Social media has clearly given people the means to stand up and speak their minds

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What is the link between Anna Hazare and the Arab Spring? Apparently none but on closer look one finds that they are bound by social media. Twitter was a key means of communication for protesters in the Arab Spring revolts this year. Facebook and twitter are the signposts of the Anna Hazare movement in India. Little wonder then that Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal has bought a stake in micro-blogging site Twitter for $300 million. This could well be touted as the next ‘revolution’. The Internet and mobile phone have become the tool of the new wave of social activism. If Subranshu Chowdhury sitting in Raipur can use the mobile phone to give farmers practical information, so can Anna Hazare supporters use Twitter and Facebook to mobilise society in the ‘India against Corruption’ campaign. With more than 90,000 ‘likes’ on the India Against Corruption Facebook page and thousands of others lending online support via twitter and their website, Anna Hazare has become larger than life.

The lesson to be learnt from the social media scene this year is that it is a means of communication and it is a means of commerce. Seen another way, communication has become interactive, allowing participants to voice their feelings and opinion on the ether as also doing business. This is a phenomenon that could potentially change the nature of humankind interactions. Across India, small businessmen and farmers are using mobile phones to do their business. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak discovered that shutting down the internet to curb the protesters’ ability to communicate had disastrous effects on the economy.

True, social media is the in thing and even ‘occupy wall street’ movement is a creation of this media, but it does not mean that one can draw a straight line and predict its course. For social media to be a mass mobiliser other factors must be at play. As is seen in the case of Anna Hazare, social media helped in multiplying the sentiments of the urban populations across India who feel that Hazare is giving direction to their pent up feelings. People are not only taking to the streets in huge numbers but are taking to Facebook and Twitter to state their case. So those who are at work and cannot go to India Gate can at least tweet their support! Recent events demonstrate that even governments are worried about the rapid spread in the use of social media. Of course, it can be monitored or stopped like the Chinese have done. But the power of communication is strong and transcends national boundaries. The only worry is that all positives do not emerge from the use of social media. The racial riots in London in 2011 were evoked by the use of private Blackberry messaging. It was the most popular medium through which the rioters communicated. Keep in mind that social media technologies today mean more than just text messages and tweets. Nearly 500 years ago, Martin Luther took the new media of their day – print – pamphlets, ballads and woodcuts, and circulated them through social networks to promote their message of religious reform.

Revolutions are of many kinds and the present one is indicative that technology can be a driving force. But it appears that in the Arab Spring, it was only a tool not the causative factor. Recent events in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Middle East are eruptions of popular feeling whose symbolic beginning can be traced to 2003 when the Iraqi people pulled down a statue of Saddam Hussein. In other words, causative factors vary from time to time but social media gives those in the midst of the revolution the means to articulate their views. In Egypt, out of a population of 85 million, only five per cent people use Facebook and one per cent use Twitter.

The advantage with social media technology is that it allows users to replicate a particular message or cause manifold by simply pressing a button. Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia can immolate himself in protest of a corrupt regime and impact his own people as well as neighbours in Egypt – thanks to the ways in which video was captured and transmitted via mobile phones before being picked up by non-State-run television channels. A repeat of Tiananmen Square protests today would have a different story to tell altogether. Therefore, at the end of 2011 when we sit back and look at the score card, we find that on the balance, positives emerging from the social media revolution are quite high and present the new face of democracy. That social media has given people the means to stand up and speak their minds is now clear. The past tells us that each time such media are used change has occurred. However, the verdict is still out on whether this revolutionary tool can bring about regime change. (The views expressed by the author are personal)

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Bhagavad Gita controversy reflects the West’s inexperience in sustaining a multi-religious society

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The controversy over banning of Bhagavad Gita by Russia came as a shock especially when this scripture has never been used as a tool, globally, to instigate any feeling of hatred or violence. Consequently, it was followed by a series of protests in India.

Bhagavad Gita is a holy scripture for Hindus and a source of knowledge and wisdom for other communities in the world. Thus, the effort to malign it is not only an insult to a particular community but also displays feeling of religious intolerance. It all began when a petition was filed in June 2011 by a group associated with the Christian Orthodox Church in a court in Siberia’s Tomsk city to ban Bhagavad Gita on the pretext of it being an 'extremist' scripture that preaches war rather than peace. This comes as a contradiction to the Christian philosophy which is a widely practised religion across the West and is deemed as a religion of peace and tolerance by the followers.

