Here an India, There an Indian

Ketan Tanna on the embarrassing way in which India likes to appropriate achievers. We love to laugh at the nouveau riche and the silly way in which they flaunt their baubles: driving up in a flashy red sports car, wiping themselves with branded toilet paper, wearing ice-cubes on their chunky fingers, and most depressing of all, dropping names like so much dandruff. Sure they may have arrived but they can’t stop jingling their moneybags and getting the world to take notice.India, on the road to being a global power, seems to be suffering from this disease. The most tiresome symptom being the unthinking way in which we appropriate any achiever with even the most tenuous connection to the motherland as Indian. It makes us feel better, bigger, first-world and truly global. There is not so much as a prickle of shamefacedness at the fact that India has done little to further their careers or their talents. In the last couple of years, at regular intervals, the media has been choking with reports about “Indians” such as Bobby Jindal, Norah Jones, Sanjaya Malakar, Sunita Williams, etc who have all done the country proud in the USA or in space. Indian schoolchildren light diyas (lamps) or fast, villages and towns in remote corners of India distribute sweets, dance in joy, and the cameras chase the drivers, aunties, uncles and village postmen for sound bytes—all because the son or a daughter of a former resident who quit the country fifty years ago has achieved a modicum of success thousands of kilometers away.

But, at some point, reality bites. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal’s father, Amar Jindal, left Maler Kotla in Punjab for the United States almost 40 years ago and settled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Bobby Jindal, 36, has never visited his ancestral home and has no plans to. Nora Jones who “grew up in Texas with a white mother” said after winning the Grammy that if anything, she felt more Texan than New Yorker (India did not figure). In fact, Geethali Norah Jones Shankar dropped the first and last extensions of her name when she turned 16. Sanjaya Malakar, the American Idol contestant whose father was an Indian, thanked his maternal Italian grandfather in his interviews. Sunita Williams was born in the USA to an Indian father (who became an American) and a mother of Slovenian heritage (the Slovenian press reproduced articles about how India was trying to appropriate their daughter of the soil).

Historian Ramachandra Guha says he is revolted by this “craven desire of Indians” to shine in reflected glory. “There is something lopsided and imbalanced in all of this,” he says. “It is nothing but pathetic insecurity and an inferiority complex. I blame the rudderless trans-national middle class for such hype.” In Delhi, Professor Mushirul Hassan, the vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia endorses Guha’s view that this is nothing but the urge of a middle-class keen to join the rat race to prove itself. “It is a way of saying we have arrived. An expression of new-found confidence. And when there not enough persons in India, you look outside,” he says.

Equus’ CEO and advertising professional Suhel Seth calls it a “reverse globalisation”. “India is very territorial in its emotions. We want to capture territories overseas. For us Indians, the grass is not only greener but sweeter outside India. We have shifting sands of respect and shifting sands of recognition. We seek role models from outside India and appropriate them even when they are not comfortable. Take Amarnath Bose (of Bose Electronics). I don’t think he wants to be called an Indian.”

There is certainly something surreal about the whole hysteria, agrees Sunil Khilnani, professor and director of South Asian Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and the author of the acclaimed The Idea of India. “This is not a healthy sign—our admiration and adulation for the overseas success of whomever we can claim (however tenuously) our ‘own’: it’s perhaps quaint, but also self-delusional,” he says. “We should perhaps think harder, focus more closely, on the many millions of those whom we condemn to failure, who really are our ‘own’ fellow, though far from equal, citizens.”

What really grates is that much greater achievement within the country goes unnoticed or is downplayed. But once the West gives its seal of approval, the drum roll just won’t stop. “Indian scientists who were ignored in India suddenly get talked about if they get recognised abroad. Even Mother Teresa became Indian only after she got the Nobel. We are a land of hypocrites. R K Pachauri suddenly shot to fame only after he got the Nobel Peace Prize. Till then very few would even give him appointment. And now suddenly he has become an Indian scientist,” says Seth.

Prof Hassan adds that success is always seen as suspect: “We don’t recognise the worth of person who has achieved something or done something worthwhile. We attribute it to tikdam (machinations). We don’t think that it could be an intrinsic part of the person or hard work that has contributed to his/her success. When I go abroad, people talk about how Indian scholars, historians are making great advances. But here we don’t talk about them. We are in awe of someone who has studied in Cambridge but the moment you say you have studied in India, the interest wanes. This is an inferiority complex.”

Guha blames the media for feeding this kind of false pride. “The media should not be so obsequious about the West,” he says. “A few years ago, a magazine said that they did not put Vishwanathan Anand on the cover because he came second in the world championship. Bismillah Khan’s death and even M S Subbulakshmi’s death were covered sparsely. Sunita Williams got ten times that coverage in the media. If great artistes like Bismillah Khan or M S had died in France, there would be half-hour programmes every day for a week if not more. Look at the way they covered Pavarotti’s death. And here in India we cover our national heroes’ death while reading out what the President of India has said about him or her. But Bobby Jindal wins the governorship of a small state in the US and he gets excessive coverage.”

Congress MP Milind Deora says that before celebrating the success of Indians abroad their Indianness needs to be verified. “Take the example of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Austria celebrates his success and that is genuine because he was born there and grew up in Austria before migrating to the USA,” says Deora. “We celebrate these achievements because we have a certain affinity for them. The affinity is not derived from citizenship or from accent. America is full of immigrants but one does not find Europe celebrating each and every success of an American who is of European descent.”

Another ‘Indian’ who only has nasty things to say about India is V S Naipaul, who was born in Trinidad and lives in England. India counts Naipaul amongst its Nobel winners. Naipaul, who hates to be asked what he considers ‘home’—“I refuse to answer that question one more time,” he snapped at Crosswords in Mumbai—has this to say about the three countries he is associated with. “India is unwashed, Trinidad is unlearned and England is morally bankrupt.” The criticism is evenly handed out but perhaps we should reflect on what the ‘Indian’ achievers across the pond think of the country before we roll out the red carpet and smother them in it.  

As prices fall, is it still wise to buy the yellow metal?

As prices fall, is it still wise to buy the yellow metal?

Ketan Tanna | TNN

   Gold in New York fell to the lowest in eight weeks on Friday as the dollar gained. Gold prices generally move up when the dollar goes down and vice versa. But with the dollar now firming up, the appeal of gold as a hedge against the US currency has reduced.
   What does all of this mean for the average Indian buyer? Is it time to invest or stay away? Demand for gold may slow down with the end of the wedding season this month, but “buy” seems to be the recommendation of the bullion experts. Harish Kewalramani, director, Bombay Bullion Association, says if someone has plans to buy gold, this is the right time. “Gold prices are at an all-time low and is hovering around Rs 8,850 per 10 gram. But I anticipate a correction and that means the price of gold is likely to move upwards. Also keep in mind that the US government will soon be in an election mode and therefore the dollar’s value is not likely to go down any further as a strong dollar will make a good appeal to the voter”, says Kewalramani.
   The average price of gold in India in 2006 was around Rs 8,960 per 10 gram. The average price per 10 gram of gold between January-March this year was Rs 9,200 and in April 2007 it dropped below Rs 9,000. On Friday, gold was available at Rs 8,850 per 10 gram. In the next few days if the price of gold internationally dips below $650, the price in India will also drop further. However, experts estimate that there is a possibility of gold prices going up to about $700 per ounce of gold. Gold hit a 26-year high of $730 just over a year ago. “Remember that gold has never been this cheap in the last year or so. In terms of risk, liquidity and, to an extent, even returns, gold is a safe investment”, says Keyur Shah, associate director, World Gold Council.
   So should one invest in gold jewellery, gold coins or buy exchange traded mutual funds? According to Shah, exchange-traded mutual funds are the best bet. There are local jewelers, who also sell gold coins and do not have an added margin of more than 3-4 %, unlike some banks that import gold bars from abroad and where the added margin could be as high as 10 % or more.

Revenge of the accountant: He makes the taxman pay you

Revenge of the accountant: He makes the taxman pay you

Ketan Tanna I TNN

Mumbai: For someone who has been a leading chartered accountant for well over 50 years and has also presided over the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society as its president, picking a fight with the Income Tax department may sound a bit odd and even self-defeating. But at 76, a man thinks very differently. Especially Narayan Varma who has decided to put the interests of common citizens above the benefits of being friendly with the taxman.
   For the last 18 months, Varma has been devoting his time to helping people get their tax refunds, especially when the amounts are long overdue. Though this is done under the aegis of a Right To Information (RTI) clinic being held by the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society (BCAS) Foundation (of which he is the founding trustee), it has become a personal battle for Varma. After his retirement next year he intends to turn this into a full-time job along with other social work activities.
   The RTI clinic, which is supervised by Varma along with two assistants, has handled 300 cases so far at the average rate of 20 cases a month. Those who have benefited from it are chiefly from the middle and lower middle-class, who are clueless about how to get income tax refunds. For example, Geeta P, a middle-class housewife, had been waiting for years for an income tax refund of just over Rs 40,000. Unable to wait any longer, she approached Varma and, through him, used the RTI specifically asking why her refund was stuck. It was then the Income Tax department stirred into life and sent a cheque of Rs 40,077 along with Rs 16,756 as interest for the delayed refund. PB Pathak, who got Rs 2,198 in refund for assessment year 2002-03, and Benny Cardozo, who got the refund of Rs 8,625 along with interest for the assessment year 2001-02, are among the scores of middle-class people whom Varma has helped. He does not charge anything for this service.
   One of the first refund cases that Varma handled was that of a former Mumbai sheriff. The former sheriff had been patiently waiting for his refund for years until May last year when he told Varma about it. Initially, Varma was hesitant. To challenge the Income Tax department would mean crossing the sword with the same officers with whom he had been working for years.
   “I was a bit apprehensive. I tested myself by making the first appeal for refund under the RTI. In no time, a refund of Rs 40,000 was sent by cheque,’’ says Varma. That the RTI appeal worked gave him hope. RTI is a simple but effective mechanism to make government servants respond, and to punish bureaucrats when their replies are incomplete or wrong.
   After the success with the sheriff ’s case, Varma got the BCAS Foundation to formally hold RTI clinics on the last three Saturdays of every month. In these clinics, eight people can get their claims addressed without being charged anything though prior appointment is necessary. As the word of the clinic spread, scores of people started calling on Varma with cases pertaining to not just tax refunds but also other financial cases concerning the BMC, Mumbai police, MHADA and other powerful bodies.
   With his two sons settled abroad and earning well, Varma, who is married to a German lady, says that life has been kind to him. “I have made good investments and I am financially well off. We visit our children twice a year and that is the only major expense I have,’’ he says.
   In 2008, Varma will formally retire and devote his life to many social activities for which he has already started planning. Income tax refunds and tax problems of the common man will be given more time.
   “I have also plans to work in the field of education for the lesser privileged.’’
   Varma’s dedication has earned him admiration from other social activists. Kewal Semlani, who, too, uses RTI for the betterment of society, says that Varma is someone who has systematically used RTI to help the common man. Varma’s forte is that he knows the system in and out and, therefore, he is able to fight for tax refunds and associated tax matters more effectively. “We need more persons like him,’’ says Semlani.
   ketan.tanna@hotmail.com

PAISA VASOOL: Narayan Varma conducts an RTI clinic to help middle and lower middle-class people get long-overdue tax refu

Footfall still a far cry for city’s niche museums

Footfall still a far cry for city’s niche museums

Ketan Tanna I TNN

Mumbai: Sex, money, cops. Mumbai has museums dedicated to these niche subjects that are generally associated with the city and more. Unfortunately, due to poor marketing and publicity, the museums have found few takers and have consequently been relegated to the sidelines of the city.
   Just opposite Alexandra Cinema near Mumbai Central is India’s only sex museum called Antarang. There is talk of it now being shifted because the museum is located near the red-light area which apparently has discouraged Mumbaikars from visiting it.
   The museum was started in October 2002 and has attracted 16,000 plus visitors so far. The ground floor of the building has India’s oldest STD clinic while the first floor houses the museum which has an entrance designed in the shape of the Kamasutra book.
   The museum uses excerpts from Kamasutra to describe the sexual relationship between man and woman. Minimalist drawings, paintings and wooden blocks educate the visitor on the basics of human sexuality. There is even a section that debunks sexual myths. The exhibits focus on condom use and safe sex, and discuss the dangers of unprotected sex and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in India and its social stigma. The museum is a collaborative venture by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society.
   Initially, when it was started, there was a lot of media hype but over the years, the number of visitors has dwindled. “In 2006 we had 2,158 males and 2,752 female visitors. This year we have had 1,171 males and 912 female visitors. A family visiting the museum is rare though recently we did have a couple come in with their teenage children. I was pleasantly surprised because the father was educating his children during the entire tour of the museum,’’ says Dr M G Vallecha, chief medical officer in the BMC and currently in charge of the clinic and the museum. Entry is free and one can visit it on all working days till 4 pm.
   Another museum that seems to have few takers is the RBI Monetary Museum at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters that has an amazing coin collection besides having a representative collection of over 10,000 exhibits of Indian coinage, paper currency, financial instruments and monetary curiosities. The museum was inaugurated on November 18, 2004 and has been open to the public since January 1, 2005. The first of its kind in the country, the museum exhibits original coins and currency notes (around 1,500) and is divided into sections on the basis of various themes such as Curiosities & the Idea of Money, Indian
coinage, Coins to Bank Notes, Indian Paper Money, Know Your Currency and finally a section called the RBI and You.
   “It is an attempt to demystify and unravel the mysteries of money,’’ says Alpana Killawala, chief general manager, Reserve Bank of India. On an average, it gets about 30 visitors daily. So far the museum has had 20,000 visitors. “It naturally attracts only those who are interested in Indian Numismatics. Publicity is mostly through word of mouth. We have, however, made efforts to include a visit to the monetary museum in the itinerary of MTDC and ITDC,’’ says Killawala.
   A couple of kilometres away is yet another set of displays based on a theme of specific interest. The Mumbai Police Museum, located at the police headquarters near Crawford Market, attracts anywhere between 15 and 20 visitors daily, who are provided a fascinating insight into the history of the Mumbai police.
   Besides original firearms and uniforms that were used by the city police throughout its history, the museum focuses on the evolution of the force. But poor upkeep and little publicity means the museum hardly sees a flood of visitors, whether they be Mumbaikars or tourists.
   There is also the Framjee Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum, a community museum, which exhibits a collection put together by Alpaiwalla, a Parsi businessman. The museum is a storehouse of material related to Parsi history and archeological artefacts. An original firmaan given to Dadabhoy Naoroji’s ancestors by the Moghul Emperor Jehangir is one of its unique attractions.
   ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

TAKING A CLOSE LOOK

TOUCH OF LOVE

Kin of two 7/11 victims live on hope

Kin of two 7/11 victims live on hope

11 Months After The Blasts, Lives Of Two Families Have Been Intertwined Forever By Fate

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Mumbai: As the Arabian Sea ebbs and flows below the window of the 8th-floor Hinduja Hospital bed, 48-year-old Madhuri Sawant wipes her tears and tries to lift her son’s head which drops the minute it is unsupported.
   “Parag, enough is enough. Let’s go home. If you are not coming, I am going,’’ Madhuri says, ruffling Parag’s hair. Even as she play-acts, her 28-year-old son’s eyes are focussed on a corner of the room. He doesn’t seem to comprehend a word, but all the same clutches his mother’s fingers to prevent her from leaving.
   A few km away on the 12th floor of a bed in Jaslok Hospital, 44-yearold Dinesh Singh prepares to go home and gently kisses the forehead of his 22-year-old son, Amit Singh. “Chhotu, you are brave. You know you will recover. Don’t cry, beta. Mummy is here and your brother will arrive soon. I have to go home. Be brave, son,’’ he says, stifling his sobs. Amit’s eyes, like those of Parag, flicker for a split second as if in comprehension, but the very next moment turn listless again. Both Parag and Amit, victims of the July 2006 serial train bomb blasts, suffered head injuries, and after several surgeries, cannot comprehend and process information.
   Eleven months after the serial train bomb blasts killed 209 people, the lives of these two families have been intertwined forever by fate. Of the 700 who were injured, Parag and Amit are the only ones still in hospital and facing a bleak and uncertain future.
   Parag, who became a father last year, has no clue about his fatherhood and did not bat an eyelid when his infant daughter, Prachiti, was placed before him eight months ago. That his wife, Priti, passed her 12th-standard exam recently does not matter to him either. In an attempt to jolt him out of the state, the nurses and support staff at Hinduja have stopped cajoling and begun acting stern with Parag: earlier this week, a nurse shrilly told him at 6 in morning that it was time for him to go home. Parag was just about startled, says his mother, though seconds later he was his usual listless self.
   Amit, whose B Com results were out after the blasts, secured a first class, though he remains oblivious to the fact. But the family has not given up hope. His mother, Meena, massages her son’s leg gently with oil and pleads with him to keep his legs, which have curled up after months of disuse, straight. Tears run down her cheeks as she virtually begs her son for one small response. “He doesn’t listen to me,’’ she says, knowing fully well why Amit does not respond. Amit understands things, though. “The input is there but there is no output (in terms of movement or action),’’ says Uncle Umesh Singh.
   For the last 11 months, the Singh and Sawant families have made the hospital their home. Both the mothers, who were housewives who rarely left their home before their sons’ accident, have now become battleweary veterans, commuting from Virar and Bhayandar on overcrowded local trains. As mothers are wont to do, they survive on the hope that one day their sons will awake from their near-comatose conditions, recover and return home.
   Though the railway ministry is paying the hospital bills, more often than not the two families end up spending anywhere between Rs 500-1000 a day on incidental expenses like travelling and eating. The Sawant kitchen at Bhayandar and the Singh kitchen at Virar are all but defunct, with both mothers lacking the energy to cook after spending the better part of their time at the hospital tending to their sons.
   The other family members too pitch in. Amit’s elder brother, Dheeraj Singh, stays at night by his brother’s side and goes directly to his Churchgate office in the morning. It’s been ages since he saw his home. In the case of Parag, his father and brother as well as his aunt take turns to relieve the mother who spends her day by Parag’s bedside reading religious texts and playing the Gayatri Mantra tape throughout the day. Both families have heard about each other though they have been unable to meet. Doctors at both hospitals privately admit that only a miracle can change the situation. The Singh and Sawant families are living in the hope of that miracle.

TWIN TRAGEDY: While Parag Sawant (left) has ben admitted to the Hinduja Hospital, Amit Singh is undergoing treatment in Jaslok Hospital. (Below) The sketches of how they looked like before the serial blasts

Diamond hub chooses to skip the anniversary

Diamond hub chooses to skip the anniversary

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Mumbai: The Indian diamond industry is pegged at Rs 70,000 crore. It employs over one lakh persons, a majority of them from Mumbai. During the 2006 serial train bomb blasts, it lost 12 members. One would have expected tributes on the first anniversary of 7/11, especially since the attack was seen to be directed at the affluent Gujarati community. But Mumbai’s diamond industry seemed to have collective amnesia. Not a single prayer or condolence meeting was held in the Opera House area, which is the heart of the diamond trade.
   “Meeting? What meeting”? murmured brokers who were busy gulping elaichi chai and doing deals near Panchratna Building, which houses the who’s who of the industry. Bharatbhai, who identified himself as an office bearer of the Mumbai Diamond Merchant Association, said, “Please don’t waste our time. We have no function. And now please leave.”
   Outside The Jewel building, the street was chock-ablock with gem assorters, polishers and sundry traders, talking about the deals of the day, exchanging information over a plate of hot pakoras and gatiya. “Yeah, it’s sad there is no meeting. We should have had a meeting for those who died”, said Jignesh Patel.
   Sanjay Shah, a diamond polisher said he had heard of a meeting on the sixth floor of Panchratna. But on the 6th floor, the rooms were locked. “Oh, it was a yoga meeting, that is over,” said a guard. Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman Sanjay Kothari too was not aware of any efforts to pay tribute to victims of the blasts but he agreed that it should have been organized.
   The indifference of the industry was apparent although there were some who did express concern. “This industry survives on today. For them yesterday does not matter and tomorrow is yet to come. Today is rokda (cash)”, said Vinay Parekh, a veteran trader.
   Chandubhai Kasodariya whose uncle Kalubhai died in the blast said some of the relatives of the dead had held their own individual prayer meetings. Manubhai Shah, for instance, held a prayer meeting for his brother’s son, Anil who died in the blast. Rajesh, brother of Nitin Shah who lost a couple of fingers in the blast, was sanguine. “I guess it is human nature to move on. I guess the diamond industry has moved on”, he said.

Weak security

The only place where the 7/11 incident appears to have left a mark is the security department of the diamond exchange. Entry points to the building are now controlled to regulate the traffic of visitors. Only one person can enter at a time can enter although ID cards have been given a go-by and no one is asked for proof of identity.

FELLOW TRAVELLERS: Commuters everywhere voiced their fears, and expressed hope for the future

Pak activist recalls trial by fire

Pak activist recalls trial by fire

Ketan Tanna I TNN

Mumbai: Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir’s eyes looked fiery as she stared through her glasses.
   “I don’t know whether it changed me as a person or not but it is definitely one of the cases that has created the greatest impact on me. It was a case I handled in 1995, when a 14-year-old boy was given a death sentence for blasphemy. He had a little tin box that he wanted back and kept asking for it. I thought, ‘My god! This little chap is so brave in the face of people who can be cruel in the name of religion.’ In an appeal he was acquitted, but the judge who gave the order was murdered. Then some assassins came to kill me. It was all so messy, but I had resolved in my mind to get the little boy acquitted,’’ said “the small woman with a large job’’ as The Times magazine once described.
   Jahangir is in the city along with Nasir Aslam Zahid, the former Chief Justice of the Sind high court, who has resigned from the Supreme Court of Pakistan instead of taking the oath of office according to General Pervez Musharraf’s Provisional Constitutional Order. The two have come here to create network and gain support from Indian human rights organisations and the civil society.
   Dressed in a floral print Punjabi salwar kameez and always a smile on her face, the 1995 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service winner can easily pass off for a kind grandmother. The only sign of affluence in the 55-year-old activist is the diamond ring that sparkled on her fingers.
   The next few years in Pakistan will be messy, but the country will come out of it, said Jahangir. Being the founding member of the human rights commission of Pakistan, Jahangir danced on the streets of Pakistan along with other men, women and children when the Supreme Court reinstated Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry recently. “No mullah could dare oppose us,’’ she said.
   Earlier at a press meet, both Jahangir and Zahid said the recent reinstatement of Chaudhri was only a milestone in the long road that would lead to a democratic Pakistan. The judges’ movement and the turbulence that rocked Pakistan was a turning point they said. “It is the common person who was at the forefront of the movement. More than 80% of the bar association members belong to rural and humble backgrounds,’’ said Jahangir.
   With general elections just around the corner and a desperate general in office, there is apprehension that Musharraf may impose an Emergency and try to get another five-year extension. But for now, politicians in Pakistan have not been allowed to hijack the movement that brought Chaudhri back. Despite the success of the lawyers’ movement, the future is uncertain, said Jahangir, though she hoped that her country would have a democracy where the rule of law would prevail.
   For her own, she said she did not have any plans. “I wish I could plan for the future. Trouble lands up at my office. I don’t plan for the future, I plan for what we should be asking for and what we should be fighting for. But let me add here, that what has changed in Pakistan is the mood and outlook of the people. God willing, we will emerge as a stronger country with a democratically elected government,’’she added.
   ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

UNRAVELLING THE SITUATION BACK HOME: In India to gain support from human rights organisations, Jahangir talks about the reinstatement of Pakistan chief justice

Fruits, vegetables and a war against cancer

Fruits, vegetables and a war against cancer

Ketan Tanna | TNN

   Life was good for Shaila Bhagwat. Married to a senior executive, this teacher’s life was closely tied to her husband’s transferable job that took her to different corners of the country. But days after arriving in Mumbai in 1999, her husband was diagnosed with lymph node cancer.
   During her husband’s treatment at Hinduja Hospital—which meant spending five hours there, five days a week, she came in touch with other cancer patients. What stood out was the fact that most of them, struggling as they were with radiation and chemotherapy, barely gave any importance to their diet. Eating right was the least of the worries among cancer patients, especially those who belonged to the poor and the middle classes. Moved by the suffering of those around her during her daily visit to Hinduja, Shaila decided that she wanted to do more with her life. She decided to help cancer patients with the aspect they ignored the most—diet.
   “I had a standing job offer from a prestigious Mumbai school, but I did not want to be constrained by time. I was welloff. My two grownup daughters were also able to take care of themselves. My husband had recovered and I had plenty of time. That is how my journey began,” she says.
   For the last eight years, Shaila, now 57, has been a familiar face at the radiation oncology department of Hinduja Hospital. Twice every week, she can be found in the waiting area, talking to patients, asking about their problems and guiding them. Her emphasis is on advising the patients on what they need to eat and how to make food an ally in fighting cancer.
   Radiation and chemotherapy, not to mention a heavy dose of drugs, rob the patients of their energy, says Shaila. The desire to eat also vanishes. The body becomes weak and it takes a lot of effort to go through the drudgery of everyday life, she adds.
   A postgraduate in microbiology, Shaila decided to fortify her knowledge in nutrition and enrolled herself in a course conducted by SNDT University. This was enhanced by voracious reading on the internet and extensive interaction with doctors and friends.
   Though there is a general diet in place for cancer patients, Shaila often prepares more specific food charts. There are times when poor patients cannot afford to eat the recommended fruits or medicines. For such patients, an alternative is given.
   In case of oral cancer, patients are advised on the right combination of daily liquid diet. There have been times when well-off patients overhear Shaila counselling the poor and they anonymously pay for the drugs and fruits needed by those who cannot afford them. Besides drugs and diet, daily exercises and yoga can heal the body faster, says Shaila.
   Suman Jadhav, a 60-yearold who was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer, found hope in Shaila in the corridors of the hospital. Her daughter Lalita says the first few days were tough. “But Shailatai gave us time, guided us on what to eat, how to do yoga and how to cope with the disease. (Contact Shaila Bhagwat on 022 26058214)
   ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

A FRUITFUL LIFE: Shaila Bhagwat’s efforts give hope to many

The man with a treasure of toys and books

The man with a treasure of toys and books

Ketan Tanna I TNN

Mumbai: Five-year-old Sunita and her three friends who have come back home from school a while ago, land up at a huge godown near Jain Mandir, Mazgaon, on a late Thursday afternoon. “Uncle, give us something to play with,’’ demands Sunita, her eyes lighting up in excitement. “Come on Sunday,’’ says the uncle, Manilal Dungershi Dand, a retired businessman.
   Every Sunday, 64-year-old Manilal is there for the children, waiting with a treasure of toys and books, which are stacked in about 70 cupboards that occupy only a little portion of his huge godown. Every Sunday, 30 to 40 children visit his godown and the party goes on from morning till noon. Most of the kids belong to poor and lower middle-class Muslim and Marathi families of Mazgaon.
   The walls are colourfully done up with pictures and messages like, “Handling children is not a child’s play and I am so glad that you are here’’. Besides toys and books, there are crayons, puzzles, carom boards, education video material, broken benches and every conceivable thing that could make a child’s day. But it’s not only about having a good time for the children, they also learn to grow responsible. The kids, when entering their playzone, have to deposit Rs 10 with their uncle. The amount is reimbursed when they leave, even if they break some of the toys. He also teaches origami (Japanese art of paper sculpting) to the children.
   A few years ago, Dand lost half the collection of the toys to a fire that broke out in the godown. “Now I have only 1,000 toys left,’’ he says.
   Children have always heroworshipped Dand who first started helping a toy library called Chacha Nehru Library, which was run by Kumud Patkar. That was in the midsixties. The library was later shifted to the Patkar bungalow in Bandra and then to a municipal school. The local Lions Club, for a long time, ran the toy library where Dand volunteered his time every Sunday. In fact, Dand’s wife would complain sometimes that her husband did not have much time for her, even on Sundays. Eventually, the library at the Bandra municipal school wound up and that is when Dand decided to turn a portion of his godown, from where he ran a spice business, into a toy library. His dream was realised in 2001.
   He would scrounge chor bazaar and other second-hand goods markets where he bought toys at a cheaper rate. Often, he would get toys that were almost new and had been discarded by affluent children. “In India, unfortunately, those who really need toys do not get it and some get too many of them,’’ he says, citing an example of a friend whose son got 11 clocks on his birthday He cannot forget a nine-yearold girl from a village on the outskirts of Mumbai who had tears in her eyes when Dand went against his rules and let her take two toys home.
   His library has been inspiring for his family, relatives and friends, who add on to the toys to his collection.
   Dand retired six months ago and since then, he has been touring various places in the state and organising small lectures and demonstrations for children. Some of his days are spent at the pediatric department of J J Hospital where the children get to play with toys while recuperating.
   (Dand can be reached at 022-23723722)
    ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

PLAYING SANTA CLAUS: On Sunday, Manilal opens his godown to children who play and read there till the afternoon

