THE SCIENTIFIC TERRORIST

When I think about our country, there are several things that come to my mind. Be it our culture, heritage, food or history – we are unique and special in every way. But the one thing that stands out in my mind is our intellect! Creativity, knowledge and genius always abound in our land. Be it for the mathematical zero, our engineering genes, insane GMAT scores or a slightly overkill IT wizardry, our nerdiness is quite renowned across the globe. But then there comes the bewildering paradox. History doesn’t do justice to our intellectual legacy. Neither do we!

Ask a child to name a few scientists and (s)he will go Einstein, Newton, Edison and so on. Ask elder intellectuals and the list might find some additions like Darwin, Tesla, Madam Curie, Da Vinci and say a few more. Trust me, if someone manages to mention J.C. Bose, Ramanujam, C.V.Raman or Homi Bhabha then I would be over the moon. Rewind your memory to the science textbooks of your 10^th or 12^th standard and you will see my point. Did we read about Har Gobind Khorana’s Nobel Prize for cracking the genetic code? May be! May be not! Have you heard of “Boson” named after the legendary S.N.Bose? Probably not! How much mention was there about Vikram Sarabhai? Sure we find a snippet here and a citation there. But nothing beyond that!

My point is two fold. One: we don’t celebrate our scientists enough. Two: We don’t make them enough any more either! And for sure lack of potential or caliber is not the reason for the latter. We live in a land extraordinaire. Here we can find an entire spectrum of people ranging from extraordinarily brilliant, capable and sincere all the way down to extraordinarily numb, dumb and corrupt. This is one kind of diversity our country can live without. And in this vast jungle of herbs and weeds interspersed by beautiful trees and carnivorous pitchers, even the noblest of intentions and most cerebral of ideas can disappear without a trace caught in the quicksand of something we have always been famous for: “Officialdom”!

While there are several obstacles to science in our country including our current higher education system and the social perception of professional education (I intend to write about the lack of societal respect for science, arts and humanities later), the single most dominant force that has straggled science for ages is the ubiquitous and obnoxiously recalcitrant Indian bureaucracy and red tape. We all know about this perennial curse that continues to demoralize our spirits in many ways and in many fields but the maladies suffered by science at the hands of this demon are so prosaic and debilitating that the resulting casualties are countless!

Does the name Dr.Subhas Mukherjee (Mukhopadhyay) ring a bell? If it does, you are elite and if it doesn’t; then you are not alone! He is an unsung, forgotten hero who didn’t get anything he deserved and most certainly didn’t deserve anything he got! Dr.Subhas Mukhrjee was the creator of India’s first and world’s second test tube baby, a great mind and the inventor of a modern miracle, a concept that revolutionized the lives of millions of childless couples. This man’s remarkable vision created the first life outside the womb.

There were just 67 days between the births of the first test tube baby (Louise Brown – born 25th July 1978) pioneered by Robert G.Edwards and the second (Durga – 3rd October 1978) brought to life by Dr.Subhas Mukherjee. Both Subhas and Robert were great scientists, doctors and legends who independently gave the world “In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)”. But the similarities end there. Dr.Robert Edwards won the Nobel Prize for his achievement in 2010 while Dr.Subhas hanged himself to death in 1981. His suicide note read: "I can't wait everyday for a heart attack to kill me."

While Dr.Edwards’s efforts were quickly recognized and glorified by his country, an ‘expert committee’ was appointed by the Government of West Bengal under the medical association and he was tried like a convict. His crimes: he did the impossible with bare minimum apparatus; he didn’t get it cleared by pandering to the so-called experts and bureaucrats; he was righteous and not subservient. Hence, for these heinous crimes, he was awarded with social ostracization and bureaucratic reprimand which left a permanent scar in his heart. The committee denounced all his claims and achievements. He was denied leave to write a detailed report of his results and to attend a meeting in Japan to discuss his work. And he was further humiliated with a transfer to Institute of Ophthalmology as professor of electrophysiology. I don’t think a man can bear any more injustice and anguish. And his death has left a permanent scar on our society!

