rain falls
in drops and in sheets
over land and sea and
verdant forest
rain falls and flows
in rivulets, streams and rivers
to the sea
in colours of the land
khaki, red and grey
plants grow, grasses grow
to ripen and wither
to bear fruit and flowers
to grow to huge size
when the winds blow the dust rises
fine and not so fine
to settle too in nooks and on surfaces
invisible at first, soon scattered for all to see
whole civilizations have gone under dust
what is a monument here
or a piece of metal there
we know of burial rituals
returning dust to dust
what is dust ?
but the embrace of time
so difficult to accept when one can dust and sweep
so natural and right when the flapping ends..
are we nothing more than puppets
waiting to be swallowed in the embrace of time?
by the dusty veil that slowly obscures
all that has been from the eyes of the future..
soothing and inviting
and soil it becomes
all becomes soil
in the embrace of time
Sep 13, 2007
Jul 12, 2007
400 million Agricultural refugees...
Three days ago i read a piece. Prime Minister spoke one of my favourite lines ... an idea whose time has come. (In school we ask often, is it a good idea or an idea whose time has come?)
But he spoke about SEZs, the special economic zones being created all over the country to help large projects by pass the democratic machinery, the process of careful consideration. Also to help the process a new act has been put into operation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the formation of a new rehabilitation policy for farmers displaced due to land acquisitions. This means the Govt, state and central can ask the farmer to leave, in the name of a large corporation.. ie. corporate interest is equal to national interest... Till now the Govt could only ask someone to vacate in national interest.. but.. now..
There have been large zamindars in India and when they wanted to acquire smaller lands, they asked the owner, cajoled him, threatened him etc. But now the state can actually just take the land as per law.
When a tea stall owner refused to move his small business, the owner of a huge business house in Calcutta, had him murdered.... if he had but waited 2 years, the Govt would have had the man evicted in the interest of the nation and its big projects...
This would be backward enough in a country where the pavements are shrinking just as we speak about globalization, if it were merely misguided enthusiasm. But it turns out that this ... idea whose time has come... has been carefully studied by people ....
"A former vice-president of the World Bank and a former chairman of Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a body that governs the 16 international agricultural research centers, Dr Ismail Serageldin, had forewarned a number of years ago. At a conference organised by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai a few years back, he quoted the World Bank to say that the number of people estimated to migrate from rural to urban India by the year 2015 is expected to be equal to twice the combined population of UK, France and Germany.
The combined population of UK, France and Germany is 200 million. The World Bank had therefore estimated that some 400 million people would be willingly or unwillingly moving from the rural to urban centres by 2015. Subsequent studies have shown that massive distress migration will result in the years to come. For instance, 70 per cent of Tamil Nadu, 65 per cent of Punjab, and nearly 55 per cent of Uttar Pradesh is expected to migrate to urban centres by the year 2020." 22nd June 07 - Devinder Sharma writes.
Is this not shocking? That we can stand by and accept this large scale pushing and pulling? Is it not a travesty of justice to say that the individual is second to the corporation? While it is being advocated that
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
- Edward Abbey
"Over the years with the complexity introduced by processes of the industrial revolution the work of groups of individuals has undergone change. The change is so vast that the similarity between individual accountability and that of a group is almost non existent. Fueled by the economy of sale doctrine and the excitement of large scale manufacture of goods and the burgeoning of new specializations and new professions the world has change rapidly. Guilds have given place to corporations. Very large organizations have grown with the background of complex international laws and a global trade system. These are as similar to small business as a sparrow is to a dinosaur. In terms of accountability there are dangerous lacunae that have got established as the way life is, as the way business is to be carried out.