Child abuse victims have nowhere to go

Child abuse victims have nowhere to go

Ketan Tanna I TNN

   A year and a half ago, an eightyear-old speech and hearing impaired girl, Smita was raped in Mumbai. She was taken to Nair Hospital bruised and bleeding. The girl was raped a day earlier and treated at a small civic hospital. The doctors and the police later decided to transfer her case to Nair Hospital, which takes care of child victims, especially those abused or raped.
   Smita has still not recovered from the nightmare she was subjected to. Total withdrawal from people she knew, including her parents, sleep disturbances and inability to express emotions marked the days that followed her rape. Over the last 18 months, a team at Nair Hospital has worked on her case. While the smile has now returned to Smita’s face, it is mostly fleeting—the road to recovery is a long-winding one.
   Seema, 14, had entered the gynaecology out-patient department of Nair Hospital almost two years ago along with her mother. The girl, who was pregnant, told the doctors on duty that a stranger had raped her. Her tale, though, seemed to have some missing links. That, indeed, was the case as her mother approached the forensic department head after a few days and said Seema wanted to talk. The doctors then discovered that the girl’s first cousin had developed a physical relationship with her and made her pregnant in the process.
   Though the cousin had asked Seema to keep mum, the girl, with the help of trained psychiatrists, counsellors and NGO workers, gathered the courage to let the truth out.
   For every Smita and Seema, who get help sooner or later, there are countless other victims of child abuse whose cases go unreported for various reasons. Till August-end,118 rape cases were registered in Greater Mumbai. While a break-up of the number of minors was not available, recent statistics released by the CID, Maharashtra government, indicated that there was a 23% rise in crimes against children.
   Alarmingly, Mumbai has just one dedicated child protection centre at Nair Hospital. There are, of course, NGOs that help victims of child abuse, but these kids find little or no solace at the government level.
   The irony is that National Human Rights Commission recently issued guidelines for speedy disposal of child rape cases. It recommended that the probe be completed within three months and trial held in a childfriendly atmosphere. The guidelines says the investigating officer has to
ensure that medical test of the victim and the accused be done within 24 hours. The chief medical officers should make sure that the tests are done soon after receiving the request.
   The process requires a lot of coordination.“There is goodwill among doctors, but that’s not enough. There should be systematic protocol and coordination between departments like health and home,’’ said a doctor.
   Unfortunately, not many doctors in Mumbai are adequately trained to deal with children who have been sexually assaulted. During their second-year studies, they are taught how to handle general trauma victims and that too for a brief period. The fact that most cases of child rape collapse even when they reach
the court is because the doctors do not scientifically collect evidence.
   A private doctor can collect evidence and keep it for future use, but that rarely happens as most of them keep off what they call ‘medico-legal’ cases. “Survivors of sexual assault need medical treatment and counselling. Some of them may also wish to file a case against their assailant(s). In some countries, women can authorise the collection of evidence, which has to be done as soon as possible to develop a strong case. But they may withhold, for a reasonable period, their decision to pursue the case. They may first seek advice on whether they should file a case,’’ said Dr Amita Pitre, who works in the area of sexual assault.
   According to Dr Pitre, this option does not exist in India. “Some hospitals require the survivor to file an FIR before they proceed with an examination. Most public hospitals inform the police before they examine a woman or child. In many cases, the police bring in the survivor for examination. During our interaction, the police said either an FIR or a formal request from the police was needed before the examination.
   “There do not seem to be any guidelines for this practice but at least one textbook clearly states that ‘the victim should not be examined without requisition from (the) investigating police officer or magistrate’. A public prosecutor said prior examination would amount to collecting evidence before filing an FIR, which would not be admissible in a court of law,’’ explained Dr Pitre.
   CEHAT (Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes), an NGO, had launched standardised sexual assault evidence collection kits almost a decade ago. The kits included protocols and the equipment necessary for examination and care.
   Gynaecologist Dr Duru Shah tried, through a short film titled ‘Body and Soul’ to sensitise the medical community on the sexual abuse of young girls . But it was a limiting effort because at the government level, there was a tug-of-war between the legal and home departments over where the buck had to stop.
   The problem is compounded by the lack of medical personnel specialising in forensic science. Even at Nair Hospital, the child protection centre is understaffed, while the forensic department at KEM Hospital has a skeletal staff. There are seven seats for specialising in forensic science, but often even these are not filled. “What’s the chance of having a private clinic or hospital if someone chooses this field? One can become a lecturer at best,’’ said a doctor.
   (The victims’ names have been changed)
ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

The old resting places of the beautiful

The old resting places of the beautiful

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

   When she raised her arm in defiance and lip-synced parda nahi jab koi khhuda se to Lata Mangeshkar’s voice in Mughale-Azam, the entire nation heaved. Scores timed hours for a mere glimpse of her ethereal beauty. She never aged; death saw to it. Madhubala’s mortal remains lie today at
   the Santa Cruz Muslim cemetery. But not for her the peace of sleep. She is too famous for that.
   Last month, the marble slab from her grave was moved from her resting place. Bits and pieces of the marble have been stacked away in the backyard of the cemetery. Madhubala’s sister did protest to the Muslim Majlis of the cemetery that her father Amanullah Khan had purchased the right to the grave but could not back up her claim with documents.
   Cemetery authorities have their own reasons. “We simply do not have the space. Madubala’s marble tombstone was taking up a lot of place. Since 1984, we do not allow any concrete tombstones,’’ candidly admits Ashgar Ali, president of the Mulsim Majlis.
   In one distant corner of the same cemetery, a small mound of mud covers the remains of another gorgeous woman, Parveen Babi. As lonely as she was in her troubled last years. Very few visit the graves of lyricists Majrooh Sultanpuri and Sahir Ludhianvi, buried in the same ground.
   The grave of singer Mohamed Rafi though has escaped such rudeness. It has regular visitors throughout the year. “Aspiring singers, lyricists and established singers such as Shabbir Kumar come here and pay their respect to Mohamed Rafi. They pray for success and come back when their songs do well,’’ says Ashgar Ali.
Furhter south, at Marine Lines at Badakabarastan, is the place where actors Nargis and Suraiya lie. Suraiya’s grave rarely gets visitors though Nargis’ is visited by her family, especially son Sanjay Dutt who prefers to visit his mother in the dead of the night to avoid being mobbed by the living.
In this huge cemetery, two adjoining graves are hard to miss. They are adorned by sudden greenery and Urdu words say good things about the occupants. These are the graves of Allahaj Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim Kaskar and Haji Mohammed Sabir. They are the father and brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar. The Kaskar family members do visit the grave, though erratically.
   A few kilometres towards central Mumbai is a cemetery meant for Khoja Muslims. Here, a tombstone rises in self importance. Four carved Italian marble pillars border the grave. The epitaph simply reads “Ratanbai Mahomed Ali Jinnah, 20th February 1900-20th February 1929’’. The estranged second wife of Jinnah was 29 when
she had died in Bombay, beautiful but melancholic. Recently, thieves plundered her grave and stole the beautiful brass railings enclosing the grave.
   Ratanbai or Ruttie Jinnah rarely has any visitors, although it recently had some Parsi visitors, says caretaker Amin. “They cleaned up the weeds and spoke of constructing a garden. That was some time back. I have not heard from them later,’’ he says.
   Historians say that by 1927, Ruttie and Mohamed Ali Jinnah had separated and the shifting of the Muslim League’s office to Delhi dealt the final blow to their relationship. When she died, Jinnah sat like a statue throughout the funeral but when her body was being lowered into the grave, and he as the closest relative was asked to sprinkle the earth on the grave first, he broke down.
   Later, Justice Chagla said that was the only time he saw Jinnah betray human weakness. “It’s not a well publicised fact that as a young student in England, it had been one of Jinnah’s dreams to play Romeo at The Globe. It is a strange twist of fate that a love story that started like a fairy tale ended as a haunting tragedy to rival any of Shakespeare’s dramas,’’ Chagla recorded for posterity.

The tomb of Ruttie Jinnah (right) at the Khoja cemetery at Mazagaon was recently cleaned and the plot deweeded

Last month the marble slab from Madhubala’s grave at the Santa Cruz cemetery was removed

Anti-depressants could induce suicidal thoughts’

Anti-depressants could induce suicidal thoughts’

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: On July 1, the all-powerful Food & Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States issued a warning that those popping antidepressants should be closely watched for suicidal tendencies, citing publications that suggest an increased risk among patients taking the drugs.
   Earlier, in March 2004, the FDA of the US said that several antidepressants get labels noting that all patients should be watched closely for signs of increased depression or suicidal leanings. Later, the agency called on manufacturers to add a strong “black box” warning about the link between the drugs and suicidal tendencies in children. The FDA is doing a major review of data on adult antidepressant patients to evaluate whether the drugs increase the risk of suicidal tendencies.
   Cut to the Indian context. The depressed Indian patient is rarely aware of what he or she is getting into when antidepressants are prescribed. Is it a collective apathy on the part of the Indian antidepressants manufacturers, the food & drug controller authority and the psychiatrist community in India or is it that the Indian consumer is taken for granted and not made aware of the aftereffects of taking antidepressants?
   Among other antidepressants available in the Indian market include citalopram,citalopram, sertraline, flvoxamine, venlafaxine, duloxetine, fluoxetine,paroxetine and mirtazapine. None carry any warning that among other side-effects, the medicine could induce suicidal thoughts, though there are few medications that have other form of warnings.
   However, when it comes to antid e p re s s a n t s, none of the medicines sold in the Indian market carry the mandatory warning about its suicidal side-effects.
   Leading Mumbai psychiatrist Harish Shetty candidly admits that none of the depressants carry such a warning. However Shetty said that the FDA warning is relevant to the Indian context now more than ever. It is relevant and yet our tolerance and acceptance of antidepressants is more than that of the West. Our medico-legal complications will make it imperative to all consultants to take this seriously. In the event of a suicide, one might interpret this as drug-induced rather than illness depression, Shetty says.
   Sun Pharma spokesperson Mira Desai, while admitting that none of the Indian antidepressants carry the suicide warning, says this has not been a regulatory requirement so far, nor has an increased incidence of suicides been observed. “Putting a warning there without understanding the basis for such action may cause unnecessary anxiety and may not be in the patients best interest in our country for an area like depression where as such the ailment is under treated”, Desai says.
   Desai’s hypothesis is not entirely correct, says VD Deshmukh, former joint commissioner of the FDA in Maharashtra. The patients, especially those who are depressed, need to know what they are getting into. Their near and dear ones need to know. I am afraid, there is not much concern for Indian consumers and patients, says Deshmukh.
   Dr JK Trivedi, former president of the Indian Psychiatric Association, says the FDA warning may not be taken very seriously here in India. “The FDA issues statements that may be relevant to the US, but the situation is entirely different in India. There is a tendency in the US to sue the firms over any matter, so the FDA may be erring on the safer”, says Trivedi.
   What then is the bottom line? Is it that the Indian patient is not aware of his rights and is unlikely to move court if he remains in the dark? Equally, where does the office of the Drug Controller General of India stand on this issue?
   Ashwini Kumar, the Drug Controller General of India says, FDA is not the benchmark. We need to examine the issue and see whether it is relevant for us. We do not have the same kind of packaging of drugs that US has. We need to examine so many relevant issues. Yes, we have started working on this issue in any case. We are in the process of consulting experts, Kumar said.
   Opinion is divided over whether such a warning should be carried on the anti depressants. Deshmukh feels that each time an anti depressant is sold; the chemist should give a leaflet to the buyer which should warn of the consequences in major Indian languages, as rarely does the Indian patient gets a box of medicines. Desai candidly admits that such a warning would give the patient a choice and would also put greater pressure on all concerned in the pharmaceutical arena to adhere to responsible practices in their respective professions.

Popular computer game for kids is hidden sex trip

Popular computer game for kids is hidden sex trip

‘Grand Theft Auto’Turns ‘Hot Coffee’

By Ketan Tanna & Nikhil Hemrajani/TNN

Mumbai: The many joys of boyhood are directly linked to hoodwinking parents. And these are good times for boys chafing at the oppressiveness of parental ‘guidance’. The latest version of a popular computer game called The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) looks like any other action-packed 3D animation fare in which the player goes on a mission down city lanes. The innocent user will play within the apparent boundaries of an imaginary city, modelled after Los Angeles. But many young users all over the world, including India, are downloading a free patch (a set of software codes, usually created by a hacker) from the internet that suddenly gives access to hidden alleys.
   In these alleys the player can pick up girls and have interactive sex with them by tapping keyboard buttons or clicking the mouse. The keys even permit the player to experiment with various laborious positions on the animated girl, who is quite game. “She even moans. It’s really cool and, of course, I only try it when my parents aren’t home,’’ a ninth standard boy says.
   While Indian parents appear to be in the dark, the existence of this parallel world in the Grand Theft Auto has shocked Americans in the last few days, with Hillary Clinton leading the fury. The creator of the game, Rockstar, is under attack. Rockstar is blaming game modders (hackers who write programmes that unlock the secret content hidden inside a game). It was Dutch hacker Patrick Wildenborg who released Hot Coffee, the name of the patch that opened
the dark alleys of Grand Theft Auto.
   But why does a game-maker like Rockstar have hidden sexual content in the first place?
   A complex computer game is usually three to four years in the making. Usually, the creators make content that is not immediately released but stored for the game’s next upgrade. It’s possible that Grand Theft Auto was set to become an adult game some time in its future avatar. But young users have been treated to graphic sexual experience after running the Hot Coffee patch on the game DVD.
   The DVD is not released in India but pirated copies are easily available for Rs 250 to Rs 300.

Creators wanted to hide game’s sexual content

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai:Boys are even enthusiastically burning copies of iGrand Theft Auto and distributing them to their friends. Several others with good machines are downloading the corrupted version of the game from the net.
   “Parents do not know much about the games that their children are playing,’’ says Harish Shetty, a psychiatrist. “In fact, some parents gift such games. All that parents see on the children’s computer monitor are stars, rockets and the moon. With a mouse click the children hide what they do not want the parents to see. I would advise the parents to trust their kids but keep their eyes open.’’ While some games with explicit sexual content are clearly labeled ‘A’, the Grand Theft Auto does not come with such a warning, obviously because the creators intended to hide the sexual content.

Flood-hit village woman may get Rs 42 lakh relief

Flood-hit village woman may get Rs 42 lakh relief

That’s The Price Of Losing 21 Male Family Members, But Female Relatives Want A Share

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: The recent monsoon onslaught in Maharashtra has taken a village woman close to an unexpected fortune. Twentyeight-year-old Sneha Sanjay Sakpal from Kundivati, a small hamlet in Raigad district, is likely to get Rs 42 lakh as compensation as the astonishing consequence of an equally astonishing misfortune. The floods claimed the lives of 21 members of her family, leaving her as the sole survivor.
   With Rs 1 lakh being offered by the state government for every deceased family member, she is in a position to claim Rs 21 lakh from Maharashtra. With a central government relief that matches the state government’s, she is on the verge of receiving Rs 42 lakh. This has inevitably brought some relatives into the picture.
   Sneha was married to Sanjay Sakhpal, the great grandson of Ennabai Sakhpal, a 100-year-old man who headed a vast joint family comprising 21 sons and grandsons. On July 26, when heavy rains struck Kundivati village, Sneha had gone visiting her parents in another village and escaped the landslide that entombed her husband’s family.
   Raigad district collector Bhaskar Wankhede, who is in charge of distributing the money, is disturbed by a complication that appears to be brewing. Three married daughters of Ennabai are now contesting Sneha’s claims.
   Under the Hindu Succession Act which governs flood relief in Maharashtra, the compensation is given to the next of kith and kin of the deceased. For example, if a husband dies, his wife is given the compensation. If both parents are dead, the children are given the relief. If the children have not survived as well, then the spouses of the children are first in the line of succession.
   Sneha was married to a great grandson of Ennabai and she was part of a Hindu joint family. According to legal opinion, she has a strong case as the claimant. But since three of Ennabai’s surviving daughters have made similar claims, the collector has decided to refer the matter to Prasad Patil, the district government pleader.
   Patil told this paper that in all probability, Sneha should be getting the compensation amount after a verification of her status—as Level One in the line of family succession. “Not only is she the surviving member but she is also what we can call a dependant of the family, whereas Ennabai’s daughters were married into other families. “Maybe, if there was landed property, Ennabai’s daughters would be entitled to a share. But here it’s a different matter altogether,’’ said Patil.
   There is a possibility that matters will have to be sorted out not only on the succession aspect but also on who really needs the aid. According to Patil, such cases that involve large amounts invariably land up in court. However, he added, “I need to study the matter deeply and only then can I give you an informed opinion.’’

India Govt Compensation

How Things Work

Government compensation

   “It is especially at the time of tragedy, that the victim desperately needs the compensation. When Sadaf Manzil crashed, the residents lost everything,” says Mahesh Pathak, collector, Mumbai city. Ideally, victims of any disaster should get their compensation as soon as possible. Pathak delivered compensation to the Sadaf Manzil victims in just about three days. The residents of another building Govind Towers, that crashed on August 3, 1998 in Kherwadi, Bandra, are however not so lucky. Seven years on, they are still waiting for promised compensation. Neither have they got the rupees two lakh that was announced. Nor has there been an end to the number of visits to various government offices and politicians.
   Ketan Tanna looks at the disparity and the discrimination that exists within the compensation relief system in the same city.

Stop counselling HIV patients at J J, govt tells Brahma Kumaris

Stop counselling HIV patients at J J, govt tells Brahma Kumaris

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: The state health ministry has asked a religious group to call off a programme for counselling AIDS patients at J J Hospital citing lack of space. The Brahma Kumaris had been invited by the dean some months ago following a spate of suicides by HIV-afflicted patients.
   The room where the Brahma Kumaris counselled the patients and advised them to adopt meditational techniques to counter stress is now shut. Confirming that the Brahma Kumaris had been told to leave, dean of J J Hospital Dr Pravin Shingare said the state government had denied permission for the Brahma Kumaris to stay on. “In any case it was an experimental programme which had to be approved by the government. Yet, I feel they really contributed to the well being of the patients, which is what my professors of medicine told me. I am trying to get them back,’’ said Shingare.
   Shingare’s enthusiasm for the Brahma Kumaris is not shared by the Department of Medicine which handles the crucial Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) for HIV positive persons. Under the ART programme, J J Hospital treats 2,371 severely AIDS-infected persons in addition to nearly 4,000 patients with the HIV virus who have not developed AIDS.
   Free anti-retroviral drugs are given to the 2,371 persons (1,612 males, 758 females, 1 eunuch) every month for six months and later refills are given for two months after six months are over. On any given day there are five to nine new patients and on a crowded day, there are nearly 200-250 patients sprawled across every available inch of space in the ART department on the second floor. From the same place, anti-TB, anti-pneumonia and antifungal treatment are also given to HIV positive persons. Additionally, free condoms are distributed as a measure of HIV prevention.
   From one end of the small room extending to another adjacent small room, HIV afflicted persons wait their turn patiently for treatment. If they are lucky, they get a wee bit of space on a wooden bench outside. Since many of then suffer from opportunistic ailments like tuberculosis, the likelihood of infection spreading from one person to another is always a risk. Individual counselling is tough as the resources are minimal and therefore often there is mass counselling.
   Since there is lack of space and of resources, anti-retroviral drugs that are sent in bulk packages from New Delhi are stored on the fifth floor in one corner. Often the counsellors or ward boys along with the patients run up and down to fetch the medicines.
   At J J Hospital, where space and resources are at a premium, a spacious room exclusively for Brahma Kumaris was indeed a luxury. “What was needed was medical counselling. You cannot invite Brahma Kumaris to come and counsel HIV positive persons. The hospital is not a religious place where non-medical persons are needed and that too in a crucial department like HIV/AIDS. When we in the department are gasping for more trained personnel and more space, I wonder how we can justify such peace meditation,’’ asked a senior person in the ART department.
   Earlier this week, the ART department recently became the first centre in India to give free treatment to small children who have been afflicted with HIV virus.
   Now with special oral medicines suitable enough for small babies, the ART department has started treating babies though storage and refrigeration for oral syrup is still a problem for poor patients. In addition to the existing 35 children, another 100-200 children are expected to be given treatment under the ART scheme.
   The ART department at J J Hospital is also fast becoming the most preferred centre for HIV treatment and patients often come from far off places in Bihar and UP instead of going to New Delhi. And almost all of them belong to the lower strata of the society. The patients, however, do not get any sort of railway concessions.
   This despite the fact that the chief of the JJ Medicine department, Dr Alka Deshpande, who is also in the charge of ART treatment, has written to the railway minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav urging him to give railway concession that is routinely given to other medically ill patients who use the railways to travel to any hospital for treatment.

Online business in India finally comes of age

Online business in India finally comes of age

Transactions on the internet have crossed the seven-lakh mark, a whopping 80 per cent jump since last year

By Ketan Tanna\TNN

   Ten years after the internet came to India business finally seems to be happening on it. Or at least that is what the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) claims. Reports put out by IMAI point out to the 7,95,000 transactions that go through online every month. It’s an 80% jump over last year. And then there’s the value of the transaction itself. Indians are spending, on average, Rs 1,100 on each purchase. That’s Rs 20 more than what they were willing to pay last year.
   Coming to think of it, an average transaction value of Rs 1,100 isn’t much to write home about. And that brings us to the issue on hand. Do people spend big money online? Ostensibly, yes. But the instances are far and few. eBay, among the world’s largest online retailer who took over Baazee.com recently sold a 3.5 carat heart shape diamond ring for Rs 1,90,000. Then somebody decided to go in for a large blue diamond ring at Rs 1,31,000. Somebody drove home in a 2003-built Mercedes for Rs 19 lakh. A Toyota Camry on the site got its seller Rs 12.51 lakh. And a Mitsubishi Pajero hit the sweet spot for Rs 11 lakh.
   Officials at the company sound buoyant and reel statistics like in a Udipi Hotel. Jewellery is sold every 5 minutes, a camcorder every 96 minutes, laptops are picked up at intervals of 150 minutes, while a mobile handset sells every 16 minutes in India. But the company concedes that luxury sales have a long way to go. Gautam Thakar, country manager at eBay points out that only 11% of users spend over Rs 10,000.
   In other parts of the world, eBay has managed to sell a Gulf stream II for $4.9 million, a fish breeding farm in Italy for $1.2 million and an Enzo Ferrari for $1.2 million.
   It’s much the same story at Venus Jewels, a Mumbai-based diamond firm. It manages to sell higher value items abroad than in India. Between January 2004 and August 2005, Venus Jewel sold three diamonds in the $30,000 region to people in India. During the same period, they also shipped three diamonds well over $80,000 to other parts of the world.
   A highly trafficked Indian portal declined to share details on what kind of high ticket sales it witnesses. Though officials at the company point out to refrigerators, televisions, digicams, microwaves, washing machines, mobile phones, etc, that sell routinely for Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.
   Another player in the space says the most expensive thing it sold was a camcorder for Rs.75000. “Other than this, we have sold jewellery like a diamond ear ring for Rs.48000, high value PDA’s/mobile phones, laptop computers, Bose audio systems and gift certificates, each worth around Rs 50, 000,” said a spokesperson for the the company. He adds that things will change in a few years. “With increase in internet penetration, higher speeds of connections, robust fulfillment systems, good customer service, people will get used to buying expensive things online.” The sentiment is shared by shared by others “Well, (customers) are already buying high value goods The numbers of such products sold online will increase.”

A Mumbai mother for Chinese couple’s child

A Mumbai mother for Chinese couple’s child

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: Outsourcing to India just took on a new dimension—a childless couple from Singapore has found an Indian woman to mother a surrogate baby. In a firstof-its-kind instance at Hiranandani Hospital, the ethnic Chinese couple’s child is growing in the womb of a Mumbai-based woman.
   Xiuan Wu (name changed) and his wife had approached the hospital through internet after four failed attempts at assisted pregnancy in Singapore. His wife had a history of TB
which had been treated prior to all her IVF
attempts, but she
couldn’t conceive.
   In IVF or in vitro
fertilisation, mature
eggs are removed from
the ovaries and subsequently fertilised with
sperm. Another method
of intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI, is used to treat couples who are unlikely to achieve fertilisation due to the male partner’s low sperm count.
   Wu told TOI he and his wife were in their mid-30s and had tried IVF without any success. “Coming from a small family, we felt it is important to try every possible option. We have been trying to start a family for the last five years,’’ said Wu.
   The couple will be spending nearly Rs 10 lakh to have the baby in Mumbai. Before zeroing in on the city, Wu had been in discussions with an IVF centre in California, which has a liberal law on surrogacy. “However, the costs and logistical arrangement made consider India,’’ said Wu, adding it would have cost him $60,000-80,000 in the US (nearly Rs 26-35 lakh).
   Wu had problems with Singapore laws too, which prohibit surrogacy. “Since the Indian government has came up with guidelines in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) on surrogacy, I felt comfortable from a legal perspective, knowing the law allows the Intended Parent to have the custody right of the child as their genetic child.’’ The Chinese couple
has not been permitted to meet or have direct contact with the surrogate mother. They track the progress of their baby by a “dialogue with the doctors in charge”.
   The hospital says the interaction has not been allowed as “it could lead to emotional bonding’’. The baby, due in June 2006, will be handed over to the couple the same day.
   Wu is consulting Dr Gautam Allahbadia, the consultant fertility physician at the Dr LH Hiranandani Centre For Human Reproduction. The real challenge for Allahbadia’s team was the IVF cycle when they had to transfer half the cultured embryos into the Chinese woman’s uterus and the other half into the surrogate mother’s uterus, which was primed with hormonal replacement therapy.
   “The menstrual cycles were synchronized using hormonal therapy. The pregnancy is now confirmed and we are now awaiting the first sonography results to rule out multiple pregnancies,’’ said Dr Allahbadia, who was assisted by three others, including Dr Yashodhara Mhatre.
   There have been a few cases when non-resident Indians have used Indian women to have surrogate babies. Dr Allahbadia is handling a case of a UK-based Gujarati couple who got
   help from a Mumbaibased surrogate mother.
   Dr Anup Kumar, director, Delhi IVF &
   Fertility Research Centre, told TOI that he too
   had helped a couple where the husband was British and the wife was of Indian origin. Dr Indira Hinduja, a gynaecologist at Jaslok Hospital and widely regarded as the pioneering doctor in treating infertile couples, told TOI she had helped 4-5 NRI couples have a baby via a surrogate Indian mother. “I get emails from foreigners wanting Indian surrogate mothers. But I don’t encourage them as I am not sure of the medico-legal issues.’’

Porn DVDs leapfrog govt block on net

Porn DVDs leapfrog govt block on net

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: In response to a demand made by the Indian Union Muslim League, the government has allegedly blocked access to a website accused of peddling a pornographic video called ‘Sex Life Of The Prophet’. But given that the hydraheaded internet is almost impossible to police, the offending DVD is still easily available at other leading adult internet DVD stores. One site even offers a discount if purchased along with another adult movie—bought individually, it costs just $17 (Rs 750).
   Classified as an adult film, the DVD claims to be based on the ‘Sex Life, Sex after Death, and the Re-Birth of the Prophet Muhammad’. If one is to judge by the cover, however, the fare on offer is less than tame—a tall bare-chested man in loose Turkish trousers stands with his hands on his hips while a woman kneels at his feet in a scene that could be out of any Arabian Nights story. Past efforts at internet censorship by the Mumbai police and the Indian government haven’t met with much success either. For example, on April 28, 2004, a letter from Mumbai’s commissioner of police was despatched to all Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the city directing that access to www.hinduunity.org be blocked immediately for inflaming Hindu sentiment. Most complied, but the site continues to flourish.
   Websites in India are blocked by the New Delhi-based Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-IN. CERT acts on requests made by law-enforcing agencies across the country. It was CERT that was behind the ham-handed move to restrict access to a yahoo chat group Kynhun, started by a group of Meghalayans, which was charged with “promoting anti-national news and containing material against Indian & Meghalaya Governments.’’

We know what you did this Navratri

We know what you did this Navratri

Private Detectives Keep Parents Updated On Kids’Activities

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: It’s not easy being parents during Navratri. So what do you do if you have to keep an eye on your teenaged daughter who seems to be suspiciously excited to be away from home for all the nine nights? Just seek the services of a detective agency, that is in case you can afford it.
   Well, that’s what many anxious and moneyed parents did this year during the just-concluded festival. According to Globe Detective Agency, it’s sleuths trailed at least five teenagers across Mumbai last week on the request of their parents who apparently didn’t mind shelling a substantial amount to know what their kids were up to.
   For trailing a person, the agency charges anywhere between Rs 5000 and Rs 10,000 per day plus service tax. And as it usually deploys two persons for the job, the parents have little choice but to foot the steep bill.
   Another prominent agency, Tops Detective and Security Services said that it charges according to the requirement and it even offers “tailor-made’’ solutions. According to Arunisha Sengupta, vice-president (corporate communications), several people who approached the agency wanted details of their children’s dandia partners. “We do a background check on such dandia partners,” says Sengupta.
   Globe claims that from the moment, the girl leaves her home to play dandia, she is trailed. While one detective buys a ticket to go inside the venue and keep an eye on her, the other remains outside with his vehicle to follow her in case she leaves the venue in between.
   Such trailing at times leads to situations. On Sunday night, a 19-year-old girl and her 23-year-old ‘partner’ were trailed to a hotel in Lokhandwala. The detectives sounded off the girl’s parents who rushed to the hotel and took her away.
   According to the detectives, the two had met just a few hours earlier at a dandia venue but had somehow ended up in the hotel. In fact, the girl had paid the advance for the room through her credit card.
   “Such incidents keep happening,’’ said S N Rai, the CEO of Globe. “Last year, we were keeping a watch on a girl. One night, she slipped out with a handsome guy and drove all the way to Lonavala where two other boys joined them. We were shocked. We alerted the parents but they said they would take care of the situation,’’ said Rai.
   According to Rai, the number of parents hiring private detectives to keep tabs on their children increased this year. “Last year, we had three cases, this year we had five. There are lesser known agencies across the city who also do the job at cheaper rates.’’ If Rai is to be believed, people from Ahmedabad and Vadodara too have been seeking the services of his agency.

Baby boon for wombless woman

Baby boon for wombless woman

Doc, Surrogate Mother Help Lady With Rare Abnormality

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: A city woman, who does not have a vagina and just a rudimentary uterus, is set to become a mother. Padma Krishnan, of course, should be grateful to her doctors and a surrogate mother; the doctors have been able to use her eggs and transfer four embryos to the surrogate mother.
   Krishnan (name changed) suffers from a rare congenital uterine abnormality called the Mayer-Rokitansky Kustner Hauser Syndrome (MRKH). Patients with MRKH Syndrome have undeveloped embryonic Mullerian ducts, which prevents the formation of the uterus, cervix and the upper twothirds of the vagina. Such individuals, however, show normal secondary sexual characteristics in breast and ovarian development. Incidences of MRKH are approximately in the ratio of 1:5000 and is detected when a teenager does not menstruate.
   In the United States and many European countries, there are well-established support groups for those suffering from MRKH. In India, barring the medical fraternity, it is rarely mentioned and those who suffer from it hide it as they fear being ridiculed.
   Padma, however, had no such problem; her husband was aware of her medical problems much before marriage but that did not prevent them from getting married.
   Padma, 29, ap p ro a ch e d Gautam Allahbadia, medical director of Rotunda, the Centre For Human Reproduction, in Bandra after two years of marriage when both she and her husband were keen to start a family.
   “I knew I had a problem. I went on the internet and researched on the subject. It helped me to cope with it, I learnt I was not the only one with such a condition,’’ Padma told TOI.
   Initially Padma and her husband approached the clinic seeking IVF treatment. In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a technique whereby egg cells are fertilised outside the mother’s body in cases where conception is impossible through normal intercourse. “In vitro’’ is Latin for “in glass’’, referring to the test tubes.
   A preliminary examination and a basic hormonal screening test were done to rule out other hormonal imbalances. She was asked to keep a body-temperature chart for a month to confirm the dates of her ovulation cycle. It was then synchronised with the surrogate’s cycle.
   Padma was treated with fertility injections to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple mature eggs. Three of the eggs were fertilised with her husband’s sperms and finally two embryos were transferred into the surrogate on day two. The pregnancy, however, failed.
   “The initial setback did not deter Padma though. And her faith inspired us to go in for another round of treatment,’’ Allahbadia said. Fertility injections helped obtain 10 eggs of which nine fertilised. The doctors transferred four embryos. The surrogate mother is now pregnant and the treatment has fulfilled the hopes of the woman born without a womb.
   The baby is due in July 2006 and the Mumbai-based couple are looking forward to it. As for inquisitive questions that pesky neighbours or relatives might ask, Padma said that the couple would cross the bridge when they need to come to it.
   “As of now, we are happy about the baby. We do not want to meet the surrogate mother,’’ said Padma.