A few years later in 1986, T.C. Anand Kumar created Harsha, India’s first official test tube baby. And miraculously in 1997, he got to see the research documents and hand-written notes of Dr.Subhas. After meticulously scrutinizing and having discussions with Durga’s parents, he became certain that Subhas was indeed the architect of first human test tube baby in India. Dr.Anand Kumar’s commendable and selfless efforts restored his due place in India’s medical history in 2001 (20 long years later) when the Indian Council of Medical Research finally acknowledged his contributions. It takes a great man to give away greatness and glory of such magnitude to someone else. But the greatness of Dr.Anand Kumar further magnifies the apathy and graveness of the situation.  But for him, we wouldn’t even know of Dr.Subhas’s genius! I am borrowing Kamal Hasan’s funny lines from a movie to say something very serious: “A terrific scientist was made to look like a scientific terrorist for 20 years!”

Science has come a long way and certainly there have been improvements as it is slowly chipping away from the clutches of bureaucracy. But rosy days are still far off. Namita, Subhas’s wife, frail and bed-ridden still yearns for the day she will see an Institute named after her husband whose only sign yet is a dust covered plaque and a listing in some governmental file. While his own country has abandoned him, the world continues to discover and honor him in little ways that bring some solace to my aching heart. The international scientist community is slowly accepting Dr Subhas Mukhopadhyay's claim and recognizing India for producing the world's second test-tube baby. And Kanupriya Agarwal (alias Durga) is finally happy that some justice is being restored to her scientific father. This is just one of many instances and it has cost the nation a legend and a legend his life! I just hope I live to see the day when we give these greats their due respect and just let them change the world!

** Dr Mukhopadhyay's story was immortalised in the 1991 film Ek Doctor Ki Maut starring Pankaj Kapur and Shabana Azmi. (Watch it if you are interested)

Recognition:

http://www.drsubhasmukherjee.com/doctor_subhas_mukherjee_recognition.html

Other References:

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_it-s-official-kanupriya-s-india-s-first-test-tube-girl_210

http://www.ivf.net/ivf/the-pioneer-of-ivf-in-india-dr-t-c-anand-kumar-passes-away-o4845.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhash_Mukhopadhyay_(physician)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G._Edwards

ANATOMY OF A REVOLUTIONARY

According to me, this world is filled with extremists. There are those who practice materialism in its ugly form and go to any and every extent to exploit, manipulate and reduce others in their quest to unlimited wealth and most of the times glory as well. And then there are a select few (a bunch on the verge of extinction) who lead their lives as epitomes of selflessness and fight for all the people who are oppressed or denied their right to live. The world calls them “Revolutionaries”. These demigods normally lead a troubled but fulfilling life and die with no wealth and limited glory but find immortality in the hearts of all the people they touched and healed. And then there we are, caught in the middle, in no man’s land, leading a life of a dream interspersed with ambition. We want the wealth but our conscience comes in the way (hopefully) when it comes to exploiting others. We dream to be a messiah and fight for a cause but we lack the temerity, discipline and will to give ourselves up. Some people call it normal life; others ordinary!

We don’t have to look hard for the first type; ironically they are well documented and celebrated and for the third type, we only have to look inward. But what does a revolutionary look like? Well, pretty much like you and me, a little thinner and beaten down may be but not necessarily! He (or she) may be less educated than us but certainly more learned; most certainly well read with an eclectic passion for poetry; a consciousness driven more by moral values than materialistic incentives. He wears restlessness and anger on his sleeve and he fears death as much as we do though for different reasons. But there is just one thing that really defines a revolutionary: Love. It may sound ridiculous but it is the love and compassion for a fellow human being that makes a man fight. And he would most certainly have an insatiable hunger to explore the world which gives him a whole new perspective of life and wakes him up to the injustice around. A revolutionary would have most certainly seen the world before the world sees him!  