One of the important aspects of a corporation is that it is almost impossible to localize responsibility. Take for instance the concealment of information and misinformation by the cigarette companies; the companies have been fined close to 4 billion dollars by the US administration for their long term misdemeanours. Now who is responsible, or who are responsible seems a difficult question. Is it the head of the organization, or the legal department which decides what information to offer the Government? It is quickly apparent that it is almost impossible to pin responsibility for willful acts of unethical conduct, for acts which damage human health and keep in place unhealthy practice. Are the shareholders responsible? Or are they merely the distributed risk bearers? It is obvious that hey have little information about corporate niceties and the jostling, concealment and irresponsibility. Corporate functioning appears to have no need for any morality or ethics beyond profit making. History of industries is replete with examples. The auto manufacturers closed down railways in the US and concealed data regarding implications of large scale automobile use. Nuclear agencies have consistently underplayed the problems and have been fooling the public about the risks. Chemical companies that marshal vast resources own no responsibility for the havoc caused to the earth and living creatures. The Bhopal tragedy, visited on the landscape and people, is a stark example of the corporate irresponsibility. Oil companies, beyond cleaning up once in a while are certainly nor held responsible for the poisoning of the oceans. Smaller corporations, or companies dump waste knowingly or unknowingly into waste land or sea or rivers. In Chennai we had an episode of industrial waste containing cyanide dumped near a water body. All kinds of waste is dumped, off the coast of Africa, travelling large distances in hired ships. Pharmaceutical companies blatantly sell drugs banned in the First world to lesser mortals from the Third world."
Considering the history of groups, it appears significant to ask if there should to be critical checks in the law which provides for the distinctions between individuals and groups. Read Corporations. Jerry Mander suggests that all technology must be treated as guilty unless proven innocent. The onus of proof is on the purveyor of technology and not on the hapless recipients. It is worth considering if a group of any kind needs to be treated under law with such a gaze. In the global village the vested interests of mercenary groups of human beings needs to be understood with scepticism." (G 2000 Wake up India)
But we seem to be headed in the opposite direction.. far from protecting the individual, we are placing him at the mercy of the corporations. Further we seem to be placing corporations in a location. it is said in the SEZs the law will not operate for labour. If this is true, then the law, India law will stop outside the wall of the SEZ. Are we then creating mini nations? Ruled by the industry and corporations..
Are we to forget that the land and its resources belong to the people? And that we are a democracy? Or are we redefining democracy as SEZocracy.. ... sell the land in little bits to corporations.. after all the board room is another democracy. Repalce the parliament with boardrooms.. Coca Cola, Nestle, IBM, Infosys, Tata, Benz, Sony, .. etc can run their companies from their corporate boardroms and the nations shall be mere infrastructure...
is that the direction we are headed?.. Have we forgotten SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL? EF Schumacher. Or have we lost hope... and sold out to the World Bank???
But he spoke about SEZs, the special economic zones being created all over the country to help large projects by pass the democratic machinery, the process of careful consideration. Also to help the process a new act has been put into operation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the formation of a new rehabilitation policy for farmers displaced due to land acquisitions. This means the Govt, state and central can ask the farmer to leave, in the name of a large corporation.. ie. corporate interest is equal to national interest... Till now the Govt could only ask someone to vacate in national interest.. but.. now..
There have been large zamindars in India and when they wanted to acquire smaller lands, they asked the owner, cajoled him, threatened him etc. But now the state can actually just take the land as per law.
When a tea stall owner refused to move his small business, the owner of a huge business house in Calcutta, had him murdered.... if he had but waited 2 years, the Govt would have had the man evicted in the interest of the nation and its big projects...
This would be backward enough in a country where the pavements are shrinking just as we speak about globalization, if it were merely misguided enthusiasm. But it turns out that this ... idea whose time has come... has been carefully studied by people ....
"A former vice-president of the World Bank and a former chairman of Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a body that governs the 16 international agricultural research centers, Dr Ismail Serageldin, had forewarned a number of years ago. At a conference organised by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai a few years back, he quoted the World Bank to say that the number of people estimated to migrate from rural to urban India by the year 2015 is expected to be equal to twice the combined population of UK, France and Germany.
