Sometimes, having no antibiotic is more effective'

Source: Rediff

Dr Suranjan Bhattacharji, director, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, which has served India with quality healthcare and education for over a century, says a doctor in a developing country like India has to see himself as an agent of change, not just as a medical practitioner.

"If we see our role as agents of change, then it is much more effective than just having a narrow range of skills of curative services," Dr Bhattacharji said in an interview during a brief visit to New York last month.

Dr Bhattacharji, who was in the United States primarily to attend the CMC's board meeting, felt doctors in countries like India have to be good communicators so they can address society on issues that are most important.

Besides, they have to be good teachers not only of the medical students but of the patients who come to see the doctors, he said.

"Our role is educating him or her [the patient] about the issues that are causing ill health and what are the ways to overcome them. We have to be able to educate the community leaders so that they begin to invest in the things that will improve health," he said.

Dr Bhattacharji, who was appointed to the post recently, said because India was a resource-constrained society, the doctors there have to constantly ask themselves which is the best way to treat the individual within the context in which s/he lives.

"We have to decide what is best for him and not what is the best in the world. Our motto [at CMC] is how the treatment can make him or her better and cure without destroying the family," he said.

"What often happens is that if the person cannot afford treatment, the child is pulled out of school, the land mortgaged and the whole family made economically disadvantaged. We know that one of the causes for ordinary people in developing countries becoming suddenly impoverished is ill health because the cost of health or treatment is so high," Dr Bhattacharji said.

Dr Bhattacharji, who has been associated with the reputed medical college and hospital for close to four decades, cited the example of Dr Binayak Sen, a CMC alumnus who has been jailed by the government of Chhatisgarh for the last year, for his alleged links to Maoist guerrillas.

"We are very proud that he is our graduate. Binayak is a typical example of the kind of graduate we have always worked to produce someone who is not just clinically competent but also compassionate and has an inquiring mind; who asks not just how I can get this person healed but also why he is sick in the first place, and how I can ensure that he does not fall sick again," Dr Bhattacharji said.

"You may be able to cure a person of typhoid but if he goes back to his village and keeps drinking water from a contaminated well, in six months he is likely to get typhoid again," he said.

So, what ails the Indian healthcare system?

Dr Bhattacharji feels that there are multiple issues, including inadequate resources for the job to be done. He said the difficulty in many government colleges is not so much that the processionals do not care, but that professionals are overwhelmed by the number of patients.

"If you have to see 200 patients in three hours, you end up by not helping very many people. It has become a vicious circle and an ineffective healthcare system in which you are not motivated to try harder," he said, adding that India needs to ensure a certain level of education.

"Actually, we can best improve health by improving water supply and sanitation. Sanitation is the most cost effective health intervention, according to research. We tend to think of health as cardiology services, neurology services and all that. Those are very important, but perhaps as a nation what we need to do is to improve our public services so that there is better water, better sanitation, better shelter and, of course, availability of food," he said.

"If those needs are addressed, we will actually become much more effective in improving the health of the community. Ignorance and poverty are two prime determinants of ill health," he said. He explained that ignorance means that sometimes it is erroneously believed that only expensive food is healthy.

"But we actually know that in the Indian context, a lot of health interventions can be very cost effective. Sometimes, they assume that the most expensive antibiotic is the most appropriate, but it is not true. In fact, sometimes, (having) no antibiotic is more effective than (having one). In CMC, we always believed that improving the sanitation, water supply, food and shelter and education would improve the health of the country much more effectively," he said.

When demand outweighs supply

Source: The Hindu

Immigration debate - SHEELA MURTHY

An arbitrary cap on the number of HIB visas issued ignores the needs of the American economy, especially when it has been proven that the “cheap foreign labour” neither depresses wages nor takes jobs away from Americans. Various viewpoints on the issue.

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H1B professionals represent a small portion of the total number of workers in the American labour force and their presence does not increase the unemployment rate but rather creates jobs.

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Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

Economically viable option: Companies like Microsoft are forced to relocate because of immigration policies. Every spring, the immigration debate gains fervour as thousands of foreign nationals compete for a limited supply of H1B numbers. The H1B is quite popular as it allows many foreign nationals who have either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree , or its equivalent, to work in the U.S. for up to three years, with an option to extend it for another three. The number of available H1Bs this year is arbitrarily set at 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for those with a U.S. Master’s degree. Applicants can file their H1B petitions from April 1 each year, but in April 2007, the USCIS had received about 1,50,000 applications by April 2.

This year in 2008 the USCIS confirmed that it has already received more H1B petitions than allowed under law. It is believed that a large number of the H1B petitions filed were made on behalf of Indian nationals by the large H1B user companies and many “body shoppers” that process H1B petitions. The USCIS will randomly select by computer the chosen few from the pile of petitions it receives and returns the remaining unsuccessful petitions. Advocates for an increase in available H1B numbers for skilled professionals criticise the U.S. government for not taking in to account the demands of the economy when setting this cap. In 2000, the cap went from 65,000 to 115,000, and then rose again to 1,95,000 from 2001 to 2003. But the H1B quota was again reduced due to economic slowdown and has hovered at 65,000 since 2004, despite a revived demand for professionals in the tech sector. In fact, with the addition of about 6,000 H1B numbers allocated to nationals of Singapore and Chile under U.S. Free Trade Agreements with those two nations, the H1B quota has been reduced to just over 58,000 for the rest of the world.

Proposed changes

The Congressional debate rages on as lawmakers cope with this issue. Members of Congress have introduced several “innovative” proposals to revamp the cap on H1B visas, including the Innovative Employment Act, which would double the number available under the H1B quota to 1,30,000. The New American Innovators Act is another bill that proposes eliminating the cap altogether for applicants who complete a graduate program in technical fields of study at a U.S. university. The SUSTAIN Act (Strengthening United States Technology and Innovation Act), would bump the cap back up to 195,000 for the next two fiscal years. Bill Gates appeared before the Committee on Science and Technology in the U.S. House of Representatives to offer support for H1B expansion. Gates contends the U.S. desperately needs to increase the H1B quota in order to remain technologically and economically viable in the global market. As attempts at increasing available H1B visas require legislative action, so far nothing has been passed and it seems unlikely that any law will pass in time to be relevant to the current cap season, especially during an election year.

Positive developments

There have been recent positive developments to retain professionals who are in the U.S. on a student status or visa. Interest groups linked to universities, educational institutions, tech employers and members of Congress have successfully pushed for an extension on the amount of time foreign graduates of U.S. universities can work after completion of the degree on the F1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) status. According to the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, roughly 2,50,000 F1 visas are issued per year and almost half of those students are enrolled in graduate programs. The fields of study F-1 students enroll in are diverse, but 18 per cent of the students pursue engineering Master’s degree and 10 per cent pursue math and computer science related post-graduate degrees. Until recently, students could work under Optional Practical Training (OPT) for only one year. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice on April 8, 2008, to extend the time on OPT to provide graduating seniors a chance to stay on in the U.S. for up to a total 29 months on F1 OPT status. In addition, certain H1B cap gap relief has been afforded to such students if they comply with certain conditions, including maintaining status and filing the paperwork for the H1B before the expiration of the OPT. This interim final rule will help students who invested their education in the U.S. to stay and continue to contribute that knowledge for the benefit of the U.S. economy.