Until a week ago, the only thing I knew about Che Guevara was that he was an important figure in the Cuban revolution and the only image I had was a stylized visage from a famous photograph that can be seen everywhere worn as T-shirts by youngsters. I am not sure how many of them know his fascinating story, but I sure didn’t. And a small peek into his life tells you what a revolutionary is. But to me the story of how he became one is even more fascinating because it is not about heroic feats but about 2 lives with similar aspirations and dreams running in parallel for a while and how one metamorphoses into the other. Born in a well off and respectable family in Argentina, Ernesto Guevara was an intellectual right from his early days with great passion for poetry, literature and sport. He studied medicine and his hunger to explore the continent he had only known in books took him on an 8000 kilometer journey through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela and Panama that would fundamentally change how he viewed himself and Latin America.

Filled with restlessness and an impassioned spirit, fueled by love for the open road, accompanied by his best friend Alberto Marrero and an old motorcycle that peed oil, Ernesto embarks on a journey that would take him to the farthest reaches of human spirit. In Chile he has his first tryst with a patient when he abandons his date to examine an old lady and feels completely powerless as he sees a plea of forgiveness and solace in her dying eyes. Then he finds himself enraged by the working conditions of the miners in Anaconda copper mine. His overnight encounter with a persecuted communist couple in the Atacama Desert brings him face to face with flesh-and-blood victims of capitalist exploitation. In that cold night, amidst those tragic and haunting faces he starts to feel closer to the strange human race. The deeper he goes into the Andes Mountains, the more indigenous people he encounters who are homeless in their own land. Here the crushing poverty of the peasant farmers who worked small plots of land owned by wealthy landlords takes a heavy toll on him.

The world has already changed in his eyes when he and Alberto arrive at the San Pablo leper colony in Peru on the banks of the Amazon River. About 600 patients live on the South of the river while doctors and caretakers live in the North side. The segregation pains him. He and Alberto refuse to wear gloves and shake hands with patients who call them “real men”. He coaxes a young patient who has lost hope into operation by saying: “You have to fight for every breath and tell death to go to hell”. He sings and dances with them, plays football and literally lives with them. Their camaraderie and spirit make him wonder how the highest forms of human solidarity and loyalty arise and persist among such lonely and desperate people. On the day before they are supposed to move on with their journey, his birthday is celebrated on the North side. He decides that he has to celebrate it with the patients and not finding a boat, just swims across the Amazon fighting bouts of asthma, and lands in the arms of his loving patients. It was then he knew where he belonged. The journey went on, after hugs and an emotional good bye, but something changed inside him that day. 

That journey brought Ernesto in close contact with poverty, hunger, disease, injustice and inequality. He witnessed the inability of a father to treat a child because of lack of money and was pained by stupefaction provoked by the continual hunger and punishment that led the same father to accept the loss of a son as an unimportant accident. It was this journey that convinced him that in order to help these people, he needed to leave the realm of medicine, and consider the political arena of armed struggle. And this journey eventually kick started the journey of Che who would go on to change the way the world viewed Latin America. From that moment onward, every man or woman who trembled with indignation at injustice became his comrade!

WAVES OF PERIL

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I was rolling in the bed vetoing a 1 hour long debate about getting up or not. Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. I ignored it to be a dream as no one ever knocks my door but the knocking was persistent. I sauntered towards the door and opened it with my eyes and brain refusing to embrace the sad truth that I had actually woken up. And then I saw a man who looked faintly familiar but scary enough to give me the impression that he just walked out of a grave. His hair was long and shabby, his beard must at least be 6 months old and his fashion quotient would evoke the envy of a beggar. Lo behold! It was Professor Eisenkleiftovich. I jumped in joy as I was seeing him after I don’t know how long: eternity probably.

Me: What on earth happened to you Professor? You look terrible. Where were you all this while?

Prof: I was in Taiji and I nearly got myself killed.

Me: Taiji. That’s in Japan right. What were you doing there?

Prof: Yes. I was watching dolphins there.

Me: Why would anyone kill you for watching dolphins?

Prof: I was watching them die.

A shock wave went through me as I floundered for words. His eyes were unperturbed.

Prof: Tell me this. When you sit in that Sea World gallery and see a dolphin splitting the waters and soaring into the sky as it throws in a couple of somersaults on its way back, what do you feel? What goes through your mind when it comes near you and looks in your eye, beams at you and rubs its nose against yours?

Me: I feel elated and out of the world. I can see its happiness and love for us and the deep connect it shares with humans. Most of all, I am awed by its intelligence.