On the hindsight, the entire scripture may be seen as a philosophy of war. But what the Russians missed out is that Gita is more about how an ideal life should be led and on the dilemma between the truth and the vice that a human faces in his daily life.

The West has always had a sense of disregard for other religions and relies more on half-baked reasoning. France has banned wearing head scarf for Muslim women. Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published the caricature of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The court has suspended the petition till December 28 and it has referred Gita to Tomsk State University for examination. But the University currently has no experts on Hindu philosophy, culture, and religion.

Needless to say, there is an uproar in India and there are valid reasons for the same. Russia is India's close ally for decades. Ironically, the incident occurred at a time when prime minister Manmohan Singh was on a diplomatic tour to Russia. This controversy raises concerns with regard to minority rights and religious freedom in Russia in the long run. The West has on and off taken such steps fearing minority uprising and to curb any potential threat. Religious tolerance and diversity is perhaps one thing the East can teach the "knowledgeable" West.

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MNREGA and social service

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MNREGA can be a cost effective tool for disaster management in India

MNREGA in its present form is confined to the work of bricks and mud only. The ambit of the scheme involves construction of roads and digging ponds and lakes. However, the potential of the scheme has not been fully explored as yet. Since India does not have a well defined disaster management mechanism, the cost effective measures of disaster management can be seamlessly synchronised with the existing policies such as MNREGA.

It goes without saying that disasters come with heavy economic and social losses. As per a World Bank report, by the year 2100, damages from such calamities in India may go up to one billion dollars annually. And, here we have not taken into consideration the losses due to climate change. One can imagine the plight of Indians especially in a scenario when most of the mitigation measures are found grossly inadequate – more so for the rural India.

Around 3.3 million deaths have occurred directly due to these hazards in the last three decade. Despite government's interventions, losses have tripled in this period. As per the ministry of home affairs, cumulative loss from such natural calamities was around $48 billion during the same period.

It is a clear case of misplaced priorities resulting in displaced outcomes since government expenditures on preventive measures are significantly lower than allocations on disaster control and relief. Thus, it becomes imperative to develop an effective mechanism for prevention that can eventually lower vulnerability from such calamities.

The technology intensive model of disaster management practised by the developed world is still not practically viable in our country due to inadequate infrastructure. This is where the MNREGA scheme could be extremely beneficial. We can exploit our demographic dividend in mitigation efforts in all rural areas that are prone to disasters. This would not only be cost-effective but also allow timely intervention.

Take for instance the coastal areas of Kosi river in Bihar that are severely affected by flood every year. The pool of workforce under MNREGA could be used for the construction of dams, water reservoirs and digging more ponds in order to prevent floods. Similar activities should be replicated all across the coastal areas of India under MNREGA programmes. Similarly, to counter drought, projects like creation of canals and interconnecting rivers under could potentially be a breakthrough. Moreover, the presence of such a workforce at the local level would minimise post hazard losses.

MNREGA has only benefited people economically through job creation. It can be put to better use by using it simultaneously for disaster management and community services like waste management that can be performed by unskilled labours.

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Punjab's deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal proved his managerial skills..

Punjab's deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal proved his managerial skills when he commanded a demoralised Akali Dal-BJP alliance to power in the 2007 Assembly elections dislodging the Congress government headed by Capt. Amarinder Singh. As the state gears up again to go to the polls in early 2012, he exudes confidence in a conversation with Jagtar Singh

You had commanded SAD-BJP to victory in the last Assembly elections. In the Lok Sabha elections, too, your performance was above average. How serious is the challenge to retain power?

Elections are always a big challenge and I have always accepted challenges in my life. My strategy has always been based upon positive moves. In normal situations, I have distaste for negativism.

How do you view the situation?

In Punjab, it is a fight between pro-people and anti-people forces. Congress, ever since Independence, has been associated with excesses committed against Punjab and Punjabis. The list of excesses is long. On the other hand, SAD has always been regarded as a party of the masses, a symbol of Punjab and Punjabiyat. This is the cornerstone of the Akali Dal. Our party has always been in the vanguard of the fight to protect the interests of Punjabis. The present situation has to be assessed against the backgrounds of the two parties.