The current H1B cap arguably operates to siphon economic opportunity and technological know-how out of the U.S. resulting in substantial economic injury to the U.S. in the long run. Frustrated companies with a desire to do business primarily in the U.S. are shipping operations overseas to countries with more favourable immigration policies, sometimes despite greater expense. Canada, Ireland and India are all taking advantage of the failed immigration policies of the U.S. by attracting highly skilled professionals. American companies, including Microsoft, are forced into outsourcing operations to countries with more favourable immigration policies in order to keep their most valued workers and remain globally competitive. Similar to Microsoft opening an office in Vancouver, Google is now considering building a facility in Vancouver, Canada to cope with H1B inadequacies. Groups advocating a reduction in immigration argue that any H1B quota cap increase would take jobs away from some U.S. workers and will depress wages of others; a serious concern as symptoms of recession permeate throughout the U.S. economy. Supporters of a larger H1B cap cite a study by the National Foundation for American Policy that shows employment of American workers is actually stimulated when H1B workers are employed. According to the study, for every H1B professional hired, approximately five U.S. workers are employed to support their work in various capacities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports the unemployment rate for computer and math-related occupations was 2.7 per cent for 2007, compared to the total unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent. A 2006 study showed that H1B professionals made up only .07 per cent of the American workforce, most of whom reside and work in California, New York and New Jersey, respectively. According to the DOL, these workers comprise less than one per cent of the total workforce in each of those States. It is difficult to see how such a small population within the labour force can depress wages or working conditions of U.S. workers or dampen the economy. However, there are reports that companies are paying foreign programmers $40,000 per year, making it difficult for their American counterparts to compete. The average H1B salary is $50,000 to $55,000 and Microsoft boasts an average salary of more than $1,00,000 per year for its H1B employees. Although this hardly sounds like the “cheap foreign labour” CNN commentator Lou Dobbs often refers to, wage abuse does occur and needs to be resolved as part of any reformation plan.

H1B professionals represent a small portion of the total number of workers in the American labour force and their presence does not increase the unemployment rate but rather creates jobs. For the first time in five years, the Labour Department reported a net loss of jobs in January 2008. Initiatives that create jobs are needed now more than ever. Advocates of the cap increase say that it will be mutually beneficial to U.S. and foreign workers alike but the current cap has no bearing on the demand of the American marketplace. A system that allows for a static number of visas issued annually is one that is irresponsive of American economic need. The current climate is one where an increase is needed in order to stimulate the American economy and remain globally competitive. However, after the 2002 economic slowdown, when the cap was set at 195,000, only 78,000 of them were used. The remaining 117,000 visas were simply discarded and the cap has been set at 65,000 visas ever since. Congress is sluggish to respond to economic indicators in the tech sector, causing more damage to an already injured economy. Why is the cap set at 65,000 when 78,000 visas were needed in 2002, even after the 9/11 terrorist attack on America’s financial hub and the dot com bubble burst? Why is it that the Federal Reserve can make decisions based on market conditions but the H1B cap cannot be set with similar financial methodologies and indicators? The last few years have shown that Congress rubber stamps the cap without giving appreciable consideration to the current economic climate and the American economy loses more competitive footing with each passing year.

Thwarting exploitation

Increasing the H1B cap is just one part of the solution. There has been much debate that more stringent prevailing wage guidelines are needed to ensure that employers are not exploiting H1B professionals and American workers are not experiencing wage depression as a result. Employers are already required to apply for a prevailing wage determination from the DOL when applying for permanent residency but the current H1B policy condones a haphazard approach to determine the prevailing wage. The DOL is changing its system and strengthening the prevailing wage process to ensure fair wages for foreign nationals without creating unfair competition for American workers. Hopefully this will result in less negative backlash against H1B workers and businesses hiring such workers.

Despite the drastic need for major immigration reform, the H1B cap debate has become politically enthralled in the broader debate over illegal immigration, and has understandably been relegated by the American media in favour of covering more widespread issues like the real estate collapse, the credit crunch and the protracted Democratic presidential primary. But as more governments realise the benefits of attracting tech-talent to their respective countries, American lawmakers and the DHS must react by implementing sensible immigration policies geared towards attracting and retaining highly skilled professional workers to the U.S. in a market that seems to be able to absorb them quickly. If policymakers wait too long, the U.S. will quickly find itself trailing behind its competitors, especially in the tech sector. According to Moore’s law (in layman’s terms), technology doubles in efficiency every two years. No other industry can boast such exponential growth. The American economy must remain at the forefront of this rapid development in order to survive the globalisation era. A policy aimed at attracting the “best and brightest” professionals is essential to achieve this end.

What a parent!

Source: Rediff.com

Emerging lifestyles are changing the way the urban India lives. A dazed nation watched in disbelief as tales of horror from Noida -- where a father killed his 14-year-old daughter because she knew about his extra-marital affair -- unfolded through television.

The sordid incident comes as an eye-opener to a society, which is fast embracing new lifestyles at the cost of family values. What could have gone wrong?

Here we begin a series where we speak to parents and experts in India's cities on the Aarushi Talwar case.

First is Bangalore, India's IT capital.

'A child is as good as the parents.' That is what Bangalore has to say. Parents in the city could identify with the events in Delhi. Some say they could not absorb the facts of the case. And some say the murder sets alarm bells for middle-class families.

Navkesh Batra, a senior advocate, who has a teenage daughter says, "The problem is that we have become aspirational. And in the process this takes precedence over everything else. In this rat race for, conventional and logical thinking goes out of the window."

Meera Padmanabhan, whose daughter studies for BA, tried to explain the changing lifestyle. She says, "The middle class wants to lead the life of the rich and famous and therefore they do not seem to have time for anything, including their children. The standards of acceptable behaviour, too, have changed. Extra-marital affairs, broken homes have become the order of the day. The conduct of parents and elders is being observed by youngsters and they have started believing that this is the right thing to do. In several cases, they even go a step further."

Batra thinks the problem will get worse if society does not understand the fundamental changes and does not create a better support system.

Compared to earlier times, he says, there is too much money.

The standard of morality has changed and the desire to achieve something by hook or crook is considered normal. Some parents said the lack of bonding at Aarushi's home could have led to the murder.

"It looks like Aarushi's father is a very orthodox. He could not digest his daughter's alleged illicit relationship despite him doing the same," says Vindhya Nagaraj, a mother of two teenage daughters.

Vindhya says parents should lead by example to make their children a better life.

Vindhya adds, "We see such things happen in urban areas. But it is just a matter of time before it spreads to smaller cities. I feel that parents need to ensure that they set an example, ensure that they are mature, stable, and should also inculcate moral and social values."

Vrunda Shastry, a psychologist, says, "There should be a sense of belonging and bonding at home. If what Aarushi did was true then it is clearly a case of parental neglect. Children are over-exposed today and the so-called modern ideas are being shoved down kids' throats without guidance. Parents cannot do anything to stop their children from going to parties or viewing social networking sites on the Internet."

Shastry adds, "Looking at such cases closely, it becomes evident that it is largely due to personal insecurities and lack of warmth at home. In this case, it seems that the father was too busy managing his time between his lover and his wife. He forgot about the child in between. A child, who feels wanted by parents and inculcated with good social values, will never go astray. Talking about values will not do, parents should lead by example."

Shastry says Aarusha's mother could have made the difference.

She says, "Let us also not forget the role of the mother in such situations. Had the mother been tough on the father, I think the daughter would have got into her mind that something wrong was happening. The role played by both parents is crucial in the upbringing of the child."

What Can You (Legally) Take From the Web?

Source: IEEE Spectrum online

Consider the Perfect 10 case decided (but only in part) by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco last spring. Perfect 10 operates a Web site where subscribers pay a monthly fee to view pictures of nude models. When unauthorized full-size copies of Perfect 10’s pictures made it onto various other Web sites, the Google image search function returned thumbnail versions of the copies. Clicking on the thumbnail image then directed you to the Web site that featured the unauthorized copies of the pictures. Perfect 10 sued Google (and Amazon) in a case closely monitored by libraries, various artists guilds and societies, the Motion Picture Association of America, and various Internet coalitions.

Read on.....

http://spectrum.ieee.org/apr08/6115

‘Sixty is the new 40’

Source: The Hindu

Author, designer, mother, wife, Shobhaa Dé has a way of challenging stereotypes and reinventing her persona. At 60, having just published her new book, Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppable, she says life is still full of possibilities. Excerpts from an exclusive interview…

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And the change that we are seeing, such tumultuous change in the last decade, to be a part of that change, to be able to chronicle that change and to be in a position to comment on it, the good, bad and ugly, for me was a key decision. My own perception now as a global Indian has moved along with the country’s and the speed at which it has evolved has kept pace with the change and evolution of the country. In a way I feel I am the change.