 

Prof: Well, I would certainly agree to your last statement. But you know what; a dolphin’s smile is nature’s greatest deception.

Me: Why do you say that? What is the problem with its smile?

Prof: That’s my point. When a dolphin is jumping and smiling, it is hard to see the problem. Dolphins are acoustic creatures and sound is their primary sense. The most advanced sonar ever build by humans is no match to the dolphin. It can scan and tell if one is pregnant in a minute. Such is its sensitivity to sound. Now you capture it and thrust it into a concrete tank and then you add a gallery full of screaming people to the agony. That dolphin that swims to you with a sweet smile and jumps to your whim and fancy is enduring extreme levels of stress at that very moment and eventually the stress kills it.

Me: I never knew that there is so much desperation behind that innocent smile. I hate you Professor. I will never be able to go to Sea World again. But you didn’t tell why you went to Taiji?

Prof: Taiji is a small town with a big secret. It is the largest supplier of dolphins to marine parks across the world. And do you know how they catch them?

Me: I guess I don’t want to know. But you will tell me anyways, right. So go ahead.

Prof: The fishermen wait in their boats along the migratory routes of dolphins, immerse long poles with a flange on the bottom and bang on the poles with hammers essentially creating a wall of sound to terrify the dolphins. They swim for their lives to the shores of Taiji and they reach the lagoons, shocked, stressed and freaked out, where they are sealed off into captivity. The next day dolphin trainers from around the world line up to select their Bottlenose Bobs. Each dolphin sells up to $150,000. Now that’s a lot of money!

Me: That is so atrocious. No wonder it is a multi billion dollar industry now. How heartless have we become?

Prof: Wait a minute. You haven’t even heard what happens to the dolphins that are not selected by the trainers?

I was almost about to shut my ears off as I could sense what was coming.

Prof: They are slaughtered; not killed; slaughtered and sold for their meat. They are taken around to a remote glistening cove where no one has access to and the fishermen kill them with their spears mercilessly. Well, you may ask me, what’s the big deal? We kill all sorts of animals for food. So why this hoopla about the dolphin? I am not saying man should not be carnivorous. Many animals are, and it is their choice. But show me people in this world who want to eat dolphin meat, can you?

Me: They don’t? Then why this heinous killing? I don’t understand.

Prof: Well, there are very few people in the world who eat dolphin meat by choice. The fishermen though, label it is as expensive whale meat or in some other form of disguise. If they label it as dolphin meat, they won’t find any takers. And the reason for that is dolphin meat is heavily laced with mercury which is highly toxic and lethal to our health.

Me: So just for a few extra bucks, these fishermen are not just killing the poor animal but also endangering a human’s life. Why can’t they just leave them alone!

Prof: You see man is the weirdest paradox that has ever walked the earth. We all have this desire to watch them, swim with them, hug them, kiss them, hold them and love them to death. And this endless desire is the ticket to their death and misery. Some people love and kill them while others love to kill them. You told me that you are awed by its intelligence. But don’t we always associate intelligence with humans and some aliens living in some far off wonderland we will never get to. Now, when you understand this non human intelligence of the dolphins, you will realize that they don’t really belong in captivity.

God had created a perfect universe: until he made man. And from that day on, God has never looked into the mirror.

P.S: About 23,000 dolphins are being killed in Japan every year. To learn more visit http://www.takepart.com/cove. And to witness the poor plight of the dolphins and the nefarious crime that goes on unnoticed, watch this documentary: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cove/

FOOD FOR SOUL

Moved by the plight of India’s poor, Mahatma Gandhi once said: “Poverty is the worst form of violence!”

What would you do when you see an old man, suffering from unbearably acute hunger, eats his own waste in an act of sheer helplessness? Some of us may feel immense pain and compassion, some could be indifferent, a few would feel anger at nature or those who left him suffer such a plight while others might curse the system or even God for his suffering. Narayanan Krishnan, an award-winning chef, gave up his elite job in Switzerland and decided to spend the rest of his life feeding and serving not just that old man, but many more destitute and helpless people who could not care for themselves! Chances are, you might not have heard about this man!