What would be the main plank of your alliance as you are also talking of Panthic issues like Sikh heritage memorials?

No community in the world can survive by neglecting its heritage. The history of the Sikhs, the most nascent religion in the world, is a saga of struggles and sacrifices. Our government took the initiative to preserve its heritage. We are going to the people seeking a mandate on our performance. The people should compare our performance with the five-year term of the last Congress government. We are much ahead in every sector of the economy.

Development during these five years has been unprecedented. 

Capt. Amarinder Singh has questioned both the vision of your government and performance.

It is ironic. It is his government that wrecked the education and health sectors. We inherited schools without teachers and infrastructure and hospitals without doctors. You may recall that the government used to openly talk of encouraging privatisation in these basic sectors. It used to be said people prefer private schools to government schools. We have reversed that situation. We have not facilitated private investment at the cost of public sector. We have tried to carry both the sectors along. We recruited doctors for dispensaries and teachers for schools. Our Adarsh school scheme has been emulated by the government at the Centre also. This would not have been possible had there been no vision and initiative.

The election campaign is becoming vicious and bitter with personal accusations and allegations.

We have always opposed such bitterness in electioneering. Campaigning has to be on issues. The problem with Capt. Amarinder Singh is that he and his party lack positive issues. My father has been in public life for more than 50 years and never has anybody heard any harsh word from him for political opponents. When our picture hugging each other appeared in a national newspaper, the signal that emanated was very positive. The people thought the bitterness was over and the next election would be contested on issues. However, Capt. Amarinder Singh thought it might weaken his campaign and within days, he reverted to his old style.

He has been accusing your family of corruption.

We faced court cases that were filed by Capt. Amrinder Singh’s government. It is the court which has discharged us. That only proves that the cases were politically motivated. After doing my Master’s in business management from the US, I ventured into business and succeeded. On the other hand, Capt. Amarinder Singh failed in business and defaulted on bank loans. The banks pasted a notice on the gate of his Moti Bagh residence in Patiala. It is he who owes an explanation to the people about the turnaround in his financial fortunes.

Do you perceive any threat from the People’s Party of Punjab of your estranged cousin Manpreet Singh Badal who has joined hands with the Communists and an Akali splinter group to form Sanjha Morcha?

Sanjha Morcha is no threat to the Akali Dal-BJP alliance. The support base of the Left has been shrinking over the years. None of these parties has representation in the outgoing Assembly. They are nonentities. Manpreet has no base of his own. Sanjha Morcha will be completely wiped out. Manpreet would not be able to retain even his own seat which he has won four times as the Akali Dal candidate. Going by past voting behaviour, his party might rather affect the Congress in the sense that the minuscule section of disgruntled Akalis, as is always the case with the ruling party, might vote for the Sanjha Morcha. They might have otherwise voted for the Congress.

How come you are so hopeful of breaking the pattern of the Akali Dal and Congress alternately returning to power in Punjab?

Our motto has been ‘Raj Nahin Seva’. The concept of Akali Dal has always been to serve the people and not rule over the state. Our government has provided dignified access to government services to the people through the all-encompassing Right to Service Act, which covers a total of 67 services which are now being provided to the people in a time-bound manner. No other state has enacted such a comprehensive legislation. There is a wave in favour of the SAD-BJP alliance.

ARE FILM FESTIVALS A WASTE OF TIME & PUBLIC MONEY?!

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As IFFI, Goa drew to a close on December 3, one heard veiled whispers of “Boss, mazaa nahi aaya; koi dhang ka Bollywood star tha hi nahin!” to “yaar, pata nahin kyun yeh festival karte hain! Do din baad, it's back to Bollywood, the hungama about The Dirty Picture and whether the Khans still rule supreme… kaun yaad rakhega these vague French, Belgian and Iranian directors? It's back to square one. What a waste of time and tax-payers' money! Mere hisaab se it's nothing more than a phoney, pretentious dikhawa of celebrating cinema as an art form and attracting global film personalities so that India can show the world that she too is capable of hosting big-ticket Film Festivals! Bakwaas! Sirf Carnival, picnic, drama, nothing else!”