Diversion of funds for Udvada has Parsis up in arms

Diversion of funds for Udvada has Parsis up in arms

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: It’s a tiny village in Gujarat, and the present home of the ‘Iranshah’, the Parsi-Zoroastrian community’s holiest of fires, burning continuously from the time they first arrived in India over a millennium ago. So, when the Centre and the Gujarat government declared Udvada—180 km from Mumbai—as a religious destination and sanctioned Rs 1.20 crore for its development, the community’s reaction was guarded.
   Although some felt that money could be put to good use to develop the crumbling infrastructure here, many protested that turning Udvada into a tourism centre would attract hordes of outsiders, who would vitiate the holy precinct.
   But soon, the Foundation for the Development of Udvada (FDU) was set up in 2003, and it began work that included the creation of a tourist-cum cultural centre. Then suddenly, in May 2005, the FDU decided to widen the scope of its activities beyond the development of Udvada, raising eyebrows and protests from influential sections of the community.
   The foundation sought permission from the charity commissioner of Mumbai (where it is registered) also to use the funds for various other purposes such as assisting humanitarian activities outside India, supporting students travelling abroad for higher studies or financing and maintaining stadiums and auditoriums.
   Says Jamshed Mohta, president of the Bardoli Jarthosthi Anjuman, and a critic of this change in the objectives, “All of us welcomed the original trust deed, which was meant for developing Udvada and its vicinity. By widening the powers, these funds released by the government can now be sent abroad too. The whole objective has been defeated.’’ Mohta plans to move the court soon to prevent this.
   Adi Doctor, who edits ‘The Parsee Voice’, a community newsletter, points to the “thousands of cosmopolitan charity trusts in India which take care of such diverse objects’’. He alleges, “The whole gameplan of the FDU seems to be, first, to curry favour with the governments of India and Gujarat, get the initial grant, and then go for the big game in the name of public charity.’’. According to him, unsuspecting people may donate to the FDU, without knowing that it could be used for other purposes.
   Ex-Gujarat chief secretary and a trustee of FDU P K Laheri said some community members, however, felt it was all right for funds to be used for other activities instead of just limiting themselves to the development of Udvada. “They felt that the trust could do much more by helping other community activities elsewhere. Of course, the government grant will be project-specific to Udvada like developing a museum and preserving the heritage area.’’
   Dinshaw Tamboly, managing trustee of the FDU, said the objectives of the trust were changed only to enable the FDU to widen its scope of activities, should the need arise. “We do not see anything irregular in a Board of Trustees deciding to increase the numbers on their Board or the scope of welfare activities,’’ he said.
   Conservation architect Pankaj Joshi, appointed by the FDU to restore an old bungalow in the village and turn it into a cultural centre, said the government funds are specifically meant only for Udvada. “They will be used for augmenting the storm water drains, sewerage, making pedestrian pathways, a cultural centre, improving the roads etc. There is no way the money can be used elsewhere for other purposes.’’
   Interestingly, in 2004, six high priests of the Parsi community had protested to the Gujarat government that turning Udvada into a “cultural heritage and tourist centre’’ will violate the sanctity and serenity of the Iranshah Atashbehram, the fire temple. Additionally, about 1,500 signatories had endorsed this protest.
   
Vanishing Legacy    

There are nine priestly families of Udvada and each one has a house that represents Zoroastrian religious practices. Conservation architect Pankaj Joshi says these structures represent Gujarati Pol houses, which are long, linear with two common walls, front access to the main road and a back gate for servants. Over the past two years, as many as 30 of these houses have been brought down. “The timber fetches a far greater price for the owner than the land. Sadly, they are replaced by high rises overlooking the Iranshah,’’ he says.

HIV+ spouses sued for causing ‘hurt’

HIV+ spouses sued for causing ‘hurt’

‘Betrayed’ Partners Now Seek Justice

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: For long, Indian housewives have silently suffered transmission of HIV from their erring husbands. They are now fighting back. Through sections of the Indian Penal Code that clearly defines the transmission of a disease as a method of causing hurt, they are seeking justice, jail sentences for their husbands and monetary compensation. On the flip side, there are cases of innocent men who are taking their philandering wives to court.
   Thirty-four-year-old Savita Ambekar had been married for well over eight years. A teacher in a municipal school in Mumbai, her husband Sunil Ambekar worked as an upper division clerk in a government concern. Savita thought she had a happy marriage with an apparently doting husband and a daughter. She did have her fights with Sunil when at times he would stay out nights or say he had urgent work on holidays. But he would always come up with an explanation.
   A persistent cough and skin rashes which refused to go away took her to a government hospital where she was diagnosed as HIV-positive, seven years after marriage. When Savita, who had never had any physical contact outside her marriage, gave Sunil the news, she was subjected to a barrage of allegations and insinuations instead of sympathy.
   The hospital where she had gone for treatment and counselling guided her to an NGO. Determined to fight for her rights and dignity, she used all the help that came her way to go to court. She also charged her husband under Sections 269 and 270 of the IPC for hurting her (along with Sections 323 and 325 of the IPC). Section 269 of the IPC states that whoever unlawfully or negligently commits an act which is—and which he knows or has reason to believe—is likely to spread infection of a disease dangerous to life will be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with a fine or both. Section 270 emphasises malignant transmission. On the other hand, Section 323 defines punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, while Section 325 defines punishment for causing grievous hurt.
   
THE LEGAL TANGLE    

The first HIV case in India was isolated in 1986 in Tamil Nadu and according to UNAIDS\WHO estimates, there are five to seven million HIV-positive people in India. Of these, nearly 40%-50% are women. Caught in the vicious cycle are children who are born HIV-positive, and punished for no fault of theirs. In India, criminal transmission of the HIV virus falls under various sections of the IPC. Under Section 321, intention or knowledge is the key to the offence and it’s important to prove that the accused either intended to transmit HIV to the victim or knew of his HIV positive status.

Seeking justice for HIV infection

   Another case concerns 28-year-old Nitin Kapoor, who appeared to love his wife Gauri Kapoor more with each passing day. The software engineer had met Gauri, a consultant interior designer, through a common friend. In the first half of this year, Nitin’s health deteriorated. Tuberculosis made his life miserable for many months and then he was diagnosed with skin cancer. A blood test also revealed that he was HIV-positive. Aghast at the discovery, he confronted Gauri who initially denied anything but later confessed to a brief fling with one of her clients. Outraged, Nitin has now dragged his wife to court and slapped a suit under Sections 269 and 270 read along with Sections 319 and 320.
   Although the West has prosecuted people who had transmitted diseases knowingly or through criminal indifference, in India, that is yet to happen. For a long time, diseases were considered acts of god and accepted fatalistically as one’s lot. But things are changing. Both Savita and Nitin are among the few in Mumbai who have dragged their spouses to court. Helping them fight for their rights is a nongovernmental organisation called the Lawyers Collective.
   “We are helping three women and two men who have registered cases against their respective spouses at a magistrate’s court in Mumbai,’’ says Julie George, legal officer, of Lawyers Collective. In Delhi, there had been a case where a woman filed a criminal suit against her husband for transmitting the HIV virus but the suit made no headway as the husband died due to HIV virus complications.
   Alaka Deshpande, head of the medicine department and in charge of treating HIV patients at the government-run J J Hospital, says a majority of the HIV-positive women who come to the hospital have been infected by their husbands. “It is a tragedy and what is indeed alarming is that the husbands get away scot-free because women are afraid to even admit to anyone that they are HIVpositive.’’

What The Law Says    

Sections 269 and 270 of the IPC are potent weapons in case of criminal transmission. These provisions, in the past, have been used to address the spread of cholera, plague, syphilis, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases. However, to establish an offence under Section 269, the action of the accused must be unlawful, negligent and contrary to the provisions of the Indian law. Also, it is necessary that the accused knew or had reason to believe that his or her action could cause harm. This means, that the element of malignancy is crucial in the commission of an offence under Section 270.
   The main problem in prosecuting a person who has wilfully transmitted HIV virus to another is the difficulty in establishing that the accused was aware of his or her HIV status and the implications of such status at the time the virus was transmitted to the partner.
(Certain names and professions have been changed to protect their identities)

Jailhouse blues: Reforms just on paper

Jailhouse blues: Reforms just on paper

Corruption, Financial Crisis Create Hurdles In Implementation Of Court Orders

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: In 2004, the Bombay HC passed a number of orders meant to improve condition of the state jails and the cause of undertrials. But one year down the line, most of these directives have got lost in the maze of financial handicap or rampant corruption in the various hierarchies of jail fiefdom.
   The orders were following a bunch of PILs from various quarters. One of the high court order relates to the diet of prisoners, especially pregnant and nursing women prisoners and small children. More than a year has elapsed since a 3-member panel submitted a report recommending the ideal diet for various categories of prisoners. The implementation is stuck in a maze of bureaucracy.
   The appointment of welfare officers met with a similar fate with not a single post being filled so far. The court order also included raising the need for personal hygiene, including the supply of sanitary napkins to women and setting up a balwadi for children of prisoners. While the former order is yet to be implemented, a balwadi has been set up in the Byculla prison premises, but the NGO, Pratham, that runs it is yet to be reimbursed.
   The list of such non implemented or partly implemented orders of high court is long. Lawyers who have been fighting for the prisoners’ basic rights say that guards have to be bribed even for small things. “The mulakat system (meeting of prisoners with their lawyers and kin) is so frustrating with a few prisoners and their lawyers or kin shouting at each other in barely one feet of space for each prisoner,’’ they said.
   The mulakat system has been on the reformist agenda, with an NGO, Prayas, working on what could be done to make it more humane. While some reforms have been partly implemented, others remain on paper due to lack of finance. Similarly, an order passed last year for computerising all jail records in Maharashtra and linking them to the head office in Pune continues to languish. “The software is available. The National Crime Record Bureau already has a similar software. Yet nothing seems to have moved,’’ says an activist.
   NGOs and vigilant judiciary has intervened time and again, which has helped the cause of prisoners and undertrials to an extent. A few dedicated bureaucrats too have tried to help. For example, overcrowding of prisoners in the jail has been a problem for a long time. “Sometimes, jails have prisoners more than their estimated capacity,’’ says Neela Satyanarayana, principal secretary of the state home department. New jails in Sindhudurg, Palghar, Latur, Jalna, Gadchiroli, Washim, Gondia and Nandurbar are in the pipeline.
   Moreover, criminal lawyer Shrikant Bhatt says that the state should demarcate petty criminals from hardcore ones. “Sometimes, small-time offenders are lumped together with hardened criminals and thats when jails double up as recruiting grounds for committing bigger crimes,’’ he says. He also said that bail amounts should be reduced if the defendants presence can be secured. The jail system has to take care of those sentenced. But for those who are undertrials, they do not have any stake. They are not even allowed to work in the jail. It is such a waste of human resources.
   Improvement of legal system is also on top of the wish list of those who seek to get a better deal for prisoners. “Government lawyers get Rs 1000 for a trial at the sessions court and Rs 600 in the lower court. Which lawyer would want to help prisoners?,’’ asks a lawyer.
   However, a small group of dedicated activist lawyers keep the momentum going. Two women lawyers say though they have become hardened by the murky wheeling dealings, small victories keeps them going. “Cases where we have been able to get justice for someone who deserved it make us feel good in our heart,’’ they say.

Soon, cops will get paid to cut the flab

Soon, cops will get paid to cut the flab

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: In the new year, Mumbai police will have more than mere words for motivation to take care of their health and cut back flab. Under an incentive scheme to be implemented by the end of December 2005, constables will earn Rs 400 every month if they meet certain fitness standards. Officers could make as much as Rs 500.
   “We are expecting the government resolution later this month. It had been held up due to the winter session, but we are hopeful that it will be notified any time now,’’ says M B Shinde, special inspector general of police (administration).
   Obese law-enforcers
and their protruding tummies have been an object of ridicule in Mumbai for long. The stipulated body mass index (square of the weight in kilograms divided by height in metres) for the average policemen is 23. But random checks at health camps have usually shown a body mass index of 30-40.
   It’s not just the weight that is an issue. Doctors at Nagpada police hospital say blood pressure, hypertension, TB, diabetes and heart problems are common in the city police force. Now with the government resolution on the anvil, the top brass of Mumbai police is hoping to tighten belts and cut flab, literally. “The entire force of around 40,000, will need to work on their health. Nobody is exempt. From the constable to the senior police officers, everybody will now have an incentive to be health conscious,’’ says Shinde.
Subhash Awate, Joint Commissioner of Police, said the parameters for fitness will also take into consideration blood pressure andhypertension. “All this will be co-related to the age of the person and then with the help of doctors and fitness consultants, we will arrive at a decision,’’ he said.
Awate admitted that obesity was slowing down the force but the working hours and the lifestyle of the policeman was largely responsible for it. “ We will try to have intern at i o n a l h e a l t h standards for Mumbai police but it will take time,’’ said Awate. “Please understand many policemen have constitutional problems and many of them do not take care of themselves. Irregular duty hours and desk jobs have also contributed to their health problems,’’ he added.
   
CCTV plan fizzles out    

The decision to install close circuit television (CCTV) at police stations across Mumbai seems to have fizzled out. “The decision to install CCTV was never an official programme. It was done at local level at police stations,’’ said joint commissioner Subhash Awate. He added that such cameras would help police to improve their behaviour as they would know that they were being watched but he added that such installations was not on a must-do list. “We have other priority areas,’’ Awate emphasised.

No help for the helping hands

No help for the helping hands

Quantum Rise In Number Of ‘Needy’ Puts NGOs Under Strain

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

t Savitri, (14), an orphan found at CST, would have ended up in the wrong hands but for Prayaas. She had run away from a village in western Maharashtra hoping to start life anew in the big city. Prayas offered her shelter and a rehabilitation plan. She gets Rs 50 per month as stipend.
t Munaf, (21), a physically challenged Mumbaikar, was desperate for a job. NASEOH offered to upgrade his skills by exposing him to IT which would help him get employment.
Mumbai: Savitri and Munaf are only two examples of disadvantaged individuals who receive help from NGOs in the city. However, several such welfare schemes may soon run short of funds as the numbers of those in need of help increase.
   It is supposed to be the season of caring and giving. Indeed, there are countless stories about Mumbaikars’ generosity. Yet, as 2005 inches towards a close, leading citybased NGOs, who work for underprivileged groups including street children, sex workers and battered women, are fighting with their back to the wall, starved of funds, not knowing what 2006 has in store.
   Take the example of Prayas. Since its establishment in 1990, it has helped a range of people, from those arrested for minor offences such as ticketless travel and the mentally-ill, to children of criminals and victims of trafficking. Prayas’ outreach has increased from an initial 30, to over a thousand.
   However, it is running short of funds today to pay salaries to its 37 staffers from January 2006. The shortfall is around Rs 10 lakh. But if the NGO receives a minimum of Rs 4 lakh, the staff may still be able to keep the kitchen fires burning.
   Prayas does have generous donors and its field action project run by Tata Institute of Social Sciences is primarily funded by the Dorabji Tata Trust. It also receives donations from corporates including Concern India and HDFC. The problem is grants are given according to a schedule, but the number of persons covered by welfare schemes is steadily overshooting the budget. So until April 2006, it faces a severe resource crunch.
   “This year, the number of beneficiaries of projects undertaken by Prayas has been increasing. We cannot turn away marginalised persons, especially, women and children. In crisis intervention you simply cannot turn away people,’’ says Vijay Raghavan, Project Director, Prayas.
   Prayas is not the only one facing a resource crunch on account of the rise in numbers of marginalised people seeking help. The National Society for Equal Opportunities for the Handicapped (NASEOH), established in 1968, fell short by Rs 35 lakh this year.
   “The 2005-06 budget for NASEOH is Rs 1 crore out of which we face a deficit of Rs 35 lakh,’’ says Mohini Mathur, vice-president, NASEOH.
   The shortfall has affected two vital schemes. NASEOH had planned to expand its rural-based rehabilitation programmes for the disabled. “The disabled in rural areas have to be imparted skills like sheep rearing. But we do not have funds for this,’’ says Mathur. The other programme kept in abeyance is training the disabled in information technology and the BPO sector.

Helpline still ringing    

There is good news for those who may want to seek help from the Samaritans Helpline on 23073451. Earlier, it had been asked to vacate the Seva Niketan premises in Byculla by December-end. Now it has been given a two-month extension. Established in 1960, the Samaritans offer a wide range of services, mainly to help the suicidal and those in distress.

SHARING THE SAME SPACE

SHARING THE SAME SPACE

Colleagues as neighbours: Mumbai still does what Kolis did

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: What do established television actors and Andheri have to do with each other? Why would their struggling colleagues, still having some catching up to do, plump for a Saibaba Complex or a Gokuldham of Goregaon (E)? And why do you bump into so many BPO and call-centre employees in Powai, Andheri (E) or Malad’s Mindspace?
   The city, from the looks of it, is not through doing what the Kolis did several centuries back. People sharing an office or a trade are still giving the thumbs-up sign to the concept of professional ghettos that the Kolis first introduced to Mumbai and the diamond community (clustered at Malabar Hill, a stone’s throw from Panchratna, the diamond-trading hub at Opera House), the film community (initially based at Bandra and then Juhu) or the mill workers (who lived in central Mumbai’s Girgaum, Lalbaug, Chinchpokli and Parel) perfected.
   These traditional ghettos are, of course, reformatting according to the new economy’s requirements. And, in the process, they are transforming the suburban localities — once out of bounds — into sought-after addresses.
   “People are proud to say they live in Versova and they have a film star in their building,’’ says big-screen villain Gulshan Grover, who has a palatial 6,000-square-foot duplex at Versova and three beautiful women — Rani Mukherjee, Manisha Koirala and Sushmita Sen — for neighbours.
   Versova, Grover says, is the new Beverly Hills of film stars. “Staying here makes sense for entertainment industry professionals as most film and TV studios are located here,’’ he says. Adds Arshad Warsi: “Versova has evolved so much that everything, from food to servants, is just a phone-call away.’’ That most of urban India boasts this USP is another story.
   Lesser mortals — middle-level scriptwriters, assistant directors, small-time actors, cinematographers and make-up men — have congregated at Adarsh Nagar in Andheri, although their favourites are clearly Goregaon and Jogeshwari.
   Entire clusters of television actors, writers and cameramen reside in Gokuldham, Saibaba Complex, Vanrai Complex and the surrounding areas of Goregaon (E). Cinematographer Sudhir Talsane was one of the first to move in at Saibaba Complex in 1993. “It was a kind of jungle then,’’ he says. The only thing going for that area was the rate: Rs 5 lakh for a one-bedroom-hall flat. Some 12 years later, the same flat costs Rs 15 lakh-Rs 20 lakh.
   Not so cheap is Powai, now the Mecca of IT and BPO professionals. Even senior IT professionals are grunting that certain Powai localities — like the Hiranandani Complex — have become unaffordable. Powai corporator Chandan Sharma recalls that grandfather C D Sharma sold a huge tract of land to L H Hiranandani for Rs 300 a sq yard in the early ’80s. Hiranandani Complex’s current rate is over Rs 5,000 a square foot.
   Rodas Hotel general manager Sunny Sriram says Powai has become hot property as most IT offices are located there. “IT professionals and corporate honchos don’t have to bother with the nitty-gritty of day-to-day living like commuting,’’ he says. “The night life, too, is good with many pubs and discs. I don’t think places like Parel and Lalbaug can match Powai.’’ Adds Powai Labs CEO and IIT alumnus Reapan Tikoo: “This locality holds a sentimental value for IIT alumni but, more importantly, it makes sense to stay here if you are from the IT world. We have the best infrastructure.’’
   It wasn’t like that in the 1980s, when Powai had no roads, electricity or telephones, says Hiranandani Constructions managing director Niranjan Hiranandani, claiming to have created not only the township but also provided infrastructure to attract IT.
   For diamond merchants, it was Malabar Hill. “Most of us are Jain and vegetarian,’’ says Gitanjali Jewels CEO Mehul Choksi. “The development of Panchratna Building in Opera House was primarily due to its location.’’
   But with the diamond market slated to move to BKC, will the diamond merchants shift their residences to Bandra or somewhere nearby? “No,’’ says Choksi. “We will continue to stay at Malabar Hill. Travelling an extra hour to Bandra will be inconvenient but we will manage.’’

Rising salaries may blunt India’s software edge

Rising salaries may blunt India’s software edge

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: Is India’s software talent getting too expensive? Henning Kagermann, chief of SAP, the leader in client and server enterprise application software, believes so. His recent statement that Indian software developers are becoming expensive and SAP intends to look elsewhere for hiring, has sparked off a debate on whether India can retain its competitive edge in software.
   Kagermann was stating what the Indian IT industry knew for a while. The salaries have been rising because of a demand-supply mismatch in the software developers market. The mismatch is acutely felt at two levels: fresh and middle-level. Middle-level salaries have annually risen by as much as 15-18% for the past two years compared with 10-15% in other categories.
   Puneet Jetli, general manager at the People Function department of MindTree Consulting, is of the opinion that Kagermanns statement and a threat from competitors like China and east European countries should not be taken lightly. “The salary increases of Indian software developers have been in range of 15% in 2005 and we expect it to be between 14 and 15% in 2006, and in some cases a little higher. Demand is especially high for software developers, who specialise in package implementation, data ware housing, hardware design, board design specialists and domain consultants,’’ says Jetli.
   “The consistent rise in the salaries of software professionals is likely to give rise to lowcost centres, which will emerge as alternate software destinations,” says Hema Ravichandar, former HR head at Infosys India. “This is a challenge for the Indian IT industry. India retains the competitive edge when it comes to the depth of technical talent, language skills and ability to deliver quick and largescale manpower ramp up programmes. And this is evident in the way many multinationals are viewing India,’’ she added.
   The good news is that the Indian software industry, in conjunction with educational institutes, is slowly getting its act together. Nasscom and experts are taking a hard look at whether the available graduates can match industry expectations and have the required skills.

Not enough docs to take care of the mentally ill

Not enough docs to take care of the mentally ill

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: Eighteen-year-old Kunal jumped to his death last August. The teenager’s middle-class parents did not know how to deal with his assertions that he was better than tennis player Leander Peas. Kunal withdrew into a shell and was put on medicines but that did not help.
   Edward D’Cunha’s father, Stanley, is now fighting against the Shipping Corporation of India for subjecting his 33-year-old son to “stress and abuse that forced him to resign’’. Though SCI chairman and managing director S Hajara said Edward himself resigned in 2000, Maharashtra state commissioner for persons with disabilities R K Gaikwad said he was in the process of finalising a judgement that would be in favour of Edward. Stanley has now decided to devote his life to the cause of the mentally disturbed. “I do not want any parent to undergo the same problems that I went through,’’ he said.
   At any given time, 1% of the population suffers from a serious mental disorder and anything between 5% and 10% suffer from minor mental problems. But the government is woefully ill-equipped to handle the problem, admit officials. Civic hospitals have psychiatry wards but they often do not have enough trained doctors or basic medicines. There are 11 trained psychiatrists in three civic hospitals; KEM has five, Sion and Nair three each. There are nine trained psychiatrists in eight other peripheral Mumbai hospitals and private psychiatrists number 250. Mumbai, if you want to know, now has a population of around 15 million.
   Every step that the family of a mentally-challenged person takes is fraught with problems. Akila Maheshwari of NAMI India, an NGO working towards mental health, says that getting a disability certificate is a big headache. Just one hospital in Mumbai, J J, has been empowered to give these certificates and it often takes anything between six months and a year to get one.
   After the media expose about the certificate-for-cash scandal, a committee of psychiatrists, law officers, police and social workers has been set up. These experts must first agree on whether the person is mentally ill or not. Disability certificates are essential to get jobs in the public sector, where there is a 3% quota, and to establish that a person is capable to take on regular jobs in the private sector.
   There is a near-complete lack of halfway homes for the mentally disturbed. Chronic patients need full-stay homes. Those who can recover need halfway homes where they can spend three to 12 months and recover with the help of help from counsellors, regular medication, exercise, a different environment and vocational training. A couple of private charitable organisations, though, do run some kind of halfway homes.
   The government claims it is working on various welfare measures. “We have initiated district mental health programmes and added five more districts to the existing five where mental health facilities will be available. We are working on incentives for post-graduate students to teach in mental health subjects and will add 1,800 beds to the Thane mental hospital,’’ state director of health services Prakash Doke said. There will be special wards for mentally-ill patients’ families in the hospital so that patients can carry out their normal activities with their families’ help. And crisis intervention in the form of a helpline called Mamta (phone 25820728) will counsel callers.
   “There will also be a general ward for mental patients where patients and immediate members of the family can stay for 10 to 15 days,’’ Doke added.

Priceless but uninsured

Priceless but uninsured

Some rare manuscripts may be secure in a bank vault but the Asiatic Society says it is not in a position to pay the high premium for its treasures

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: Talk about the Asiatic Society, Mumbai, and the first thing that comes to your mind is a priceless collection of rare manuscripts and books housed in a magnificent white edifice in the Fort area. But unfortunately the treasure trove of knowledge collected over 200 years in the library is uninsured. And in case of a calamity, there are chances that the collection may be wiped out without any compensation or reimbursement from any agency.
   It is not that the society management is unaware of the problem, but there is precious little it can do. Said society chairman B G Deshmukh, “It is very hard to evaluate the true worth of the collection in the first place. Even if someone was to do it and come to an estimate, we are not in a position to pay the premium.’’
   For the past many years, the society has been facing a severe financial crunch, though Deshmukh’s tenure since 2001 has seen the finances stabilise to some extent. A large part of the Asiatic Society’s investment in UTI’s US-64 mutual fund took a beating when its net asset value (NAV) plunged. However, during his tenure, Deshmukh (a former cabinet secretary in the Central government) managed to get Rs 1 crore of the Rs 2 crore which was promised by the state for the library.
   The money has been invested in RBI bonds. The society has so far received
Rs 60 lakh of the Rs 1 crore allocated to it during the tenth five year plan. The recent bicentenary programme of the society added Rs 27 lakh to the corpus.
   “(But) We need a large corpus to have adequate insurance. We are in a much better position now. The books and coins as well as manuscripts have been secured, so please don’t worry,’’ insisted Vimal Shah, the honorary secretary of the society. He, however, refused to reveal the plans that the society had in mind to augment its resources. “I can’t spill the beans now but we do have some schemes in the pipeline,’’ he said.
   For the time being, two constables who guard the stamp office located on the same premises guard the Asiatic Society as well. Then there is one security guard on the payroll of the society and a watchman of the adjacent central library who keep an eye over the collection when the society closes for the day and during holidays.
   As a precautionary measure, two parts of Firdausi’s Shahanama (1495); Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (1350); Aranyaka Parvan Shadavashyakasutra with commentary by Merusun—dara (13th century) and the Kalpasutra manuscript have been moved to bank vaults. The society has a rich collection of manuscripts in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Prakrit, Arabic, Persian and in numerous other languages.
   Then there is a collection of nearly 1400 maps, some of which date back to the 18th century, including the map of the west coast of Ceylon published by A Dalrymple.

The library has just one security guard on its payro

Priceless but uninsured

Priceless but uninsured

Some rare manuscripts may be secure in a bank vault but the Asiatic Society says it is not in a position to pay the high premium for its treasures

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: Talk about the Asiatic Society, Mumbai, and the first thing that comes to your mind is a priceless collection of rare manuscripts and books housed in a magnificent white edifice in the Fort area. But unfortunately the treasure trove of knowledge collected over 200 years in the library is uninsured. And in case of a calamity, there are chances that the collection may be wiped out without any compensation or reimbursement from any agency.
   It is not that the society management is unaware of the problem, but there is precious little it can do. Said society chairman B G Deshmukh, “It is very hard to evaluate the true worth of the collection in the first place. Even if someone was to do it and come to an estimate, we are not in a position to pay the premium.’’
   For the past many years, the society has been facing a severe financial crunch, though Deshmukh’s tenure since 2001 has seen the finances stabilise to some extent. A large part of the Asiatic Society’s investment in UTI’s US-64 mutual fund took a beating when its net asset value (NAV) plunged. However, during his tenure, Deshmukh (a former cabinet secretary in the Central government) managed to get Rs 1 crore of the Rs 2 crore which was promised by the state for the library.
   The money has been invested in RBI bonds. The society has so far received
Rs 60 lakh of the Rs 1 crore allocated to it during the tenth five year plan. The recent bicentenary programme of the society added Rs 27 lakh to the corpus.
   “(But) We need a large corpus to have adequate insurance. We are in a much better position now. The books and coins as well as manuscripts have been secured, so please don’t worry,’’ insisted Vimal Shah, the honorary secretary of the society. He, however, refused to reveal the plans that the society had in mind to augment its resources. “I can’t spill the beans now but we do have some schemes in the pipeline,’’ he said.
   For the time being, two constables who guard the stamp office located on the same premises guard the Asiatic Society as well. Then there is one security guard on the payroll of the society and a watchman of the adjacent central library who keep an eye over the collection when the society closes for the day and during holidays.
   As a precautionary measure, two parts of Firdausi’s Shahanama (1495); Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (1350); Aranyaka Parvan Shadavashyakasutra with commentary by Merusun—dara (13th century) and the Kalpasutra manuscript have been moved to bank vaults. The society has a rich collection of manuscripts in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Prakrit, Arabic, Persian and in numerous other languages.
   Then there is a collection of nearly 1400 maps, some of which date back to the 18th century, including the map of the west coast of Ceylon published by A Dalrymple.

The library has just one security guard on its payro

Locals keep TV ‘evil’ at bay for 10 years

Locals keep TV ‘evil’ at bay for 10 years

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: It all seems incongruous. That people living at a stone’s throw from areas that churn out saas bahu TV serials by the dozen have stayed without the idiot box for years leaves one bewildered. In fact, it’s been 10 years since residents of two huge colonies—Gulshan Colony in Versova and the Gujarat Momin society in Jogeshwari (W) threw out their TV sets from their floors. And they have stuck to their resolve.
   “We consider TV, cinema and magazines as evils that don’t help, but harm the society. Look around, and you won’t see a single cable wire in this society. No home here has a TV,’’ says Illyasbhai Borania, who was the secretary of Gulshan Society in 1995, the year when the TV sets were discarded once for all. This action of the entire society was purportedly triggered by a fiery speech delivered at the local masjid by Maulana Abdul Rehman Korakiwala, who apart from highlighting the moral danger of having a TV set had also delved upon the corrupting influence of movies.
   Back in 1995, it was not that the nearly 1,500 residents of the 11 buildings in the Gulshan society could not afford TV sets. However, they either threw them out physically or gave them away—convinced that the maulana spoke the truth.
   Similarly, a few kilometres away, residents of the Gujarat Momin society in Jogeshwari (W) have decided not to fall prey to the corrupt values that TV and films inculcate over time. The colony, which has nearly 10,000 people living in 14 buildings with 830 flats, don’t care much for the TV serials, film stars or actors. “We do not watch films either. It goes against the grain of our religion,’’ says Shoaib Ibrahim Kadiwal, an accountant who also manages the society’s finances.
   The common link between the two societies being that their residents are from the Chiliya Muslim community that traces its origins to Palanapur, Sidpur and nearby areas in Gujarat. Both societies comprise middle and lower middle class with a different lifestyle compared to other Muslim societies in Mumbai.
   In both the societies, evenings see a huge congregation of children and residents, resembling a mini fair. Some prefer to spend time in the local mosque, while others gather in small groups to discuss life’s problems. Women meet separately in homes. Equally, children are not encouraged to bring home magazines or watch films (though some do see movies outside on the sly). English newspapers here are out of the question, while Gujarati newspapers do find their way into the Gulshan society.
   The sole exception that both the societies have made is allowing computers in some homes. “Computers are allowed when they are necessary for work,’’ says Borania. But, allowing computers could mean that they can see movies. “Yes, we know. But one can’t keep monitoring everybody’s home. It is also a matter of trust,’’ he adds.
   When pointed out that a total ban could restrict their avenues for entertainment, Hanifbhai Memonji, a resident of Gulshan Society, points to a group of kids playing cricket and asks, “Do you think they are not entertained?”