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Photo: K. Murali kumar

Chronicler of change: Shobhaa Dé . She feels women have a chameleon-like quality that allows them to adapt to any situation. It is perhaps this very quality that makes author, designer, mother, wife (not necessarily in that order), Shobhaa Dé change her roles ever so frequently. Like Madonna, Dé too has that something which makes her challenge stereotypes and reinvent her persona to do something that she wants to. “I refuse to be a kindly granny fading into oblivion. I want women to know that it is possible to live life at 60. Sixty, my dear, is the new 40,” says Dé, tossing her mane. Or, as Meryl Streep famously remarked in “The Devil Wears Prada”, ‘Everybody wants to be us’. Known for her rather provocative style of writing, Dé who has so far written only fiction, much of it based on the glamour of Bollywood, has switched gear and written a book based on India and its 60 years. It is no coincidence that the book is being published in her 60th year too. “India and my journey has been together. I was born in an independent India and I want our young generation to invest in this country. That is my mission,” remarks Dé. In a freewheeling interview, Dé talks about her book, Incredible to Unstoppable, her own life, politics and, of course, women. Excerpts…


Did you have the younger generation in mind when you started work on the book?

Very much so. Because, with more than 50 per cent of one billion Indians under 30-35, it’s important for them to understand brand India in the true sense of the word, not just as a marketing gimmick. It’s not that I want to sell more books. I’ve been there done that. I want to sell India. I want to be able to convince the younger Indian that it’s worth staying invested. In my generation there was such a “go West young man” kind of feeling and a lot of my contemporaries thought they would get a better deal by moving to the West. Somehow, for whatever reason, it has a lot to do with my father and my upbringing, I never ever lost faith. I stayed a believer all through; instinctively I felt that this is where I belong and this is where I want to be. So, with my books it was the same thinking; I’d never tried to cater to a Western audience because I was very happy with my own domestic readers. This doesn’t mean that you look at things in a very jingoistic or a very inward thinking way, but I feel it’s very important to restore lost pride and we went through many years where we didn’t have that confidence, we were always apologetic about our identity. Now we seem to be getting our groove back, you can see it in the body language of the younger generation. So the whole idea of writing the book was really that.

This book also coincides with your turning 60. How do you see your life as a journey with India?

It’s completely interrelated. I really believe it’s a chronicle of two lives. India’s and mine at many levels. I was born in a free India so I never knew what it was like not to be in a country where you can take democracy for granted — the stories I heard from my parents were important to get a perspective of what it was like at that time… And the change that we are seeing, such tumultuous change in the last decade, to be a part of that change, to be able to chronicle that change and to be in a position to comment on it, the good, bad and ugly, for me was a key decision. And I know that in so many ways the changing India has changed me; raising children in this new India has been a special challenge. My own perception now as a global Indian has moved along with the country’s and the speed at which it has evolved has kept pace with the change and evolution of the country. In a way I feel I am the change.

In your book, you have touched on almost every aspect of Indian-ness. For how long have you been mulling over this? It isn’t something to be written overnight. It’s almost like it’s been ‘cooking’ for a while...

It’s got to be cooking but more than anything else it’s got to be felt. For me, it’s a very passionate book. It’s not that I’ve ever kept notes and it’s not a research-based book in that sense. But it’s written from the heart. All the things that have mattered to me growing up in India, all the things that I have witnessed, that I’ve observed, participated in, it all came like one big gush — like a dam had broken.

Incredible to Unstoppable — Does it make India sound like a huge juggernaut rolling on regardless?

Well, regardless unless there is some kind of an overwhelming set of circumstances, if we were nuked or there is a natural disaster of some kind, over which we have no control, then of course the story changes. Other than that our fundamentals are so good right now that at least for the next 50 years we can sit back and actually see the country attain its old, lost glory. There is no reason why we should not be able to leverage all that we have built up to and being just sixty, it’s really a very, very young country.

You’ve talked about the paradox of how Indian men view women. Do you think that the men here are ever going to outgrow this?

I saw an ad which really struck me. Five years ago no one would have thought of writing copy which says what it says. It’s an ad for HSBC which says, ‘He stays at home while she globe trots’. I thought it was a very significant statement but more in the area of wish fulfilment. It’s not really as rosy a picture as we’d like it to be. Women are working because they really have no bloody choice. Not that suddenly the men have become so accepting; it’s just that they can do with the extra money. A lot of women work when they would rather be homemakers. They are stretched too much. Society itself has not changed sufficiently to accommodate those pressures. So actually you’re doing triple shifts and playing multiple roles without the benefits and spin-offs. The rewards simply are not there or they are not enough. Men are not in a hurry to change the status quo because why should they? This way they get the best of everything. It’s like three for the price of one.

As Indians, we have a obsession to appropriate anybody who has done well in their lives as one of us. Even those who have a remote connection with the country. Why do you think this happens? Is it because we have such a few credible role models?

Not just that, we haven’t outgrown the need to win the approval of the West. Which is why we run after the Oscar, we run after the Booker, we run after anybody from the West. Mind you, an award from Japan won’t be the same thing; an award from an African nation won’t be the same thing. We want approval from Europe and the U.S. And therefore any one of Indian origin doing well there, we’re dying to claim the lot, whether it’s an Indira Nooyi or Sunita Williams who keep saying that they are American. But we will grab them by their collar and insist on the Indian connection no matter how tenuous. But I feel the younger generation will be happy to acknowledge success no matter whom, but they will not be so desperate to genuflect in the presence of anybody.

Politicians — you have mentioned them in the book too, but I notice you haven’t been too kind to the younger generation in politics.

The Gucci boys?

Yes. What is it you feel that is not quite right with them?

I think they are in it for the wrong reasons. They see it as a glamorous career option with very little of actual investment in the country. I also see them, the current lot, as just pampered, privileged…the “baba log”; they haven’t really got there by working towards a specific goal but it’s because of perpetuating the whole dynasty politics and still being stuck in something that I find almost medieval, this thing of passing down your kurssi to the next generation. The younger generation of politicians has not delivered. What have they done for their constituency? Precisely nothing. They have no concept of the ground realities, they have not even made an attempt to understand the ground realities. There is no sincerity of purpose; there is no vision for India. There is nothing except a great surname. Sorry. But I don’t think we should be endorsing such fellows. And perpetuating a system that we should have thrown out a long time ago. Whoever is there, should be there because they have the merit, the qualities that it takes to be leaders. None of these guys do.

You are a multi-tasker. What is the secret mantra that works for you?

I believe that women the world over are natural multi-taskers. You go to our villages, you will see those women performing the most incredible feats of balancing their economy, their homes, the crops marketing, managing kids, in-laws, managing community. They don’t know that they are multi-tasking — that’s a word that the urban Indian woman has grabbed and believes she has invented multi-tasking but it’s not so. I think we are just programmed to do it. I also think women are conscious of time, people and money, so some make a career out of it, others merely plod on. I’ve never stopped to think about it. I’ve just done what I’ve enjoyed doing, with a lot of passion behind it, a lot of hard work, frustration at times too. But I’ve enjoyed every moment of it and wouldn’t have it any other way and also the cage of age, for women in particular. I’m there to break the mould. I’m saying I’m 60, I refuse to turn into a harmless little old granny staying home to mind the babies. I will be what I am and I’m proud of it. I want other women to feel that there is life beyond 60 and they don’t have to conform to society’s expectations which are to make them invisible. It’s a one-point mission of my 60th year — to tell women, don’t let society make you apologetic about your age and 60 really is the new 40.

From a child's point of view

Source: The Hindu “Taare Zameen Par” turns the spotlight on our education system and cultural mindset when it comes to dealing with our children.

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Most Indian parents will not accept the idea that well-intentioned parents can unknowingly inflict long-term harm on a child.

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More than one Ishaan: There are many children whose needs are not understood by well-meaning parents.

While awareness of learning disabilities has grown in India over the past two decades, the impact of “Tare Zameen Par” cannot be underestimated as it has made ‘dyslexia’ a household word. The struggles of a dyslexic child, as he tries to survive in an inflexible and insensitive educational system, have been succinctly portrayed. The appeal of the movie, however, lies in its subtext as it turns the spotlight on our educational system and cultural mindset.

Looked at objectively, the protagonist’s father and mother are “good parents” who provide for their children, care for them and wish them well. However, despite a strong emotional bond, Mr. and Mrs. Awasthi fail to connect with their child. They think they have the child’s best interests in mind, but their perception of “best interests” does not factor in the child’s feelings and interests. There are many Ishaans in India, not necessarily dyslexic, but children whose needs are not understood by well-meaning parents.

