Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as ‘Baba Amte’ (‘baba’ is a honorific and his last name is pronounced as Am’tay) was born on December 1914 in Vidharbha, Maharashtra, India in a wealthy family. Educated with a law degree, he setup a successful practice in Warora, and was leading a very prosperous life. One one rainy day, he saw a leper on the street getting drenched in rain and left helpless. Baba Amte thought to himself – ‘What would have happened if I was in his position?‘ This little incident was enough to cause a paradigm shift in his perception of society. The well educated rich professional simply quit his practice and decided to dedicate his life to the cause of social justice.

Leprosy was/is probably the most damned disease in India. Plenty of myths and orthodox beliefs existed around leprosy patients. As a result, they were (and still are to some extent) subjected to severe social boycott and condemnation. Baba Amte devoted his life for the cause of the leprosy affected, even allowing his body to be used for medical experiments. With 14 Rupees, two cows and a makeshift building, Baba Amte and his wife established a community project at Anandwan (आनंद वन abode of happiness) near the woods of Nagpur, Maharashtra, central India.

Today Anandvan is recognised all over the world and has led the crusade for dispelling prejudice against leprosy in India. It has a sprawling campus of 180 hectors and runs a budget of millions of Rupees. Thousands of patients live in this colony.

This is one of his compositions that touches my heart. (I’d be thrilled if someone can translate, I can’t)
Update: Ash has translated the first paragraph, and Devendra has translated the entire poem. Checkout the comments section, thanks guys

A picture that speaks more than a thousand words.


“Joy is more infectious than leprosy”
- Baba Amte

माणूस माझे नाव, माणूस माझे नाव…
दहा दिशांच्या रिंगणात या पुढे माझी धाव…
बिंदु मात्र मी क्षुद्र खरोखर,
परी जिंकले सातहि सागर,
उंच गाठला गौरीशंकर
अग्नीयान मम घेत चालले आकाशाचा ठाव…
मीच इथे ओसाडावरती,
नांगर धरुनी दुबळ्या हाती,
कणकण ही जागवली माती
दुर्भिक्ष्याच्या छाताडावर हसत घातला घाव…
ही शेते अन् ही सुखसदने,
घुमते यातून माझे गाणे,
रोज आळवित नवे तराणे
मी दैन्याच्या विरुद्ध करतो क्षण क्षण नवा उठाव…
सुखेच माझी मला बोचती,
साहसास मम सीमा नसती,
नवीन क्षितिजे सदा खुणवती
दूर दाट निबिडात मांडला पुन्हा नवा मी डाव…
[संग्रह: ज्वाला आणि फुले]

“शिवसेना-भाजप-कॉंग्रेस युतीला मतदान करा” – ठाकरे
सकाळ: सत्तेसाठी आम्ही हपापलेलो नाही. शिवसेना-भाजप युतीशी कॉंग्रेसने अंबरनाथच्या विकासासाठी हातमिळवणी केली आहे. राष्ट्रवादी कॉंग्रेसची मस्ती उतरविण्यासाठी शिवसेना-भाजप-कॉंग्रेस युतीला मतदान करा, असे आवाहन शिवसेना कार्याध्यक्ष उद्धव ठाकरे यांनी येथे केले.

अंबरनाथ तालुक्‍यातील जिल्हा परिषदेच्या दोन आणि पंचायत समितीच्या चार जागांसाठी शिवसेना-भाजप-कॉंग्रेस युतीतर्फे निवडणूक लढविणाऱ्या उमेदवारांच्या निवडणूक प्रचारासाठी वांगणी रेल्वेस्थानकाशेजारीच झालेल्या प्रचारसभेत ठाकरे साहेबांनी असे विचार मांडले.

राजकिय पक्ष खरंच् विचार भिन्नतेतून जन्माला आले आहेत का? ‘सत्ता’ हा जरी एकच् विचार असला तरी हे मात्र फारच् झालं…. !!