Reputed, respected, veteran film critic Saibal Chatterjee – first off the block – refuses to keep silent and reacts with all cylinders firing! “It is these kind of brain-dead responses that instantly places and positions India as a solid Third World dump! How totally regressive and culturally-challenged!” Chatterjee explains with rare candour and knowledge. “Let's get one thing straight. Film Festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin) were never meant for the aam aadmi, the hoi polloi umbilically wedded to mainstream commercial (Bollywood potboilers)! It was meant essentially as a B-to-B initiative… a celebration of the best of world cinema for the cognoscenti and film industry to expose them to every aspect of cinema as an art form, a vehicle that entertains and enriches even as it empowers. Students from film schools, technicians, writers and directors continue to throng those meets to see, awe-struck, what cinema can do to the human mind and where it has gone as a medium of stunning creativity.” Chatterjee believes that it started out right (in 1952, when India hosted her first international film festival in Delhi, a huge success !) and across decades has been solely responsible for giving us Rays, Ghataks and Benegals as well as the glorious parallel cinema of the seventies and eighties. Tragically, in the last few decades, changing times, crazy consumerism and the overwhelming influence of Bollywood has hijacked the heart – and focus – of these wonderful festivals, rendering them a kind of arty-look for a niche crowd looking for something away from mainstream. While that’s partly true, its basic intent to cater to professionals of the film industry and lovers of good cinema, seems to have gone under a cloud, inviting the kind of silly comments one just heard. It's sad that the guys who need to be exposed to quality cinema the most – Bollywood, whose idea of great cinema appears to be Rockstar and The Dirty Picture – are the ones who hardly visit, except for tokenism or publicity!

Kalyan Sarkar agrees wholeheartedly. The ex-FTII student (early 80s) of camera and direction – presently Dean, Cinema Studies AAFT, Noida – is shocked at the mindset of these anpadh ganwaars! “Waste of time and tax-payers' money? What do these people do with their precious time anyway… read crap, watch those dumbed-down TV serials or drool over the latest Bollywood entertainers? As for tax-payers' money, can you even begin to compare film festivals to the fabulous scams of recent times, (involving lakhs of crores) or the pathetic indifference to basic infrastructure like roads, power etc? And what budgets are we talking about? Film festivals cost a pittance compared to other (Commonwealth Games?) shows and bring so much cultural and intellectual value to their basic mission of exposing people to quality cinema from all parts of the globe. Initiating them into an alternative space, beyond the usual formulaic fare, which educates, informs, provokes and moves the heart while challenging the brain. Also, festivals offer a matchless platform to gifted – but struggling – directors, actors, writers, technicians (without any bloodline connect to the biggies of the industry) to showcase their talent and move on to bigger things.”

Collegian Vikram Behl begs to differ. “Art? Culture? Alternative space? What total humbug! Film festivals celebrate fakes and phonies who – with some exceptions – use precious funds to present their weird, whacky, tortured, crazed vision of life and the world to an unguarded audience who are scathed for life!” Behl believes most of it is neither entertaining nor remotely enriching but “just plain exercises in confusion-ridden, creative self-indulgence. Artistic masturbation! Scrap these damn festivals and National Awards frequently dotted with jury members with zilch qualifications and riddled with politics!

Gimme solid, unpretentious entertainment any day. As for figuring out the meaning of life and stuff, I don’t have to go to those peddlers of corny arthouse stuff, okay? Actually, these film festivals have become this big, cultural and intellectual fashion statement. It makes for great drawing room conversation and gives you this superior animal-aura – the zara hatke culturally-driven creature who views cinema as an agent of change!”

Strong words, huh? So what gives? Are film festivals really unnecessary, irrelevant, art-farty products that pop out once a year to cater to a niche crowd, living in a world of its own with its very special and unique vision, values and agenda? Or are they passionate, progressive symbols (amidst a dangerously complacent, self-congratulatory and regressive landscape) of liberal, humanitarian values embracing simple, startling solutions to an evolved constituency who have eyes to see, a mind to think and a heart to feel? Flashes of truth at 24 seconds per frame?Portraits reflecting sensitivity of the disfranchised of this world and reaffirmation of faith in the human condition....a cinema of artistic sincerity and social significance? Young Behl’s irreverent blast not withstanding (it is a free country, remember?!), if the crowds that throng these meets – across every city that holds their own film festivals – are any indication, these events are neither a waste of time nor money, but a relentless and focused movement forever trying to extract some semblance of order out of the chaos that seems to have totally corrupted the youngest of the art forms – Cinema!