Cultural trend

This reflects a cultural trend where parents are deemed to know what is best for their children. Most Indian parents will not accept the idea that well-intentioned parents can unknowingly inflict long-term harm on a child. When the child is in step with parental expectations, there is little cause for concern. However, when a child marches to the beat of a different drum, the space between parent and child can gradually widen into a chasm.

Just as Ishaan’s troubles first surface as relatively minor issues, most problems start as mild conflicts. For example, Anup does not complete his notes in class and gets yelled at by his mother; Shreya, a fourth-grade student, keeps losing her belongings and, as a result, stops receiving lunch money from her parents; Suman, a fifth-grader, cries every Monday morning and her father calls her a “cry-baby”; Kabir, a seventh-grader, is unable to wake up in time for school and his parents get increasingly infuriated by his tardiness. These are small ripples that may grow into stronger currents and morph into stormy waters if parents and teachers ignore these cries for help.

Cry for help

A child who loses things and fails to finish copying notes in class is not necessarily wilfully inattentive. Seema is the fattest girl in class and is teased incessantly by her peers. As a result, the child tries to “shut out” the world by entering a fantasy world. Even at home she prefers being in her make-believe world because her mother yells at her for getting two ‘incompletes’. The child tries to communicate by refusing to eat. The mother ignores this plea for help. Seema’s reluctance to eat only makes her mother angrier and more resolved to straighten out her daughter.

Mother and daughter fail to connect even though Seema’s mother tries to be a conscientious parent. She checks her daughter’s notebooks every day to see if Seema has any ‘incompletes’, counts the number of pencils she gives her daughter every morning and makes sure that her child eats all the puris on her plate. Seema’s mother is oblivious to the fact that her daughter’s weight may be a cause for concern; both physical and psychological.

Similar scenes exist across many homes. If parents are sensitive and share a bond of trust, there is a greater likelihood of problems coming to the fore. Possible solutions can be explored. But if parents turn a deaf ear to their children’s silent pleas, then stress builds within the child. Each scolding, each tantrum, each scene continues to increase internal tension until, one day, the valve gives way to an outburst. Many parents wake up only at this point; often, it is too late.

Most problems relating to children do not crop up overnight. However, parents’ and teachers’ attitude often determines the outcome. Ganesh’s parents could not understand why their otherwise bright child was not able to read and spell as well as his peers. His mother stumbled upon an article on learning disabilities and had Ganesh assessed by a psychologist. She learnt that her son was dyslexic. Initially, the parents were stunned, but they gradually began to accept their child’s problem. The family moved cities so that Ganesh could receive special education.

Ganesh’s reading disability was quite severe. He could grasp concepts, think critically and logically, but reading was a major stumbling block. Ganesh’s mathematical skills were also below-average as he could not remember basic arithmetic computations. His parents were very supportive when the principal of the new school felt that he should repeat Grade IV. Ganesh began intervention classes, and made gradual progress. His parents had been told that they must be patient and encourage the child to persevere. After about two months of intervention, his mother was jubilant when her son scored 20 per cent in his English Comprehension test. This was the first time he had attempted to read and answer an unseen passage.

Her optimism was contagious. Her son’s grades continued to improve steadily, and moreover, the child began to grow in confidence. When Ganesh scored 90 per cent in his Grade X exams, the family and school were ecstatic. While Ganesh’s success is largely due to his efforts, his parents’ attitude was also instrumental in motivating him. Had his mother not commended his ‘failing’ grade of 20 per cent, the child would not be where he is today.

Defeatist attitude

In contrast, Pavan’s parents exhibited a defeatist attitude. The child was enrolled in a remedial programme as he was dyslexic. After three months of intervention, his parents felt that they had seen no progress and their child was still obtaining “failing grades”. As they were fixated on marks alone as a benchmark of progress, they had not noticed that their child was beginning to “sound out” words and was less reluctant to pick up a book. By ignoring the small steps of progress, his parents failed to motivate him.

The movie also captures another urban middle-class phenomenon: the threat of boarding school. When parents are overwhelmed by a child’s academic or behaviour problems, residential schools are considered the solution.

This “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” attitude is the last thing the child needs. Even though most parents do not actually act on the threat, simply being threatened makes a troubled child more insecure.

The movie also highlights the role of schools in making or breaking children’s lives.

Teachers’ role

Just like parents, teachers have a responsibility to listen to students. Not just the ones who talk in class and know the ‘right’ answers. In fact, they have a greater responsibility to those who do not voice themselves. With class sizes ranging from 40-60, many teachers feel that they simply cannot give individual attention. While teachers cannot attend to every child, they can help identify children who cannot cope. Many schools are trying to do this with teacher education programmes and resource rooms. But, it is the teacher’s attitude and passion that determines who will make the extra effort to befriend a child.

Our inflexible education system does not provide room for individual differences and expression. All children are expected to run at a predetermined pace, and the system does not have patience for tail-enders. The fact that India is an ‘able-ist’ society is mirrored in our attitudes towards disability. However, the movie brought out the relative nature of constructs like ‘ability’ and ‘disability’ by portraying a boy with crutches as a class topper.

Even though children are prized highly in Indian culture, they often get a raw deal when they do not conform to parental and societal standards. We need to view “best interests” of children, not from adult pedestals, but from the point of children. In order to do this, parents and teachers have to first shed their expectations and preconditioned notions and embrace children for who they are as opposed to whom we want them to be.

More reality than fiction

Source: The Hindu The better films of last year were heavily influenced by the real world.

All worth a watch: (Clockwise from top left) “Charlie Wilson’s War”, “Persepolis”, “The Namesake”, “Kite Runner”, “No Country for Old Men”, “Superbad”. Even as I wrote this, the Golden Globes were conducted off the red carpet this year. With the writers’ strike casting a shadow of gloom over the awards season in Hollywood. it is perhaps just as well that documentary makers Michael Moore or Al Gore have no horses in the running for the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards this year.

Nonetheless, reality continues to inform fiction in the movies. This probably explains why the influence of the volatile situation in West Asia has weighed heavily on world cinema this past year. As the U.S. continues to be mired in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no clear way out of a seemingly impossible political and logistical impasse, the West is taking a closer look at West Asia; far closer than the “battle of civilisations” paradigm under which the conflict has been framed so far.

West Asia and the West

In Mike Nichols’ and Aaron Sorkin’s “Charlie Wilson’s war”, a colourful Democratic congressman from Texas, egged on by Joanne Herring, a charming Houston society diva and honorary consul for Pakistan, takes on the invading Red Army in Afghanistan by arming the dispossessed Mujahideen with over a billion dollars in anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

For a film this sensational, the treatment is astonishingly even-handed. Tom Hanks’ Charlie Wilson and Julia Roberts’ Herring are no war-profiteers; they are convinced they are doing thing for the right ideals — to do right by the Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

The Russian invasion into Afghanistan also forms the backdrop to the first half of “The Kite Runner”, adapted from Khaled Hosseini’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name; as the Reds come marching into Kabul, the young protagonist Amir and his father are exiled from his childhood home to suburban California. In the second half, Amir goes back to Kabul to find the city that he knew desolate, depopulated and ruled by the beard-police who patrol the streets enforcing Sharia. Even though political turmoil is essential to the plot, it is impossible to view “The Kite Runner” as mere political commentary. It is ultimately about two boys – Amir and his kite-runner friend Hassan – in Kabul; and about friendship, betrayed and redeemed.

The other surprise from West Asia, comes to English speaking audiences via France. Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” is, like “The Kite Runner”, a personal journey of a child who sees authoritarianism replace relative individual freedom in her homeland, and who is forced into exile in the West. In “Persepolis”, which is quite unashamedly political, Satrapi uses the head-scarf, which has been political tinder in French schools over the past two years, as a metaphor of the struggle between religion and individual freedom in rapidly polarising Iran during the Islamic revolution.

High school laughs

Two of my favourite films screened this past year were psychological comedies about high school and coming of age. Both “Juno” and ‘Superbad” are more complex than the high school farce of “American Pie” or the cloying love stories of the 1980s. For one, neither film is constructed around that most hallowed of high school rituals in the U.S., the “Prom”, which no one outside North America really cares about.