We all know that following our heart and doing what we love will bring a smile to our face. But what if following our heart leads us into the hearts of others and doing what we love gets us the love of several others! That gives one an experience of inner happiness and a sense of fulfillment never felt before. It brings a smile to our heart! That was what happened to Krishnan when he brought some food for that helpless old man and when the old man held his hand with longing eyes, Krishnan had found his calling!

Born into a stable and supportive family in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, he suffered none of the dehumanizing experiences he now strives to fight for. He graduated from Madurai Kamaraj University in 2002 with a degree in Hotel Management and Catering Science, and was well on his way to a successful career as an award-winning chef. Though that incident with the old man changed his life, seeds of compassion were sown in his heart very early. As a college student he often provided food to the hungry people along the roadsides of Madurai. When his father was once hospitalized, Krishnan shared the food he had brought with those in need. For Krishnan, these were highly emotional experiences that deepened his concern for the magnitude of human suffering endured by the poor and fueled his intent into positive energy towards providing them with food (material and spiritual) along with care and love.

When he had first fed the old man, he saw him consume the food at an inhuman speed which he had never seen before. It opened his eyes to the extent of unfathomable human suffering that exists around every one of us. That was when he decided that he would help people who could not help themselves. You would be pained to know how many people with mental disabilities or elderly people who can no more contribute to a family are driven away from homes and even worse abandoned in public places like markets, bus or railway stations. Krishnan committed himself to the care of the helpless, forsaken, mentally ill, old, sick, roadside destitute living and dying (or left to die)on the streets of Madurai. He decided that he would provide them healthy food, love and an opportunity to rehabilitate. He did not just want to alleviate their hunger. He wanted to restore their dignity!

He started off by buying food from roadside shops and vendors near the bus stand, railway station and other areas in central Madurai and provided it to about 25 people who were in desperate need. As the number of people he started serving grew, the effort and costs involved were getting out of control as well. It was when he connected the dots and it all came together beautifully! He was a master chef himself and it dawned on him that it would be more efficient, economical and most importantly, more fulfilling if he could prepare the food himself. That was how Akshaya’s Helping in H.E.L.P. Trust was formed in 2003. The name was chosen to signify that human compassion should never decay or perish.

The Trust has grown in stature and reputation steadily from its inception and has gradually increased the number of people it serves. Word of mouth, coverage in press/media and other forms of support have helped the foundation over time. From Krishnan’s meager start in 2002 until August, 2010 over 1.5 million meals have been served without missing a single meal – every day, three times a day, 365 days a year! That’s over eight years without holidays, vacations, sick days or mornings that are just too overwhelming to go to work today. Every day is a work day for Krishnan and the Akshaya volunteers. And it is not just food they provide. Krishnan carries a comb, scissors and razor and is trained in eight haircut styles. He gives a haircut along with a fresh shave to provide extra dignity to those he serves. And in addition to all this, he is also working towards building the Akshaya Home. The Akshaya Home is their long term goal and is intended towards providing safety, shelter and an environment for rehabilitation to the helpless homeless. He has a long way to go but he for sure will get there.

When Krishnan’s parents heard of his ambition to help the helpless they were not very amused. One day Krishnan invited his mother to join him on his daily trip. When she came back home she said: “You feed all those people, the rest of the lifetime I am there. I will feed you”.  And even today Krishnan says: “I'm living for Akshaya. My parents are taking care of me.” I have been following him and his story for a while now and his simplicity, dedication and resolve have moved me tremendously. To me, he is a man who has dedicated his life to remedy the greatest type of poverty that exists in this world: The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for!

Krishnan’s efforts were recognized by CNN (Watch the Video) and he was acknowledged as a: “CNN Top 10 Hero for the Year 2010”! And many more such awards ensued. But his greatest recognition every time is in the smile of the people he serves and the fact that he never goes to sleep before at least making one human being a little better or happier everyday makes me believe that true happiness comes only in making others happy!