The combined population of UK, France and Germany is 200 million. The World Bank had therefore estimated that some 400 million people would be willingly or unwillingly moving from the rural to urban centres by 2015. Subsequent studies have shown that massive distress migration will result in the years to come. For instance, 70 per cent of Tamil Nadu, 65 per cent of Punjab, and nearly 55 per cent of Uttar Pradesh is expected to migrate to urban centres by the year 2020." 22nd June 07 - Devinder Sharma writes.
Is this not shocking? That we can stand by and accept this large scale pushing and pulling? Is it not a travesty of justice to say that the individual is second to the corporation? While it is being advocated that
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
- Edward Abbey
"Over the years with the complexity introduced by processes of the industrial revolution the work of groups of individuals has undergone change. The change is so vast that the similarity between individual accountability and that of a group is almost non existent. Fueled by the economy of sale doctrine and the excitement of large scale manufacture of goods and the burgeoning of new specializations and new professions the world has change rapidly. Guilds have given place to corporations. Very large organizations have grown with the background of complex international laws and a global trade system. These are as similar to small business as a sparrow is to a dinosaur. In terms of accountability there are dangerous lacunae that have got established as the way life is, as the way business is to be carried out.
One of the important aspects of a corporation is that it is almost impossible to localize responsibility. Take for instance the concealment of information and misinformation by the cigarette companies; the companies have been fined close to 4 billion dollars by the US administration for their long term misdemeanours. Now who is responsible, or who are responsible seems a difficult question. Is it the head of the organization, or the legal department which decides what information to offer the Government? It is quickly apparent that it is almost impossible to pin responsibility for willful acts of unethical conduct, for acts which damage human health and keep in place unhealthy practice. Are the shareholders responsible? Or are they merely the distributed risk bearers? It is obvious that hey have little information about corporate niceties and the jostling, concealment and irresponsibility. Corporate functioning appears to have no need for any morality or ethics beyond profit making. History of industries is replete with examples. The auto manufacturers closed down railways in the US and concealed data regarding implications of large scale automobile use. Nuclear agencies have consistently underplayed the problems and have been fooling the public about the risks. Chemical companies that marshal vast resources own no responsibility for the havoc caused to the earth and living creatures. The Bhopal tragedy, visited on the landscape and people, is a stark example of the corporate irresponsibility. Oil companies, beyond cleaning up once in a while are certainly nor held responsible for the poisoning of the oceans. Smaller corporations, or companies dump waste knowingly or unknowingly into waste land or sea or rivers. In Chennai we had an episode of industrial waste containing cyanide dumped near a water body. All kinds of waste is dumped, off the coast of Africa, travelling large distances in hired ships. Pharmaceutical companies blatantly sell drugs banned in the First world to lesser mortals from the Third world."
Considering the history of groups, it appears significant to ask if there should to be critical checks in the law which provides for the distinctions between individuals and groups. Read Corporations. Jerry Mander suggests that all technology must be treated as guilty unless proven innocent. The onus of proof is on the purveyor of technology and not on the hapless recipients. It is worth considering if a group of any kind needs to be treated under law with such a gaze. In the global village the vested interests of mercenary groups of human beings needs to be understood with scepticism." (G 2000 Wake up India)
But we seem to be headed in the opposite direction.. far from protecting the individual, we are placing him at the mercy of the corporations. Further we seem to be placing corporations in a location. it is said in the SEZs the law will not operate for labour. If this is true, then the law, India law will stop outside the wall of the SEZ. Are we then creating mini nations? Ruled by the industry and corporations..
Are we to forget that the land and its resources belong to the people? And that we are a democracy? Or are we redefining democracy as SEZocracy.. ... sell the land in little bits to corporations.. after all the board room is another democracy. Repalce the parliament with boardrooms.. Coca Cola, Nestle, IBM, Infosys, Tata, Benz, Sony, .. etc can run their companies from their corporate boardroms and the nations shall be mere infrastructure...
is that the direction we are headed?.. Have we forgotten SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL? EF Schumacher. Or have we lost hope... and sold out to the World Bank???
yesterday had a history lesson.. a most unlikely lesson and a most unexpected, unplanned style...
yesterday 11 jul at castle hill..