“Superbad” is a semi-autobiographical look at the hormone-charged high school experience of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who wrote the script and directed it. Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays Fogell — the coolest nerd since Napoleon Dynamite — who attempts to buy alcohol from a store with a fake identity card in the name of one McLovin (no first name) from Hawaii, and is hauled into a riotous adventure with a couple of reckless cops played by Rogen and Goldberg in cameo roles. The film contains more smutty dialogue and bawdy anatomical humour than any other film this century, and so is unlikely to pass the censor board in India.

“Juno”, which has earned Diablo Cody a Golden Globe nomination for best original screenplay, tackles the tough subject of childhood pregnancy with much-needed forthrightness and irreverence by steering clear of the morality debate in any form and making it personal. “Juno” is solely about one girl, the boy she likes and her parents and friends. When asked how she is allowed to stay out late, Juno replies with complete nonchalance: “I am already pregnant, what other shenanigans do you think I can get into?”

Both “Superbad” and “Juno” are about individual experiences in familiar situations. Their characters are not cardboard cut-outs of jock, nerd, geek, popular kids, Goths and other Hollywood stereotypes, but are individuals in their own right. They get into trouble, but refuse to play victims. They are the part of the vast anti-stereotype of real teenagers in the West, or anywhere in the world where the West has influenced social and cultural mores. One may well argue that the American high-school movie, not unlike high-schoolers the world over, has matured.

From books to films

“Atonement” captures the mood of the Ian McEwan’s original novel with surprising tenderness. A lot of the credit for that should go to the leads, James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, whose tightly restrained performances set the tone for the film. As inevitably with novels that turn into film, it is hard to agree if some parts need to be kept to lend the film that certain atmosphere, or if they must be edited to speed the story along; descriptions and background plots rarely do as well on film as they do in a novel. “Atonement” loses its edge towards the middle but recovers from it brilliantly towards the climax.

The same could be said about “The Namesake.” Tabu executes a nuanced performance as Ashima Ganguli, overshadowing Kal Penn’s interpretation of Gogol, the film’s namesake. Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction may be broadly, and perhaps not entirely accurately, classified as ‘immigrant fiction’. She writes about the “otherness” that Indian-Americans, first or second generation, feel in their newly adopted country. That remains at the forefront in Mira Nair’s treatment of the film. In one scene Ashima can be seen dragging a cart full of groceries through a snowy footpath; she is the only pedestrian on the street. Americans drive, only foreign graduate students need trudge through snow for provisions.

Action thrillers and crime capers balance out dramas in the Critics Choice and Golden Globe nominations lists this year. If your impression of rural Texas is dominated by grainy footage of President Bush on CNN, pottering around with a scythe in his ranch, as mine has been for a while, let the Coen brothers show you how it’s done, real cowboy style. “No Country for Old Men” is a fast-paced action thriller, with the lingering threat of imminent violence that audiences love. But the Coen brothers elevate the genre. Breathtaking shots of the West Texas desert with calm saturated blues and desert neutrals form the backdrop to the ceaseless manhunt that is the subject of the film.

Slice of life: Flavours of the past

Source: The Hindu
V. GANGADHAR

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In spite of modern trends, several traditional names from our mythology have survived.

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A page 3 media report some time back mentioned that Narayani Shastri did not cut a cake on her birthday but spent the entire night dancing with her friends. I checked the name again; it was Narayani, a model and starlet. The name intrigued me and brought back memories of my grandmother, Narayani Ammal, who once got down on the wrong side of the platform at a railway station and walked away because she found it not crowded. It took hours to spot her.

I am also familiar with the byline of a Delhi journalist, Kaveri, which happens to be the name of yet another grandmother. It was a clear indication that names which were popular decades back are now back in fashion. Naming babies is never an easy job because several suggestions are offered by several people. According to tradition, the first daughter in the family bears the name of the paternal grandmother and the second one, that of the maternal grandmother. In the past, we had grandmother-like names such as Rukmini, Subbulakshmi, Parvati, Annapurni, Gomathi, Bhagirati and so on. They were also wholesome, nice names belonging to various goddesses. In the North and parts of the West, the rasi system at the time of birth was followed. Each rasi began with different sounding letters. If a girl was born under Tula rasi, she should be named after the “ra” and “tha” letters. Thus my wife was named Rupa. This system is still followed in traditional families.

Gradually, the naming process began to get modernised. While Sita was a traditional name, Rita, Mita and Neeta were not. Usha may be a traditional name but not Asha, Nisha or Misha. Many traditional names like Usha, Aarti and Kamala had a whiff of modernity and continued to be used. As the quest for novelty surged, parents began to refer to books which contained compilations of names to look for more exotic names. This resulted in foreign sounding names like Natasha, Shamita, Anita, Monica, Kunika, Sonia and so on.

Partial comeback

Yet, somehow, several traditional names from our mythology have survived. I know of several Kausalyas but very few Draupatis. Even the most ardent supporters of the Dravidian cause hesitated to name his daughters Kaikeyi, Surpanaka or Tadaka! Teaching in Mumbai’s journalism schools, where the majority of students are girls, I often came across names like Tulsi, Prachi, Rishiganda, Megha, Vibhuti, Sreshta, Parnal and Kusum. Here too modernisation took its toll. Two of my friends in the academic world with wholesome traditional names, Varalakshmi and Perianayaki, were known among their friends as “Vara” and “Peri”.

The Bengali influence is also strong in providing girls with names. Indian society is full of Mansies, Mamtas , Suchitras, Anupamas and Sharmilas. But my own favourite names (besides Rupa!) are Nilambari and Rutu. The last one is bestowed on a bubbly teenager who did not change like seasons but was sunny all the time as well as fresh as the spring. Parents in Tamil Nadu love their language so much they often name their daughters, Thamilarasi, Thamilselvi.

Back to the enigma of ancient South Indian traditional names. I wonder how far parents would go in this direction. In the Mumbai office of Reader’s Digest where I worked, I was surrounded by girls with the most modern names, Alba, Mani, Alice, Pat and Myrtle. But there was a gem in the ad department with the name Thailambal, which she carried cheerfully. That name made me wonder. Would we come across these days girls with names like Alamelu, Thiripura sundari . Abhiramisundari, Pankajam, Ambujakshi, Chellama, Jagadambal, Parvadha Vardhini, Kameswari and, of course, Apeethakujambal? Mind you, there was a B.C. Muthamma IFS in our foreign service who retired some years back after years of distinguished service. I am proud of her and her name.

Excitement ahead

We often name our daughters after women we admire. We have plenty of Indiras, Sarojinis, Sonias, Ushas and in the near future will have Sanias. I wish one of the best Tamil novelists, Dr. Thirupurasundari, had not changed her name to “Lakshmi”. Since I have not come across any young women with the name “Kodhainayaki”, I guess the late novelist, Vai.Mu.Kodhainayaki Ammal did not have many admirers.

Unlike the Britishers, who had to be satisfied with their Jane, Elizabath, Mary or Katherine, there is something charming with our traditional and historical names. When I meet a Padmini, I think of heroism and sacrifice, while the name Sivakami arouses memories of the great dancer-heroine of Kalki’s Sivakamiyin Sapatham who dedicated her art to God because she had to renounce her lover prince, Mamalla Pallavan. The last time, I visited Mamallapuram, I imagined I heard her dancing steps and the melody of the payal.

Patriarchal equations

Source: The Hindu

AJIT DUARA

The portrayal of women in cinema and the reality are, often, miles apart.

EARTHY PORTRAYAL: “Mandi”,

In a patriarchal society women are predestined to play a fixed number of roles. What happens when a filmmaker tries to change this?

The most striking example is Shekhar Kapur’s “Bandit Queen” (1994). The real Phoolan Devi surrendered, had a book written on her and shortly after a biopic. She became a celebrity, was elected to parliament, then shot dead by a page from the balance sheet of her past. Could she have escaped this destiny had a movie not been made on her life?