References and Links in case you want to offer your support:

http://www.akshayatrust.org/

http://www.akshayatrust.org/akshaya_usa.php

FAST AND FURIOUS

Diwali is just round the corner. But this year the festive season has been preceded by a rather long fasting season. Anna Hazare is the talk of the town. Everyone under the sun is performing his or her own “Anna”tomy of corruption and what should and should not be done. TV channels and media can’t have enough of the man. Having an opinion about Anna Hazare (and not necessarily about corruption) is the latest fashion trend in India. Hazare is at the same time a “youth icon” who has revolutionized a whole nation as well as a sanctimonious right-wing tyrant so cloaked in his own virtue that he believes he is above the law. Some people talk about the silent war he has been waging for the last 2 decades against corruption in Maharashtra while others joke about his sudden claim to fame as a household name today. Some people feel empowered and are out on the streets. Others feel threatened and lambast his hooligan ways.

Our politicians may not be good at creating good business models but they are extremely good at copying a successful strategy and rehashing it to death. So they have already pirated Anna’s weapon (which was instead re-invented from Gandhi) and are coming up with their own personal marketing strategies. So post Anna phenomenon, we are witnessing a plethora of wannabe fasts (read “spectacles”) by BJP (spearheaded by none other than Mr.Narendra Modi) and Congress. Now I can understand that Congress went into the fast because Modi did so. But I don’t get why Modi is fasting and that too for 3 days. Well, no cake for his birthday at least!

And media as usual is having field day after field day covering every such event to its most intricate detail comparing and contrasting them with star-studded debate panels. That is all about these popular fests.. sorry fasts. Now I want to direct your attention to a woman who has been fasting for the last 10 years and we have barely noticed her. She is “Irom Sharmila”, the world’s longest hunger striker, who has completed 10 years of fasting against human rights abuses in Manipur and is determined to continue until death.

Irom Sharmila has been on a hunger strike since November 2, 2000 seeking the Government of India to repeal the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which has been the cause for violence and grave injustice in Manipur and other parts of North-East India. The event that triggered this innocent girl to give up food forever (until now) was the “Malom Massacre” where 10 civilians (which included a 62 year old woman and an 18 year old Child bravery award winner) were killed while waiting at a bus stop by the Assam rifles in an encounter with militants.
      

Manipur is a state of turmoil, where violence has been implanted forever by continuing insurgency and a draconian state. Insurgents largely made of criminal gangs have been demanding autonomy from India while authorities have made the state as militarized as Kashmir. This gave rise to the AFSPA, a legislation to give police a license to kill as well as complete immunity from prosecution. The AFSPA allows the army to use force, shoot or arrest anyone without warrant on the mere suspicion that someone has committed or was about to commit a cognizable offence. The Act also prohibits any legal or judicial proceeding against army personnel without the sanction of the Central Government. Now as every autocratic law has its causalities, this one also has resulted in plenty of extra-judicial executions, rape and torture of innocents.

All this has led to a decade long struggle by a determined woman who has waited patiently and painfully for the nation to hear her voice. Three days after she began her strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with an "attempt to commit suicide" and then kept alive in custody through the use of “nasogastric intubation” or force-feeding. Since then, Irom Sharmila has been regularly released and re-arrested every year and has been force-fed through a nasal drip for a decade by the authorities. She spends her time in solitary confinement in a hospital ward (read “jail”) reading and writing poetry and hoping against hope that her fast unto death would end before her death and not in her death. Her determination is such that she hasn’t met her mother in all these 10 years and her mother says she will meet Sharmila after the demand is met. If this doesn’t move us to tears then God help us!      

She has been fighting death every day for the last 10 years and her fight has largely gone unnoticed while Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption became a “Second Freedom Struggle” for many in this nation. What is the difference between the fights of Anna and Sharmila? In simple terms it can be compared to the public response to India winning the Cricket World Cup as opposed to India winning the Hockey World Cup. It has nothing to do with the people leading the fight. Their motives are compelling, intentions strong and determination is rock solid. But what about the followers? While Anna has the whole nation behind him, few people in this country (and more people abroad) are familiar with Sharmila and her 10 year hunger strike. For the Indian urban middle class, Anna’s movement is a convenient bandwagon to jump on. For the Indian media, the geo-political insignificance of the North-East doesn’t translate to enough TRPs. And one fasting woman is not going to wake the Government up from its eternal slumber!