My host Tamas Matinovich and another Tamas Dede, (you say this as Tamash..) were sitting in the cafe, from 1829 on castle hill and filling me and radhaji on some hungarian history. it seems the Bishop of Austria, in the end of 16th century said he would make the Hungarians into German, into catholics and into beggars.. .
Such strong words... that they echo even now... the sting remains in every Hungarian, that someone should say this..
And the Hapsburg emperors when they came tilted the cross on the crown of Hungary. The crown is not just a crown but a person. And it had power, the power of the Hungarians.. The people have power of the past. And Austria tried to destroy the past of Hungary.
Tamas 1 and Tamas 2 spoke one sentence each, unplanned, and intoned the history of Hunagary, apologising for telling us why this was so important to them... it was so moving and sad.
Apr 19, 2007
tamil new years day 14 apr 07 - enclaves, IT sevices and slaughter of old trees
Today the paper did not arrive. The main paper did not... that did not stop the supplements.
There was a 4 page pullout announcing, on Tamil new years day, a new housing project - water, promenades, manicured gardens, multi storied apartments and a new concept - offices and apartments nearby, all neat and tidy, school thrown in for children's education, malls for all needs. No need to do more than walk. It could well be titled - "we know you love walking". And we offer you walking to work, to the gym, to the mall, from one air conditioned enclosure to another.
The second 4 page pullout was about a series of new shops selling mobile phones and accessories announcing inauguration on Tamil new years day and discounts. It could well be titled - "we know you love talking". And we offer you talking without walking.
As I went in search of reviving my wife's mobile connection, I saw the city skies, washed clean by the early morning rain. There was some traffic but not too much. So I could drive slowly and watch the roads and the people..
In the middle of the night the phone rang. Trees, 100 yr old trees were being felled. Concerned citizens, including my wife, had spent the afternoon in token protest, hugging the trees, chipko style. The same trees that the media had gathered around in the day were now under the axe in the dead of night. My wife and a few friends dashed off to the site of the unhappy happening. A senior advocate, a senior activist, few lay people discovered half felled trees. They spent ann hour speaking to the policemen, the commissioner, the contractor. The mid night dialogues apparently were very thorough and insightful and would have surely been entertaining had they not been in the presence of the doomed giant trees.
Bystander: Why have you come now? And not when the earlier trees were cut?
Policeman: You are preventing us from going to the relief of the needy. We have to attend here and there is nothing to do.
Activist: Are you saying by protesting we are being anti national?
Policeman: I am not saying you are aninational, but if you ask this question, i will say yes, you are being anti national.
Bystander: Why are you protesting now? You should have protested when all these flats came up. I am ready if you wish to plant bombs in those ugly big flats.
Contractor's supervisor: Look at these people they are blocking development. 6 lane highway will surely benefit the public. Yo are being antisocial.
Corporation official: (on the phone) This is the work of the highways department.
Activist: But this is the job of the corporation and not the highways dept.
This debate must have been frustrating to all concerned. Particularly since it was over a fait accompli.... trees that had been already sawed 50%.
As i drove all these points of view had been in the background. Suddenly on a narrow 3 ft wide pavement i spotted a neat row of young recently planted trees. I said to myself, "Ha, these are how trees should be so they are not axed."
But immediately 50 yards later I saw another neat row of young recently planted trees. These were just off the pavement and were intruding into the road by about 6 inches. "Ha", I said to myself. But this time out popped a question. "Are trees supposed to be this way or that?" I know no one would believe me if I said these things and would think I am making this up for effect. So I took out my poor quality VGA camera attached to the mobile phone and took a few pictures. You can see these pictures and think for yourself!
And as I continued further I saw lots of parked vehicles - 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, 4 wheelers, trucks, vans - and saw wall beyond these vehicles. And tiny bits of space in between. The pavements looked ragged everywhere - in one place the garbage collecting bins were on the pavement, in another there were vehicles moved off the road to the pavement. In another the rubble of construction was heaped to 4 ft high, preventing passage. And in some places there was hardly any pavement. ^ inches to a 1 ft to 2 feet. And each pavement had the legal minimums - lam posts, electrical transformers or telephone switch boxes. And some non legal as well - little pavement shops, little encroachments by shops and houses.