More power to its effort!

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GRANTA: Horror and its many guises

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Granta 117: Autumn 2011

Horror

Distributed in India by Penguin

Edition: Paperback

Pages: 256

Price: Rs 699

isbn: 9781905881369

The usual chills and spills aren’t in the mix. Granta’s anthology dedicated to horror collates short fiction, memoir, reportage, poetry and art in order to understand the genre and its many manifestations primarily through the prism of literature.

It certainly won’t psych you out of your wits. It isn’t that kind of anthology. But you might find a sense of unease run down your spine occasionally as a new way of looking at horror takes shape in your head.

Granta 117: Horror is more David Cronenberg than Wes Craven. It proffers no elaborate Gothic effects nor does it place any emphasis on gore although some of the pieces talk about the centrality of blood in stories, films and real-life situations designed to shock us and throw us off balance.

Instead, it explores the horrors of disease, death, war, violence, personal loss, obsession, and the onset of dementia, among other things, through different forms of expression.

There are some fine writers here – Paul Auster, Sarah Hall, Stephen King (can a horror anthology be complete without the grandee of the genre?) and the late Chilean novelist and poet Roberto Bolano.

Not to say that the other contributors are any less significant. The writing is of a consistently high quality: original, insightful and, most importantly, gripping. And the range is quite astounding.

The Infamous Bengal Ming is darkly hilarious and wildly inventive. Taken from Indian-American writer Rajesh Parameswaran’s fiction debut, I am an Executioner: Love Stories, it is the tale of a tiger in a zoo (told from the perspective of the feline creature) whose love for his keeper triggers mayhem. He flees, strays into a nearby home and, despite his best intentions, ends up wreaking havoc.

Another unusual fictional piece is The Starveling by Don DeLillo. An inveterate moviegoer, Leo, has abandoned all vestiges of who he really is and has constructed a life for himself that exists and has meaning only within the darkened space of a movie hall. Each film is, for him, “a lifetime compressed”. Leo develops an obsession for an unnaturally thin woman who shares his passion and compulsively devours movies. He turns into a stalker and follows her around from theatre to theatre, movie to movie, with startling consequences. Booker nominee Sarah Hall weighs in with a chilling short story. She Murdered Mortal He. It catches a young couple holidaying in an African seaside resort. A bitter argument erupts. Matters come to a head. A break-up looms large. The woman stomps out of the salon tent in a huff towards the deserted beach. As she loiters around in the darkness, she sees a white apparition tailing her… Hall builds up the tension expertly.

The other notable fiction piece is by Stephen King himself. The Dune is about a 90-year-old retired judge, aware that “an old man’s body is nothing but a sack filed with aches and indignities”. It is a characteristic narrative with a sting in the tale that centres on a secret that the aged man knows about a tiny island off the coast of Florida.

The air of fear and foreboding that The Dune creates remains largely under the surface, but when the final twist hits home, the King touch comes into full play.

In an unusual essay, poet Mark Doty delves into an encounter between Bram Stoker and Walt Whitman, who, according to the latter’s biographer, was the inspiration for Count Dracula.

A reflection on love, death and blood runs like a thread through the other non-fiction pieces in the anthology. Among them is Will Self’s superbly realised False Blood, which is an account of the blood-letting (“two pints a week, eight pints a month”) that the writer must subject himself in order to live. A heroin addict for 20 years of his life, he dreads needles. He suffers from polycythaemia vera. He describes the ailment as “a disease that sounded like a Greek goddess spliced with an East End pub landlady”. Humour hides the gravity of the medical horror: the condition leads to the thickening of blood because of the overproduction of red corpuscles.

There is much else here. Ritualistic high-camp bloodbaths of Los Angeles’ Foam Weapon League are the subject of Daniel Alarcon’s The Ground Floor. Peruvian writer Santiago Roncagliolo’s Deng’s Dogs describes the days of his growing up in the shadow of violence unleashed by the Shining Path guerrillas.

Tom Bamforth writes about being a part of UN mission to the parched and dangerous Darfur desert. Novelist Paul Auster on the death of his mother and Japanese-origin American writer Julie Otsuka presents a poignant portrait of her mother as she grapples with the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Granta’s stab at horror is a fine blend of the campy and the classy, the ingenious and the instinctive. It’s eminently readable all the way.