Israeli’s body will be sent back without post-mortem

Israeli’s body
   will be sent back without post-mortem

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: The body of Oron Lautman, 23, who disappeared last Sunday when he went swimming at the Tunghbhadra river near the tourist spot of Hampi, is being returned to Israel without the mandatory post-mortem on a request from the Israeli foreign ministry and an NGO called Zaka.
   Zaka is a humanitarian nongovernmental organisation whose raison d’etre is the recovery and identification of bodies and body parts of dead Israeli citizens.
   Talia Zaks, deputy chairman of Zaka, told TOI that since the deceased was an Israeli of Jewish faith, which forbids post-mortem, they had requested the Indian authorities to avoid the autopsy.
   “Our request was based not only on the Jewish law and tradition, but also on the humanitarian aspect as well. The family has already suffered much due to the death of their dear one and if the post-mortem is carried out, it will have caused additional suffering to them. We requested the authority to help us prevent it,’’ said Zaks.
   When Lautman’s body was brought to the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Forensic Department Head Chandrasekhar performed external post-mortem, reporting only the bruises and injuries found on the body.
   Zaka, founded in 1995, is an acronym for Zihui Korbanot Ason, Hebrew for identification of disaster victims. Its volunteers, identified by their bright yellow vests, are often the first rescue workers to appear at the scene of a bombing or shooting, and the last to leave. The volunteers of Zaka recover the human remains fulfilling the biblical imperative to bury the dead “on the same day’’ and handle the shattered flesh and bones with respect for the divine spirit that had filled them’’.

Asiatic Society books get a fresh lease of life

Asiatic Society books get a fresh lease of life

By Ketan Tanna TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Preservation of rare books, manuscripts and even maps has always been a complex task. The world over, libraries and institutions set aside large portions of their budgets to either microfilm or digitise books, in order to preserve them for posterity. At the Asiatic Society in the city, microfilming has been the favoured option.
   The Asiatic Society’s collection includes books, manuscripts and maps that are over 200 years old. Despite a limited budget, the society has microfilmed 129 books and 305 manuscripts running into 1,07,560 pages in 2004-05. “Since 1994, 3,400 books and 1,000 manuscripts have been microfilmed,’’ said K Haridas, honorary secretary of the society. This year alone, Rs 6,00,000 was spent on the process.
   The microfilming process is carried in the basement of the society building and the films are kept under a constant temperature. According to Haridas, bar coding and radio frequency identification (RFID) of books is also on the agenda.
   However, the biggest drawback continues to be the fact that the documents are microfilmed in black and white.
   So how does microfilming work? Preservation microfilming involves the creation of multiple products. The “master negative’’ (the film that is exposed in the camera) is used only once, to make a “printing negative.’’ A duplicate is then produced for regular use. If the duplicate copy gets lost or damaged, a new one can be made from the printing negative, thus keeping the original book or document out of use at all times. For lovers of rare books, all is therefore, not lost

Residents fight for patch of green

Residents fight for patch of green

Plan PIL Against Builder For ‘Cornering’ Plot On Andheri-Versova Link Road

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Andheri: Yet another green patch on the Andheri-Versova Link Road has been taken over by a builder despite protests by residents of nine adjoining housing complexes. The vacant piece of land (Plot no 11, survey no 161, Versova—CST 1376-1-87), located in the middle of residential societies, has been taken over to build a transit camp.
   “The builder has been flashing a letter allegedly from the collector’s office sanctioning the transit camp under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority scheme,’’ says Mrinalini Phatak, a resident of the nearby Seema Society and a member of the ALM.
   According to Phatak, undue haste was shown in favouring the builder without considering the locals’ needs for open spaces. Since 1986, the Shiv Shanti Co-operative Housing Society, which adjoins the plot, has been requesting the collector’s office to let them build a small garden there, but to no avail.
   The lush plot, about 355.80 sq m in size, had remained vacant for years. Overnight, the builders, Pushpak Home Private Ltd, barricaded it to build a temporary transit camp to rehabilitate nearby slumdwellers.
   The work goes on mostly through the nights. “We are going in circles from the BMC office to the collector’s office to find out who sanctioned it but nobody is giving me straight answers,’’ says Dr R S Joshi from a adjoining housing society.
   S S Zende, collector, Mumbai suburban district, said he signed hundreds of letters every day and did not remember every permission he issued. He re-directed queries to the tehsildar’s office in Andheri.
   The tehsildar, Manisha Gawande, sent her deputy R S Kachare to the site who confirmed that the builder had started work on the plot which was meant to re-house displaced hutment dwellers and was not a transit camp. He, however, denied that permission had been given to the builder by the tehsildar’s office to start construction. “It could have been the city survey office who would have given a no-objection certificate based on which the collector could have approved the builder’s request,” said Kachare. The city survey office functions under the collector.
   The builder’s representative, Uday Chavan, who is the manager of the project, did not revert to answer questions. “We are thinking of filing a PIL,’’ said Phatak. “We need to save this city from greedy builders. If we don’t fight now, do we have a future?’’

Not an IAS but a very civil servant

City of Angels

Not an IAS but a very civil servant

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

   Like thousands all over the country, Vraj Patel wanted to join the Indian Administrative Service. And, like thousands (minus a few dozen every year), he failed to become one, instead managing to join the Central Excise and Customs as an inspector. But, unlike the faceless thousands like him, he has done much better. The Jetpur (Saurashtra) boy now helps others realise their dreams by running a public library for them. He does not want others to fail for lack of resources and knowhow, he says.
   Patel’s library on the busy Dadar East Station Road also has medical and management students dropping in. The more the merrier, says the man who helps others succeed. “I decided to open a library for students who wanted to appear for competitive examinations but did not have resources in terms of books or guidance. I do not want them to repeat my mistakes,’’ Patel says.
   Success to him now means hearing the likes of Pune (rural) superintendent of police Vishwas Nangre-Patil publicly acknowledge that it was Patel’s library that made him what he is. Patel has, somehow, managed to turn the tables on destiny.
   But it was not easy. He has had to sink in a mini fortune into the Maharashi Dayanand Foundation Library that, since 1996, has come to the aid of 10,000 students and evolved into a 50,000-book affair over merely 1,100 square feet; the books span 25 subjects.
   The library charges only those who can afford to pay Rs 2,500 a year (that is approximately half of the 150 students it has on its rolls now). “This way, we cross-subsidise the other half who cannot pay. The annual outgoing, including purchase of new books and maintenance, is more than Rs 1.5 lakh,’’ Patel adds. There also have been years when Patel has had to depend on wellwishers and pay the shortfall out of his pocket. The library is well-stocked, even in terms of quality. Many geology and medicine books are priced at over Rs 8,000.
   But there have been bad experiences. Students have disappeared with books, prompting Patel to charge a deposit of Rs 250 that has now been hiked to Rs 1000. “Books not returned will add up to 5,000 but one cannot go on hiking the deposit. I try to help those who cannot pay the deposit,’’ he adds.
   Patel’s enterprise has now moved beyond being a library. Experts teach IAS aspirants on Sundays, when it is open virtually round the clock instead of the usual two-hour morning and evening shifts.
   His wife and son are okay with the long hours he spends at the library. “They actually help me,’’ Patel, proud that his 21-year-old computer engineer son also tapped the library for his exams, said.

Vraj Patel, a central excise and customs inspector, runs a library for students who want to appear for competitive examinations but do not have adequate resources

Run Shinde Run

Run Shinde Run

Ketan Tanna
TNN

Ganpatrao Shinde (his real name) wakes up in his 500-square-foot one-BHK flat in Borivli’s IC Colony for which he pays a monthly rent of Rs 6,000. (In Bangalore, he could rent a two-BHK in posh Fraser town.) He hurriedly gets ready to catch the Churchgate fast. He will travel a distance of 34 kilometres in 47 minutes, one among the 6.4 million passengers every day. He is now in a nine-car rake with a carrying capacity of 1,700 passengers; the train, however, is packed with 4,700 like him. Some 500 commuters are stuffed in his coach though the optimum capacity is 188. (It’s illegal to carry so many cows in the coach.) From Churchgate, he takes a bus to Fort where there are 144 jobs for every 100 residents, making it one of the most congested areas of the country. He travels through roads where the vehicular density is 591 per square kilometre and where the level of noise is about 90 decibels; the human ear is designed for 70-75 decibels. Sometimes, hawkers who narrow his path further try to sell a T-shirt that says “I love Mumbai’’. But he does not have the time to buy it.

India becomes top gold jewellery maker

India becomes top gold jewellery maker

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Mumbai: India has surpassed Italy and is now officially the largest gold jewellery producer in the world. Confirming the development, Federazione Nazionale Orafi Gioiellieri Fabbricanti Aderente a Confindustria or Federorafi which is the federation of Italian jewellers said that India has relegated Italy to second place in gold jewellery production.
   In an interview to TOI, Federorafi said India surpassed Italy in gold jewellery production due to “competitive production costs, better access to international markets due to lower customs tariffs, good product quality and a huge internal market’’, which they say is not accessible to Italian/European goods due to high tariffs and due to administrative barriers.
   According to data released by the GFM precious metal consultancy, GFMS Limited, India with gold jewellery production of 539 tons in 2005 was numero uno followed by Italy with 228 tons. The third spot went to China with 198 tons and Turkey was fourth with 197 tons. If scrap gold is included as part of production, India also emerged as number one.
   Federorafi said that Italy lost out due to high labour costs, absence of trade reciprocity from other countries, towards non Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (India, China and South America amongst others), high rate of exchange of the euro compared to other currencies and difficulty in checking the distribution of goods.
   Commending improving standards of Indian gold jewellery design, Federorafi said Indian jewellery designs had already reached high standards and were recognisable the world over. Italian gold jewellery has a reputation of producing sophisticated designs and for many years floral designs of Indian jewellery did not attract too many international customers. But that is now slowly changing and Indian gold jewellery designers are making a name for themselves.
   Federorafi further added that unless there were sharp changes in the gold price and in the euro/$ exchange rate, Italian gold jewellery was unlikely to regain at least a part of the market share that it has lost in the last few years.

The good will go on

The good will go on

Ketan Tanna | TNN

   Life is a beautiful day. But you need to wake up to see it. Right now, at this very moment, there may be scores of people standing on a stool with a cloth around their neck. A way of leaving Mumbai that is increasingly becoming popular. But for every stool that has fallen, several nooses have loosened. Because they chose to make one last call to one of the many helpl lines in the city. And the trained helper at the other end has slowly persuaded the sorrowful caller to give life another chance. But today, helplines themselves are fighting a final decisive battle against oblivion.
With the rise of more fashionable avenues of charity that attract the city’s generous, and the increasing cost of doing good work in this city, Mumbai’s old helplines that have saved generations of men and women who wanted to quit Mondays forever are facing a destructive financial crisis. But they are fighting. A day cannot befall them when they have to tell a man who called to say he going to die, “Actually, we are broke too”.
   Last year, Mumbai’s oldest helpline and counselling centre, the Samaritans was given an ultimatum to move out of Byculla’s Sewa Niketan building. That is after more than four decades of operations — offering daycare facilities to distressed individuals, besides a phone helpline that rendered anonymous counselling. This blow did not stop the Samaritans. “Stopping our work was never an option. We can never sit idle. This is a city that needs help. If all of us start closing our offices and stop our work, who will be able to offer the helping hand that millions of Mumbaikars require,” asks Pravin Mahendra, trustee at the Samaritans.
   The organisation merely moved the daycare centre to an open space near Jeejamta Udhyan, commonly known as the Byculla zoo. The beautiful surroundings, open space and proximity to nature in fact helped them better in counselling and looking after 20 daycare patients. Adult patients suffering from psychological problems are counselled, taught skills and craft and at times, taken to picnics as well.
   The Samaritan’s Helpline division, though did not move in at the daycare centre. It was transferred to a smaller temporary place at Claire Road, Byculla. The place has been offered to the social organisation by a well-wisher as a temporary arrangement. The helpline number — 23073451 — though remains the same.
   With rains lashing Mumbai, the centre at the open space near the Byculla Zoo has come to a halt. Today the Samaritans are looking for a roof over their heads. But there are indications that a social trust may help it get a place in the city’s Lalbaug area.
   Somehow social orgainsations manage to pull through. Maybe because they are good at the business of shore-up. Earlier this year, scores of helping hands gave the much-needed relief to Prayas, one of the oldest Mumbai social organisation. “Call it blind confidence; call it the spirit of Mumbai. Call it the never-say-die attitude. Mumbaikars do not give up,” says Vijay Raghavan, project director at Prayas.
   Since its establishment in 1990, Prayas has helped a range of people, from those arrested for minor offences such as ticket-less travel and the mentally ill, to children of criminals and victims of trafficking. Prayas’ outreach programme has risen from an initial 30, to over a thousand. But when it launched a programme to train such persons at other organisations, it had to pay Rs 1,700 per month, per person, for the exercise. Although the results of this programme were extremely positive, Prayas was left with a huge cash crunch. That’s because despite generous donors (its field action project is run by Tata Institute of Social Sciences is primarily funded by Dorabji Tata Trust and other generous donors), the programme left a gaping hole in its budgetary allocation.
   The situation became so bad that the staff had to take a salary cut of 15% for three months, although currently the cut has been reduced to 8%. The staff also decided that all of them would pool in to pay the part-time temporary staff.
   After an all-out appeal, many well-wishers of Prayas went out of their way to financially support the group. “People who knew us helped us with small contributions. The word-of-mouth support saw Prayas get well over Rs 7 lakh. Though the shortfall was over Rs 12 lakh, many Mumbaikars loosened their purse strings. Some NGOs and corporate helped too. Fresh budgetary allocations in the new financial year also eased the situation,” says Raghavan.

Trams to malls

Trams to malls

The changing face of Mumbai’s entertainment through the eyes of four generations of the Madkaikar and Lotlikar family

Great-grandmother

Manorama Pandhrinath Madkaikar (86) | “Those were the days of the tram and fun also meant taking short rides on them. The ticket was around Re 1. We went to watch religious movies such as Tukaram with all our family members in tow. As the tickets were priced at 5-12 annas per movie, we would watch them only occasionally. Radio was yet to make its debut and a local bhajan mandal would bring enormous pleasure to us. An occasional pilgrimage was welcome.

Grandmother

Manda Ratnakar Lotlikar (67) | “Childhood in Girgaum was bliss. We spent our evenings on the nearby roads playing games as they were pretty deserted; there were barely one or two cars and very few hawkers. After marriage, entertainment meant going to the club, where there were lots of entertainment facilities such as swimming and plays. One day, we drove all the way to Rameshwaram as there was little traffic. There was no concept of going to Juhu beach as nobody went there. A visit to Chowpatty beach happened once or twice a year. Movies at the local Sahakar and Vijay cinema at Chembur were also great sources of entertainment. Three films every few months sufficed to keep our family happy and contended.

Mother

Kavita Ramnath Lotlikar (42) | “We would wait for our annual vacations. For they meant our annual journey to our ancestral place in Goa, where we would have a great time with all our relatives. Entertainment meant going to the occasional play, although now we go out every week to a movie. Fortunately, there were no privacy concerns as we had a large house and no in-laws. The birth of our twins made us eventually shift to a better house at Kandivli’s Lokhandwala Complex.

Son

Suraj Ramnath Lotlikar (17) | “Oh, we hang around in malls a lot. Entertainment means a computer, being online, lots of games, television and, of course, the mobile, which we two brothers share. Entertainment also means using the local club as frequently as possible. My mom is cool. In fact, she encourages me to find girlfriends and enter personality development classes. Family outings to movie halls and multiplexes are a regular event.
As told to Ketan Tanna

US co’s woes to hit diamond industry hard

US co’s woes to hit diamond industry hard

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Mumbai: News about financial trouble at New York-based M Fabrikant & Sons, the largest US importer of diamonds from India, has the country’s diamond industry worried. According to a report in Israel-based newspaper Globe, Fabrikant owes $400 million to creditors, of which $200 million is owed to US banks, and $200 million to suppliers. Fabrikant has an annual turnover of around $1 billion.
   While the Indian diamond industry pegged Fabrikant’s outstanding at around $75-100 million, Fabrikant’s Mumbai representative Shailesh Jhaveri says the figure is exaggerated. “As far as India is concerned, we have outstanding dues of only $30 million,’’ he said.
   Nalini Rajan, V-P of Tara Jewels and Tara Ultimo in which Fabrikant has a 25% stake, admits that there is a ‘small problem’. But she says negotiations are on and the problem would be solved in a month. She adds rumours are a norm in the diamond industry and that every few days there are reports of collapse of one company or the other. Fabrikant’s suppliers cut across the diamond industry. In fact, the who’s who of Indian diamond industry supply to the company. If Fabrikant is in financial trouble, the impact would be felt across all the suppliers.
   The Israeli newspaper in its Monday edition says Fabrikant is in danger of collapse and insolvency. The company is believed to have deferred payments for eighteen months and have got into cash flow difficulties, the paper says. The report adds that banks in the US have had to reduce credit lines to the company to a minimum, making it difficult for it to operate. Why is Fabrikant important to India? Since 1999, Fabrikant has consistently won awards from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council as the largest US importer of diamonds from India even though the value of imports has declined.
   The Indian industry is now worried. A veteran diamond merchant says the merchants are worried on two counts. “If Fabrikant collapses, where will we find a powerful replacement for Fabrikant? I am not saying that there are no buyers. But nothing in the league of Fabrikant. Also, if Fabrikant files for bankruptcy, the company’s creditors will face problem as their money will be stuck for some time,’’ he says.

Diamonds For Middle Class As Well

EAR TO THE GROUND

Bling thing

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Popular belief: Diamond jewellery is for the rich elite

Ground reality: Ashok Minawala, 50, director of Danabhai Jewellers, has been in the jewellery business for the past 30 years. According to him, the profile of the diamond buyer has changed. Today more and more middle and even lowermiddle-class people are buying diamonds, though in small sizes. These small diamonds are called pointers.
   Danabhai sells both gold and diamond jewellery from its three outlets at Zaveri Bazar, Santacruz and Haji Ali in Mumbai. The cheapest diamond jewellery can be purchased for as little as Rs 3,500. Today the middle-class buyer is going in for branded jewellery, although it is 5-10% more expensive.
   Previously, only 5% of the buyers bought branded jewellery, while 95% went to their trustworthy family jeweller. Now branded jewellery constitutes nearly 25-30% of the total sales at Danabhai. The reason may be that most of the branded jewellery comes with a buyback guarantee. It also comes with a laboratory certificate that gives the buyer details about the quality of the diamond jewellery.
   Verbal and written assurance is a must when buying jewellery, whether branded or unbranded. Middle-class and upper-middle-class Mumbaikars are going in for trendy international designs, especially white gold jewellery sets studded with diamonds.
   Unbranded jewellery buyers are those who buy very expensive items, but from jewellers they trust. The price for unbranded jewellery ranges from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5 lakh.

Doc’s PILs empower citizens

Doc’s PILs empower citizens

   Last year, cardiologist Sandip Rane read about two schoolchildren who died due to an accident caused by potholes in Kalwa near Thane. The 48-year-old doctor wrote a letter to the chief justice of the Bombay high court, which was subsequently converted into a public interest litigation.
   But Rane, a director at the Asian Heart Hospital, did not watch the PIL proceedings as a curious bystander. Often, he would get up early and drive all over the city taking photographs of potholes. He presented some 70 pictures to the court.
   His efforts paid off. In early June this year, the court directed Brihanmumbai and Thane municipal corporations to ensure that no manhole under their jurisdictions was left uncovered.
   A division bench directed both the corporations to file affidavits within a week on the status of manholes. If the incidences of open manholes have reduced today, it is due to Rane’s efforts.
   Not that Rane has a lot of time on his hands. But he has another agenda —empowering the citizens legally. Rane’s civic activism started in 1990, when the doctor and citizens of Chembur fought against the atrocious services of the Chembur telephone exchange. This gave an impetus to the opening of an electronic exchange much before its scheduled date. Today he has filed many successful PILs.
   But as the surgeon understandably cannot attend all PIL proceedings, his 46-year-old doctor wife Neelam and sometimes even his daughter Kavita (21) make up for his absence at the hearings and brief him in the evenings.
   Some of his high-profile PILs include one filed against the BMC seeking answers on larger issues of Mumbai’s sewage treatment, solid waste management, disaster management as well as the implementation of the Brimstowad Committee Report. The Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drain (Brimstowad) project of the BMC has envisaged the complete overhaul of the city’s 100-year-old drainage system, after the 26/7 deluge.
   There are lawyers who help the Ranes file PIL free of charge, and continue the legal work at different hearings. But all the incidental expenses that come with such PIL are borne personally by the doctor, who says that he will continue fighting for a spectrum of civic facilities.
   That Rane cares more for Mumbai than maybe the city does for him is evident when he says that he was disappointed by the apathy shown by Mumbaikars after the formation of a road commission by the Chief Justice to inspect potholes on Mumbai roads and assess the condition of the various roads. Despite putting an advertisement after the floods, very few Mumbaikars bothered to respond. Less than 10 persons did, actually. “So what I did was to get up early and reach a particular area by 7 am, even though the commission members were expected by 9 am. For two hours, I would go around and map the road so that I could take the commission members to the potholes on the damaged road,’’ says Rane.
   In his previous avatars of judicial activism, Rane had gone to court under the aegis of the Smoke Affected Residents Forum or SARF. In 1999, SARF filed a PIL that resulted in the court ordering conversion of all taxis to compressed natural gas (CNG). The doctor’s PIL ensured that from four CNG pumps, the city has now 100. In 1995, Rane had filed a PIL against the BMC for the horrendous way in which garbage was being dumped and burnt at the Deonar dumping ground. The court ordered short-term relief measures, though even after a decade, measures like recycling of garbage are yet to be implemented.
   When asked how he manages to juggle his career and activism, Rane says, “What kept Mahatma Gandhi going? His life was his message. I am not comparing myself to Gandhiji, but I feel the same way. Let my life by my message.’’
   Anyone, says Rane, who is passionate about his cause has a lot of power to change the society. “I believe that my passion for civic activism will inspire many others. That is what keeps me going.’’

Jatin Shah, one of the three visually challenged students who was a volunteer at an RTI camp

BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY: Sandeep Rane, who is a cardiologist at the Asian Heart Hospital, had also filed a PIL which ensured that taxis switched from petrol to CNG

India Blasts hit diamond trade

Blasts hit diamond trade

Industry loses men, and its faith

Ketan Tanna | TNN

As Families Mourn Deaths, Dead Diamond Traders’ Colleagues Brace Up To Protect Themselves

Mumbai: Tuesday’s serial blasts have hit the city’s diamond trade hard. Traders’ associations have already identified 15 members who have died and fear that the community may account for many more deaths once all the information is collated.
   Many of the bereaved families have, till date, not got back to the associations, making a higher toll a distinct possibility. Besides, there are hundreds of youngsters who work on a dailywage basis, commuting from distant suburbs like Mira Road or from Bharuch and Surat in Gujarat, and they have a limited interface with the traders’ associations. At least 15 traders have also been seriously injured, says the Nausarjan Pratishthan, one of the organisations.
   Riled and upset over losing so many of their colleagues and the atmosphere of “threat and insecurity’’, 500-odd industry professionals assembled at the Jewel Theatre (Roxy Building) in Opera House on Thursday evening. Industry leaders said the blasts on the trains had prompted a general feeling of insecurity and felt it was time they took care of themselves, even at their trading hub.
   Officially, they were there to pay homage to the dead and commiserate with their families. But the mood slowly turned to that of anger.
   “Let the government do what it should do. But we need to act on our own. We are calling an emergency meeting on Saturday. We will be introducing smart cards and frisk cars and personnel at Panchratna as soon as we can,’’ leading diamond merchant and Gem & Jewellery National Relief Foundation chairman Pravinshankar Pandya said.
   Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman Bakul Mehta said the industry should not be dependent on others and promised to allocate funds for urgent security measures. GJEPC former chairman Sanjay Kothari went a step ahead: “This is the time for action and not words. We have had enough of empty talk and let us now ensure the industry’s wellbeing.’’ The industry functioned with a skeletal staff on Wednesday and a notice outside the Panchratna and the Jewel buildings called for a bandh in the diamond industry on Friday.
   That the deaths had shaken up the industry was evident when the associations decided that the lane adjacent to Jewel, choc-a-bloc with twowheelers and cars, should be closed to traffic.

GLITTER FIGURES

Diamond Export 2005-2006: Rs 53,922 crore 2004-2005: Rs 50,073.60 crore

Size of cutting business: Rs 17000 crore

Number of people employed by the industry:
1 million

Trade zone: Around Opera House

Living quarters: Mira Road, Borivli, Kandivli, Malad, Goregaon, Andheri

BEREAVED: Anil Shah’s family at their Goregaon residence

A TENSE FUTURE: Diamond traders gather at Jewel (Roxy) building to take stock of the situation (above) as an employee takes care of the shop (below)

Planning a shelter from the storm

Planning a shelter from the storm

Disaster management is not just the responsibility of civic authorities, but also of families who must take care of their finances

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Manik Dey, 55, a manager with Air India was a bit too optimistic in life. Dey hopes that nobody should suffer like him and pay through the nose the way he did. Floods ravaged his home in the Air India colony, Kalina, north west Mumbai in 1991, 1997 and 2000. Each time the loss to him was around Rs 50,000. In 2005, the July 26 deluge left him poorer by Rs 1 lakh. “I always thought that flooding would never happen the next time around. Maybe I was too optimistic. I hope people learn from my tragedy. We cannot prevent tragedies and misfortune. But at least, if we are financially prepared, our loss can be mitigated,” says Dey who has now shifted to a second floor home and is thinking of buying insurance.
Dey’s neighbour A V Pillai, 47, superintendent service engineer in Air India, too lost a lot of money in the 2000 floods and is now a tad wiser. “People should have an emergency financial kit,” he says. “We did not take insurance because there was not much awareness. If LIC or some other insurance company had held road shows or awareness camps, it would have motivated us. After the Tuesday bomb blasts, I feel all insurance companies should raise awareness about the fallibility of life,” says Pillai.
The July 11 Mumbai train blasts claimed 200 lives and left some 800 injured. Some of those affected will suddenly become dependents, relying on others to earn a living. Coping with the emotional after-effects of a calamity is difficult to start with, but can be especially disastrous when the affected family faces a shaky financial future. While one cannot always prevent disasters and misfortunes in life, one can always take pre-emptive steps to mitigate post-disaster traumas.
To start with, every one must put in place an emergency financial plan to deal with unexpected calamities. This could help even in other unexpected emergencies or misfortunes (such as losing one’s job or a major illness). Financial planners and risk management experts are unanimous that an emergency financial plan can and should be made by all those who are earning and even those who are retired or senior citizens.
While situations and the financial background of every individual may differ based on age and experience, emergency financial planning can be divided into three broad categories:
A single bread earner having parents or dependent family members
A married person with dependant wife/husband, children and or parents
   A young, earning person without dependents
   According to financial planner Sujata Kabraji, if a person is the only earning member of his or her family, and is unmarried but has parents, an emergency plan should provide liquidity for three to six months of household expenses, either in the form of bank deposits or liquid funds, and an insurance policy which is of sufficient value so as to take care of his parents. Equally, the person should keep a trusted friend or an advisor appraised. It would help if that person has some financial acumen. The person should also ensure that all investments are either in joint names or have a nomination in place and that there should be a will duly validated. It is mandatory that the person’s parents should always be kept in the picture of all the investments that have been made.
   In case a person is married and has dependent wife and children, financial planning is all the more crucial. According to Gaurav Mashruwala, a certified financial planner, such persons should have contingency planning, risk management, liquidity and have an updated nomination for various assets and a will. Contingency planning essentially would mean making arrangements for three months of household budget. Risk management is ensuring that health
and life insurance is in place and
that there are no lapses in premium payments. Disability insurance
should never be neglected and always
included as a part of any insurance plan. Additionally, having at least 15-20% of invested assets in liquid form (like mutual funds, fixed deposits and shares) would ensure the availability of liquid funds.
   Updated nomination and the existence of a will is of crucial importance whether the person is single or married. Even if a person has nominated someone, it does not automatically mean that the concerned persons will get to own that asset. “Nomination is the right to receive, not the right to own. For example, if the person has nominated his wife in various assets (be it bank deposits, shares, etc), the wife gets the right to receive the asset. But, in case there is no will, any other family member, for example his mother, has the right to take the matter to the court. A written will ensures that the asset goes to the person one desires. And yes, a will need not be drafted only with a help of a lawyer. One can draft it in their own handwriting and the proforma is simple and can be easily accessed on the net. A handwritten will, attested by two persons, preferably one of them the person’s doctor, would ensure that the will would not be challenged. If a person dies intestate, then the possibility of legal wrangling and division of assets under succession acts become a reality.
Mashruwala says that soon after a person’s marriage, it is essential that the couple sit down and make a list of assets, especially the ones created before marriage. “Hiding the assets, especially the one that a person has before marriage would invariably cause complications in case of emergencies. The worst part is that a person has assets but is unable to use the assets even for his or her treatment because he or she has not disclosed it to his spouse and family and, being critically injured, is unable to disclose it either,” says Mashruwala.
Another certified financial planner, Kartik Jhaveri, says while planning for an insurance cover one needs to factor in the inflation rate. Also, Jhaveri strongly advises on not allowing insurance agents to railroad you in buying polices you don’t need. In the case of senior citizens, emergency planning should factor around investment in instruments that would
   ensure liquid cash flow which would be of use during medical emergencies, says Jhaveri.
   Wills are even more important as people age and the next of kin must know where to find the paperwork. One should try to ensure regular monthly income so that if either spouse is no longer around, at least monetarily, the surviving spouse does suffer financially, advises Kabraji.
   It is not enough to just do the paperwork for emergency planning. What is of equal importance is that policy–life and medical–copies need to kept in either a locker or with a trusted person in another location. A copy of the original will should be kept in separate locations. In fact, all papers which indicate ownership of any asset, that is marriage certificates, PAN cards, etc, should be notarised with one copy kept in a safe, separate location. “The choice of whether it should be in a locker or with a trusted person is a personal choice,” adds Kabraji.