“The Unicef analysis, done in conjunction with India’s health ministry, found that about 46% of children below the age of 3 suffer from [tag]malnutrition[/tag]. That’s a staggering figure, and one that compares with roughly 35% in sub-Saharan Africa and 8% in China. It’s even more startling when you consider India predicts growth of 9.2% this year. “

The fact that we are so casual about our future, speaks volumes about the disconnected focus of the government on ‘reforms’. What’s worse, the situation hasn’t really improved since independence. This news succeeds the recent shocking event at Puri’s Jagannath Temple reported by DNA: “[tag]Food[/tag] destroyed at temple after foreigner’s entry”.

In a country where millions go to bed hungry, Rs 1 million worth of food meant as a holy offering at Orissa’s Jagannath temple was destroyed on Friday because a foreigner had entered it — an act seen as defiling the premises.

Patrix has some creative ideas I couldn’t agree more-

If the temple authorities feared associating themselves with the ‘defiled’ food then they could have ‘conducted a yagna to disassociate’ (bear with me, trying to be a lil creative here) themselves from it and leave the food alone in a lonely corner outside the temple complex. I’m sure the ‘defiled’ food would find plenty of takers even in the most religious of towns.

60 million malnourished [tag]children[/tag] in India, while people in North America take food for granted… I can picture Gods shaking their heads in disapproval.

If you saw Canadians surprised over a spring-like December, you ought to see this Toronto Star report about a [tag]freezing [/tag]February. If they said that December 2006 was the warmest in 40 years, so here we have, February 2007 as the [tag]cold[/tag]est in 28 years!

The average temperature was -8.4C, which was three degrees colder than normal.
That also made it the fifth coldest February since 1937 when weather records were first kept at what is now Pearson International Airport.
- Toronto Star, March 5, 2007

Indeed, it’s March already, yet we had one [tag]snow storm[/tag] yesterday and today’s temperature has plummeted to -21°C with a wind chill of -35°C. Ooh!!

Pjf writes:

Dearest readers in warmer climes, please blow some warm air our way for we are suffering terribly as we navigate the bitterly frozen landscape of Toronto.

Blow?? We came here to do just that! Some time back, we joked amongst ourselves that there are too many people ‘imported-from-warm-countries’ which is making Toronto all heated up. Looks like they have turned a cold shoulder now

The weather Gods haven’t spared India either. Northern parts of the country are grappling with a brutal [tag]cold wave[/tag].

The hill state (Himachal Pradesh) came in the grip of severe cold with temperatures falling 3°C to 4°C below normal as the state experienced isolated snow during the past 24 hours.
-Tribune India, February 15, 2007

Brace yourself for the climatic shift…

मोबाईल सेवा आणि सिग्नलचं जाळं आपल्या कडे अतिशय प्रगत आहे. हच, एअरटेल, डॉल्फिन ईत्यादी कंपन्यांमध्ये अटितटीची स्पर्धा असल्याने अधिकाधीक ग्राहक मिळवण्यामागे त्यांचे लक्ष असतं. म्हणूनच् मोबाईलचे दर इतके स्वस्तं असावेत व मोबाईल असणं सर्वसाघारण गोष्टं असावी. ईथे मात्र परीस्थिती वेगळी आहे. खूप कमी लोकांना मोबाईल परवडतो. कोणासठाऊक का, पण ईथल्या मोबाईल कंपन्या पण मंद वाटतात. असो.

ईथे बहुतेक सेलफोन (यंत्र) हे कॉन्ट्रॅक्ट वर मिळतात. यंत्राची किंमत अतिशय कमी, किंवा शून्य असते. पण मासिक प्लॅन ठरलेला असतो. नियोजीत भाडं भरायचं की झालं. रात्रीच्या वेळी व शनिवार, रविवार विनामूल्य कॉल करू शकतो. अर्थात त्यांच्या बर्याच् योजना असतात. तरी, मुंबईत जी सेवा मिळते तशी ईथे मिळतच् नाही.