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India's most unique villages

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Of tantra and mantra

A small village near Guwahati is a stronghold of traditional magic finds out Dulal Misra from firsthand experience

Magic and Assam (or Pragjyotishpur as it was called in ancient times) have a strong connection. Scholars such as Mirza Nathan, Ibn-batuta and Sahabuddin have mentioned the tantra-mantra of Pragjyotishpur in their writings. According to Hindu mythology Lord Krishna fought a maya yudh (a war of illusions) with king Narakasura, father of Bhagadutta, empowered by spiritual powers. Shaktipith Kamakhya (in Assam) was the epicentre of tantrism in ancient times where Buddhist monks came to practice tantra. In time these monks scattered to various parts of Assam but were mainly concentrated in Hajo and Mayang.

Tantrism in Mayang can be traced back to the period of 8th to 9th century AD. Buddhist monks contributed to shaping it in the 12th century thus making the tantrism of Mayang a unique combination of Hindu and Buddhist gupta bidya (secret knowledge) of which black magic is the basis.

Modern day Mayang, despite being close to Guwahati is a world away. Manthir Saikia, ex- principal of Mayang H S School and a scholar of tantrism says, “Prince Maibong of Manipur set up the Kachari kingdom here. The name Mayang comes from the prince’s name. From ancient times tantrism was practiced in Mayang hence the Ahom rulers and later the British were afraid to challenge the Kachari kingdom. The tantrics used vashikaran mantra to dominate enemies.”

Tilak Hazarika, a black magician in Mayang says the power of magic draws from the potency of words. “Every word has its power. If somebody praises you, you will be pleased. If somebody curses you, you will be sad. Shabd (the spoken word) is Brahma. Hence since ancient times, mantras were in oral form. Practitioners (bez and kabiraz) were particular that the mantras not reach the common people. Hence, there was no interest in preserving these in written form. However the Kachari kings encouraged the magicians to write down the mantras. Today we have around 300 manuscripts of mantras written on Sanchipat and Tulipat (kinds of writing material) in the area.”

There are various types of mantras practiced in Mayang. Among these are -- mohini ban, sarpabishnasakh, baatbish, tekeli ban, bagh bondha, bikh ban, jhor ban, jui nibarani, pash and kam ban mantra. Each comes with special powers. This while a human can fly in the air with the udan mantra, the luki mantra can make one vanish in thin air while bikh ban mantra can kill an enemy and the kam ban can enhance sexual potency. Why, there is also a mantra to transform leaves into fish! Manthir Saikia, like other residents of Mayang, has memories of magic to share. “Once when I was a child my father was boiling paddy to make a special type of rice. But even after steaming for three days, the paddy could not be boiled. My father suspected that someone had put a ban on the dish. He called on a kabiraz and told him about the incident. The kabiraz thought for a while and ordered my father to disrobe. My father did so and the paddy was cooked in no time”, he says. Pranab Bezbarua is a kabiraz believed to hold magical powers which he demonstrates for us. We are asked to put out our hands. Bezbarua takes a fistful of sand and whispers a mantra onto it. The sand is then thrown on our hands and a strange itching sensation begins. We are told that the baral ban has been put on us. Another fistful of sand with a different mantra is thrown on our hands and the sensation stops.

Tantrism in Mayang is however dying due to a lack of preservation and practice. Only a handful of practitioners remain.

Lokendra Nath Hazarika, a native of Mayang says, “We are trying to preserve and rejuvenate this traditional art. Many manuscripts which were with individuals have been collected. We are in search of various archeological material that support this culture. In Roja Mayang, we have found a rock inscription, 3.8 metre long. But the text of this inscription has not been deciphered.”

Utpal Nath from the village is doing his PhD on Mayang’s traditional magic and medicines from Guwahati University. He is also the secretary of the Mayang village Museum and Research Centre set up in 2002, where a total of 47 manuscripts are housed. Nath has written to the director of the National Museum requesting him to send an expert team to visit the museum. A 15-day workshop on the preservation manuscripts is planned. The government of Assam has granted Rs 20 lakh for the museum.

The present day Kachari king Taranti Kanta Konwar says the art has been part of his family. “My grandfather Mina Sing was a tantrik. He went to nearby jungle every Saturday and worshiped Lord Shiva and Ma Kali. My father wanted to learn tantrism from him, but my grandfather refused because tantrism cannot be transferred.” The king hopes that the coming generations will show an interest in Mayang’s traditional tantrism and the culture will be analysed scientifically.