EMERGENCY FINANCIAL KIT

Evaluate your cash inflow (income)

Evaluate financial goals

Create a contingency fund

Ensure adequate insurance

Assess liquidity needs

Nominate survivors and draw up a will

Mobile content market waiting to explode

Mobile content market waiting to explode

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Mumbai: Nothing sells better than sex and religion. In keeping with that maxim, mobile content providers are now looking at bolder revenue opportunities, beyond ringtones, contests and games, to grab the country’s 100 million cellphone users.
   So, by the beginning of 2007, Indians may lose their shyness in the bedroom—and the under-exercised couple may turn closet gymnasts. Their teacher will be the ubiquitous cellphone. It will offer a peek into 25 sexual positions from the Kamasutra for a pittance—Rs 2 per position. That’s after paying Rs 99 to download the Kamasutra package on the phone.
   The positions, content provider Mobile2win assures, have been aesthetically designed. “This is not pornography. The Kamasutra is an age-old way of life. If it can be accessed in the form of a book, why not on the cell,’’ says Rajeev Hiranandani, CEO of Mobile2win. Another content provider, Nazara Technologies, chooses to bet on religion instead. Its software application helps keep track of the number of times one chants a mantra.
   If one is interrupted in the middle of a session, it will help you start from where you left. Some 18 mantras, at Rs 30 each, are offered in this series. One lakh people downloaded it in the last six months.
   The company also offers ‘planet’ mantras that correspond with the planet of one’s birth, based on Hindu astrology. It costs Rs 30 per mantra and within a week of its launch, there were 900 downloads, says Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies.
   As for sex-related products, Mittersain says the market is huge, but they would like to see how other companies fare, before they explore this avenue. Mobile2win too has a few spiritual products. Earlier this year, it tied up with Shri Shri Ravishankar’s Art of Living to offer wallpapers and bhajans as ring tones. A specially-created WAP site provides video clips of Shri Shri Ravishankar’s discourses. So far 1,40,000 people have downloaded these at an average cost of Rs 7-8 per product.
   Mauj Telecom, lets you SMS a prayer request to Siddhivinayak temple. Within a week of its launch, some 10,000 SMSes were sent daily as prayers, which were printed and kept near the idol of Lord Ganesha. Now it averages some 70,000 SMSes per week, each SMS costing between 80 paisa and Rs 3. There are plans to export these services to countries with a significant population of Indian origin.
   It has also started a service for Muslim worshippers, called qibla. This enables a cellphone to display in which direction Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, lies as well as send an alert for the five daily calls to prayer. It is available for a one-time download fee of Rs 50. According to Arun Gupta, CEO of Mauj Telecom, they have started exporting the product to some 20 countries.
   Vishal Gondal, CEO of Indiagames, feels that there is a market for adult content but everything depends on the way it is developed and marketed. Currently, the company is keeping off adult content and is focussing on marketing Ganesh Stuti, Jai Hanuman and Shri Ganesh prayers for Rs 50 per download.
   The market is valued at Rs 450 crore and is expected to rise to Rs 640 crore by April next year. That’s because the current mobile user base stands at 100 million, which is expected to shoot up to 240 million by December next year.

Bank Employees Remember Colleagues Who Lost Their Lives That Day

Bank Employees Remember Colleagues Who Lost Their Lives That Day

Ketan Tanna I TNN

Mumbai: “She told me there was a Rs 100 deficit in the accounts book and asked me to make a voucher to tally the accounts. So I returned to my table which was roughly four feet away from her chair. That was it. Immediately, after that there was a deafening sound and everything went pitch dark. We all ran out, some persons screaming, some lurching, some clinging to each other. That was the last time I saw her,’’ says Rifat Shaikh, recalling the last few moments he spent talking with his fellow colleague, Chandra Viswanathan.
Chandra died when the Bank of Oman office in Nariman Point was ripped apart at 2.57 pm by a bomb blast on March 12, 1993.
Chandra, who was in her mid-20s, was a fellow accounts officer with Shaikh. “To me, she was one of the most amazing and helpful persons I had met. That day, I had just returned after offering namaz when she asked me for the voucher. And then we lost her,’’ Shaikh says, lapsing into silence. The then Bank of Oman (which was later taken over by Mashreqbank and relocated) lost three employees. Among them was twenty-four-yearold Hemalatha, a probationary officer in the bank, who had barely come to terms with her mother’s death.
   Since Hemalatha’s future looked bright, her Chennai-based father and sister, Prema Shankar, had shifted to Dombivli. Both the daughters looked after their ailing father who had been shattered by the demise of his wife.
   Tragedy struck the family once again when Hemalatha died in the blast. Her colleague, Darlene D’Souza, who is now an officer with Mashreqbank, said the hallmark of Hemalatha was her simplicity. “Even though I sat far from her in another section, I remember Hemalatha because there would be a gentle smile on her face in the morning and she had the energy and eagerness to do whatever task was allotted to her,’’ says Darlene.
   Hemalatha’s sister, Prema Shankar was later offered a job by the bank. Every year on March 12, all staffers of Mashreqbank observe a two-minute silence for their colleagues who died in the 1993 blast.
   According to Prema Shankar, even now neither she nor her ailing father have managed to get over the death of Hemalatha. “She was the pillar of our family. She was our strength. She was not just an elder sister but someone who kept the family going after our mother’s death. I would give all sorts of work to her but she would never say no,’’ recollects Prema Shankar.
   The recent Mumbai train blasts revived the memories of the colleagues they lost in the 1993 blast. “No not again, was my first reaction,’’ says Prema Shankar. Unfortunately, the bank lost Joga Rao, a senior internal auditor, in the July 11 train blasts.
   Asked whether the impending judgment
   made her happy, Prema Shankar said she
   looked forward to getting justice.

New Generation Investors In India.

EAR TO THE GROUND

Smart investors of Generation Next

Ketan Tanna

Popular belief:

Young, salaried individuals do not invest.

Ground reality:

“The profile of investors has changed over the past couple of years,’’ says Kartik Jhaveri, director at Transcend Consulting India.
Today even professionals and salaried persons who are in their mid-20s have started making investment plans, says Jhaveri, who himself is 32-years old. The median age investors has decreased to 35 now.
   More often than not his clients are the salaried class, says the investment analyst who operates out of his 600-square-foot office. Also, increasingly single independent women are seeking his advice on investments to see them through after retirement.
Though salaries and investments have increased in keeping with inflation, Jhaveri says people are not saving enough. There is still a tendency among salaried professionals that the more you earn, more you spend. Jhaveri notes that clients who are in their mid 20s and 30s have a longer timeframe as an investment period, and are willing to take more risks. The older clients prefer easy liquidity, fewer risks and shorter investment timeframe. Retired persons also form a substantial client base for Jhaveri. Following the market crash, Jhaveri says that not many of his clients have redeemed their mutual fund units, despite a sense of fear. Volatility in the market is factored into the investment plan, he assures. TNN

Gods who specialise

Gods who specialise

By Ketan Tanna

   They are not run-of-the-mill gods. They function a lot like specialist doctors, whom a sick man approaches after the family doctor has washed his hands of the case. Devotees across the country are landing up in lakhs at these holy destinations with specific prayers, which they believe a general purpose god may be unable to answer.
   Thirty kilometres off Hyderabad is a god known to alter the minds of bored consulate officers all over the country. Also called Visa Balaji, the presiding deity of Venkateswara temple, is believed to clear visa applications of his devotees.
   On a given day, thousands of young visa hopefuls can be heard chanting at the main shrine. Unlike his devotees though, Visa Balaji is not materialistic. All he asks for in return is a holy round of the temple. According to lore, the first time a devotee reaches the temple, he has to take 11 such rounds. After the visa gets approved, the number rises to 108. Other than that, no money changes hands. “My son was rejected in his visa interview the first time. He then made a wish at Visa Balaji temple, and got it,” says Hyderabad’s Vimla Pande.
   Parents may not approve and nutrition experts may baulk at the thought, but the goddess of Jivantika Temple near Rajkot in Gujarat, apparently gets pizzas, milk chocolates, pani puris, dabelis and sandwiches as prasad. The goddess is known for her love of children and is revered by mothers-to-be for a child and mothers wishing a long life for their children. For the past 35 years, the temple used to give peppermint and chocolates to the kids. To attract them, a special prasad is offered once a week. “On routine days, the kids are given chocolates,” says Aim Prasad, chief trustee of the temple.
   For the grownups and their own set of unique problems, the state of Tamil Nadu offers a recourse in Sree Kulanjiappar, son of Lord Shiva. Kulanjiappar is known to employ slightly different methods. Empty prayers don’t work here; they have to be put forth via written petitions. The temple, which is some 220 kilometres off Chennai, hands out printed petitions to first-time applicants as examples. At the other extreme, even Supreme Court and High Court judges have trekked up to this remote destination for a resolution. The written prayers can span problems as far apart as property disputes, financial irregularities, murder cases, and the most common human predicament — marital disharmony.
   “We charge Rs 10 for the cost of application and processing fee. And once the petition is formally lodged, the complainant has to pay a bata for handling the case,” says Gurunathan, the temple administrator. The bata is calculated at the rate of 10 paise per kilometre from the place of travel to the temple. Kulanjiappar’s court,
which attracts petitions globally, handles every mundane complaint. Whenever a petition is filed, it is symbolically placed near the deity while offering prayers. Later, the petitions are tied to a lance stuck vertically on ground before the sub-shrine dedicated to Muneeswara.
   Though the petitions lie in the open for everyone to see, generally people don’t touch them out of fear. “We don’t guard them. They remain there till they get withered by weather,” says Gurunathan.
   The temple story doesn’t end at filing of petitions alone. Once Kulanjiappar administers justice, the complainant should formally withdraw the petition. The helpful temple has printed forms for withdrawing cases as well. In a year, Kulanjiappar receives not fewer than 75,000 cases. “Of these, 60,000 cases are withdrawn,” Gurunathan shows the list. One has no choice but to conclude that the striking rate of this divine court is quite impressive. And the lord, also known by other names such as Karthikeya, Murga and Shunmuga, delivers speedy justice from a minimum of three days to a maximum of three months.
   Among these new-age methods of worship, old-world beliefs somehow pesist. People still throng the Jhankeshwari temple in the backwaters of Bengal’s Burdwan district to cure snake bites. A stone near Guledgudda in Karnataka’s Bagalkote district is worshipped by mostly pregnant women, and is appropriately called the “Pregnant Stone”. TNN
   (Inputs by Meghanien Datta, Pradeep
   Nair, T S Sreenivasa Raghavan, Debajyoti
   Chakraborty, Radha Sharma & Meena Iyer)

When help hangs up

When help hangs up

City’s Oldest Helpline To Call It A Day By The End Of This Year

By Ketan Tanna/TNN

Mumbai: Bad news for hundreds of Mumbaikars, who have at some point or the other sought relief from the city’s oldest helpline, The Samaritans-Helpline, in their darkest hours. The helpline is winding up operations on December 31 for want of space.
   The Samaritans, a parent body of the Samaritan Helpline, started operations in 1960, while the helpline was set up on May 1, 1993 in Mumbai.
   Freny Mahendra, director of The Samaritans, confirmed the news. He said the Jesuit owners of the Seva Niketan building—which housed The Samaritans—wanted the place back. It was the Jesuits who had invited them in 1960 and rented out the place free of cost.
   Since its inception, The Samaritans have been functioning out of three rooms at the Seva Niketan building near Byculla in central Mumbai. One room is used for helpline activities, another room serves as a daycare centre and the third has been converted into an office. The helpline was available 24×7, 365 days a year to any Mumbaikar in distress. And indeed, that’s what many Mumbaikars really needed. A non-judgmental friend, who is willing to listen without any prejudice. It is of little wonder that thousands of Mumbaikars over the years sought help on the phone-line or personally walked in for help. The anonymity that it offered was a blessing to those who did not want anyone to know their background or personal details for whatever reason.
   The helpline complemented the daycare centre and the professional unit of The Samaritans. The professional unit, with its team of psychiatrists and medical social workers, provided back-up support to the helpline. The Samaritans provided an entire gamut of assistance to the mentally and emotionally disturbed, free of charge. The day centre was the first of its kind. Currently, it takes care of 40 patients.
   The callers were from all walks of life and when they called the helpline, trained volunteers offered emotional support through active listening. Callers could pour their heart out to the volunteers without fear of being judged or criticised. Callers could, if they chose to, also remain anonymous.
   According to Mahendra, confidentiality and anonymity were the hallmarks of The Samaritan group. “Often, one needs help to get over their feelings of distress simply by talking things over with a close friend. And the helpline offered to be that friend. Our trained volunteers listen, understand and most importantly care for the caller who may not have anyone to turn to in times of distress,’’ he added.
   The Samaritans trustees were working on constructing a residential place at Panvel in Navi Mumbai for patients with mental problems. But with the closure of its main office at Byculla imminent, the trustees are in a quandary. “We have visited a couple of ministers and councillors, but it has not helped. Even a temporary accommodation for our office, helpline and the daycare patients could help. We wish somebody would help us,’’ said Freny Mahendra.
   Samaritan helpline: 23073451; weekdays 3 pm to 9 pm, weekends 9 am to 9 pm .

Dreams in sound, not colour

Dreams in sound, not colour Ketan Tanna | TNN At times, our dreams are vivid, colourful and imaginative, based on what we have imbibed and perceived in our dayto-day life. As common as dreams are for those who have vision, the visually challenged too dream. But what do they dream of, especially those who have been born visually challenged? Do they see colour? What do persons who have progressively gone blind dream of ? “I cannot see,” says Ketan Kothari (37) an officer with the National Association of Blind (NAB). That, however, has not prevented him from seeing dreams. Never mind that he was born blind, without eye sockets as well. “Of course, I dream. My dreams are auditory. If you exclude the component of sight, a visually challenged person’s dreams are as ordinary or as extraordinary as the dreams of other people,” says Kothari. “For example, take Mount Everest. For those who have vision, it would be high peaks, scenic viewpoint and so on. But for me, it means the wind, lack of oxygen, the chill,” says Kothari, who incidentally, is an avid trekker. When the country watches Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid with bated breath, the cricket fanatic Kothari follows each and every ball-by-ball commentary on the audio. Does he dream of cricket? “I can hear the crowd going berserk when the ball has been hit midfield. I use my imagination along with the commentary,” says Kothari. Kothari’s dreams are based on a sense of smell or the feeling of heat or cold. Does he ever imagine sunset or sunrise? “For me sunset and sunrise are not vivid as described. I feel the sunrise when I first hear the crows. I feel the sunset when the temperature changes…but no colours,” says Kothari. Dream images of the visually challenged seem to be reconstructions of objects based on sensory input such as touch and sound, just as it occurs in waking life. According to research done by C Hurovitz, S Dunn, G W Domhoff, and Fiss, titled “The dreams of blind men and women: A replication and extension of previous findings”, visually challenged people experience a very high percentage of taste, smell and touch sensations in their dreams. The highlights of this research were: There are no visual images in the dreams of those born without any ability to experience visual imagery in waking life. Those who become blind before the age of five seldom experience visual imagery in their dreams. Those that become sightless between the ages of five and seven may or may not retain some visual imagery. Those who lose their vision after age seven continue to experience at least some visual imagery, although its frequency and clarity often fade with time. Suhas Karnik, 49, an officer with the Bank of India, who gradually lost his eyesight and went blind by the age of 15, says that his dreams have a visual element as he saw colours till the age of 15. “My dreams are made of sound and most of what I dream of is based on sound,” says Karnik who goes to cinema halls and watches entire three hour movies. A vision for tomorrow The progress in modern technology has made life easier for the visually challenged. For example, can one see with the ears? No? Twenty-seven-year-old Kandivali resident Pranav Lal, who was born blind, does. He uses a technology called vOICe (OIC as in ‘oh I see’) developed by Meijer, a research scientist in the Netherlands. Simply put, vOICe, can help one see with the help of sound—with the help of a tiny camera, a laptop and headphones. The camera is mounted on the head. The laptop captures the video input and converts it into auditory information, or soundscapes. The scene in front of the person is scanned in stereo. The sounds of the objects on the left are heard through the left ear and objects on the right through he right ear. Brightness is translated as volume: bright things are louder. Pitch tells one what’s up and what’s down. The image refreshes once a second. For continuous use, a head-mounted camera is preferred for best sensory feedback, but for occasional orientation purposes, say for reading signs or to have a look at graphs or other graphical material in print, on the blackboard or on displays, a mobile can be as useful. Solicitor Kanchan Pamnani (40), who progressively lost her sight, uses her mobile to see colours though not often. A Bulgarian company has developed a software implementation of the voice that runs on the Nokia 3650 (Nokia 3600, Nokia 3660) camera phone. The software includes a talking colour identifier, such that you can point the camera of your Java-enabled smartphone or PDA at any item of interest and hear the colour name spoken. The software is available free of charge for non-commercial personal and academic use.

Anti-obesity surgery has a tragic side

Anti-obesity surgery has a tragic side

Not Many Know That Some Ops Carry Potentially Fatal Risks

Ketan Tanna/TNN

   At around six in the morning on the 18th of November last year, Purnima Majumdar’s mother, Vishakha (names changed), noticed that her daughter who was sleeping next to her looked pale and her nails had an unusual bluish tinge. Her face too looked drained and “bluish’’. The mother raised an alarm. But it was too late. The vivacious 18-year-old Purna had been dead for four hours. She had passed away in her sleep following a heart attack. A week before her death, the teenager had undergone a stomach stapling surgery at a hospital which her family says cost them over Rs 4 lakh.
   She weighed 180 kg, considerably overweight even for her 6’4’’ frame. Stomach stapling is a surgery that the obese undergo to reduce the size of their stomachs which in turn limits their food intake. Soon after the surgery, she told her family that agreeing to the bariatric surgery was the biggest mistake of her life. She was depressed after the surgery, her family says. Dr Muffazal Lakdawala who operated on Purnima says that there need not be any connection between her death and the surgery. He says obese patients are prone to sleep apnea (breathing stops or gets irregular in sleep, and can be fatal) or pulmonary embolism (sudden blockage in a lung artery, usually due to a blood clot that has travelled to the lung from a vein in the leg). “Obese patients have a 20% higher risk of these two and the patient could have died because of either causes. The surgery was incidental,’’ he says.
   But Purnima is not an isolated case. A 21-year-old boy died in Chennai recently after a stomach stapling operation. His family is contemplating going to the court. A 46-year-old stock broker died last month after complications arising from liposuction. In February, the obese gregarious man had decided to undergo liposuction at a private clinic in the Khar suburb of Mumbai. Liposuction involves removing deposits of fat from parts of the body through a tiny incision. A narrow tube then vacuums the fat layer. The broker’s family alleges that during the liposuction operation, his colon ruptured. A colostomy operation was done on him after the liposuction procedure. The colostomy operation failed and he eventually died of an infection. The doctor who performed the operation has refused to comment.

FAT’S IN THE FIRE

   An 18-year-old Mumbai girl died of a heart attack a week after a stomach staple. A young man in Chennai too died after the same operation. A Mumbai broker died of colon rupture during liposuction
   Stapling or bariatric surgery involves reducing the size of the stomach to limit the patient’s intake. In liposuction, fat deposits are cut from parts of the body
   Obese patients are more prone to the potentially fatal sleep apnea or pulmonary embolism

RISK FACTOR

Stomach-stapling operation must be last resort: Doctors

Mumbai: General medical opinion is that obesity-related operations constitute a “category risk’’. “It happens in the West too,’’ said a doctor although official statistics are hard to come by. “There’s risk attached to any surgical procedure,’’ he added.
   There have been instances of death following cosmetic surgery but the families of the deceased have accepted that the operations had nothing to do with the tragedy. Last May, Jude Harris (surname changed) chose to have a tummy tuck and breast reduction at a wellknown hospital.
   Four days after the surgery, the hospital authorities called her sister and informed her that the mother of three had died of a “blood clot that travelled to her lungs’’. The family is not blaming the hospital for her death and has maintained that Jude could have died due to a “freak accident’’.
   The medical fraternity maintains that deaths following obesity-related operations are usually caused by factors that have nothing to do with the surgery. But doctors do warn patients that surgeries like
stomach-stapling have to be resorted to only when they are absolutely necessary. Dr Abhay Dalvi of KEM Hospital says, “Bariatric surgery should be done only for the morbidly obese. That too when the person’s weight continues to shorten his or her lifespan. Such surgeries are not cosmetic in nature. The surgery should be done when all other options, like dieting, have been explored. Also, the patient has to be psychologically motivated and sure of the operation.’’
   As the Indian society becomes looks-obsessed, the obese are willing to take a chance and agree to surgical procedures. Anti-obesity surgery is an industry of sorts today though its commercial size is not clear. Also, Indians are increasingly trying out tablets like Rimonabant that promise to reduce weight. Rimonabant is even being promoted as an over-thecounter drug while the US Food and Drug Administration has banned it for causing depression and precipitating suicidal tendencies.
   Dr Lakdawala says, “Though I have not prescribed it, I hope that doctors who prescribe Rimonobant educate their patients about the side-effects’’.
   ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

THE FELLOWSHIP OF PELVIS

THE FELLOWSHIP OF PELVIS

In this series we cover unusual groups formed by a common passion. This week, Ketan Tanna profiles the Elvis Presley fan club of Mumbai

   Acruelty of time, or maybe culture, is that Himesh Reshammiya is more popular in India today than Elvis Presley. But you must not say that to a small zealous band of Presley fans in Mumbai. They may turn violent. Almost 30 years after his death, the spirit of the rock and roll king is fervently celebrated and even guarded by this fan club though not all its members have sideburns. They are pleasant, amicable folks, harmless until some taboo words are mentioned. Like, this late evening when the fans are looking in anger and disgust.
   “How can you even talk of them in the same breath? I am astonished that one can talk of what’s his name…Resmiya…and Elvis as if the two can be compared,” says singer Gary Lawyer. Thirtyone-year-old sound engineer Ahit Dasgupta, one of the most ardent young fans, says, “You can never compare Elvis with Britney or Himesh. Please don’t make me swear in the morning.”
   “Elvis is evergreen. He is a legend. Please don’t compare the two,” warns 56-year-old Rashna Chiniwala, a Parsi designer, whose first boyfriend looked like Presley (“That’s the only reason I dated him,” she says). When she was in school, she was so obsessed with Elvis that she had a whole scrapbook filled with his images and her thoughts about him. She had carefully hidden the scrapbook from her parents because Elvis Presley reminded them of her boyfriend. Chiniwala eventually donated her scrapbook to the fan club. That’s what the 50-odd members of Mumbai Elvis Presley fan club do — donate the memorabilia they painfully created, old records that they collected and even intangible factoids they know about the singer.
   They interact chiefly through telephone and the internet. They also have a dedicated portal in his memory. They meet with no fixed frequency and might have formally met just about three times since the club was formed eight years ago.
   The Mumbai chapter was ordained by radio
jockey, Fali Singara of All India Radio (AIR), when he was just 17. In 1997, two years before the club would actually be formed, he decided to commemorate the 20th death anniversary of Presley by announcing on AIR that fans of Elvis could mail him their thoughts for a club. He added that those who had any kind of Elvis memorabilia could donate them as an emotional corpus.
   Among the first to respond was Mahesh Punwani, now a 62-year-old retired engineer from Colaba. “I had a good collection of Elvis Presley Long Playing records which I would religiously listen to till the player gave way and the records started gathering dust. When Singara made the announcement about the club I contacted him and donated my entire Elvis collection along with other records,” says Punwani. Incidentally, Punwani is one of the few Indian fans who has attended an Elvis concert live. Punwani had that fortune sometime in the ’60s, in Arizona “The concert was heady. There was a mass hysteria. Elvis in his traditional attire came a little late. He arrived in a limousine which drove straight to the stage. Then for the next two hours, without a single break, he performed to a rapturous crowd. And after the performance, he took a bow, went back in his limo and drove away,” recalls Punwani who spent about $ 20 to attend the concert, an enormous amount then for a student.
   “What do you mean he drove away? You did not even try to meet him, shake his hand or make contact?” asks Chiniwala, shaking her head in disbelief. “I would have rushed to see him, security or no security,” she says. Her daughter, 26-year-old fashion designer Shazneen Chiniwala, is also a big Elvis fan. A fascinating nature of Mumbai’s Elvis club is that it is not essentially the proclivity of the old. According to Singara who heads the club, nearly 30 members who make up 60 percent of them, are in the age group of 24 to 30. “It’s not a fuddy-duddy group,” says Singara who, despite being born after the death of Elvis, is an encyclopedia on the singer and has even visited Graceland, home of Elvis in Memphis, Tennessee.
   The representation of the young could have been stronger if a scam were not detected. A lot of young boys were joining the club pretending to be Elvis fans with the intention of flirting with the girls, something that Presley himself may have condoned. But the encroachment of the false devouts disturbed the more religious. “Now, I screen anyone who wants to join the club,” says Singara. Love for Presley is accepted but there will be some sort of a quiz before entry is granted. Now, the surviving members are those who are intensely devoted to Presley. Like 64-year-old Jangoo Siganporia who, for the last six years, has been writing to AIR requesting Elvis songs. He used to write every week till recently. Now, Siganporia, a grandfather from Kandivali, has cut down the frequency to a month.
   The fans, needless to say, look beyond Elvis, the showman. They want the future generations to remember that Presley brought about a whole cultural revolution. Gary Lawyer says that the impact of Elvis on the minds of urban Indians in the late ’50s and ’60s was tremendous. He says that it is a mistake to regard the Presley devotion in India elitist. “If Elvis’ music is played for some weeks on radio stations and television, believe me, even the ordinary man on the street will understand and appreciate the genius of Elvis.”
   This fan club is also “officially” recognised by the Elvis Presley Enterprises which owns the lucrative marketing rights to sell the spirit of Presley. This association helps the fan club collect rare information about the legend and interact with clubs across the world. TNN

JAILHOUSE ROCK These fans donate their Elvis memorabilia as an emotional corpus

CREATIVE LICENCE

CREATIVE LICENCE

What they don’t tell you about cancer

Ketan Tanna on how cinema has made the disease a powerful brand of death while the truth is that an increasing number of people are surviving it

   Along with “Kitne aadmi the” and “Mere paas maa hai”, one of the most enduring expressions in Hindi cinema is, “lymphocircoma of the intestine.” Rajesh Khanna is diagnosed with it in the film Anand. Long before that, and long after, cancer was, has been and will be the most powerful brand of death in mainstream cinema. Heart attack is too sudden. AIDS is film festival cinema. TB interferes with dialogues. “He has cancer,” is perfect. It is a dramatic statement that a viewer understands as the morbid certainty of pathos in the climax. But this really annoys those who work with cancer patients. The truth is cancer doesn’t always mean death. If detected in the early stages, more than 50% of those who are diagnosed with it can lead a fruitful life. But the branding of cancer is so strong that patients equate it with death.
   In India, the number of people who are claimed by heart attack is three times more than cancer fatalities, says Dr Rakesh Gupta, India Consultant of the American Cancer Society. In the case of blood, ovarian and breast cancers, the survival rate is between 40% and 50% over a five year period. This means that if a person suffering from this type of cancer survives beyond five years, it is highly probable that the patient is cured of the disease.
   It’s not just Hindi cinema that has contributed to the morbidity associated with cancer. Television soaps have efficiently used it as a mechanism to get rid of characters. For instance, in Kumkum, a cult serial for housewives, one of the main characters, having outlived her
purpose for the production company, discovers that she is dying of cancer.
   There are hundreds of cancer survivors who lead a happy life after battling the disease for years. Anurag Basu, who directed one of the most acclaimed films of the year, Life In A… Metro, is a testimony to the fact that not only can one combat cancer but also plan for a better future. Basu catapulted to fame with the film Murder and was flooded with offers thereafter. Halfway through his next film, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. The year was 2004 and he was 30. Basu was given two months to live. “I was in a bad shape and was on a ventilator,” Basu says. “My attitude was that I am not going to think cancer is different from other diseases. People take pills for blood pressure, heart problems and I take pills for cancer. Yes, there were times when I felt God had been unfair but I fought back,” says Basu.
   In fact, Basu even directed parts of the film from his hospital bed as shooting could not be cancelled. To complete the film, he would give instructions on a dictaphone, talking about camera angles and the script. Mahesh Bhatt and Mohit Suri finished the film later. Now, Basu is fighting fit even though he is undergoing chemotherapy and taking medication. His family and unit stood like a rock behind him.
   In 1986, Sobha Doshi, now 51, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She seemed to be getting well but had a relapse in 1989 which saw six months of painful treatment. “It was one of the worst periods of my illness. I could not swallow food. I would vomit constantly and many times my only hope was that I should not vomit after my kids came home from school,” she says. It has been over 17 years since the relapse but Shobha is doing well and working as a volunteer with V Care, an NGO. “Cancer should not mean death. Yes, often the treatment can be painful and there is always the chance of a relapse. But one can survive, progress and live a dignified life,” she says.
   V Care volunteer Sandhya Vora’s son, Rishab Vora is a spirited 17-yearold. Ten years ago he was diagnosed with neurogenic sarcoma on his right hand. Painful cancer treatment followed and as a result, one arm is smaller and thinner than the other. But the family never gave up hope nor did they moan in self pity. “It was clear that we would seek the best possible treatment. Today Rishabh is just like any teenager and has his problems though cancer is not one of them” says Vora.
   There are many such success stories that go against the melodramatic prognosis of cinema. In general terms, the survival rate of cancer is 20% in developing countries as compared to 60% in developed countries according to Dr Rakesh Gupta. According to Gupta, apart from the influence of cinema, cancer and death are synonymous in India because it’s usually detected in the advanced stage. “Prevention and early detection are the key to controlling cancer. Unfortunately, there is lack of awareness and a feeling among many of us that cancer is something that happens to others.” Like, Rajesh Khanna in Anand. TNN

CANCER RISING Cinema needs cancer. Characters played by Khanna in Anand, Shergill in Lage Raho Munnabhai, Swini Khara in Cheeni Kum succumb to the disease

Old men and their Official secrets

Old men and their Official secrets

They were once in positions of power that made them privy to strictly classified information. Ketan Tanna probes into the lives of retired men who know too much