New wave

What strikes you about Indian cinema is the ocean that separates the portrayal of women from their immediate reality. This is true for all kinds of cinema. Shyam Benegal’s women in the ‘Indian new wave’ of the 1970s and early 1980s — Shabana Azmi in “Ankur”, “Nishant” and “Mandi”, Smita Patil in “Manthan” and “Bhumika” — are earthy and sensual but their patterns of behaviour would have been difficult in the reality of the social milieu and time in which they were placed and would have alienated them from their moorings.

Bipasha Basu’s dance in the badlands of a U.P. bar hall in “Omkara” (2006) is wonderful for Bipasha the actress, but a real dancer would have been in grave danger had she actually performed that gyration in that costume. Similarly, in the freakishly wonderful film by Sudhir Mishra, “Hazaaron Kwaishein Aisi” (2003) — freakish because he never has come up with anything near that good — a woman like Geeta Rao (Chitarangada Singh) is too miraculously free-thinking to exist in the Naxalite-inspired Delhi University coffee houses of the 1970s.

When a Hindi film is shot with an actress in minimal western clothing on a Delhi street, there are a dozen assistants and spot boys to keep the onlookers out of the frame and out of touching distance of the girl. Molestations can and have taken place on location. A comparison between such a film shoot and the final film, with edited and cleaned up effects and music track, is really the difference between the position of woman on that street and the multiplex where the film is screened.

Popular films

EARTHY PORTRAYAL: “Bandit Queen”

Mainstream Hindi cinema cannot present women revolting against patriarchal society because of what Noam Chomsky describes as the function of media in manufacturing consent. Popular film is a consensus between the filmmaker and audience expectation, it is an agreement between people who finance a film and their expectation of recovering that money by entertaining an audience without offending their ‘sensibilities’. This includes their individual understanding of the position held by women in families and extended social groupings.

This is why domestic violence in the heroine’s home is rarely or never shown, even though, according to surveys, it takes place more frequently than on the street. Instead, in Indian films, it is the man in her home who, in the nick of time, saves the heroine from street harassment.

Exceptions

EARTHY PORTRAYAL: “Ankur”.

The exception proves the rule. That is why Shimit Amin’s “Chak De India” (2007), a film ostensibly about hockey, is the most unconventional film about women. All the hockey players are characters with opinions; they express themselves openly, are more articulate, more real, and have bigger roles than any conventional heroine in recent years.

The oppression in their homes is shown by their struggle to play the game against all odds of parents, boyfriends and harassment on the streets (the restaurant scene where the women beat up men who tease the girls from the North East). It is even implied that one or two of the players have survived domestic violence. Indeed, it may be the most progressive film about Indian women in recent times and one of Shahrukh Khan’s few intelligent contributions to cinema.

The interesting thing is that if we examine the career graphs of the girls who have worked in “Chake De India” not one of them has got significant work since. They acted well, have got terrific exposure through a ‘hit’ film, but are unemployable. This is because they come from the wrong side of the tracks.

A mainstream heroine today has to come from the ramp. She has to come from consumer India. She must either be a Miss Universe or Miss World like Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta, or a model like Priety Zinta, Amrita Arora, Neha Dhupia, Bipasha Basu et al. In other words she has to be a movie star by consensus, not by talent. Skill, such as it is, is learned by these girls on the job. The first half-a-dozen films by the ‘non-actress’ of them all, Aishwarya Rai, is testimony to the market’s persistence in keeping faith with the most reliable ‘consumer durable’.

So how can an actress in mainstream cinema, even given the miracle of a brilliant script and a strong-willed director, turn turtle on her own entrance qualifications and act convincingly as a woman struggling against patriarchy?

In truth it is the Indian documentary film that can and frequently does portray women in an accurate light. The most brilliant and entertaining film on the position of women in a patriarchal system is Paromita Vohra’s docu-drama “Unlimited Girls” (2002). In this film the director discusses the issue of feminism in India, using an internet chat room as anchor, and explores women in all sections of society in Mumbai and Delhi. The film is cinematic, challenging, has terrific interviews, juxtapositions that are hilarious take-offs on male pretensions, and tells urban women exactly where they stand and where they can go.

More effective

Brilliant and entertaining: “Unlimited girls”.

That a documentary is often more effective than fiction to portray the position of women in India tells you about the power equations of patriarchy. A Hindi film is budgeted in crores; non-fiction can be made in a few lakhs. The system has to grant the crores, not an NGO run by women. The distributors, who represent male-dominated viewership, have to buy and exhibit the film. These are some of the factors that determine the depiction of relationships between the sexes, behaviour of women in Indian social hierarchy and female sexuality in mainstream Hindi fiction film.

Meanwhile, it might be interesting to revisit Sharmila Tagore in Satyajit Ray’s “Devi” (1960), a film about how a zamindar in 19th century Bengal (Chhabi Biswas) dreams one night that his daughter-in-law (Tagore) is the incarnation of the goddess ‘Kali’. He acts on the dream, declares her a ‘devi’ and shortly destroys her personality, her sexuality and her soul. The woman who plays that extraordinary ‘devi’, via a direct route from Bengali tradition to Hindi mainstream cinema, is now Chairperson of the Censor Board, certifying, literally, Indian patriarchy!

New Realities??

-Source: The Hindu

MAHESH BHATT

From silent sufferers to go-getters, heroines have come a long way. But do they portray the 21st century woman, wonders a leading filmmaker.

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The much touted revolution in cinema seems to be only on the surface. Deep down the industry still remains shackled to the old myths on the male-female equation.

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“Has the portrayal of the Indian woman changed over the years in our movies? Are they still shackled to the posts of cultural myths or have they broken free to fly where they will, in keeping with the myths that the 21st century has created in our so-called rapidly changing Indian cinema?” I asked Shabana Azmi, the icon who brought dignity and grace to the Indian woman both onscreen and off.

As the singers rehearsed to deliver their finales for the last episode of a reality show we were both judging, Shabana turned her gaze inwards. As she pondered on this, we heard the tantalising sound of a woman’s voice singing the raunchy beedi jalaile jigar se piya…, forming the background music for this serious question. It was almost as if the answer had been provided there and then on a platter.

Evolution

But I was in for a surprise. With great patience, akin to the demeanour of a schoolteacher, she began to talk about the evolution of the heroine on the Indian screen. It is well nigh impossible to reproduce in this piece the complete conversation. However, it went something like this: In the 1960s, towards the end of the black and white era when the age of colour was being ushered in, the Indian heroine epitomised by Meena Kumari was a silent, suffering, tongue-tied entity who believed she was to be seen and not heard; so deep was her feeling of unworthiness. “Main Chup Rahoongi”, a blockbuster from South India, summed up what the men in India wanted their women to be.

The 1970s, which belonged to Hema Malini at one end and Zeenat Aman at the other, reflected the two sides of the Indian woman — one traditional and the other western — but still a part of a man’s world fulfilling his needs for romance, sexual gratification and procreation. The movies of the 1970s were so simple. It began and ended with whether the man would marry her or not. They had no connect with real life, yet they were so thoroughly entertaining, with their goody-goody heroines yearning for the hero’s glance in the richly wooded mountains of Kashmir.

The 1980s saw a change in the way the Indian woman was viewed, which was reflected in parallel cinema but not in the mainstream. “Arth”, with which I shot into the limelight, was undoubtedly a watermark. Films can easily be divided pre- and post-“Arth”, as it turned the tide altogether. In this film, the woman, after having rejected her philandering husband and being wooed by a lover, opts to walk away from both men in search of a career.

The 1990s swung in another direction yet again. Songs like Sarkai lo khatia showed the girl having a raunchy good time, totally unapologetic about her sexuality. Although it was still about sex and romance, this time the woman was an equal partner and not a giggly, coy thing who could not even think about sex. This was a quantum leap for cinema vis-À-vis women. This pleasure-seeking, pelvis-thrusting woman was the subject of great criticism from the elite and cultural purists. Earlier the good heroine catered to our pious aspirations and the wicked vamp stoked our carnal fires; but now the wife and the whore were mixed up together in a heady cocktail and this whetted the male appetite for more.

Globalisation

By the New Millennium, as globalisation became a reality, Indian homes from Mumbai to Raipur were flooded with erotic images of semi-clad women and bold sexual content. The satellite invasion had arrived. Images from MTV and Star World altered the moral references of the indigenous Indian population. So, in the winter of 2002, when Pooja Bhatt released her erotic thriller “Jism”, it ran to packed houses in the elite suburbs of New Delhi. The surprise here was that the hall was filled with rich women in silken shawls as well as the usual male suspects. The woman both on screen and off was changing.