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Kewalajhir was once settled as a village for members of the Indian National Army

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Kewalajhir was once settled as a village for members of the Indian National Army. The soldiers have since passed away or migrated. Raju Kumar explores this unique MP settlement.

For those who believe Subhash Chandra Bose or Netaji's legacy is long dead and gone, a trip to Kewalajhir in Madhya Pradesh is worth its weight in gold. On the map, Kewalajhir has no distinct identity of its own, one of the many nondescript villages that dot Raisen district's skyline.

Off the map, appearances can be deceptive. Kewalajhir's novelty lies in the fact that of the millions of towns and villages in India, not one can claim to have settled so many of Bose's legendary Indian National Army (INA) officers and soldiers and to develop it like a military cooperative farm on the lines of a Soviet, as this. Undoubtedly other villages have a distinguished history of such familial recruitment, but here in Kewalajhir it is a deep generational attachment to that rag-tag army which Bose set up to take on the might of the British empire. There is no family in Kewalajhir, a village of about 1,000 residents, which has not served the INA and this includes Netaji's every-faithful driver Tarachand. Much like the master, folklore has it that Tarachand was the only one who could have told the world what happened to Netaji, but did not do so as he was under oath. In Kewalajhir today, there is no Tarachand, nor Gopal Singh, Vijay Singh and Chandgi Ram Malik, all comrade in arms fired by Bose's fiery motto `You give me blood I will give you independence', a cry loud enough to galvanise youngsters of an entire generation.

In this village deeply associated with the INA, only two veterans remain, 90-year-old Master Phool Singh and a relatively young 76-year-old Ramswarup, who continues to live in Kewalajhir.

Singh has relocated to his native Hisar in Haryana. He told TSI on phone,``We were in the Singapore jail when Netaji's stirring speeches electrified us. I worked with him for three years. After Independence, I was assigned to come to Kewalajhir and organise the village here but sad to say, our independent government has done little. It could have been developed as an ideal village, but that was not to be.'' Situated at a distance of 30 km from National Highway 12, the Kewalajhir lake provides the ideal backdrop to this hilly, picturesque and rugged village.

It is not easy to reach here though. In mild sunshine at 12 noon, former village official Khitab Singh Malik sits around distributing cards to friends. Pulling at a hookah, he states, ``It is a fauji village just in name. Of the original INA members, only four are left and three of them have relocated to their home state, Haryana. Only Ram Swarup lives here.''

We caught up with Ram Swarup. Reminisces the veteran, ``In 1951, Independent India's first commander- in-chief General KM Cariappa got 88 soldiers settled here. Of them about 20 were former INA. It was barren land which we made fertile. We did cooperative farming after two new tractors arrived from the Soviet Union. This became a military farm. Later land was distributed evenly amongst the soldiers. When Gen Cariappa came to see us, we apprised him of our problems and he gave assurances like construction of an irrigation dam, Barna bandh, which later, became the lifeline of this village.''

Says Narendra Singh, grandson of INA veteran Chandgi Ram Malik, ''All that are left are memories. My grandfather used to tell us that Kewalajhir was designed to be the ideal village, wide lanes, a dispensary, canteen, parks and schools but 60 years down the line, a lot of people have migrated because not much has happened here.'' Most of those who left have gone to Haryana, their state of birth. There was a time when village houses here were adorned with medals and certificates of appreciation. No longer now. All what remains are some off springs of these former soldiers ploughing a lonely furrow, literally sowing seeds of an uncertain future. Two years ago, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj came to Kewalajhir and assured the locals of much development initiatives. Since then, however, it has remained what it was when the village was settled: a bouquet full of empty promises.

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The spicy condiments rustled up by the pickle traders of two villages of Andhra’s Konaseema delta have warmed the palates of foodies across continents for several generations

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No typical south Indian meal is complete without a fiery, lip-smacking pickle to go with flaming hot rice livened up with an array of spices and a liberal helping of ghee.

And no pickle in this part of the world is quite as favoured as the one that comes from the storied and scenic Konaseema delta of East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh.