   When a man lies to his wife about where he is going, he is not always headed to his lover’s nest. Sometimes, it is just a state secret. For decades, the lives of such men who walk down the forbidden alleys of intelligence or the nuclear programme are bound by a written code of silence. Then one day they retire. And state secrets become distant memories. Even their memories are guarded by the Official Secrets Act. But if we could know what they know, it would a fascinating journey into how this country is actually run.
   P K Iyengar, 75, was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and one of three men who oversaw India’s first atomic tests, now called Pokhran 1. He retired as the chairman of AEC in 1993 and served briefly as the scientific advisor to the Kerala government in 1998. For the past few years, he has been living a retired life in a middle-class bungalow at Mumbai’s Deonar area with his wife, Seetha Iyengar. She moves around silently as the healthy and alert Iyengar talks of his recent interaction with the prime minister of India.
   “Show us the path,” Dr Manmohan Singh told a group of nuclear scientists, including Iyengar, who met him last week to protest against the changing goalposts of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Contrast this with Indira Gandhi, the prime minister at the time of Pokhran 1. She asked Iyengar and others how much money was needed to conduct India’s first atomic test. They said, “Nothing.” Promptly, Gandhi said, “Go ahead.”
   It was this green signal from Indira Gandhi that resulted in Pokhran 1, even though the scientists had been quietly preparing for it after the Chinese conducted their test in 1964. And no, unlike what has been reported the world over, the famous code line, “Buddha Smiles”, apparently to convey the success of the test to Indira Gandhi, never existed. “That is simply not true” says Iyengar. After the test was over, Homi Sethna, a top hand in the nuclear programme, drove kilometres searching for a telephone that would work. In the meantime, the military commander had wired the good news to Delhi. The same night, Iyengar returned to Mumbai.
   But before that, he had told his assistant to convey the news to his wife. Was she aware all along what he was up to? “No, but she could have guessed that something was up. Whenever I went out of town, I would tell my assistant to put the bags into the car. But on that day (en route to Pokhran), I had requested a military officer to accompany me as I was carrying night-vision goggles. I did not want airport security to ask too many questions. My assistant who was carrying my bags to the car saw the military person and told my wife. She naturally asked me about it. I told her I was going to Srinagar.”
   Fobbing off the wife is a tact that former Intelligence Bureau director Ajit Kumar Doval learnt during his exciting life. His wife, Anu, unknowingly played host to a band of armed men at their home in Aizwal. For two years. He told her that they were part of an operation. But they were, in fact, army commanders of the legendary Laldenga’s Mizo National Front, which was involved in the Mizo insurgency. “They were all heavily armed but I had given my word that they would be safe. My wife cooked pork for them even though she was not used to cooking pork,” says 61-year-old Doval, chuckling. His wife came to know of their identity many years later and felt miffed.
   Besides hosting the Mizo army commanders and helping the government in Mizoram, Doval’s 33 years of service took him to inaccessible areas of India’s north-east. He was inside the Golden Temple in 1989 during Operation Black Thunder when security forces were charging in to flush out terrorists from there. He also helped plan the 1992 Punjab state elections.
   An interesting aspect of his career was the six years he spent in Pakistan. That country’s Intelligence always shadowed him. One day, Doval decided to visit the dargah in a local market at Lahore. The attraction was a qawwaali programme. “I decided to go incognito and dressed up as a middle-class Muslim gentleman. Later, when I was enjoying the qawwaali, one Pakistani Intelligence officer came to me very quietly and whispered into my ear that my fake beard was dangling. It was so embarrassing. I left quickly.”
   His two sons having flown away to the West, Doval now leads a quiet life in Delhi with his wife. He has no plans to write a book, unlike his colleague and former joint director of CBI, Maloy Krishna Dhar, who broke traditions by writing Open Secrets, which he called “the first open confession of an intelligence operative”. Dhar says he has no regrets even though many people accuse him of violating the Official Secrets Act. Dhar, 67, served 34 years in the intelligence community.
   Among his treasures of tales is the one about the late-night visit to his New Delhi home by a “leading industrialist from Mumbai”. He remembers the encounter vividly. “My wife and sons were kind of surprised. The industrialist had a minion standing next to him who placed a suitcase on my centre table. I remember my wife and two young sons peering out from behind a curtain. I asked the industrialist what the suitcase contained. He said it had Rs 50 lakhs. All that the industrialist wanted me to do was to set up an appointment with the then prime minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi. I told the industrialist that I would help him but for that I did not want his money. Three days later, I arranged his meeting. Since then, he became a good friend.”
   His wife was by his side, he says, through thick and thin. But there were times when the call of duty was such that he could not even confide in her. For example, Dhar says that he did not tell his wife when he was holding secret talks with Khalistani terrorist, Gurbachan Singh Manochahal. “Once during the height of Punjab militancy, I was given the task to negotiate with Manochahal. I contacted him through a journalist source. I was blindfolded and taken a few hundred kilometres from Amritsar. After three hours of negotiations, I was blindfolded again and taken back,” recalls Dhar. Later, he narrated this incident to his wife Sunanda, who freaked out. “But she eventually understood. Sunanda was more than a partner to me. Without her, I don’t know what kind of family life I would have.” He lost his wife to cancer some years ago while his two sons, both IIM graduates, are abroad.
   Dhar accepts that his books were in defiance of the law that barred men like him from revealing classified information. But, he says, he has a moral compulsion to expose some facts about the country. An explanation that does not go down well with all. Seventy-year-old Ashok V Karnik, former deputy director of the IB, says that the government could have initiated action against Dhar, “if it wanted to”.
   Karnik very rarely discussed official matters with his wife Shailaja. Working with the IB at the Centre kept him away from his family in Mumbai. But for Karnik, his job gave him a sense of fulfillment.
   He recalls that one of his career highlights was assessing the ground swell of Hindutva forces in the late 1980s and early ’90s. “Things were building up from the Shah Bano case to allowing pooja at Ayodhya. Yet, the state-level intelligence officers were unable to grasp the fact that thousands were being mobilised for the Hindutva cause. But we at the Centre assessed it correctly and briefed our superiors. It is ironical that despite this, the Babri Masjid was razed.” He says that the destruction of the mosque need not have happened.
   “Narasimha Rao, VHP leaders and even senior BJP leaders were in negotiations when it happened. My assessment is that it was done by small-time local Hindu leaders and neither the top brass of the BJP or VHP were aware of it,” Karnik says, adding that contrary to what Shiv Sena would like to project, its goons were not the ones who destroyed the mosque. TNN

(Top) Ashok Karnik of IB reported the rise of Hindutva (Left) P K Iyengar supervised India’s first atomic test

The second problem

The second problem

After the first line of defence fails, AIDS patients find the second line unaffordable, says Ketan Tanna

   Shashikant Shetye cannot afford to die. His mother and grandmother depend on his income as coordinator at Safe Sailors’ Club, part of the Humsafar Trust. The 40-year-old AIDS patient also cannot afford the expensive second line of antiretroviral drugs (ART). While the first line of ART treatment costs Rs 1,200 a month, the second line costs anywhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 40,000.
“I know that my body is now resistant to the first line of drugs, which I have been taking for some years. I need to take the second line. But they cost the earth,” says Shetye, helplessly. He is losing time. In the past six months, he has lost 20 kilos, and weighs only 54 now. He has been hospitalised four times with severe diarrhoea. His count of CD4 (a type of white blood cell) has reduced to 111 from 264 over the past three years. A count below 200 is AIDS. “I am running my home on my savings and what I earn now. I don’t know what the future holds for me and I don’t know when I will die,” he says.
Money adds to the helplessness at the testing stage itself. Barring two private clinics in Mumbai, no other institution has the expertise or the equipment to conduct such a test, which costs more than Rs 30,000.
Nearly 52 lakh Indians are infected with HIV and AIDS. The National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco) now intends to provide the first line of drugs to one lakh patients by early 2007. Doctors say this is not good enough. Very soon, a second line of treatment will have to be stocked up. Even for the healthier lot of AIDS patients, as the first line sometimes starts failing in a couple of years. This invariably happens when the patient has either been tax in taking the drugs or was prescribed the wrong dosage.
   “This is a serious problem that we face in Maharashtra. I have come across hundreds of patients who have either been given the wrong combination or the wrong dosage of ART drugs by doctors,” says a worried Dr Alka Deshpande, head, department of medicine, J J Hospital.
   She sifts through a huge file of prescriptions that show how some doctors have been either careless or had limited knowledge. “There is little or no prescription monitoring. Drug companies have their own agenda in pushing the drugs they manufacture. The combination of these two factors have hit the lives of many patients,” she says, sighing.
   In April 2006, 32-year-old Ritesh Batra died in pain. An already tired Batra reached the J J Hospital in 2004 after taking the ART treatment for a while in his home state of Punjab. However, in May 2005, his body started showing resistance to the first line of drugs. His vision slowly blurred and opportunistic infections swooped down on him. Tests were conducted at a reputed clinic in France, and a second line of drugs was started privately. But, by then, he had developed a bad case of diarrhoea and his body could not take it anymore. His wife too was diagnosed with HIV but she has a CD4 count of over 400 and is not under the ART treatment. Fortunately, their little daughter is not HIV positive. But one wonders what will happen to her later.
   Ironically, the government’s AIDS programme that is replete with numbers does not have any hard statistics on what percentage of AIDS patients is resistant to the first line of drugs.
   Sunil Jadhav, 31, died in June 2005. Little is known about his family but he approached J J hospital in June 2004. Before he went to the hospital, he was on the two-drug first line treatment. Unfortunately, since he was not working, he took the required drugs as and when he could afford them. Later, when the government started the free ART programme at J J Hospital, he had a viral load count (the amount of HIV virus in the blood) of 1,79,638 and a CD4 count of 120. He was then given a third tablet as a part of the treatment, in addition to the two that he had been taking.
   But within a few months, his body started showing drug resistance. His test was also done in France.
   The second line, it seems, is not for the masses. Their bodies are meant to just give up one day. TNN

Ghost in the phone

Ghost in the phone

When you sell your mobile phone, you think you have deleted all the data, including obscene files. But curious buyers can resurrect it with a simple tool, say Ketan Tanna and Yatish Suvarna

TREASURE HUNT

   It is not clear if humans have the privilege of afterlife. But cell phones certainly do. Thousands of people sell their phones believing that they have deleted all the material, but the truth is that this data can be redeemed by any curious bloke with the help of freely available resurrecting software. A misfortune that haunts a 41-year-old man, living in the Lokhandwala suburb of Mumbai, who had taped his lawful sex act with his wife on his phone. The one-minute clip was on the flash card memory of his smart phone. Before he sold it to an Andheri second hand mobile shopkeeper, he had deleted all the files in the flash card. The boy who bought it quickly realised that he had got something more than just the phone. Using a software he brought back to life many of the deleted files and among them was the sex clip which he circulated among his friends, for that is a male ritual.
   The CEO of Lotus Consultancy, a manpower agency in Mumbai, Nikhil Choudhary kept less exciting data on his phone, like confidential corporate matters. He sold the phone without deleting all the files to one Tushar Kulkarni who, being somewhat ethical, bro-ught it to the notice of Choudhary.
   Improper deletion of files is the source of much activity among a growing number of young boys who are on the prowl for entertainment or saleable information. While it is easy to understand instances when someone has plain forgotten to erase his personal files, an overwhelming majority of the victims have suffered because they did not know about the software that could bring back deleted data.
   When you delete a file from your phone, camera or computer, the operating system does not actually remove it from the memory card or the hard disk. It simply removes the registry of these files from what is called the File Allocation Table. This means that while the files do not show on the system or show as deleted, they are very much there. And they exist like a ghost until the memory space that they occupy is overwritten by fresh input. This means that if the space where the old data exists is filled by something new, then the deleted information cannot be redeemed. But if the space has not been overwritten, then the file still exists in the system unless they are removed using a special software called Data Wipe tools.
   A potential data thief simply needs a data recovery tool, a PC and lots of free time. Let’s take the case of a memory card obtained from a smart phone. To steal data from this card, the thief simply inserts the card into a card reader and accesses it on his PC. Now the data recovery tool is invoked and a thorough recovery process is initiated. The tool will now check each and every bit of space on the memory card and list all the files that were deleted. The kind of accuracy offered by some tools is plain scary. Most are capable of recovering more than 80% of the deleted data. Once the tool is done with checking the card, all the thief needs to do is right-click the file of his choice and save it to the hard drive.
   On the internet, there are hundreds of forums where such stolen clips are posted for distribution. In return, those who upload these files earn reputation points on the sites and gain popularity. Such forums are increasingly becoming popular and the worrying part is that often one does not even know about them.
   It is disturbing that while an increasing number of Indians are in a position to afford high-end products, most are not entirely aware of how their personal data could fall in the wrong hands.
   The best way to protect data is to enable password access or delete using Data Wipe software before selling it. TNN

TELL-TALE Second-hand cellphones are often a goldmine of saleable data

LESSER VICTIMS

LESSER VICTIMS

A riot that got away

Ketan Tanna on how villains of the ’92-93 riots have escaped even as the blasts case draws to an end

   Do you have any information about Adam? It has been many years since I have seen him. Is he coming home?” asks 75-yearold Roshanbi, her tired and vacant eyes full of hope. Paralysed waist down due to the shock and resultant illness following her son’s disappearance, Roshanbi mistakes journalists coming to her as officers who might give information about her son who disappeared on January 10, 1993 during the Mumbai riots.
   For 13 years, Roshanbi has been sitting in a dark dingy passage leading to her squalid hutment, near Hari Masjid waiting for her son. Mohammed Adam Hassan, around 30 then, was among the 60 youths rounded up at the Hari Masjid area during the riots. Most of them came back. Adam did not. He is among the 168 officially missing. According to the Srikrishna Commission Report which
investigated the 1992-93 riots, “The police made namaazis of Hari Masjid stand in a line and forced one Adam and another person to pick up dead bodies.” The bodies were of those whom the police had shot dead. Later, Adam was taken by the police along with other youths. He never returned.
   “It is surprising that the police claimed to have fired in order to save violent clashes. There were no injury marks nor were there any mobs,” says advocate Zia-ul-Mustafa who has been fighting the cases for those who were picked up from near the Hari Masjid area.
   Even though Justice Srikrishna Commission indicted sub-inspector Nikhil Kapse (who was in charge) for unjustified firing, he was let off after a departmental inquiry. For that matter, none of the 32 police officers indicted in the Srikrishna report were convicted.
   About 900 (575 Muslims, 275 Hindus, 45 unknown and 5 others) lost their lives in the riots. In 2000, a special task force under the supervision of K P Raghuvanshi (the same person who is investigating the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case) was set up to review the closed cases. A total of 1,358 cases were closed after being found “true but not detected.” Around 112 cases were scrutinised, of which eight were reopened.
   Raghuvanshi says he has done his best. “Wherever action was possible, we acted on it. Wherever there were discrepancies in investigation, we reinvestigated.” When told that subinspector Kapse was let off after a departmental inquiry, Raghuvanshi says that in such cases there is little he can do. “According to government rules, when a department clears the concerned person, we have to accept it. If I do not have any evidence or documents, how do I go ahead?” he asks. Denying that justice in the bomb blasts case came faster than that of the riot cases, Raghuvanshi says, “The blasts case is a matter of international criminal conspiracy. The line of investigation will differ as compared to investigation of riot cases.” So, he says, one cannot compare the two.
   But such words are of little consolation to those who were victims of the 1992-93 Mumbai riots. According to advocate Yusuf Muchhala, who represented victims of the riots in Mumbai, full justice is pending.
   “If justice is given in one set of incidents (like the bomb blasts) and is delayed or not given in the case of riot victims, then there will be a sense of alienation. The state, judiciary and the political classes have not discharged their responsibility properly in the case of the riots. It is invidious. We need to ensure fair play,” says Muchhala. TNN

ROCKY BUSINESS

ROCKY BUSINESS

When a film scares diamond merchants

A tale of how diamonds fund brutal African wars is troubling the Indian traders, reports Ketan Tanna

   Women may appear to like tiny things but you may never hear any one of them say, “Honey, don’t you think this diamond is way too big?” The influence of diamonds over women is unshakeable. But now, the Indian diamond industry fears that an unprecedented force has come.
   On December 8, Blood Diamonds starring Leonardo DiCaprio will be released across the world. It is set in the 1990s against the backdrop of a civil war in Sierra Leone, The story of Danny Archer (Leonardo), a South African mercenary and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a Mende fisherman, portrays how diamonds mined in such areas sponsor rebellions
of unthinkable brutality. It is for this reason that the precious stones, also called blood diamonds, from some African countries like Sierra Leone are banned in the international market. Some slip through though. It is feared that many women, after seeing the film, may be repulsed by the idea of wearing a diamond that funds so much atrocity.
   The Indian diamond industry processes roughly 90% of the world’s diamonds. It is concerned that sales to western countries may slow down as conscientious persons would stop buying diamonds fearing that they are of dubious origins. “As the world’s largest diamond processing nation, we should be concerned that such a movie might send a wrong message to buyers. We need to climb on rooftops and counter this movie and the propaganda in the film,” says Bakul Mehta, former chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
   India has a system in place to ensure blood diamonds do not find their way in. All the diamonds that come into India need to be accompanied by an international certification system set up in 2003 called the Kimberley Process (KP). When they move from location to location, they are given additional identifications. The diamond industry says that the DiCaprio movie does not convey this filtering process.
   Without the KP process, it is difficult to trace the diamonds’ origins. “A diamond is a diamond. It is just not possible to know, in ordinary circumstances, where it came from. It is possible only if a particular region has exceptional geographical elements that are very distinctive,” says industry veteran Vinod Kuriyan.
   A report, ‘Killing Kimberley? Conflict Diamonds and Paper Tigers’, by Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), an NGO, states that although the Kimberley Process “has been very successful, some recent events have highlighted the need for governments to urgently address some important issues, such as allegations that rough diamonds are being smuggled from Ivory Coast, a country subject to a UN Security Council Resolution banning the export of diamonds into neighboring countries”.
   According to Kuriyan, the problem also is that one can easily walk with diamonds from a conflict area, like Ivory Coast, to a neighbouring country that legitimately deals in diamonds and claim that the diamond was recovered there.
   Then there is also an attempt to link the blood diamond issue by interested quarters to what it calls ‘Slave Child Labour in India’. Sanjay Kothari, GJEPC chairman, has rubbished such charges pointing out to a 2003 report by A F Ferguson & Co that reveals the child labour levels in the Indian diamond processing industry had dropped to a near negligible figure of 0.53% between 1998 and 2003.
   Blood Diamonds comes close on the heels of rapper Kanye West’s song Diamonds from Sierra Leone which won a Grammy Award in 2006 (the song was scathing about conflict diamonds).
   However, leading Indian diamond merchants are hopeful that the impact of the film will be limited in the international market. “I am sure, that the audience abroad will realise that the film is about the era where KP was not in existence. While we appreciate the social message that it is trying to advocate, it would have been nice if the prevailing circumstances like KP certification were also included,” says Kothari. TNN

SCARY MOVIE A still from Warner Brothers’ Blood Diamonds

SECRET EXODUS

SECRET EXODUS

Why a mysterious tribe is fleeing India

Poor Indian villagers who think they belong to a lost Jewish tribe are being lured by Israel. Probably for menial jobs. Ketan Tanna reports

   The Red Shield House is one of the old, unremarkable hotels that lie just beyond the morning shadows of the Gateway of India. For long a hub of budget tourists, the Red Shield is not the kind of place where guests are protected by uniformed security. Yet, the 110 men, women and children who are holed up in the dormitory here are under the vigil of private guards.
   The mysterious inmates are not allowed to speak to strangers. But by chance, two young men emerged from the dorm and walked out onto the streets of Colaba. After a brief chase, very reluctantly they gave a glimpse into the tale of a dramatic exodus. They are newly converted Jews from Mizoram, fleeing India for Israel. Hundreds have preceded them in this shadowy ritual and more will follow.
   The story actually begins in 721 BC. The Assyrians invaded the northern part of what is now regarded as Israel and enslaved 10 native tribes. The tribes eventually escaped and fled to various parts of the world and then, vanished without a trace. For long, they were remembered in the oral and written history of the Jews as the 10 lost tribes.
   In 1981, a researcher of north-east Indian tribes began to piece together the oral heritage of several disjointed village communities in the region who collectively called themselves Bnei Menashe (Hebrew for ‘Children of God’) and concluded that they were descendants of one of the 10 lost tribes that had settled here. In 2004, a DNA test done in Kolkata’s Central Forensic Science Laboratory reported that the tribe had indirect links to the Jews of Israel. In March 2005, a top clergyman from Israel formally recognised the Bnei Menashe as descendants of the Jewish people.
   In September 2005, 218 were converted. Since then, there has been a churning in the region. Israel’s policy of welcoming any Jew back home and the country’s affluence, have been influencing the impoverished Bnei Menashe of north-eastern states to convert and migrate.
   Hundreds are slowly making their way to Mumbai on their way to Israel. That nation’s leading paper Haaretz has claimed that the Indian Civil Ministry refused permission to Israir, the Israeli airline, to depart on November 12 with 812 members of Bnei Menashe who had converted to Judaism.
   All this has upset the Presbyterian Church, a Protestant denomination to which a huge portion of the Bnei Menashe belong. “We are not happy. It’s not that all of them are (Presbyterian) Christians. They belong to various other denominations. But, we firmly believe that their going to Israel is more an issue of economics and less of religion,” says Upa Zonunmawia, coordinator of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church. According to him, the extraction of a historical link is merely Israel’s way of finding people from poor countries to do menial tasks that an average Israeli does not want to do anymore.
   Thirty-six-year-old Azriel Hmar, formerly a social worker in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl, and one of the fleeing men holed up in the Red Shield House in Mumbai, is leaving his parents, three brothers, two sisters and his religion, Christianity, for good. But, he is taking his wife and three children, the youngest being eight months old. “India is my mother. Now I am going to my father,” he says. His parents are worried. “They have heard and read about the strife in Israel. They were not very hap py, but for me it is a matter of life and death. There is no other option but to migrate to Israel. Our destiny is Israel,” he says.
   And this destiny is not necessary pleasant “Most of us do not have specific skills that could be absorbed into the Israeli economy. For a year or so, all the Bnei Menashe immigrants will have to learn Hebrew and certain required skills. It
   would be unfair for the new immi grants to expect cushy and well-pay ing jobs,” Hmar says.
   Indian authorities are not com menting on the matter. Fearing the displeasure of India with this type of mass conversion and exodus, the Israeli government too, is insisting that it has nothing to do with all this. “We are not dealing with this issue. I have nothing to say,” says Lior Winetraub, spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in New Delhi.
   However, Red Shield House says that the dorm for the 110 Bnei Menashe in Mumbai has been booked by the Israeli Consulate. The guards too, the hotel says, have been appointed by the Consulate. And these guards sud denly loom in the corridor as Hmar is talking to this correspondent about his future in Israel. They glare at him for breaking the rules and shepherd him inside.
   Another lot of 115 from the north east are sched uled to arrive in Mumbai on or around Novem ber 21. They will be joining over 800 Bnei Menashe tribals from Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland who have already migrated to Israel. TNN

FULL FLIGHT New converts from Mizoram roam the streets of Colaba before leaving India

DESPITE APPLES

DESPITE APPLES

The super doctors

They are among the most respected and the most expensive doctors in the world. Whole lives and fates pass through their deft hands. Ketan Tanna and Abantika Ghosh on the places where medicine becomes art

   The difference between God and a doctor is that nobody wants an appointment with God. The desperate demand for good doctors has always ensured that they are among the most powerful people in a society. The most talented among them, the inimitable artistes of surgery, have politicians, business tycoons and film stars at their mercy. In this list of Indian super doctors, we do not claim that we have covered every deserving name. The idea is to give a peep into the mystical world of these medicine men and discover their arcane views about life.

DR SUDHANSU BHATTACHARYYA ,

CARDIAC SURGEON

RS 3 LAKH PER OPERATION, AT LEAST

It’s nine in the evening. On the fourth floor of the White Hall building in South Mumbai, around 25 people await their turn. Somewhere inside, 60-year-old heart surgeon Dr Sudhansu Bhattacharyya, his little white beard giving him a quiet elegance, peers through scanned Xrays and medical papers. “The most glamorous branch of medicine,” says Bhattacharyya about the occupation of heart surgeons.
   A heart operation by this doctor costs Rs 3 lakh on the lower side, which he graciously confirms. The higher side he would not like to reveal. “I charge depending on the economic capability of the person. For me, asking for what I deserve is a necessity.” Till a few years ago, he conducted up to six operations a day. Now, he does not go above three. For two years in the 90s, he was the highest tax paying doctor in India for which he was awarded a certificate by the government— a more pleasing treatment than an income tax survey that was unleashed earlier. “They did not find anything,” says Bhattacharya. All his fees are paid by cheque. His client list includes former Maharashtra governor Dr P C Alexander, film producer Rakesh Roshan and renowned cardiac surgeon Dr B K Goyal.
   Bhattacharyya travels by J-class Mercedes and
takes two annual foreign vacations. “I don’t
consider myself any less than the best doctors
in the US or anywhere else. I see no reason why I should not charge what I deserve.”
   A few years ago, armed men attacked him. They slashed his arms and left behind deep scars. “I don’t know who was behind the attack, my rivals or some aggrieved patient.”
   His doctor wife, a retired gynaecologist with KEM hospital, worked for free. “In my life, my wife is the 50% which does charity and I am the 50% which charges,” the doctor says.

DR S NATARAJAN,

EYE SURGEON

RS 45 LAKH A MONTH

Less than 20 years ago, 41-year-old Dr S Natarajan used to earn Rs 4,200 in the Bombay Hospital. Now the eye surgeon owns a modern four-storeyed eye hospital in central Mumbai called Aditya Jyot that is estimated to be worth over Rs 15 crore. His monthly income is in the region of Rs 45 lakh. Former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and state home minister R R Patil are among his patients. As the doctor hurries around giving final touches to a live eye surgery demonstration, using suture-less technology, his three assistants from different corners of the country say that they are privileged to work with the “best retina doctor in India”. A product of the famous Shankar Netralaya in Chennai, the doctor says that for him money is a tool to chart out different frontiers in the development of his skills.

Dr NARESH TREHAN,

CARDIAC SURGEON

“I AM THE HIGHEST TAX PAYER AMONG DOCTORS”

When he was a child, he lived in a three-room apartment in Connaught Place, where his family took refuge after they were dislodged from Lahore during Partition. Now, he is the face of cardiac care in Delhi. The executive director of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, Delhi, and one of the leading surgeons in India, Dr Naresh Trehan directly or indirectly presides over 350-odd surgeries performed in the institute every month. He gets a percentage of the fee in remuneration for the involvement. His financial worth is a matter of speculation among his peers. The 60-year-old doctor himself is reluctant to make public his charges. “I get a percentage from the package,” he says. (The bypass package at Escorts is worth Rs 2-2.5 lakh.) Colleagues say his share per bypass is between Rs 40,000 and Rs 60,000. He is not comfortable talking about money. “Let’s put it this way. I could have charged ten times the money I am charging right now. But I did not want my charges to be a barrier in making quality cardiac care available to all,” he says. Is he the most expensive cardiac surgeon around? “I can’t say but I can say this that I pay the highest taxes.” In the mid ’80s, he was making $1.5 million a year as a surgeon in the US. Does he regret coming back? The answer, from both financial and professional perspectives, is a big “No”. Though he puts in 12 hours a day at the hospital, most of them in the operation theatre, Trehan still manages to be seen at parties. That, he says, is the secret of his energy, along with limited alcohol intake. “I enjoy every moment of my life with family and friends. I go to parties. I exercise and practise yoga every morning,” he says. Patients come from north India, some for his professional acumen, and some, like Anil Sarin for unexpected reasons. “He was my senior by one year in Modern School,” says Sarin.

DR ASHOK RAJ GOPAL,

ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON

RS 1.2 LAKH A DAY

At Rs 10-12,000 per operation and 12-13 operations that he is involved in every day, his remuneration at Fortis Hospital in Delhi is not entirely explained by maths and is the subject of whispers within the hospital fraternity. “It must run into crores and he is hardly there (in the country),” says a colleague about Dr Ashok Raj Gopal’s monthly income. The 54-year-old doctor does not deny it. “I travel all over the world doing surgeries. I have done extensive operations in Australia, Malaysia, Spain, China, France — you name it,” he says. Sometime in the ’80s, during his formative years in a Delhi hospital, he actually paid the medical bills of the first 30 patients (“about Rs 4,000-5,000 per head”) who let him perform arthroscopy on them. Arthroscopy is a system of orthopaedic examination with a pencil-sized instrument. Now, there are patients who are willing to wait just to be operated by him. Theatre person Salima Raza, who underwent bilateral knee replacement says, “I will give him 11 out of 10.” As a surgeon who has treated at least two presidents of India — Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and K R Narayanan — Gopal is a high society figure.