या बाबतीत आपण नक्किच प्रगत आहोत

(Source: The weather network)

Although your face is the only exposed part of your body, the [tag]wind chill[/tag] will rob it off sensations in no time. It helps if you keep talking; else the muscles go so numb that you cannot speak at all.

The night sky looks illuminated and bright gray when it’s snowing. I live on the 14th floor and everything below looks foggy. [tag]Snow[/tag] is beautiful.

It is incorrect to link scientific and economic progress to people’s faith in religion. As a teenager, I always used to believe that as we make technological progress, people’s faith in God would decrease, and some day eventually ‘God’ would remain as a concept limited to books. How wrong I was.

When we shifted to Mumbai, we used to stay in a rented apartment. On the roadside there was a huge banyan tree and under the tree was a stone smeared with vermilion. I remember passersby quickly praying to the stone while on their way. Someone offered flowers, others lighted essence sticks (agarbattis) or diyas (earthen lamps). By the time we moved out of the rented premises, the stone god had a small home for itself was enclosed by three tiny walls and a roof.

I visited the area few days on the occasion of Dasara (Dusshera in Hindi). The sight left me shocked. The banyan tree was no more. Instead there was this ugly looking huge temple structure, occupying the entire footpath and encroaching upon the road. Outside the temple was a queue. A queue so long that it would have taken an hour to enter the temple for darshan. The streets were dotted with flower shops and puja offerings. There were beggars too.

Now this is what I call economic development. From a ubiquitous stone, someone built this huge temple structure. And now people were queuing up outside! It provided livelihood to scores of people who sold religious wares outside, and also a gang of beggars who would chase you until you pay them.

Never mind the obstructions in traffic or the unclean kept surroundings. This is the age of neighborhood school, neighborhood supermarket and neighborhood God. No longer do we have to visit places far away, there are facilities everywhere, making it so convenient.

Soon a temple trust would be formed to legally squander the money people offered to God. Nobody is concerned about the fate of the money they donate to temples. We have been taught not to question something that is a matter of faith. Nonsense! Building and running a temple is the best profession. Selfish this may sound, but prove me wrong.

Excerpts:

Me: Where the hell are you?
Friend: eh?
Me: I’m trying to call for past 2 days, you are unreachable.
Friend: ah! Yes I know. I switched my cell phone off. Sorry!
Me (puzzled): Why?
Friend: Ok listen to this. 3 days back, I updated my resume on a couple of online job portals (such as naukri.com, jobsahead.com, monsterindia.com, timesjobs.com, jobsdb.com). Ever since I did that, I’m continuously getting phone calls from several software companies. Gauge this: In morning alone I got 8 lucrative offers. I’m unable to focus on my work anymore.
Me (stunned): huh!
Friend: And these are not emerging companies, these are the big boys. You know that software companies are on expansion spree and they are frantically grabbing every bit of talent they can. Apart from the phone calls, I’m also getting more emails that I can read – not just from Mumbai but from the other software hubs too: Pune. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. I’m simply deleting them.
Me: oh my god!
Friend: Frankly I’ve lost count, I don’t know who wants to hire me for which position and responsibilities.
Me: err.. ummm… ugh… zzz…
Friend: That’s why I switched off my cell phone. I’m not prepared to handle this.
(translated into English from a mix of Marathi, Hindi and English)

This is a real situation. If I stand on the street today and announce ‘I don’t have a job’, ten people will gather around and place handsome offers. For those who are working in booming sectors like software, BPO’s, Engineering and Construction etc, you are offered a job even if you are not actively looking for one.

Today, a student graduating from any engineering college, having passed the entrance test is assured of a high paying job for a long time. However, few of these freshers or trainees stay in the company for over two years. They are easily lured away by promising job offers, one after another. The average time an employee spends in a company has declined to alarming limits, and the HR (Human Resources) team is fighting a losing battle to retain the talent.