The world loves the pickles that the twin island villages of Ankampalem and Narkedipalli in the above-mentioned district’s Atryapuram block make and peddle day in and day out. The villages are located 12 km from Ravulapalem, the ‘gateway’ to Konaseema.

For nearly two centuries, the two villages have been engaged in the business of exporting pickles made from mango and an array of other fruits and vegetables that grow in this coastal area.

The pickles, sold in both leak-proof polythene packets (for consumers within the state) and earthy jars (for export to other parts of India and the world), have brought Ankampalem and Narkedpalli much fame and prosperity over the decades.

Virtually every family in the twin villages makes a living by making and selling pickles. The cottage industry has an annual turnover of Rs 25 crore.

The demand for the Konaseema line-up of pickles was initially fuelled by Andhra Pradesh’s own doctors and engineers who left the state to work in other parts of India as well as in the West. As exports rose, the pickles found new takers and the villagers thrived.

Interestingly, the villagers here, known for their entrepreneurial acumen and networking skills, have never taken to farming, the most common vocation for people of the coastal region. “Farming was not at all lucrative. So the idea of selling pickles was contemplated nearly 170 years ago,” says Gopi Hanumanthu Balam of Narkedipalli village.

Back then, both East and West Godavari districts bore the brunt of frequent floods when the mighty river was in spate during the rains. Survival was a constant struggle against the elements for the people of the area. However, the scenario improved appreciably once Sir Arthur Cotton erected the famous dam across the river 150 years ago. The barrage unleashed a phase of prosperity.

Says Balam: “It was one Pitla Venkateswarlu of our village who pioneered the practice of making pickles that could be used throughout the year. Persistent famine conditions in the vicinity propelled him to get into the business. It was then adopted by his kith and kin, and later by the entire village.”

Seven generations on, the pickle industry here continues to flourish. “It is no more merely a trade, but as sacred as any of the traditional traits of rural Andhra,” adds Balam.

Time-honoured rituals mark the start of pickle-making season each year. As spring arrives, the villagers celebrate by worshipping the village deity - Ankalamma. Irrespective of caste and creed, they then begin making pickles of a wide variety with mango, lime, chili, ginger, tamarind, bitter gourd, aubergine and Indian gooseberry (amla). The mango pickle alone has 22 distinct varieties, the oldest and most popular of which is avakai.

The Konaseema pickle makers have benefitted from the government’s liberal stance in regulating the small scale processing industries that use fruits and vegetables. These units are governed by the Fruit Products Order, 1955 (FPO) under the Essential Commodities Act. No industrial licence is required for these domestic set-ups.

Yet, it isn’t smooth sailing for these pickle makers. Government officials allegedly lose no opportunity to harass these small-scale and traditional traders in connivance with the big corporate players that have permits in the pickle export sector.

The villagers understandably feel somewhat intimidated by any form of intrusion. Take the example of 30-year old Ganga Bhavani Nakka of Ankampalem. The compound in which her two-storey building stands tall turns a bright shade of red everyday as ripe red chilies are littered for drying. By the time her 40 employees turn up in pale polyester sarees, Ganga Bhavani has the chilies ready for grinding into a soft red paste. Business has been good but she is reluctant to share her story with TSI.

A little prodding reveals the reason. “We find it tough to compete with large-scale units like Priya Pickles of the Eenadu group though our pickles are cheaper and of a better quality,” she says.

Narasimha Murthy Garapati of Narkedipalli points out that they do not use any preservatives, essences and chemicals in their condiments.

The pickle makers of the twin villages also face problems of a social nature. The native spirit of accommodation does not allow for a cut-throat hire and fire attitude, but the pickle traders are usually hard-pressed to provide work to all of their employees.

Moreover, girls of the village, when they get married, take away knowhow of the traditional pickle trade to the villages of their husbands. Nearly 150 sons- in-law of the twin villages have over the years taken the cue from their wives and entered the business.

Mounting competition and other operational challenges have only strengthened the resolve of the younger generation in these two vuillages to eschew higher education after basic schooling so that they can help their families carry on the trade that their forefathers began many generations ago. The question, however, is: is this trend a boon or a curse? The villagers aren’t quite sure anymore.

Read also:  IIPM Reviews, IIPM Review Ranking/Rankings Across India, IIPM Faculty's Review on Thoughts and Courage, IIPM: The B-School with a Human Face and Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012 - IIPM ranks 1st