DR M G BHAT,

GENERAL SURGEON

RS 50,000 PER OPERATION

In Bangalore, patients wait long, sometimes more than 20 days, for an appointment with 58-year-old general surgeon and laparoscopy expert Dr M G Bhat. Though associated with the Manipal Hospital, he currently practises at the upmarket Wockhardt. When not at the hospitals, Bhat runs his own clinic at the very corporate Prestige Towers, Residency Road. People in the know say that the moment a particular patient is seen by Bhat, the charges escalate almost automatically, like some unsaid rule. “Even if it is a minor medical procedure, the patient is given the most expensive room in the hospital and charged Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. And this is not for some highly specialised surgery, it could be a rather small one,” says a junior doctor who worked with Bhat earlier. He says that he does not run after money or prestige but admits in the same breath, “I live my life luxuriously. Unlike my peers I don’t hoard money. Money is for spending, not hoarding.” Bhat travels abroad about four times a year, but he ensures that he never takes favours from any pharma company. “I do not get sponsored for any trip abroad. I pay for my entire trip. If a trip is sponsored by a company, you’ll end up doing whatever they say; you’ve been bought by them. If I’m supposed to be a high-profile doc, I can damn well pay for my jaunts, even if I’m presenting technical papers.” TNN
   (With inputs from Smitha Rao in Bangalore)

I don’t consider myself any less than the best doctors in the US. I see no reason why I should not charge what I deserve.
   — Dr Sudhansu Bhattacharyya

SMOOTH OPERATOR Eye surgeon Dr S Natarajan loves going to the disco

FAMILY MATTER

FAMILY MATTER

State of the union

The year saw a record number of divorces across cities. Ketan Tanna on the consequences of wealth, empowerment and other demons

   In blocking traffic, marriages are second only to God. The pomp and scale of marriages in 2006 were probably unmatched in the past. But the year also saw an alarming number of divorce suits and an unprecedented number of verdicts. Some of the reasons for divorce in cities include snoring, incompatible eating habits, dress sense and other things that may, at first glance, shock readers. But it is easy to fathom that in the metros, where affluence and independence are on the rise, both the young and the old are not viewing marriage as an inescapable bond. Tolerance, that vital side effect of love, is vanishing.
   On an average, 40 divorce petitions are filed every day in the eight district courts of Delhi. In Hyderabad and Secunderabad, 100 divorce cases are filed daily and the annual growth rate in the last few years has been 15%. Chennai’s three family courts are currently dealing with over 3,000 divorce cases. Last year, these courts successfully dealt with about 1,500 of them. Between January and September this year in Mumbai, there were 8,941 divorces, many of them residual from previous years. Between July and September, 2,932 divorce applications were filed. In 1995, there were 1,446 divorce cases pending in the Bandra Family Court. The data for the last quarter has not been compiled yet, but the figures are climbing. In 2001, the figure was 2,877. In 2004, it shot up to 3,400 cases. In 2005, the number touched 6,000. Now, 20,265 divorce cases are pending in the city.
   According to Madhavi Desai, a counsellor at the Family Court in Mumbai, about 60% of divorces are consent cases. This means that both husband and wife want to end the marriage. According to counsellors, there is an increasing trend across the country of couples not seeing the point in working on their marriage. At the first sign of trouble, they reach out for the terminal solution. “A fair majority of the couples who want divorce are under 30 years of age and very often
   they want to walk out within a year of marriage,” says Desai.
   Equally, such divorces are generally amicable with both sides opting to divide the assets and child custody peacefully. Some of them are so amicable that they come holding hands, chatting, laughing and exchange jokes when they sit on the wooden table in the reception area outside the courtroom. But during the mandatory counselling session, they are vehement about the need for divorce. As far as they are concerned, they can be good friends for the rest of their lives, but they would rather not have the obligations, responsibilities and the constrictions that marriage entails. Some of them even continue their physical relationship after divorce.
   Divorce is today a lot easier than before. Not because courts are more efficient, but because the society does not pretend to be shocked anymore at marital discord. “As the stigma of divorce has reduced, often, people do not give much thought to the very step of divorce. Also, increasingly, more women are opting to have a divorce, especially if they are earning,” says Desai.
   Some of the major reasons for divorce are temperamental differences, the need for having a career at the cost of marriage, adultery and sexual incompatibility. Also, despite the rise in nuclear families in Mumbai, the influence and the role of other family members is a critical factor in marriages breaking up. The poor too, are increasingly taking recourse in divorce. NGOs and other samaritans are giving impoverished women the confidence to take the step.
The surprising aspect of the divorce scenario in Mumbai is that even old couples are opting for the split. Recently, the family court here had an unusual case of a 72-year-old husband coming along with his 71-year-old wife and saying that he wanted a divorce. He said that he was fed up with her. In the last few years, about 5% of the divorce cases that are filed in the Bandra Family Court are from senior citizens. These are usually couples who have suffered in their marriage for decades just for the sake of their kids and once the children are settled, cannot bear to spend a day more with each other.
Aggressive parents of couples too are increasingly becoming potent splitting agents. “Of course, there are parents who do not want their kids to divorce, but many times, they are the ones who aggravate the marriage of their children,” says Desai. There is a case of a young doctor who had eloped with a man of another caste. Her furious father was adamant that she divorce the boy. The father’s contention was that he had invested both financially and emotionally in his daughter and that she had no right to run away with someone.
The couple was brought to the family court and when the aggressive father was holding forth on his ungrateful daughter, some employees of the court helped the couple run away a second time. TNN

THE BOYS INSIDE THE MATRIX

THE BOYS INSIDE THE MATRIX

In this weekly series, we portray incredible, desperate and even very sane groups. This week, Ketan Tanna travels to the parallel worlds of hardcore gamers

   The wars are raging. Across the country, from hundreds of homes and cafés, young boys, and some girls, are battling each other in perilous mazes. To survive here, one must kill. And to kill is an art that is not within the reach of everyone. Twentyyear-old Ray, or in another duller world, Amar Ratnam, narrows his eyes. He is getting ready to strike. The console does not move in his hand. The eye of the bird is all he sees. He then shreds a “terrorist” to bits. R4ID, Ritz, Impale and Mike join the attack and blast more terrorists into plasma debris. “I need to have a sense of control. For charting my path and removing obstacles, whatever they may be,” Ray says, sitting in an unremarkable cyber café in Santacruz.
   The boys are characters in a team game called Counterstrike. They buy weapons and ammunition and then they kill anybody who is not part of their team. The players are cast as terrorists or counter-terrorists. Every player has unique attributes and the ability to upgrade his gear after he successfully completes a mission. Ray and his team, which is called ATE (Accuracy, Teamwork and Experience), has won all the four major gaming tournaments in India including Electronic Sports World Cup, Kode5, World Cyber Games and World Game Master Tournament. These are competitions spread out on vast halls where teams and individuals battle one another in chaotic computer games.
   Ray and his team members, famous in the gamer community of Mumbai and beyond, initially used to play with different teams. It was during a friendly match last year at a gaming café that the five decided to hook up. Their chief rivals in the city are Team Wolf, D5 and DW (Disturbed Weasels). Ray does not think much of Team Wolf (“they cheat”) but concedes that D5 and DW are rivals who have to be respected. Team Wolf could not be reached for its comments.
   All these boys, aged between 16 and 20, are part of a larger gaming community. A community that spits fire and abuses each other during contests (even team members are berated when they botch up). But otherwise most of them are friends who go out to movies or have coffee over hookahs or just observe girls keenly. The blood and gore is only in the realm of the virtual universe.
   In the campuses of the Indian Institutes of Technology, gaming is believed to have assumed the elements of insanity. The student of IIT Powai, who recently committed suicide, was an obsessive gamer, according to his friends. Following his death, Anil Chawla, an alumnus, said in an open letter to the director of IIT Powai that the Institutes need to accept the gaming craze as a very serious issue. He also said that the director of IIT Chennai is rumoured to have stated that he was less bothered about porn than game addiction. IIT Chennai turns off its server from 1 am to 4 am so that students stop gaming. Bharat Raj Agarwal, a finalyear undergraduate student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Powai, says, “Gaming influence in IIT is all pervading as everybody has access to computers.” Admitting that his grades were affected during the second year when he gamed night and day, Bharat says that gaming, despite its dangerous magnetism, also offers the fun element in the harrowed lives of IITians.
   The gaming community in Mumbai congregates in various cafés that have good connectivity, or meets online. Every month, a gaming café hosts friendly contests. Friendly before the game starts and after it ends. During the actual game, it is war. There are prizes at stake. Sometimes the prize is just a couple of hundred rupees or a couple of thousand or maybe just a graphic card or small gizmo. But the war is a passionate affair. In these places that boys inhabit, nobody ever says, “Come on, it’s just a game.”
   Gamespace in Matunga, Hakone in Powai, Netfrag in Nerul, Private Eye in Andheri, Joylab in Churchgate and Energy in King Circle are some of the most popular cafés. Some of them have dedicated rooms where teams have space and privacy to hone their skills. Some gamers have also started their own sites, like reinforcement.com and frag-shack.com, with online games and message boards where gamers discuss their world and lives.
   It is believed that in Mumbai there are 150 to 200 professional gamers and thousands of amateurs. It is a fast, transient world where nobody stays on top for long. By the time a gamer hits the early 20s, he is considered over the hill.
   A common grouse among the community here is that parents always frown on their passion. As parents are wont to do, they remind gamers all the time that there is no future in gaming. However, some parents do feel proud when their kids win contests and are even sent abroad by companies to participate in international tournaments. But in such competitions, Indian gamers do not match up to the best in the world. National champions are often knocked out in the preliminary rounds when they go abroad.
   Binoy Shah, 22, one of the members of a larger gaming community, was once considered among the best in Quake 4 (a game where earthlings defend themselves against aliens). But it has been over a year since he moved on and joined his father’s business. Moving on was inevitable because according to Shah, gaming is just not paying in India.
   Twenty-four-year-old Peter Fernandez, a retired gamer, says, “Abroad, people don’t laugh at you when you say that you are a full time gamer. Gamers make decent money there, which is not possible in India.” The top international players make around $1 million per year. There is hope though. With more software multinationals wanting to hawk their products in India, the number of tournaments is rising. Prizes are modest still. But gamers say they see good times coming. TNN

ADMISSIONS OPEN

Get in touch with senior gamers. Two of them are Yogesh (98922-99026) and Amar (98196-17974)
Join online gaming groups like www.re-inforcement.com, www.v-street.net and www.frag-shack.com to perfect your skills
Gaming in India is not yet a career option. So do your homework well

MR & MRS

MR & MRS

Never delete the spouse’s number

Many estranged couples keep in touch, sharing the warmth of each other’s friendship despite the pain of divorce. Some even continue their physical relationship, reports Ketan Tanna

   It is often said that a divorce creates an Indo-Pak situation between a couple. There is familiarity and contempt. Subterfuge and parleys. People would rather read the telephone directory than even talk to the ex. Yet, there are many couples, separated legally, even bitterly, who keep in touch and some even sustain a physical relationship. In the relief of divorce and since the wounds have healed, they discover that the proximity of marriage, however turbulent, has bequeathed them a friend more valuable than anybody else.
   Last year, 37-year-old filmmaker Shrikant Gupta got a divorce from his wife Rekha. She left Mumbai but every time she visits the city, she lives with him. That disturbs Shrikant’s girlfriend, Seema who fears that the estranged couple is so comfortable with each other that the old spark may be rekindled. Meanwhile, Seema herself is separated from her husband Rajesh, though not formally. She confided in Rajesh about her insecurities and it was he who convinced her and Shrikant to go to a counsellor.
   If the above paragraph is confusing, it is because the triangles and rectangles of the new age are so. In the cities today, where acquaintances are many but friends are rare, even divorcées are not willing to say goodbye easily. The person you woke up with on many sunny mornings is hard to let go of. Sometimes love, no matter what Karan Johar says, is a habit.
   Psychotherapist and counsellor, Minnu Bhonsle describes the final phase of a marriage as an ‘emotional closure’. When this part is not settled clearly, couples continue to maintain a relationship, its nature nebulous. “When one hears of cases where the couple reignites its physical relationship post divorce, it is evident that there is no emotional detachment despite the divorce,” Bhonsle says.
   There are pragmatic reasons for divorced couples to stay in touch, like their children or financial matters. But far more compelling and poignant is the fact that despite all the curses they flung at each other in their bedrooms and on the legal documents, they probably still like each other.
   Thirty-two-year-old Loveleen Advani and Neel Mitra who is two years older, broke off their marriage due to serious incompatibility. Neel is a pilot with a private airline. Loveleen works as a corporate trainer with a multinational. They had fallen in love and were married for over six years. Neel’s flying job meant that he would not be home very often. “There were times when I would get an important assignment or make a deal and there would be nobody to share my feelings with because Neel was never there,” says Loveleen. When he was there, he had the tendency to sleep, especially on weekends. Often, he would be home when Loveleen was not. She was not sure if she could bear the child of a man who would probably be an absentee father. Eventually, their marriage ended.
Loveleen has remarried and, recently, became a mother. But Neel and Loveleen keep in touch and they share their joys and sorrows like old friends. No one understands you better than the person who once loved you and still wants to know honestly if everything is alright with you. Neel and Loveleen, their picture frames of smiling photos now dismantled, would never give up a bond that was once their common fate.
Photographer Jagdish Maali separated from his wife Preeti two and a half decades ago. “But I’m on the VIP list for any function at her home in Mahim,” he says. “There’s no malice. In fact we can actually laugh about a lot of things.” Jagdish is also happy that Preeti shares a happy equation with his ageing mother. And when he misses a good home-cooked meal, he picks up the phone and asks Preeti to send him a dabba.
Sometimes, children build a bridge between their estranged parents that begins as a road of convenience and ends as something more than a utility. Wedding planner Divya Patel who lives in Mumbai and Ajit Bhonsle who lives in Pune, parted ways 27 years ago. After the divorce, the logistics of loving their daughter made them keep in touch. A few years ago, Ajit underwent major surgery and Divya was there attending to him despite the presence of his current wife. Fifty-five-year-old Divya recounts, “Our marriage fell apart not because he was unfaithful. It was because of a classic ego struggle. Ajit was younger than me and less successful. That created friction.” The clarity of an obituary is always cutting.
   “Aruna (Ajit’s current wife) and I are polite to each other,” says Divya. “I have a slightly better equation with his two children from this marriage. In fact when I celebrated his 50th birthday in my home, his children were very much a part of the celebrations.” She invited Aruna who did not come.
   Sometimes, in-laws, usually perceived as a divisive force, keep estranged couples together. Twenty-eight-year-old Sunita Kapoor hails from a lower middle class background. She was once married to Harsh, who belonged to the elite South Mumbai circle. His parents liked Sunita and thought she was the best bet for their son. Soon after the marriage, Sunita discovered that Harsh was into substance abuse. Their relationship became strained. Along the way, they had a daughter, but their marriage was always unsteady. In time, they separated but she says that her in-laws work very hard to ensure that the two are in touch. “He still sounds weird on the phone,” she says.
   For those with children or financial issues, the interaction is not a matter of choice. But counsellors insist that there should be an emotional closure after divorce. It’s called a clean break. As though there is such a thing. TNN
   (Some names have been changed)
   —With inputs by Meena Iyer

THE FAT PEOPLE’S CLUB

THE FAT PEOPLE’S CLUB

Ketan Tanna enters a society of seriously overweight people and finds that their hearts weigh the most

   They are hard to miss. As they walk down the lobby of a hospital in north Mumbai, strangers cannot take their eyes off them. Some are amused, some pass comments. But all this attention and caustic remarks do not affect them. They are used to ridicule. They are members of the Obese No More group. That objective is not fulfilled yet but they are trying. While there is no set criterion for belonging to this group, none of the 125 members weigh less than 100 kg. Like Rafique, a 51-year-old television professional, who weighs 149 kg. Even at his towering height of 6 feet 2 inches, he is remarkably overweight. After an operation, he lost over ten kilos.
   All members suffer from a clinical problem called morbid obesity. Morbid obesity is having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 37. Most members of the Obese No More group have a BMI that is well over that dreadful number. BMI is a ratio of body mass in kilograms and the square of the height in meters. An ideal BMI should range between 19 and 25. Obese people, chiefly victims of an unfortunate influence of genes that either makes them eat excessively or reduces their metabolic rate, are highly vulnerable to heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. A BMI of 30 or more raises the risk of death from various diseases by 50% to 150%, according to some estimates.
   All members of the Obese No More group have suffered both physically and mentally. And in a last ditch attempt, many of them have either undergone bariatric surgery which involves an operation that seals a portion of the stomach or attaches the small intestine to the upper portion of the stomach, limiting the volume it can hold. Apart from direct medical help, they also want emotional support and the comfort of being with others with the same affliction, a reason why Obese No More was birthed in July 2006.
   The group meets at least thrice a year. These are mainly interactive forums for consultation and moral support. Such meetings heal the wounds of these morbidly fat people who survive in a world which looks down upon them. Most of the members have encountered situations where even passing strangers give unsolicited advice on how to reduce weight.
   Members chat with each other, recounting the various travails of obesity. When a member speaks, the rest of the group nod in empathy. Rajesh, a businessman stands at 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 180 kg. He is a frequent flyer and he tells the group how he often tries to
get upgraded to the business class. “More than me, the person sitting next to me suffers,” he says, laughing. Medical advice and emotional support flow freely in the group. The members also discuss the best in medicine and diet. Bariatric surgeons, nutritionists and endocrinologists regularly counsel them.
   Every member who is part of Obese No More has a heartrending story to tell. Rati Pujari is 23 and weighs 100 kg. She had gone into depression as she could not handle the pretentious advice of well wishers. “Many of them get inner satisfaction by putting you down and belittling you,” she says. She was a member of a well-known dance class but was asked to leave because she was overweight. Her mother saw her daughter sinking into depression but there was little she could do. “We tried every trick in the book. But after losing weight, she would be back to square one in no time,” says Rati’s mother, Hema.
   Rati could not even enjoy simple recreational exercises like shopping. Most stores do not stock the sizes she is looking for. Her only consolation in the depth of despair was eating chocolates and ice cream stealthily till one day she could not take it anymore and decided to go for surgery. She took a loan for the operation that costs over Rs 2 lakh.
   Keerty Parikh, a 32-year-old Marwari housewife, weighs 111 kg and stands at 5 feet 3 inches. Her five sisters do not have a weight problem. Though she tried all sorts of treatments, her problem only worsened with each passing year. By 1995, she was 103 kg. At one point, she stopped her parents from shortlisting prospective grooms because she realised that she would only be humiliating herself by parading her large body in front of shocked men. Eventually, it was on the internet that she found the man she married. Keerty made it clear to him that she was obese and that there was nothing she could do about it. She was 115 kg when she married a Gujarati man who loved her. But when she wanted to have a baby, she was told by doctors that it was dangerous for women with morbid obesity to have children. So she went in for bariatric surgery to reduce weight.
   And so it goes with this club. Stories unfold. Everyone listens keenly. Advice and concern flow, and then they go back to their difficult lives.
   The group had met last July and November and now plans to meet in the middle of this year. It usually meets in halls or hospital meeting rooms in different parts of Mumbai. For the morbidly obese, every meeting is a catharsis. “For me, it is a time to tell old and new members that being fat is fine and definitely not a sin. It is a disease and that is it. Don’t let it engulf your life,” says Keerty. TNN

SMALL HELPING Members of the Obese No More club say cheese

The man with a green thumb

PROFILE

The man with a green thumb

M S Swaminathan always strived to make life easier for farmers. Today, they are killing themselves. Ketan Tanna meets an embarrassed revolutionary

   It’s 4 am. The rest of Kerala is still sleeping in the comfort of darkness. An 82-year-old grandfather switches on the bulb in his spartan room in Kottakkal’s Arya Vaidya Sala complex. It illuminates an old divan in the corner, with neatly arranged books and papers, where he is now furiously scribbling notes. Something in his benign smile says this is a habit. He goes on writing, compulsively for about two hours, till it’s time for his Ayurvedic therapy.
   Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, the father of India’s Green Revolution, is on his annual two week journey to Kerala “to rejuvenate myself.” A small table with a computer and printer and a TV in the corner show that he is in touch with the world. But for now, all of them are switched off. It’s his sabbatical, he need not work. Yet, the bespectacled scientist maintains a punishing schedule of writing through the day, interspersed only by meal breaks.
   Whenever he is depressed, he goes to the fields. Lately, his trips have increased. These days, Swaminathan who discovered the seed that doubled the yield for farmers in the ’60s, naturally feels sad. No one asks him about his favourite subject, agriculture, anymore. “I am questioned more on farmers’ suicides rather than on our farmers’ great capacity to produce abundant agricultural commodities under severe constraints,” he says.
   It’s an uncomfortable subject for this scientist, who normally has prompt answers to the most difficult queries. Perhaps it’s something that reminds the geneticist that his purpose is slowly being defeated. His eyes crinkle behind his spectacles as he talks about the feeling abroad. “While in the ’60s and ’70s, we had got the reputation for making the country a bread basket from the status of a begging bowl, the reverse may happen now and we will once again revert to a ship to mouth existence.”
   Swaminathan knows the consequences — unplanned migration of the male members of marginal farmer and landless labour families to urban areas. It’s the road that leads to square one —to proliferation of urban slums and faminisation of agriculture. The very things he wanted India to emerge from when he took up the unglamorous agriculture as his subject after BSc, much to the dismay of his college principal. In 1952, Swaminathan earned his PhD from Cambridge University in genetics and later turned down a professorship in the US. “I asked myself why I studied genetics. It was to produce enough food in India. So I came back.”
   That was the beginning of an era in Indian agriculture. In the ’60s, he brought seeds, developed in Mexico by American agriculture expert Norman Borlaug, to India and cross-bred those with local species to create a wheat plant that doubled the yield for farmers. After this, Swaminathan’s success could be spelt faster than his name. His proudest moment was when Indira Gandhi released a set of stamps in 1968 titled ‘wheat revolution’.
   Today, all this applause is history for him. For a better part of the day, agriculture and the ways and means to take India forward dominates his mind and his thoughts. He blames the dire straits of farmers on the breakdown of family and community social support systems that were prevalent in the days of joint families. And, he places the blame on, “farmers without adequate coping capacity taking loans for adopting technologies which are expensive.”
   Several years of interactions with farmers, have made him aware of things that make them vulnerable. Cotton farmers from the dry farming areas of Vidarbha in Maharashtra have particularly been affected during the last few years by serious market failure. “Even the credit system is anti-ecological, since in dry farming areas the recovery cycle should really be 4-5 years and not annual. Such a reform of the credit system will help a farmer to retain eligibility for getting credit, if there is drought during a year,” he says.
   These days, he is in a contemplative mood, sometimes hopeful and at times despondent. Winner of several awards, and the father of three successful daughters, he could have easily sat back at home basking in his laurels. Yet he travels all over India and the world, working consistently on the issues of agriculture, sustainable development and governance.
   Swaminathan who has always been a man of action, doesn’t want to waste time in bemoaning the past. That’s why even today, he writes, almost with a vengeance. That is his defence mechanism against India’s backward progress from “green revolution to greed revolution”. And he has plenty to write about. The 82-year-old visionary currently holds the UNESCO chair in eco-technology and is the President of the Pugwash Conference on Science and World, besides running the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation.
   The solutions to agrarian crisis lie in reforms, he says. The insurance system which hardly covers 4% of the farming population now, needs urgent reform. “There is practically no effort to impart credit, insurance and trade literacy to resource poor farmers.” Compounding all this is the absence of multiple sources of livelihood, so that if one source of income fails there are other avenues which can insulate the farmer from distress, deprivation and despair. If public policies and investment are appropriate to the need, agricultural growth can be even higher than general economic growth. “We should put faces before figures,” he says. TNN

PLANTING HOPE M S Swaminathan is still sowing seeds of agricultural reform almost fifty years after the Green Revolution

GRILLING MINORS

GRILLING MINORS

When the witness is a child

Children go through great trauma when they have to appear in court. Ketan Tanna on what happens when a young rape victim is asked to explain her ordeal in front of others or a little boy has to give evidence against a parent

   Last year, a 16-year-old girl was raped by her teacher in Mumbai. She managed to contact a psychiatrist who took her to the police station in a western suburb of Mumbai. A policeman asked her to describe in graphic detail, in front of her rapist, what he did to her. The psychiatrist was livid, but could do little. “The police arranged for a settlement. The parents of the girl did not want to pursue the case and the rapist was punished by the police who gave him a few punches and made him promise he would never do that ‘ganda kaam’ again,” the psychiatrist recounts. The matter ended there. If the case had been pursued, the girl might have got justice but she would have undergone what another 14-year-old girl had to about four years ago.
   That girl had stood in the middle of a juvenile courtroom in Mumbai. Surrounded by about 20 people, mostly strangers, she was shivering. She had been raped by two boys in her neighbourhood. She was asked in front of the two boys — “What did these two boys do to you behind the bushes?” She could not answer and the two boys were standing there with smirks on their faces. It was only much later, when the victim was called to the magistrate that she managed to give the details. The two boys were eventually punished.
   Less fortunate was a 10-year-old girl who was gangraped. According to a person who was present during the proceedings, “She had to undergo humiliating questions for three days. The defence lawyers tried every nasty trick in the book to prove that their clients were innocent. She was questioned on the minor differences on the points she made in the witness box. And her three rapists were there all the time. Sometimes, out of sheer embarrassment, she would giggle at the risqué questions of the lawyers. That was used by lawyers who murmured that she might have enjoyed what had happened to her. Nothing came out of the case.”
   A child witness in India is anyone below the age of 18 who is called to give evidence in court. According to Section 118 of the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, a child is competent to testify if he or she can understand the questions and can give rational answers. A child under the age of 12 need not give evidence under oath as it is presumed that the child may not understand the nature of an oath or the consequences of falsehood.
   Asha Bajpai, a professor at The Tata Institute of Social Sciences and author of Child Rights in India: Law, Policy, and Practice, says that juvenile victims suffer another form of abuse at the doorsteps of the justice system. “The language of the child is not understood by the legal system. Trained personnel are not there to interview them.” She feels that judges, police
and lawyers have to be suitably trained to deal with children. Also, though many child depositions are recorded in camera in India, the system has not been able to do anything about the fact that defendants bring a battery of lawyers to badger minors.
   While India has largely neglected the plight of children who suffer the torments of the courtroom, many countries have established highly sensitive norms. The use of closed-circuit television for child testimonies is common in the US and the UK. The children are thus spared face-to-face confrontation with the accused. In New Zealand, considerable research has been done on techniques that can help children. As a result, props and drawings are used during interviews. In some countries, child witnesses are shown the design of the courtroom as as part of their preparation before the deposition, says Bajpai.
   There has been some attempt in India to make the ordeal lighter for children. It is common in family courts for the magistrate to call children to his chamber — a minor consolation for children who have become the bone of contention in bitter custody battles.
   Children, who are forced to appear in family courts and make statements that may not favour one of the parents, suffer severe trauma. During one such hearing, a five-year-old girl, in the middle of the interrogation, went to her father and whispered something in his ear and then she went to her mother and whispered. “It was obvious that she was trying to please both her parents and was confused,” says a counsellor at the family court in Mumbai.
   There have been cases where magistrates have tactfully chatted with the children, inquired them about their friends and asked them to draw things or even talk about what they liked before extracting relevant information from them. Children are extremely complex and it usually takes an experienced hand to get into their minds. For example, there was a case of a boy who told his mother that he would not testify in her favour until she got him an iPod and an Xbox. The truth came out when a psychiatrist was roped in.
   In the Sakshi vs Union of India case of 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that a sexual abuse victim has to be protected by a screen or a similar arrangement. Also, the
   cross-examination by the defendant’s lawyers can be given in writing to the presiding officer of the court who may change the language of the questions. Also, the child, while giving testimony in court, should be allowed sufficient breaks.
   According to Bajpai, the Supreme Court in the Gurmeet Singh vs Union of India case of 1996 directed that when the defence counsel adopts the strategy of persistent questioning of the victim or the witness about the details of the crime, the courts must not remain silent. The tough stand taken by the highest court in the country is slowly percolating down to lower courts. TNN

TRANCE

TRANCE

The worldof rave

Ketan Tanna and Yatish Suvarna on the changing character of drug parties

   Aphone call confirms the date. The place is still a secret. The next day, an email arrives giving the time and the location. A scanned image of a roughly scrawled map is in the attachment. The rave party is somewhere in Karjat, on the outer fringes of Mumbai. The boys go to the location and they stand flummoxed in the middle of desolation. There is nothing here. And it’s around one in the morning. They feel silly. Then someone notices an arrow with the logo of the shadowy organiser. There are many such arrows along the road. The hint is unmistakable. The boys follow the arrows for over ten kilometers. The distant lull of trance music reaches them. They arrive at some kind of a lawn with half a dozen small tents. About six to eight people are dancing in every tent. Finally, the pilgrims are in the middle of a rave, a name given to parties where drugs are available. In the psychedelic moonlight, one can see about 40 young boys and 20 girls scattered around, almost all of them dressed in casual clothes as though this is a college canteen. There is no decadent hysteria nor semi-naked lovers. Everybody is in his or her own world. Somewhere, white ecstasy tablets pass hands, somewhere else there is the smell of grass. There is word that cocaine and LSD too, are available. This was about two and a half years ago.
   These days, the discretion has somewhat crumbled. Old timers are shocked at how audaciously invitations are being handed out. The recent Pune rave party that was busted and resulted in media images of scores of young BPO workers looking morosely at the ground, was advertised on Orkut social groups and on sites like www.isratrance.com. So wide was the net of the organisers that people from places like Kolkatta, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad had accepted the offer and landed in Pune. It was not surprising that cops came too.
   The networks of raves have traditionally been exclusive channels. Friends tell their trusted friends and the happy crowd grows. Cell phones and internet chat rooms have become the chief dispensers of news and increasingly the law enforcement is finding ways to infiltrate. The organisers of rave parties have developed their own brand identity. And DJs have become the brand ambassadors of the organisers. In fact, some of the DJs double up as drug peddlers. At the party in Nallur, near Hosur, on November 13 last year, the DJ had allegedly made arrangements with an associate for distributing cocaine, ecstasy and ganja. The revellers, between the ages of 20 and 30, were not the prodigal children of the rich, but middle-class professionals in the software, hotel and fashion industries.
   What began as deviant fun of the rich has today infiltrated the working class. Many middle-class youngsters aspire to go to such rave parties just to experience firsthand an exhilarating subculture, not knowing how deeply enmeshed such parties are with criminal elements.
   Police sources say that drug cartels are directly involved in raves because they are convenient mass outlets. Pune’s parties are known for the preponderance of foreigners and students from various states. In Mumbai, a rave party called Trance Ganesha is organised near Mahalaxmi around Ganesh Chaturthi and is attended by the rich and famous. But it is Goa that has for long been the epicenter of the rave culture. And this culture is believed to be controlled by Russian gangs. Drug cartels in Goa are most active in Anjuna, Arpora, Morjim, Saligaon and Palolem.
   Enforcement agencies in India are waking up to the use of the internet as the gateway to rave parties. Recently, a senior officer from Orkut met Sanjay Mohite, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Mumbai, and agreed to share the IP addresses of those that are breaking Indian laws. The officer did ask the Mumbai Police to prove which sections of the law were being violated by the offenders. The Mumbai Police then read out the various sections of the IPC and CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code). Three specific cases have been processed by Orkut and the IP addresses, the cyber footprints of a net user, have been given to the Mumbai Police. It is not easy though to trace visitors of a chat room only from their IP addresses, but they are vital clues. The Mumbai Police has been cultivating a close relationship with Internet Service Providers. A few days ago, top Internet Service Providers assured Mohite that any request from the police will be attended to in 48 hours. Meanwhile, the Mumbai police is today equipped to crack a password of four letters in 15 minutes. But then again most passwords do not have just four letters anymore. Only rave does. TNN

TWELFTH MEN

TWELFTH MEN

Misery of the cricket clones

The World Cup debacle has hit the look-alikes of cricket stars very hard. Ketan Tanna on how some of them have gone broke after commercials and stage shows were suddenly cancelled

   It was his dream to buy a one-room flat on the outer fringes of Mumbai. He had verbally fixed the deal with a broker for about four lakh rupees. His loan had been passed and he was certain that the balance amount would be raised in a matter of days. After all, 37-year-old Balbir Chand, the duplicate of Sachin Tendulkar, was being sought after in many advertisements and stage shows as the World Cup fever was rising. Then, on the 23rd of March, India lost to Sri Lanka. Sachin went for a duck. Suddenly, nobody wanted Balbir.
   The next day, Balbir placed a call to Sahlon, some 50 kilometres from Ludhiana in Punjab where his wife and three kids were eagerly awaiting his call. They were supposed to join him once he bought the flat. But what Balbir told his wife was that he would not be able to send them any money for a few months. “I told her to manage the house without money for some time,” says Balbir, his voice choking.
   Balbir was a ward boy at the Dayanand Medical College Hospital in Ludhiana for well over seven years earning around Rs 1,500 a month till advertisers discovered him. In 2001, he moved to Mumbai. Life was good then. Every advertisement or stage show or even election campaign appearance fetched him anywhere between Rs 2,000 and Rs 15,000. Work was not consistent but on an average, he made Rs 10,000 a month, half of which went to feeding his wife and kids, and other family members in Punjab. He was featured in advertisements of Hero Honda Majestic, TVS Victor, Visa Power, MRF and Boost among others. Now, the bounty has ended. “Organisers who used to hound me have stopped calling and are now not taking my calls,” he says. Neighbours and friends have been taunting him since India’s unceremonious exit. “I do not meet anyone, I just stay at home,” he says.
   Jeevan Varma is among the few who can fully understand the trauma of Balbir. Varma is a clone of Virendra Sehwag whose only consolation is that, “nobody expected anything from me as Sehwag was out of form.” The 29-year-old bachelor was once a hosiery merchant. Even though some lucrative deals have fallen through, he feels he is luckier than Balbir. “I used to work as a garment producer and would make Rs 5,000 a month. Then people started comparing me to Sehwag and I shifted to Mumbai to make a career out of it.
   Sachin and Sehwag, Balbir and Varma, were till recently a package in the eyes of advertisers and show organisers. They were usually featured together. The duo also acted in Bombay to Goa (a remake of the earlier film) for which they were paid about Rs 10,000 each.
   “During the World Cup, I thought I would be in many shows. I wanted to use the money for training myself in anchoring and improving my acting. I also thought of buying a flat. But, Sehwag nahi chala. I am puzzled why the entire team did not perform,” says Varma. India’s exit from the World Cup has reminded him of the uncertainties of showbiz and has made him determined enough to start his own business. “I have certain business plans which I am working on. I can’t go on living this way,” he says, looking a bit dejected.
   Thousands of kilometers away in Ludhiana, Ravi Verma, also known as Dhoni, says that for now he would concentrate on his job as a medical representative. The 23-year-old used to make between Rs 2,000 and 5,000 for every day he worked as a Dhoni clone. The World Cup hysteria, he had hoped, would help him buy some gadgets. But that was not meant to be. “Strangers are coming up to me and berating me. I let them get their steam off. If they have the right to love Dhoni, they should have the right to question him when he does not perform,” he says philosophically.
   The Irfan Pathan look-alike from Punjab, shares the fate of the other clones. “Some people have threatened to beat me up, but I know they will not. I let them vent,” he says.
   Of all the popular clones, the only person who has come unscathed is Jatin Jambudiwala who, appropriately it might seem, looks like Sourav Ganguly. The 29-year-old works with Asian Paints in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, as a system administrator. Being Ganguly in ads and stage shows was nothing more than a hobby. “Ganguly was out of the team for over year and therefore people were not expecting much from him in the first place. Yes, I did lose a couple of advertisements and local events, but that is ok with me,” he says.
   For the other duplicates who are facing similar crises, there may be hope in the fine art of satire. MTV recently hired some of them for a day’s work at the rate of Rs 7,000 for a spoof. Dwarfs are dressed as the Bangladeshi cricket team. Sachin, Sehwag and the rest of the Indian team play a match and lose, of course. Then they press the legs of the Bangladeshi players, shouting slogans like “Jeetega bhai jeetega, Bangladesh Jeetega.”TNN