Attrition has been a major problem of the IT (Information Technology) and ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) since past several years. Giants like Infosys, Wipro, TCS etc complain of steep attrition rates haunting their companies. This trend has silently crept into sectors other than IT too. The salaries may not be as high, but the supply – demand ratio is a miniscule fraction. How do you get out of this?

You can’t. Can you?

So where does this take us? (To be elaborated in another post.)

The problem of plenty is real. And not all of it is a healthy sign in the long run.

Q: Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?
A: Because they had weapons of mass destruction.

Q: But the inspectors didn’t find any weapons of mass destruction?
A: That’s because the Iraqis were hiding them.

Q: And that’s why we invaded Iraq?
A: Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.

Q: But after we invaded them, we STILL didn’t find any weapons of mass destruction, did we?
A: That’s because the weapons are so well hidden. Don’t worry, we’ll find something, probably right before the 2004 election.

Q: Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?
A: To use them in a war, silly.

Q: I’m confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use in a war, then why didn’t they use any of those weapons when we went to war with them?
A: Well, obviously they didn’t want anyone to know they had those weapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than
defend themselves.

Q: That doesn’t make sense. Why would they choose to die if they had all those big weapons with which they could have fought back?
A: It’s a different culture. It’s not supposed to make sense.

Q: I don’t know about you, but I don’t think they had any of those weapons our government said they did?
A: Well, you know, it doesn’t matter whether or not they had those weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway.

Q: And what was that?
A: Even if Iraq didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another country.

Q: Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to invade his country?
A: Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.

Q: Kind of like what they do in China?
A: Don’t go comparing China to Iraq. China is a good economic competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops and help make U.S corporations richer.

Q: So if a country lets its people are exploited for American corporate gain, it’s a good country, even if that country tortures people?
A: Right.

Q: Why were people in Iraq being tortured?
A: For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government. People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Isn’t that exactly what happens in China?
A: I told you, China is different.

Q: What’s the difference between China and Iraq?
A: Well, for one thing, Iraq was ruled by the Ba’ath party, while China is Communist.

Q: Didn’t you once tell me Communists were bad?
A: No, just Cuban Communists are bad.

Q: How are the Cuban Communists bad?
A: Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Like in Iraq?
A: Exactly.

Q: And like in China, too?
A: I told you, China is a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other hand, is not.

Q: How come Cuba isn’t a good economic competitor?
A: Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, the US government passed some laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with Cuba until they Stopped being Communists and started being capitalists like us.

Q: But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and started doing business with them, wouldn’t that help the Cubans become capitalists?
A: Don’t be smart.

Q: I didn’t think I was being one.
A: Well, anyway, they also don’t have freedom of religion in Cuba.

Q: Kind of like China and the Falun Gong movement?
A: I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he’s not really a legitimate leader anyway.

Q: What’s a military coup?
A: That’s when a military general takes over the government of a country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the United States.

Q: Didn’t the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?
A: You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is our friend.

Q: Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?
A: I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.

Q: Didn’t you just say a military general who comes to power by forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an illegitimate leader?
A: Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he helped us invade Afghanistan.

Q: Why did we invade Afghanistan?
A: Because of what they did to us on September 11th.

Q: What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?
A: Well, on September 11th, nineteen men – fifteen of them Saudi Arabians – hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings, killing over 3,000 Americans.

Q: So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?
A: Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.

Q: Aren’t the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off people’s heads and hands?
A: Yes, that’s exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off people’s heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.

Q: Didn’t the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars back in May of 2001?
A: Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a good job fighting drugs.

Q: Fighting drugs?
A: Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing opium poppies.

Q: How did they do such a good job?
A: Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban would have their hands and heads cut off.

Q: So, when the Taliban cut off people’s heads and hands for growing flowers, that was OK, but not if they cut people’s heads and hands off for other reasons?
A: Yes. It’s OK with us if radical Islamic fundamentalists cut off people’s hands for growing flowers, but it’s cruel if they cut off people’s hands for stealing bread.