No wonder then that Mallika Sherawat, a girl from small town India, became a big hit with my film “Murder”, in which she played an unfulfilled wife who crosses the Laxman rekha to gratify her carnal desires. But the so-called revolution in the portrayal of the Indian woman was only skin deep. To be honest, Bollywood, which manufactures illusions rather than capturing reality, has failed to project the 21st century woman. Except of course for a few brave films like “Page 3”, “Life in a Metro”, “Dor”, “Parineeta”, “Chandini Bar”, and “Dus Kahaniyan”. The much touted revolution in cinema seems to be only on the surface. Deep down the industry still remains shackled to the old myths on the male-female equation.

One of the most difficult aspects of adapting to rapid change — particularly when it is accompanied by complex technology and multiplying data sources — is one’s ability to give up an old construct and develop a new one based on current realities. Accepting a new version of reality and telling a new story requires cultural intelligence. But for that, we need the ability to observe, learn and understand not only our own culture but the culture of the others as well.

In a globalised world, where local markets are being destroyed by international brands, Bollywood had better wake up or its chances of being heard in the cacophony of the current market place are slim to none.

By the side of a queen

Source: The Hindu

Years of interaction with Rajmata Gayatri Devi, and the release of her biography recently, have not dimmed the starry aura for author Dharmendar Kanwar, finds ANJANA RAJAN.

Maharani Gayatri Devi in her youth_Published in Roli Books' Family Pride series.

ONCE THERE was a schoolgirl. She adored a queen. As she grew up, the distant yet kindly and stunningly beautiful queen remained her idol. One day, they met. The little girl, now a young lady, found in the stately queen a compassionate friend, a companion in laughter, a partner in work. And they continue thus. Yet to this day, that little girl, who has grown into a prolific writer, cannot believe her amazing luck in being able to walk by the side of the queen. It's only fitting then, that she decided to record her reverence by penning Her Highness' biography.

So how do you write the story of a queen? With lots of sugar, some spice that's nice, and plenty of adulation? This formula could well apply to many of the pictorial biographies in Roli Books' Family Pride series, which features family members or close associates chronicling the lives of great people. But it is particularly the case with the latest in this series, "Rajmata Gayatri Devi... Enduring Grace" by Dharmendar Kanwar.

For Dharmendar, who has authored eight books on tourism and travel - all on her home State of Rajasthan - besides numerous articles in mainstream newspapers and magazines, this is the first biography. Associated with the erstwhile Maharani, Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, for several years, she says, "I had already planned a book. Each meeting I had with her I had recorded. I knew enough about her life. I have also travelled with her. When the Roli Books proposal came, she felt I was the best person, and she wouldn't have to do the interviews all over again."

Writing about a strong-willed individual like the Rajmata, still active in her 80s, can be a challenge. Such a work does have to have the subject's approval, agrees Dharmendar, but, "In her case it was all right. There was nothing extraordinary that I was trying to reveal."

Dharmendar, who attended the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' Public School - founded by Gayatri Devi within a few years of her marriage to Maharaja Man Singh of Jaipur - recalls the Maharani's visits to the school. "She used to wear beautiful chiffon saris and pearl necklaces. It was like a fairytale for us."

It was Dharmendar's writing that brought her into direct contact with the Maharani. Still new in her career, she was sent to interview Gayatri Devi. "I remember I was very nervous and tongue-tied. I spent a sleepless night. But she spoke very nicely and put me at ease."

The awe in which even a seasoned professional like Dharmendar Kanwar holds the Rajmata is nothing unusual in the State, she points out. Even today, a glance from the Rajmata is considered a moment to prize. That she made a great contribution to women's education in Rajasthan, setting an example of emancipation and bringing women out of purdah, only adds to her exalted status as an incomparably dynamic and beautiful woman, whose pictures from her youth have the dreamlike quality of the Hollywood heroines of the 1920s and `30s.

Dharmendar Kanwar in New Delhi. Photo: Anu Pushkarna.

Dharmendar, who also works for heritage conservation, edited, designed and published a cookbook, "Gourmet's Gateway", written by the Rajmata to raise funds for charity. Not commenting much on her writing skills, she does admit to overhauling the book to make it more interesting. Not that cooking is one of the Rajmata's fortes. Points out Dharmendar, "It's written by a non-cook and published by a non-cook."

As soon as the biography was released in New Delhi, the Rajmata set off for England. But had she had been here, says her biographer, she wouldn't want to talk to the press. "Even if you talk to her, she'll tell me to write something, show it to her and send it," says Dharmendar. "I am handling all her press."

Purdah and the Rajmata don't go together, but then, royalty will have its enigmas.

We write like that only

PRIYA KRISHNAN

The engaging story of India’s embrace of English is glazed with wit and tongue-in-cheek humour, but lacks a nuanced quality.

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Entry From Backside Only: Hazaar Fundaas of Indian-English, Binoo K. John, Penguin India, p.224, Rs.95.

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Apart from a few ill-fated attempts by Binoo John to “explain” humour that’s self-evident (rather like explaining a punch line), and pat himself on the back when there’s no reason to feel insecure, this entertaining swim through the story of Indian-English is a nice way to spend an afternoon with some chai-wai for company.

It is replete with gems mined from the colonial period, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublimely funny. Advertisements of quacks and legitimate sellers, letters to the editor and dialogues from cinema, all allow John to traverse a ‘literary’ landscape strewn with blunders in grammar, spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, malapropisms and inappropriate idioms. A smaller serving with crisper editing would have been just right. One is educated and frequently amused by this use, or rather, misuse of the language. However, the tone is never condescending. John’s sensibility comes from knowing that it isn’t easy to fathom the illogic of English. But today, colours, flavours, textures and sounds that imbue Indian languages with an onomatopoeic quality make Indian-English inimitable, robust and quirky — just the way we are! Advertising bears this out. From gullies to highways, roadside shops to mega malls, it flaunts itself. This mongrel child or hybrid language has been adopted by Booker Prize winners and celebrated in everyday communication too.

Sociology of language

How did it all happen? The author tells us what we know; that we were saddled with English, thanks to Macaulay’s insidious plans to create “…interpreters …and Indians in blood and colour but English in taste, in opinion, in words and in intellect”. But insightfully notes that Indians “yearned” to take to all things British, including English, for reasons of credibility and upward mobility. He looks at the phenomenal growth of English teaching institutes and the rapidly selling Rapidex, to explore how and why English continues to be a vehicle to fulfil aspirations.

Since we speak more than 30-odd languages, it’s surprising that John hasn’t ploughed a bit deeper into the reasons behind why we speak and write the way we do or how we grapple with the habit of thinking in our mother tongue while expressing ourselves in English. Something he could do in a reprint! What he needs to get rid of then would be the typos. The editors have let Seshagiri go as Seshagir and classics as classis (pp. 140, 156).

Absorbing section

In an absorbing last quarter, the book looks at how the tables turned, how all things Indian fascinated the British! Glossaries such as Hanklyn-Janklyn and Hobson-Jobson compiled Indian-English words and expressions. Then came ingenious wordsmiths such as Desani, Rushdie and Arundhati Roy at a time when English was becoming inadequate to capture the Indian experience. They began to reshape and free English by taking all kinds of liberties and readers were in thrall — of their uninhibited use of language.

Fruitful John’s fundas are convincing enough to prove that this sub-genre, having imbibed socio-cultural trends, is now a confident linguistic entity, a stand-alone. As I was typing this piece, a rhythmic rendition in English, of “Welcome to the heart of incredible India”, a television ad-campaign, was playing. I had heard the Hindi version on a few occasions (“Hindustan ka dil dekho”). Brilliantly translated, it was pure Indian-English of the heartland kind, capturing the lilt and rhythm without losing any of the charm and impact of the original. We are playing with Macaulay’s bhasha and loving it!

Tendulkar still teaching lessons

Source: The Hindu

An exceptional performer can recalculate his skills and alter himself, says

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There is no weaseling out of this: I was wrong about Sachin Tendulkar. Earlier this year, his struggle painful to watch, I wondered: if he couldn’t mirror the exalted standard of his past, then why play? It was a miscalculation of the rage that courses through the uncommon athlete’s veins.