One of the reasons Irom Sharmila has gone so unnoticed is that the issue she is fighting for does not connect or resonate with the people of India whereas corruption instantly makes every citizen in India see red. We don’t care if a few innocent people were killed in the corner state of Manipur. But we all complain about the 50 rupees we have to pay to the traffic constable and how that is such a heinous crime and should be weeded out of our society. To me, Irom Sharmila’s cause is not as popular but is much more potent. I am not saying we shouldn’t fight corruption. All I am saying that this is an even bigger and nobler cause. It is a matter of life and death! (Literally) And all she needs is a bit of selfless support from us. I am sure it is not too hard to just raise a voice for her!

It is real irony that a man who is accused of being spectator to one of India’s greatest mass homicides is celebrating his birthday with a sham of a fast whereas a poor woman who is fasting for the last 10 years is constantly arrested on charges of attempted suicide. I don’t care about the former but I sincerely hope that the latter comes to an end sometime soon!

IN THE LAND OF GANDHI

Mahatma Gandhi was not the commander of huge forces, yet he was a very powerful man. He was thin and lanky but yet he could make many a bigger man go weak on his knees. He had the most simple yet utterly powerful weapon: the inherent goodness in his opponent. When you take every blow he dishes out with a smile on your face, no man is cruel enough to go on. Eventually he will be forced to stop and change his ways. This was his ideology which created a bloodless revolution to free an entire nation. Using this powerful weapon, he fought many evils and conquered most of them. He managed to unite the Indians, eradicate untouchability and most importantly he forced the British to leave. The only thing he could not avoid was the partition of India and Pakistan.  Till date, he is the national and international symbol of free India!

Well, people know enough about Gandhi and I am not here to educate you about the Mahatma. But the question I am trying to find an answer to is: “What has happened to Gandhi?” The sad truth is that though we remember Gandhi (primarily in our currency and on his birthday), his principles and ideals have long been forgotten. If we analyze a step further, not many people today agree with his principles. You may be shocked to hear this but I can assure you that not many people today believe that non violence, non cooperation or “satygraha” can win battles for you. They would say that it will not work in this age and you will get crushed by people who have the money and power to do anything. I assure you, most of the people in Gandhi’s time would also have thought the exact same way. Try to believe my last statement for a second. Then you will realize the true greatness of the man who led by example and mobilized an entire country to do something they would have never dared to do!

As we celebrate another year of independence, we cannot ignore a striking similarity between the India today and the India before Independence. There is a Gandhian movement that has been gaining a huge momentum for about a year now. But this time we are faced a much bigger enemy than the British: “Corruption”. Yes. By now, you would know that I am talking of Anna Hazare. I am sure a year ago corruption was just an afterthought. We would have dismissed it as being so prevalent and common-place.

But when shameless corruption seeps down to the lowest rung from the highest quarter, such an eventuality was just waiting to happen. All it need was the right man to take up the fight. Anna Hazare’s movement comes at a time when the all-pervasive nature of global capital and every man’s greed of power have created an ambience of corruption all over the world, laying bare the skeleton of a decaying system. And most importantly, it is the same forgotten and disregarded principle of the Mahatma, reinvented by Anna Hazare that has again united thousands of Indians against corruption.

So what is Anna fighting for? He is pioneering the Jan Lokpal Bill, an anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a completely transparent Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would investigate corruption cases and provide justice within 1 year. You can call it one kind of instant justice system (only seen till now in movies) where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint and his ill-gotten wealth would be confiscated. But most importantly, it seeks to create an autonomous all-powerful body that could prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without Government permission or intervention. Now all this and especially the last clause spels ominous signs to politicians.

Anna’s fast-unto-death made them yield some ground and a joint committee was formed to draft the bill. But that benevolence from the Government’s side did not last long. Differences arose, and both sides went ahead and drafted their versions of the Bill. The Government has introduced its side of the Bill in Parliament. And Anna planned to go on another fast-unto-death yesterday condemning the Government’s “Joke”-Pal Bill. The Government, clueless, confused and terrified, had him arrested and ironically put in the same jail as that of Suresh Kalmadi who is facing severe charges of corruption. No wonder the nation is at its boiling point!