Q: Don’t they also cut off people’s hands and heads in Saudi Arabia?
A: That’s different. Afghanistan was ruled by a tyrannical patriarchy that oppressed women and forced them to wear Burqas whenever they were in public, with death by stoning as the penalty for women who did not comply.

Q: Don’t Saudi women have to wear Burqas in public, too?
A: No, Saudi women merely wear a traditional Islamic body covering.

Q: What’s the difference?
A: The traditional Islamic covering worn by Saudi women is a modest yet fashionable garment that covers all of a woman’s body except for her eyes and fingers. The Burqa, on the other hand, is an evil tool of patriarchal oppression that covers all of a woman’s body except for her eyes and fingers.

Q: It sounds like the same thing with a different name.
A: Now, don’t go comparing Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are our friends.

Q: But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were from Saudi Arabia.
A: Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan.

Q: Who trained them?
A: A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.

Q: Was he from Afghanistan?
A: Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very bad man.

Q: I seem to recall he was our friend once.
A: Only when we helped him and the Mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.

Q: Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald Reagan talked about?
A: There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call them Russians now.

Q: So the Soviets – I mean, the Russians – are now our friends?
A: Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to support our invasion of Iraq, so we’re mad at them now. We’re also mad at the French and the Germans because they didn’t help us invade Iraq either.

Q: So the French and Germans are evil, too?
A: Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French fries and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.

Q: Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn’t do what we want them to do?
A: No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade.

Q: But wasn’t Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?
A: Well, yeah. For a while.

Q: Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?
A: Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him our friend, temporarily.

Q: Why did that make him our friend?
A: Because at that time, Iran was our enemy.

Q: Isn’t that when he gassed the Kurds?
A: Yeah, but since he was fighting against Iran at the time, we looked the other way, to show him we were his friend.

Q: So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically becomes our friend?
A: Most of the time, yes.

Q: And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an enemy?
A: Sometimes that’s true, too. However, if American corporations can profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time, all the better.

Q: Why?
A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America also, since God is on America’s side, anyone who opposes war is a godless un-American Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked Iraq?

Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
A: Yes.

Q: But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?
A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him what to do.

Q: So basically, what you’re saying is that we attacked Iraq because George W Bush heard voices in his head?
A: Yes! You finally understand how the world works. Now close your eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.

Good Night, Dad….!

Left front (CPI, CPM and other communist parties) constitutes a significant chunk of the ruling UPA alliance governing the centre. Right wing BJP led NDA is the main opposition party. The role of the opposition party is to keep the policies of the ruling government in check and question the basis of all decision making. At the same time, the opposition raises a stand on various issues and debates with the government before the parliament agrees on a proposal. A weak opposition will result in irresponsible governance. Parliamentary democracy gives importance to both – the ruling and the opposition.

Of late the Left parties have taken over the role as the main opposition. BJP is tied up trying to cope up with the mess in its own house. It does launch token protests, but they are out of sync and don’t reflect a firm stand of the party on any issue. Latest example is the issue raised by NDA over the proposed disinvestments in NALCO. While in power, it was the NDA government who proposed offloading equity from this profit making PSU. Now it’s the same NDA, which is opposing the proposal bitterly. Another example was the meek protests few weeks back over fuel price hike. I remember the previous NDA government defending the price rise when it raised the fuel prices.

The Left on the other hand has been consistent with its policies; I’m not judging right or wrong (that will be another post). They are against liberalization and disinvestments in profit-making PSU’s. They are against passing the rising oil import costs to the consumer. They oppose FDI in retail and want to stick to protectionist labor laws of the 60’s. It’s a different story that the Leftist government in West Bengal under Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is running with a capitalist agenda.

Yet, the stand taken by the communists is steady, while the BJP is in a state of complete disarray. Remember Indira Gandhi’s gesture of sending Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the leader of opposition to UN back in 1971, which has become a shining example of Indian democratic setup and role played by a responsible opposition?

Part of the government itself is playing the opposition today, which was anyways inevitable, because the Congress is more similar to BJP than Leftists! Where is the real opposition today?