Even now, across continents, you can hear the hum of Tendulkar’s desire. For just playing. For runs. For winning. He knows that the great athlete has to prove himself, constantly, that we’re not interested in his yesterdays but only his todays.

I first met Tendulkar 20 years ago when he was 14 and have admired him since. Not because he scored runs with a ferocious beauty but because he possessed a powerful sense of duty and met acclaim with serenity. No sportsperson in 20 years has moved me like him except the elastic Michael Jordan, who was like a Michelangelo statue come to athletic life. But the batsman was ours, he was hope tugging at his box and our hearts. Jordan taught us that human flight was possible. Tendulkar is still teaching us.

Like some bonzai schoolmaster holding class, he taught us that don’t judge a kid by his voice. He taught us to sit down and back in our drawing rooms because he was going to hang around the crease for a while. He taught us that champions find the necessary calm amidst the delirium. He taught us that playing for India was fun but also a responsibility. And he taught us he could make grown men cry, sometimes watches, sometimes bowlers.

He taught us that only the exceptional performer can recalculate his skills and alter himself. Haile Gebreselassie, unable to maintain the speed of the 10,000 metres, has morphed into a marathon champion. Tendulkar rearranged his repertoire, and while he was not the greatest anymore, he taught us he could still find a way to be good.

One last lesson

But this year, I began to believe he was declining, and quickly, because he was unconvincing for long periods, wearing an unsurety that looked so foreign on him. The vincible hero. At 34, how do you stop time, and deterioration? But 20 years after first learning from Tendulkar, there was one last lesson he had to teach. About concentration.

If first his getting beaten made me flinch, what made me keep watching was his refusal to flinch. The ball went by and he started again, like a student trying again to solve a problem. Every ball was a new ball to Tendulkar, a new life, a new start, it was like he had cleansed his memory of the previous delivery that hissed past his bat. It was like Jimmy Connors swearing the last point was unimportant, only the next one mattered.

What control of mind does it take to erase the immediate past, to not let doubt fester, to stay alert even as the bowler is exposing your hesitancy? The easy option would be to react, to swish harder. The hard choice was to just stay, to start afresh every ball with hope, to view temptation with priestly detachment. Tendulkar chose well. He taught us in this time that the first rule of sport is not to look good, it is to survive.

Tendulkar’s body may have healed and allowed him a fuller expression of strokes, but it is his confidence in himself, confidence that was shaken and rattled surely but never extinguished, that carried him on. He still gets beaten some days, but he is also more fluent, too, astonishing no less in his ability to rack up scores of 99, 93, 8, 17, 99, 8, 55, 71, 94, 30, 0, 16, 43, 79, 47, 72, 21, 4, 99, 29, 97 in his last 21 one-day innings.

What does Tendulkar play for? Team, himself, pride, records? Maybe he plays because part of him is just a boy who finds himself when bat meets ball. Maybe he plays because of a boy agog in the stands. Maybe he has summoned this last reservoir of energy to show a kid, now old enough to understand, why, for 18 years, the world has made such a fuss about his father.

Alone but not lonely

Source: The Hindu Folio

I cannot live in my son's house and play second fiddle to my daughters-in-law at this stage of my life," declared my 80-year-old grandmother, twenty five years back. The ceremonies following my grandfather's death were just over and my father and his brothers were discussing their mother's immediate future. "I prefer to live independently in my own house and die in it" she continued vehemently. And so she did, firmly brushing aside all protests, confident that she wanted to spend the rest of her life in control of her surroundings. Her sons visited her in turns but that was more for their own peace of mind, as she really made no demands on them. Religion and religious teachings seemed to sustain her and the people around her whom she had cultivated over the years satisfied her social needs.

Used to joint families and sons traditionally looking after ageing parents, many then reacted negatively and found it difficult to accept that an old woman would want to stay alone. That was 25 years ago. India's social pattern has seen many changes since. Yet, confronted with ageing people living on their own, the average Indian continues to react in a similar fashion.

However, social reactions notwithstanding, the numbers of ageing people, many in their 80s and yet maintaining individual establishments, are on the rise, especially in urban areas.

What lies behind this growing trend? Are these people who live alone content with their state of affairs or does the responsibility of running a home at this age and living all alone produce self pity and depression. Meeting a cross section of such senior citizens one felt that irrespective of whether they stayed alone out of choice or out of necessity they do share an outlook that is refreshingly optimistic and comfortingly confident. And quite surprisingly, considering their state of splendid isolation none of them seemed lonely. For as 84-year-old Vaidyanathan put it, "We are not going to be less lonely if we stay with our children for they are all caught up with their own lives."

While varied reasons are responsible for this choice of living on their own, the single most important factor is the break-up of the joint family and the increasing mobility of the Indian. Very few ageing people wish to uproot themselves from their familiar surroundings and move into unfamiliar terrain. This reluctance is most evident when their children are settled abroad.

"We have no friends and have to depend on everything from transport to companionship on our children" said an 80-year-old gentleman from Kotturpuram, Chennai. "I live alone much against my children's wishes but am happier this way. My children in the United States are busy with their lives and with both working I would spend huge chunks of time within four walls. And when my children come back they are too tired to go out. But they are weighed down by this huge feeling of guilt that they are neglecting me. This is not fair on them." he continues.

"Reluctance to burden children with an invalid grandparent or parent is also partly responsible" comments Vaidyanathan who took on the care of his 95-year-old mother-in-law after his wife's death. Kalpana Venkataraman, who, at 81, handles the total nursing and care of her 104-year-mother echoes this statement as does Ramiyengar aged 88 who takes care of his half-paralysed wife. With a sensitivity that belies the common belief that people grow self-centered as they grow older these persons protect their children from stress and in the process give themselves a purpose to their lives.

They run their own establishments, offer physical and emotional support systems if necessary, manage the day-to-day of financial matters and continue with a reasonable amount of social interaction. Going out might not be frequent but in their familiar surroundings there is a greater security of movement. A few do still drive or have access to a car and driver. To the many who cannot afford it, familiar terrain also makes taking autorickshaws or other modes of public transport relatively less mind-boggling. This independence that makes it possible for them to do their own banking and shopping is a boost to their self esteem and makes staying alone more than worthwhile. "It is easier to look after my assets staying on where I am at home, and this saves my children a lot of bother" says Bhagyam Krishnan explaining why she lives alone.

While life does move at a slower pace than in a younger past there is a quiet acceptance of this fact and most of them have learnt to create leisure activities that keep them occupied. "I read a lot and I have been teaching English to a few poor girls" says Pattammal "and this gives me mental stimulation and a feeling of being useful".

Given the limitations of age and money most of those old people seem to manage effectively to create a workable infrastructure that suits their needs. Medicines and grocery are ordered at home, food can be got on a daily basis from the many caterers that have sprung up and neighbours and friends do pitch in, in an emergency if children are not in the same town. Daily help is still available even if it means paying a little extra to hold on to them. Some even hire a companion if they can afford it.But all this self-reliance does not make their decision quite acceptable to their children. Many of them, especially sons, feel a sense of disquietude and a fear that they are not doing their duty to their parents. They worry about their parents' financial needs, their security and their health. "I realise that if I am incapacitated in any way, I shall have to move in with my son," says Kalpana Venkataraman, "but till such time why burden them". An opinion that is shared by most of the others. Emotional security is provided by just the thought that their children care for them and their grandchildren love them and there is no real desire to change the status quo unless failing health finally dictates the change.

It would be too much of a sweeping statement to say that the aged are happy only if they are on their own. There are many who hold diametrically opposite views. Besides, staying alone preconditions a certain attitude, a healthy bank balance and a healthier physical condition. What is needed however is a greater acceptance from society that old people are quite capable of staying alone if they so wish. They need neither sympathy nor fussing over. Rather emotional and if necessary discreet financial help from children and the confidence that they are always there when needed is more vital. We also need more social support systems that will make their living alone easier and do much for their self-esteem in their autumn years. The numbers of ageing people having to or wishing to stay alone will only rise over the years. It is time our society gears up for it.