DHO DALA Sachin is homeless while Sehwag is planning to move on by starting his own business

OLD SPICE

OLD SPICE

1931: A True Story

Ketan Tanna on why it’s absurd for the government to use the 1931 census as an OBC reference guide

   It is amusing to note that the census report of 1931 influenced the central government in 2006 to make recommendations on what constituted the backward castes. Free India never conducted a caste-related census and instead of doing a fresh survey, the Congress-led government used the 1931 document as resource material. To understand the absurdity of falling back on such an ancient report, one has to just study the India that the census report portrays. It was another place. The population was about 350 million. According to Thomas Callan Hodson, a professor of anthropology, the census report distinguished Indians on physical traits. The nose was a defining character in the report. “Narrow or fine noses in which the width is less than 70% of the height; broad noses in which the proportion rises to 85% and over and medium noses with an index of 70 to 85%,” said Hodson in his analysis of 1931 census.
   The modernity of the Indian male was also clearly described in that census. Men, across India, had discarded ornaments but had taken to wrist watches and fountain pens. “The clothes worn by all sections are more varied and usually of better quality than they used to be. Shoes are worn by an ever increasing number, and in the matter of jewellery, the tendency among women of every class is towards a greater refinement,” Hodson noted. Also, aluminum vessels were most sought after among all classes. And, “the electric torchlight has achieved a tremendous popularity.”
   That Bengalis like an easy life was true in 1931 too. “In rural Bengal, shops are practically non-existent. But hatkhola (market places) are more frequently met with. Hat are scattered so profusely over the country that a cultivator can go to one every day without going more than five or six miles from home. He has his meal about mid-day or a little before, smokes a pipe, has a short sleep and at about three in the afternoon, sets out to the nearest hat. He goes mainly to meet his friends, hear the talk of the neighbourhood and find out the prices of the various commodities because such are the things that interest him,” Hodson noted, adding later in a perceptive line, “The Madrasi emigrant takes his own world with him and sets it down in his new surroundings.”
   Even in the ’30s, Indian gods did curious things to get attention. In February 1930, the gas generated by night soil in a trenching ground near Delhi precipitated into a flame and the spot promptly became the scene of a local pilgrimage to the goddess. A large number of persons congregated at the site claiming that the goddess of small pox had blessed the site. It was only later that the goddess in this case proved to be a composition of 70% methane, 20% carbon-dioxide and 10%inert gases.
   Also, a wave of modernisation was haunting India in 1931. In Punjab, due to the arrival of fans, the old system of building underground cellars or sard khana for the scorching days of summer was abandoned. It is astonishing how every age, if the details are ignored, sounds the same. The enigma of new arrivals and the sighs of the dying. But the Indian government in 1931, somehow, was not considered as comical an entity as it is today. TNN

THE YOUNG AND THE RADIO

THE YOUNG AND THE RADIO

In this series, we look at unusual groups formed by a common passion. This week, Ketan Tanna finds out how an ancient technology is attracting the youth

   In the time of internet and cell phones, ham radio is closer to heritage than technology. But this ancient means of radio communication is, against all expectations, fascinating the young. They are joining ham groups in impressive numbers. Like this group of 12 fans who have gathered in a flat on a lazy Sunday. These are the members of The Mumbai Amateur Radio Society (MARS). There is visible excitement on their faces. They have just made their first contact of the day with a person who has an Italian call sign (identification code), but is currently in Saudi Arabia. The contact’s call sign is IT9ESW, a language these people understand.
   Eighteen-year-old Bhoumik Shah, a science undergraduate, is trying to listen into the conversation between IT9ESW and MARS, which has 220 members of whom 40 are in the age group of 15 to 21. A ham radio operator is an amateur who uses advanced equipment to communicate with other enthusiasts around the world. Ham radio is recreational and educative. It is also, inevitably, a public service. Historically, ham operators have played an active role in almost all natural calamities because when everything else is destroyed, it is the radio signals alone that work. In India, ham radio aspirants have to procure a licence issued by the Department of Telecommunications for which they have to clear a written exam. Also, they have to be Indian nationals over the age of 12. Various ham groups like MARS conduct coaching classes for the aspirants.
   Shah took the test recently and is eagerly awaiting the day when he will get his licence. Inspired by his decision to appear for the test and with his PowerPoint presentation given on ham radio, about 15 of his college mates have decided to join MARS. Shah was familiar with ham radio long before he joined MARS, but the Mumbai floods of 2005 impelled him to join the community of radio enthusiasts. During the deluge, Shah and his father were trapped for almost a whole day on the Bandra bridge. Mobile batteries had run out and there was no way that either of them could communicate with his mother. “I realised the importance of ham communication then. When no other means of communication is available, it is ham radio that helps out,” says Shah.
   Twenty-one-year-old Prashant Gore who is preparing for a course in aircraft maintenance is among the many young boys who are looking forward to jabber away on ham radio. For him, the fascination for ham began when he saw local policemen talking on their walkie-talkies. When he wanted to know more about ham radio classes and what it took to acquire a licence, most of his teachers had no clue about it. Finally, his physics teacher explained the concept of ham radio communication.
   Last year, when he was doing research on the net, he came to know more about MARS and how one could join the group. For Gore, ham radio is
about making contact with real people. “In ham, each call sign can be identified and we know with whom we are chatting. Compared to chatting on the internet, ham radio is communicating with real people in the real world,” says Gore, explaining why he thinks ham is better than internet chatting.
   For 18-year-old Zuzar Kudrati, who has recently appeared for his twelfth standard exam, ham radio was something that he saw on TV regularly. “I used to be fascinated by films and serials where I saw people communicating with their handy amateur radio. Fortunately, I had time and also guidance from a relative who is a ham radio operator,” says Kudrati.
   According to Kudrati, what really thrills him about ham radio is that dozens of people can communicate simultaneously on one medium. “In Yahoo or MSN, web cam chatting is often one-onone. On ham radio, the response one gets is far more interesting because one can speak to a number of people from different geographical areas.” Kudrati recently cleared his ham radio exam and is awaiting a licence pending police verification. Kudrati has not formally entered the world of ham, but he has a sense of the community because all MARS students and members are part of Yahoo and Orkut groups.
   For 16-year-old Shruti Sathe, it was big disappointment that she could not take the ham radio tests as they clashed with her eleventh standard exams. But she is more than determined to take the exams and believes that it is just a matter of time before she becomes an amateur radio operator. “Ham operators are a cut above the rest. The quality of people who are ham radio operators is amazing,” she says. Members of MARS go on occasional outstation trips. Sathe talks wideeyed of such trips. The team was split into two groups. One went to Khandala and the other to a farmhouse near the Gujarat border. The two groups then communicated with each other.
   Ham or amateur radio is a hobby for about six million people in the world, according to Wikipedia. Japan alone has 1.4 million of them. India’s numbers are modest — just over 15,000, but the number is growing. The new adolescent entrants have company in the form of seasoned professionals like 37-year-old Dr Rita Savla, a homeopath, and Khozema Siawala, a 31-year-old businessman dealing in essences and food flavours.
   Needless to say, it is not always the young who are eager and enthusiastic. Fifty-seven-year-old Ashok Kulkarni, a consultant in the soft drink industry says that when MARS classes were announced, “I was the first one to pay the fees and run to their office.” The course fee is Rs 3,500 which covers the tuition, course materials, licence fees and two outstation trips.
   Following the exams (which includes passing a Morse code test), police verification is done by local police stations. Licences take as long as one year to be granted and the wait can be frustrating. After getting the licence, one needs to buy radio equipment which is also called a base station. To have a conversation in a limited area, a ham licence holder can also use a hand-held walkie-talkie. It is against the law to use a ham radio for commercial purposes, as in a cheap mode of business communication. Conversations are monitored by government officials and those violating the terms and conditions of the licence can have their licences revoked.
   There are hundreds of ham groups across India, even in small towns. They organise various contests that bring the amateur radio enthusiasts together. The main events in the life of a ham operator are Foxhunt (where a transistor is hidden in a secluded spot and the task is to find it) and Island on the Air (ham enthusiasts visit secluded islands and report on the conditions there). Then there are car rallies where ham operators use their equipment to coordinate the rally. TNN

ADMISSIONS OPEN

If you want to be an active member of a ham radio group, you have to procure a ham licence issued by the Department of Telecommunications. There is a written test for that. Various ham groups offer coaching classes
Go to www.mumbai-hams.org
Contact Huzefa Merchant on 9892786110 or Zyros on 9821025289 (Readers who are aware of unusual groups may send in their suggestions to tribalinstincts@timesgroup.com)

SMOOTH OPERATORS Even though the internet and cell phones have diminshed the charm of ham radio, youngsters are falling in love with it

PARENT TRAP

PARENT TRAP

Surviving Parents

Singles who love their parents too much to abandon them suffer the quirks of the aged and sacrifice the freedom of adulthood, say Ketan Tanna and Meena Iyer

   Acommon perception is that singles enjoy considerable freedom. However, the truth is that many of them are forced by an Indian mindset to live with their parents, and as a consequence suffer the tantrums of the old. Caught between love for their parents and the madness of living with them, they go through a hellish domestic life.
   Every day, before the break of dawn, Meena Krishnan feels the gentle nudge of her mother’s elbow. “Wake up, it’s early morning,” her 76-year-old widowed mother Mangalam cheerfully announces. It’s another matter that Meena, an unmarried 47-year-old, had a late night and could do with some more sleep. But she gets up groggily and for the next few hours listens as her mother talks incessantly about this and that. “All I want at that point is some peace and quiet. But I give in because she has nobody else to talk to,” says Meena. There are times when Meena snaps at her mother only to regret it for the full day. “She loves ice-cream and I assuage my guilt by taking home her favourite flavour.”
   Sanjeev, a 35-year-old unmarried chartered accountant who does not want to reveal his full name, says that he moved in with his parents due to ill health. He is severely diabetic and has very high blood pressure. For some reason, his parents are very suspicious of him. They have locked all the cupboards except one and have refused to give him the keys. And, they do not believe that he is truthful about how much he earns. They accuse him of not giving them his full salary. They suspect that he is spending all his money on ayyashi (debauchery). When they asked him for his passbook, he told them that the concept was outdated. “Wait for the quarterly bank statement,” he said, but that only deepened their suspicion.
   Obviously, not all parents exhibit abnormal behaviour. An overwhelming majority are regular people, going through their twilight years watching their diet, recounting memories and basking in the gratitude of their wards whom they had given that invaluable gift called a normal childhood. But even here, there is an inevitable clash of cultures. They do not tolerate the late nights of their adult children. They do not understand why their children need something called freedom. Single girls suffer the most. A talented actress who lives with her mother often has to listen to uncomplimentary remarks about her late nights, even though she is just returning from a night shift. Thirty-one-year-old Sakshi, who is a director of a media-house, has an understanding mother, but there are rules at home. “I cannot stay out late without informing her, or bring home men in the middle of the night. Even those men who do come home to fetch me for an evening out aren’t allowed beyond the drawing room,” she says.
   Sakshi feels an acute lack of privacy in her own home. She cannot even walk around her home, mulling over her thoughts. “That’s not possible because my mom craves my indulgence. If I snap back, she reminds me that she is not a paying guest in the house. That’s how bad it gets.”
   Single men who live with their parents have unique problems. A journalist who comes from an affluent business household says that unpleasant situations develop over finances. He is a salaried person in a creative field and his earnings do not measure up to the wealth of his siblings. “There are times when one is made to feel bad about how your salary is less than the phone bill of the family.” But usually, single men face problems that are similar to what single women face.
   Thirty-year-old Mahesh (surname withheld on request) who is a media professional, says, “Earlier, when I had invited some girlfriends over and brought them to my room, I was told to leave the door open. It was so awkward. Also, my mom would come in on some pretext or another and try to make small talk. I have stopped calling friends over.” Ashok Shah, in his late 30s, says that boy’s nights out are out of the question. And a conservative dress code has to be followed.
   Singles who live with their parents have to sacrifice the little joys of life for the grander purpose of being there for their elders. Not all singles complain though. Film publicist Parull Gossain wouldn’t trade living with her mother for anything. “My friends tease me about it,” she says happily. TNN

BUT IT’S ALMOST NICE Parull Gossain’s (left) friends tease her about living with her mom but she loves it. Ashok Shah (right) looks happy though he can’t host parties.

TIME TRAVEL

TIME TRAVEL

Not the last Don story

Meenakshi Sinha and Ketan Tanna trace the rupee and other variables from the first Don to the second

   Every generation recounts the past with an unmistakable condescension — “simpler times”. And so it must be said about the Technicolour age of Don. 1978. Simpler times. An Amabassador car cost less than Rs. 50,000. Pran charged just ten times as much and even this modest fee was twice as much as what Amitabh Bachchan was paid then. When Nariman Irani, producer of the first Don, died before the film could be completed at the age of 49, the stars waived off a part of their fee because he was survived by three children. The item girl Helen was 40. And the fact that she wore green lenses became a hysterical topic of discussion in the upper perches of the society. The film was made in Rs 85 lakh, an extravagance then but adjusted to inflation it would cost less than Rs 8 crore today, roughly the expense incurred in the publicity of the new Don. Yes, they did not know it then, but those were simpler times.
   The first Don was sold at Rs 21 lakh per territory and just 30 prints were distributed. Farhan Akhtar’s Don —The Chase Begins Again, releasing next Friday is believed to have cost Rs 30-40 crore. Its lead star Shah Rukh Khan was paid over Rs 4 crore, according to trade analysts. And the film hits the marquee with 300 prints worldwide, 115 of them to cinemas in North America. “It is definitely seen as the biggest release in today’s times,” says Siddharth Roy Kapoor, marketing head of UTV that is managing the overseas distribution of the film.
   The first Don, an action packed story of a smuggler who is killed in a police encounter and replaced by the law enforcement with a clone, arrived facing great difficulties. Its original script was rejected by many, including Prakash Mehra and Dev Anand, because it was about a don, an unheard of concept in those days. “I had always felt that Don was a bit ahead of its time. Technically it may look dated now, but the characters and the dialogue were very hip. Therefore, it lent itself very well to a remake,” says Akhtar.
   Interestingly, the famous song Khaike Paan Benaras Wala almost didn’t make it to the original film. In those days, for music to be put on the Long Playing (LP) record, it was mandatory to have a minimum of 22 ½ minutes of songs. And the first Don did not have so many songs. “The song Khaike Pan Benaras Wala was added after the completion of the film, just so that we could bring out the long playing record,” recalls director Chandra Barot.
   Don — The Chase Begins Again arrives without such fumbles. In its planning, technology and marketing, it stands for everything that is new and imposing about Hindi cinema. But it is a victim of comparison already. The debate over the artistic merits of something that is old and a work that is new, is usually rigged in favour of the old. Also, the choice of Shah Rukh Khan in the remake, has been a matter of discontent among the average person. Television channels are asking the dramatic question — Who’s better, Amitabh or SRK?
   Yet, director Akhtar says, Shah Rukh was an obvious choice. “He fits the part like a glove and is the only person today, who could do justice to the part. He had the style, flair, confidence, sense of humour, focus and drive.”
   There is a lot of Kareena in a song, a bit too much around the thighs in fact. But she too, is a victim of comparison and somehow a more vicious comparison because the original is Helen. “I felt if there is anyone who can come close in looking ultra-glam and non-vulgar while seducing an actor on screen today, it is Kareena. She is very classy, much like Helen aunty and can never ever look tacky,” Akhtar says.
   Cinematographer Mohanan claims to have tried hard to deglamourise the film. Sticking to colder blue and green hues, he made the camera seek out the realities in the milieu of a don. To achieve this end, Mohanan was asked by Akhtar not to refer to the old Don. In less than a week, arrives this film that is somewhat cutely called a ‘remake’, as it belongs to a plagiarising industry that is in the business of remaking films. It’s just that Don — The Chase Begins Again has owned up. TNN

Evolution

(Figure in brackets is ’78 rupee in ’06 adjusted for inflation. All figures in rupees)

Don 1978

Cost of the film 85 lakhs (7.5 crore)

Bachchan fee 2.5 lakhs (21 lakhs)

Pran fee 5 lakhs (43 lakhs)

Don 2006

Cost of the film 30 – 40 crore

Shah Rukh fee 4 – 6 crore

Priyanka fee 85 lakhs – 1 crore

OLD WINE SRK who plays Amitabh’s role is up against the venom of nostalgia

CORPORATEGIRI

CORPORATEGIRI

D-Company to Company

The film industry is today finally professional. The management system is replacing what was once the vocation of temperamental men and women, report Meena Iyer and Ketan Tanna

   In simpler times, in the eighties and the nineties, when some actors used to sign up for more than 40 films a year, producer Prakash Mehra, in white shirt, white pants and white shoes, would reach his workplace in Juhu at 4 pm. And though he sometimes ran two hours late, people would be waiting for him. There would also be a regular melee of financiers and distributors and proposal-makers queuing up.
   Today, Mehra’s office and preview theatre Sumeet have given way to a restaurant called Bohemia. And the man himself has been reduced to being, well, just a man. His innumerable attempts to return to his old silver magic have failed. “Mehra may never make a film again,” says an industry person. “Not only is his spirit broken, he can also never hope to pay stars the kind of money that they’re used to now.”
   Down the melancholy lanes of a generation past, the gloomy whispers are about how “the corporates have come”. Many among the biggest producers of a very recent era, are now sitting at home twiddling their thumbs, left behind by the changing times. The tusi-great-ho and the balleballe Punjabi culture of Bollywood producers is making way for the pinstriped executives of companies like Adlabs and the Birlas, and leading banks like IDBI. They are all moving in to replace independent producers, and traditional vehicles of dirty money. Corporate funds are beginning to call the shots in Hindi cinema. And the film community is being lured into this new order by the lustre of unprecedented earning potential.
   Last week, Hrithik Roshan signed three films for over Rs 30 crores as a package deal with Adlabs. Akshay Kumar has a Rs 16-crore contract with the company for four films. Director Vipul Shah has reportedly signed a Rs 210 crore deal with Adlabs to make eight films and television software. But with such money comes accountability. Shah admits that if he overspends on any of the eight projects that he has lined up, he may be required to balance it in the next project. In short, Adlabs will definitely make Shah account for the money they’re entrusting him with.
   Suddenly the screenplay has become a sacred tool. Till recently, films went into production without complete scripts. Films like Satya were written on the sets. But such luxuries are over. A film today is planned and budgeted according to the final screenplay. Actors are seldom given the power to change the script according to their megalomaniacal desires. Companies now also have inhouse script teams that look at the scripts and give views. “And sometimes we even suggest changes,” says a script doctor from Sahara One.
   Also, the new economics of the industry is such that the collection between Friday, the time of release, and the Sunday, accounts for nearly 56% of the total revenues a film generates. And 40% of a film’s revenue comes from the 55 urban multiplexes in the country. This has made aggressive marketing in big cities targeting the 15-35 age group, the single most important element that decides the fate of a film. Accordingly, promotional expenditure has increased by nearly 70%. The publicity of Don, it is believed, cost nearly Rs 8 crore. The maths of the corporate structure today has made it clear that the life of a film in theatres is short. Never again will a film run for months on end. Every bit of revenue is extracted in that short period through television, music sales, and merchandise. Film production is now closely associated with the gaming and the mobile phone industry too unleashing various entertainment activities that bring in additional revenues.
   Sunil Manchanda, who has produced seven films so far, including the super hit Salman Khan-starrer Tere Naam, says that change in film financing was inevitable. “It was not unexpected. If you look at the United States and their studio culture, we seem to be heading that way except that here we will have corporate bodies and not studios.” He says, till recently the antecedents of some of the film investors were not known. It was leading to unlawful money entering the film industry. Now, all that has changed.
   Film financing, till the beginning of the millennium worked on two models — big filmmakers whose projects would attract a lot of notice, like J Om Prakash, Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra, Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai, would invariably presell major territories at the onset of a project. They would use this money to make their films. The projects would generally consist of big stars, so distributors would be lining up to buy the rights of the film. The distributor would generally pay 40% of the money on day one and 60% when the movie was completed. The second option was to go to money lenders in the market who would give funds to filmmakers at a high interest rate (in the range of 25 to 34% per annum). This system put pressure on the filmmakers to finish the project in time. If star dates went awry, it played havoc with the economics of the project. And many a producer has been reduced to penury.
   In the last six years, the new economy of the motion picture business has undergone a sea change. With the consumer markets opening up and the national economy getting healthier, the entertainment sector found investors looking positively towards it. An encouraging response from the financial sector prompted motion picture firms like Adlabs and Mukta Arts to go for public issues. Other firms like PNC and UTV followed suit. Today, major film companies are listed ones with deep pockets. Adlabs Films Limited is a Rs 3,000 crore company, a size that no film company would have thought possible few years ago.
   Stars used to be remunerated in a surreptitious way. The era between the ’60s and ’90s saw stars opting for a substantial portion of their fee in cash. Today corporates insist on cheque payments only because they have to show their investors the balance sheet at the AGM. Also with listed companies, the balance sheet is a public document, and a consequence is that accounting ambiguities are not easily tolerated. TNN

Black magic boomerangs. White magic heals’

Black magic boomerangs. White magic heals’

UNDER THE SPELL OF SPIRITS

In this series, we cover unusual groups. This week, Ketan Tanna enters the world of white magic

She has a slight foreign accent. She looks like any other modern young woman and makes a material living from public relations.
   This year, on the second day of February, the group came together again on the day of Imbolc, an ancient pagan festival. Crystals, symbols, candles, enlarged tarot cards and the like were used to aid the 22 participants. The group meets like this on special days of supernatural importance. Through meditation and symbolic rituals, they believe that they can achieve their wishes. Some of them take the messages that emerge from such meetings to make career and health decisions.
   “A spell can be positive when one focuses attention and energy on a desired outcome. It could be the desire for a new job, a new relationship or
any other goal,” says Swati. The group is aware that most people will dismiss their activities as juvenile rubbish. But they argue that the world is entrapped in a myth called rationality.
   Rafique Pirani, a 47-year-old mathematics lecturer, insists that energy within the self is capable of achieving magical goals. The huge, lumbering man says that the use of black magic is more prevalent than accepted. He says it is a dark force that eventually boomerangs. He talks morosely about a woman who used it to attain the love of a man who did not care for her. It doesn’t work, he says, as well as white magic does. “Meditation techniques and crystal therapy can help you achieve your goals,” Rafique says.
   Sangeeta Krishnan, a 24-year-old postgraduate in Microbiology, says that superstition is a much maligned word even though most people believe in some form of divine power. She implies that any form of faith, like say in God, is not very different from faith in magic. “I’m not saying be superstitious but don’t dismiss this group outright.”
   The Magik Group, which has 79 members, meets on ferries and in homes and restaurants. Swati says that there is a steady stream of interested people. “There are relatively fewer members who are magic practitioners as compared to those who are interested in tarot and magic. Mostly, when magical events are organised, they are free for the public. I put the events in newspapers or online listings,” she says.
   The members are happy to narrate how white magic helped them. A woman who requested anonymity says that she agreed to a major surgery that her husband wanted to undergo after consulting tarot reading and following the guidance of the group. “The surgery was successful.” She is a Muslim and that, she says, is not an issue. “Muslims believe in the Djinn. Isn’t that supernatural?” she asks pointing out that religious beliefs too involve elements of magic. Rupal Gune, a 35-year-old mother who is wearing the Leo zodiac sign as bindi, says that a mark she has inscribed on her body — a pentacle in a circle — has saved her from major accidents. TNN
   One night last December, a ferry left the Gateway of India and sailed into the darkness in search of magic. It was the Yule night, the longest night of the year. Wiccans and Pagans, disciples of witchcraft and supernatural rituals, celebrate the Yule night as the birth of the sun. Twenty one people were on board. They were members of a society called the Magik Group.
   Very few in the group knew each other but that didn’t matter. They had assembled for a purpose far deeper than socialising. They meditated and created a collective “spell” to visualise what 2007 had in store for them. The sea was chosen, according to one of the members, “to connect with nature and bring out the deep truths that are hidden within the self”.
   There was no black magic on board but there was “white magic” (a positive spell, apparently). Giant tarot cards were strategically placed around the participants. Every card had a different symbol that conveyed different fates. The Wheel of Fortune, for instance, signified a new beginning. The World Card announced success and enlightenment. The participants then lost themselves in the trance of meditation through which each person conveyed what he or she expected from life. “It was a group spell to visualise goals for the coming year and to add focus to this goal, followed by an interactive session,” says Swati Prakash who founded this group in May, 2006. She is now sitting in Mocha café, with permed hair, dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans. She is wearing a pink crystal necklace (the crystal is to achieve love).

ABRACADABRA Members of the Magik Group meet on ferries, in homes and restaurants, on days of supernatural impo

HOLY COW

HOLY COW

The Longest Running Protest

For more than 25 years, every single day, a group of Gandhians has protested outside a slaughter house. Ketan Tanna reports

   Outside an abattoir in Mumbai, a truck arrives carrying cattle for slaughter. A bored police constable blocks the vehicle at the gates. And a group of austere men and women rush to the truck. They offer prayers and shout feeble slogans against animal slaughter. The constable “arrests” these volunteers and takes them to the Deonar police station (Sambhaji Nagar beat chowkie) where they are respectfully offered chairs. A record of the arrest is made in the police diary and the protesters are let off. In the meantime, the truck has entered the slaughter house. The fate of the cattle is unambiguous.
   This happens every day — the arrival of the truck, the stirring of the constable, the protest, the arrest and the honourable acquittal. And the transition of some less fortunate visitors into food. It has been going on every single day since January 11, 1982 when Vinoba Bhave first gave a call to his fellow Gandhians to protest against the slaughter of cattle. It is possibly the longest running demonstration in the world. Neither the ’93 riots nor the consequent serial blasts, not even the 2005 deluge, have given the abattoir any respite.
   The endurance of this protest has in fact lent it signs of permanence. Outside one of the many gates of the
slaughter house is a small modest hut with two wooden benches. At any given time in the day or night there are a few Gandhians keeping vigil. The perfunctory constable too makes use of the benches. The hut has a few sign boards that talk of Bhave’s philosophy towards animals and the levels of the Sarvodaya movement.
   The abattoir is in the grey deprivations of Deonar, a dingy working class area in north east Mumbai with narrow by-lanes that are chiefly inhabited by butchers. When it all began, the butchers were enraged by the protests and afraid that their livelihood will be threatened. At the height of hostility, they had even burnt down the hut. But now, they are friendly with the Gandhians, reassured of their symbolic value. But now there is warmth and understanding between the two camps. In fact, it was the butchers who had guided this reporter to the hut. “They have never harmed us,” says Mohammed Hamid, a butcher. “They believe in their cause. On the other hand, we have to feed our family. We co-exist peacefully.”
   Deonar police station constables take pride in the fact that the Gandhians have never resorted to violence. “We treat them with respect. We have provided two constables who work round the clock in twelve hours shift. Their main duty is to ensure that there is no disruption when the bulls are taken inside the abattoir for slaughter. The Gandhians have never been disruptive and have always protested peacefully for the last 25 years,” says a constable.
   Though this peace is largely due to the fact that the slaughter has continued unabated, the Gandhians believe that one day they will be successful. “Change always takes long and you must remember even our independence took many years to come,” says 47-year-old Suchitra
Jhade, a volunteer for the last 15 years of the Gauraksha Satyagrah Sanchalan Samiti (GSSS) which organises this protest. The GSSS is a part of the Sarvodaya movement. Another volunteer, 39-year-old Kishore Kumar is on a three-month sabbatical from Vinoba Bhave’s Paunar ashram. The protest fuels itself like this by summoning volunteers from across the country. In fact, while the number of Gandhians outside the abattoir has dwindled with time, a far greater depletion is in the number of cattle. The slaughter industry is losing steam faster than the protest.
   “Earlier, the abattoir used to get nearly 3,000 bulls every month. Now the number has dwindled to less than 1,000,” a police constable says. “Bulls are more costly now. A pair of healthy bulls which used to cost Rs 8,000 today costs Rs 15,000. Even farmers are unable to afford the bulls. Also, the government has banned the slaughter of bulls that are less than 15 years old. All this has affected the trade,” adds Kishore Kumar.
   Over the years, the number of Gandhians outside the slaughter house has reduced from 300 to just a handful. Many of the original protesters are in their 60s and 70s. While new volunteers still join the movement from different parts of the country, their numbers are not encouraging. But those who do join exhibit astonishing levels of passion and commitment.
   Volunteers who come from different towns live frugally in the Sarvodaya Hospital premises in Ghatkopar. Suchitra Jhade, one of the most dedicated volunteers behind the sustenance of the protest, too lives there. She is in a simple cotton sari and when she is not protesting she is usually with the Gita. Her recent marriage to fellow Gandhian, 65-year-old Sudhakar Jhade, has not affected her involvement in this long relentless
protest. Both of them live in the Sarvodaya Hospital and eat from the community kitchen.
   “We believe that one day we will win. One day people will see reason. It is not as if we have idealistic expectations or that we are we living in a delusional world,” she says. TNN

GANDHIGIRI Kishore Kumar and Suchitra Jhade say prayers at the gates of the Deonar abattoir

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