The Government’s reactions to Hazare are no different than how British struggled to handle Gandhi. Today’s arrest of Anna is another victory to him and his followers in the battle against corruption. But unfortunately the similarities end there. Gandhi’s battle had a desirable and acceptable alternative to the British – a free country and an Indian rule. Anna’s fight doesn’t have that luxury. Sadly in today’s India, a fight against corruption is a fight against the Government. And we have an opposition which doesn’t even offer vocal support to Anna’s movement. They only use it as leverage against the ruling Government to score brownie points for the next election.

But still, that doesn’t undermine the success of Anna’s movement in any way. It has achieved 2 very important objectives. The people of the country are united against corruption and the Government is in utter panic. I strongly believe that this is a great start and that a time will come when manipulation of the masses will no longer be possible. I am sure we will soon see the demolition of the spectacle of corruption as part of a bigger political movement. And I am sure Anna will hang in there till then. And by doing so, he would have done something only one man has succeeded to do before!

THE DAY THEIR GODS DIED!!

We all live glorified lives without ever realizing how real pain, suffering and sacrifice could be. We are so self-indulgent that nothing can completely satisfy us. We crib at not getting a pay raise, we frown when gas prices go up and we are crest-fallen if we are not able to take that big summer vacation. We request God to fulfill every small (and silly) wish we ever have and more often than not complain that he doesn’t do enough for us. But many of us do not realize that there are people who live in such despair and misery that would make our lives look trivial. Once we hear their stories, we will be grateful for the wonderful lives that we were blessed with and hopefully angry for the lives that were stolen from them.

Girl trafficking in Nepal is one such heinous act that rips apart the lives of so many young girls and women.  Gina was sold into sexual slavery at the tender age of 7. She was raped by 14 men and beaten with sticks and aluminum rods. Anita was lured by a friend and sold to a brothel at 12. She was threatened with being buried alive and forced into compliance. Maili was seized at the age of 19 with her infant daughter who was used as “insurance” to prevent Maili from fleeing. Jyoti was trafficked at the age of 12, raped, choked and forced to drink alcohol to break her resistance. There are so many such horror stories that you will need a lifetime to listen to all of them.

The child sex trade in Nepal is a highly organized syndicate that rivals the drug trade in profitability. There is a well-developed supply chain which runs from recruiters and smugglers who catch girls from villages in Nepal and transport them all the way up to urban brothel owners in Nepal and India who enslave them and corrupt policemen who help legalize the business. Heartless hungry men who rape and infect these girls complete the chain. And everyone else in this chain profits except these poor girls who pay the price with their bodies first and then later with their lives (80% get infected by HIV). For most of these girls, their Gods deserted them at a very early age.

I have always been amazed by people who dedicate their entire lives for the cause of others. How many of us can live one selfless day? Imagine doing that your entire life and you will realize the value of such a life. One such crusader is waging a battle against these traffickers and its corrupt nexus to save innocent girls from an experience that is worse than death. Ms.Anuradha Koirala started Maiti Nepal in a small house in Kathmandu with her own savings. Today she is a widely recognized activist and lecturer who has dedicated her life to combating the sexual exploitation of women and children. She is supported by her volunteers in Maiti, Nepal most of whom are rescued young women. They watch borders and prevent pimps from crossing over with innocent girls. They collaborate with local officials and others inside brothels to rescue girls. They create safe havens for these girls and slowly heal their physical and mental scars. The rescued girls spend their time in the healing center where they learn skills and participate in arts programs that rebuild their spirits. And the lesser fortunate AIDS-infected girls have a place where they can die with dignity. 

But sadly, this small movement still is no match to the powerful criminal elements and their political connections. There are still so many girls who live in a world seldom known to outsiders and suffer death every single day. Sad indeed when so much more could be done by all of us for their cause. Anuradha says, "Society rejects me and my girls, but they are the most important thing in my life." It is high time that we all embrace Anuradha and Maiti, Nepal and join her crusade to help young innocent girls live their lives the way they deserve to!