the budget session that the budget is ready. Apart from the customary sweet halwa or what ever you call it we need some real stuff in this budget. I am not an economist but i simply want to echo the sentiments of my friends and families who are just average citizens of this country who pay taxes both direct and indirect, with which you are making these plans. Hence, believing that we have a right to know how our own money is being spent I want to place a few requests in an understandable manner.

1. Atleast this year let there be a substantial increase in funding for education at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary. We are a country of more young people than any other. We need to educate our children and grand children. If we don't spend on education we have no right to talk about an empowered nation.
2. In terms of infrastructure, i know the focus is going to be on highways and roads that connect the country. But it is essential to concentrate on non motorised transport as well. If you are really concerned about Mother India she needs to be placed on non motorised transport to travel safely. Can we expect anything to this effect.
3. For a long time we have focussed on non renewable sources of energy. We all understand the damage it can do to all of us including you. Is there anything to encourage the safety of the planet by supporting renewable energy. Can we see something concrete on Solar, Wind, Hydro and Tidal energy. Without it we are becoming a powerless country
4. Health for all has become a misnomer, hundreds and thousands of our brothers and sisters are perishing in pain from absolutely preventable/curable diseases. The simple mosquito is deemed responsible for many deaths. TB and Cancer are on the rise. You may well understand that this can be and needs to be stopped. Do you have anything for this?
5. We all know that India is a nation that has no place to pee or poop. A majority of the Indians are loosing mortgaging their dignity every day to open spaces where they defecate. Is there something to restore their dignity.
6. Every day in the international market the fuel prices are reducing, but unfortunately, the price in India seems to be rising steadily. We go one step forward and two steps backward. When you are so quick in hiking the price the same should be maintained while it comes down. Can we expect something to change with your wisdom.
7. You have said that we have to change the taxation policy of the country. The poor and middle class are being taxed continuously while the super rich go ahead with so much ease. We are not asking you to be robin hood but you can be our minister who can play the balancer who pays attention to the poverty of the poor and richness of the rich. In fact it has been the other way around as the poverty of the rich gains priority. Can we expect any change to this effect.
8. You know that to forgive and forget is a very divine value. Can we expect you to be kind to the poor farmers who have been struggling to make ends meet while trying to pay of the loans even when the crops have failed repeatedly. When you write off almost three times of the loans of the industry I am sure it is not going to be a big burden to write off a small amount in the large scale of things.
9. We are a nation that is cricket crazy for the right or the wrong reasons. But we are also capable in other fields. To sustain the youth and develop them is there is a possibility to increase the funding for sports and games especially for women. This can be in the forms of professional academies or in terms of locally coordinated clubs. Is there any effort to increase the medal tally of India in the world of sports.
10. Is it too much to ask for an investment in the green ecology and environment. As it has been many years since we heard anything from you on this area. We have heard more on investing in exploiting the earth than replenishing it. Can we hear something from you on this.
11. Industry cannot be left out. We are fuelled and driven by it. But can we expect anything for the small scale industry? Here is where many millions are working and they do not seem to get anything out of this.
12. Here is a the last one of this dozen for now. We are a nation with several disparities. Caste is emboldened by class, gender is marred with an imbalance of power. In this budget can be expect any creativity from you to change the situation. Let it be a beginning, I hope you can light a candle.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Refugees have not occupied much of the media space unless there is a crisis. Refugees from Syria, are now given relatively more attention. Fair enough. But what about those who are living in Tamil Nadu. For some readers, it will be surprising to hear that there are 107 camps in which over 67000 refugees from Sri Lanka are housed since 1991. Technically they came to India in 1983-84 and went back home from 1987-1990. Though some went home even in 1997, most of them came back to be refugees in Tamil Nadu. So, this is the second generation that as grown up in Tamil Nadu, without knowing much about their home land. The unfulfilled political promises and the war have determined their uncertainty in India for over 35 years. 

The refugees have been keenly watching the happenings in Sri Lanka in the last 6 years. Since the end of the war in May, 2009, there was a climate of suspicion constant sense of insecurity in their minds. The news coming from the relatives to cemented their fears of return. However, the last year and a half has been quite different. Though there is not much that has changed in terms of systems and structures, the election of the new president and prime minister have sent positive messages. 

The return rate which was around 2000-3000 people per year drastically reduced to less than 900 in 2014-15. This is believed to be because those who had returned came in 2007-08 and they were in a hurry to get back. While others who returned had other family related emergencies. The significant drop was also because the messages that came across the Palk Strait were negative. Some discussions on both the sides of the strait revealed that the reason for the drop was that there was no organized governmental efforts to take back refugees to return. Neither was there a sincere call from the Sri Lankan government nor was there a conscious support package from India. 

Though wanting to return was in the mind of the refugees. They wanted to be sure that they will not go back home and stay in camps. The did not want to go back to restart their lives from scratch. They wanted a new identity that would be backed by policy that would protect their rights. They even outlined it in a document titled,"Asserting the right to return" (2014). This helped them take the process further. 

They discussed these issues in the track two and track three diplomatic channels. It opened the doors to track one. Meetings with the external affairs minsters of India and Sri Lanka since 2014 proved fruitful. It kept the foot on the pedal and did not loose steam in the process. It finally culminated when it became part of the official discussions in Colombo during the visit of the External affairs minister of India. The discussion became public and sent a clear message that evoked a a variety of responses from the refugee community. For those who are waiting to go home this was a tiding of joy. especially because it spoke about the ferry service which would enable them to carry all that they had earned and saved in India, provision of support for livelihood, housing and land rights. This is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. For those who wanted to stay back in India this sounded like a gong to wake up to reality and for those who live outside the camps it was rather confusing as this would threaten their status. 

Those who have observed this situation for a long time in the refugee camps this is a message that comes after so much of thought. It seems like the central government of India is ready to take a call along with the government of Sri Lanka, while the Tamil Nadu government is playing it cautiously for obvious reasons of the timing of these happenings.