It seems that we are in a bit of a trouble in Chennai. As a developing global IT hub, millions of sq ft of construction are being encased in glass for IT companies. To attract investments and such companies, since they will bring jobs and revenue to the city, the city is pulling out all stops in its attempt to be hospitable.
But ten million is a large number. Half of ten million is also a large number. I mention this because I hear all numbers between 5 to ten million as population of Chennai and am unable to stake my claim to 7,633,288 or 8,299,712.
With such large numbers the roads are bound to be full unless you live in places where you only walk ... And this has become a problem. In Singapore or in some other city, 6 lane highway access to work cuts travel costs by 15 mins - a big improvement over the 45 mins it used to take people. All gimmickry has been tried - raise the road and build the flyovers, try Mass rapid transport systems, synchronize signals and make one way roads. But all these have not made life "on par" with the systems abroad. So here we are, like the school boy trying for better grades - working hard, struggling, burring the midnight oil (even if it is to cut trees), going to tut ions to World bank certified and sponsored courses - Chennai is trying hard to get better grades from the IT companies and such other establishments. Chennai is trying to prove that quality of infrastructure is no worse than Bangalore or Hyderabad or Baltimore or Athens.
World class infrastructure is surely something that will do all proud - the nation, the state, the city and of course the residents. Th nation marches on to the colours of one party or the other. Sometimes it is very confusing. Who takes credit for the goings on? The centre or the state or the local government? All or none, or a little bit for all. Like Ali Baba, the taxes go to all the parties and all the governments. So all must have a hand, a hand in the common agenda.
And what does this mean - someone has to clear the project, someone has to agree to fund it. And someone else must develop the promised infrastructure. And lastly someone has to do the dirty job - of moving people , giving compensation, coaxing, cajoling people to move for the sake of the city, state country and humanity at large. And someone has to decide what should be kept under wraps and what opened when... what should be leaked to the press. Unfortunately the RTI has come and may prove a bit difficult and embarrassing at times. But such is the optimism riding through the fibre optic cables that we are 'confident' we will get to the promised land of OMR looking like Boston or Los Angeles.
But we must go further.... why must traffic move so fast? What will happen if there are a few slowdowns? And who will lose and who will gain. Why the unseemly hurry? And what is the price...?
World class infrastructure means fast roads, relaible power, fast fibre optic communication and also satellite communication, water of high quality, drainage, and high quality infrastructure will attract companies and this will attract well educated people. Thus there will be a trickle down effect and all will prosper. But the king is dead, long live the king. It is now out of the bag - trickle down effect does not work, it is a trick of human imagination and optimism. All that trickles down is the difficulties and all that rises up is the privileges....
Good roads mean less pavement, if any. The rights of the fast cars, with no voting rights override in high gear the rights of the voting public to walk, a right so basic that no one thinks of putting it on any list. Like the right to breathe. But these are things being assaulted by the infrastructure drive.
You may shop, you must! But you cannot walk to the shop. And You must shop. But cannot get across the road to your vehicle or bus. Jostle, jostle! With few other pathetic fragile humans but more with iron creations of the human mind.
You must walk, it is good for your health. But mind the trenches dug for the optical cables and the rubble, forgotten when the glass was fixed, gleaming and reflecting. Go around it, lest you twist an ankle.
This is a good residential area, but you need to get inside the gated enclaves. There the paths exist for your safe walking. But on the public road, sorry, sorry, we are sorry. You cannot walk unless you are a warrior with nerves of steel and reflexes of a cheetah.
You cannot cross the road, or walk on the pavement, without encountering garbage bins, electrical posts, telephone switch boxes, unauthorized vehicles parked (cars, autos, two wheelers, trucks, vans.. call taxis) .. and all of them have a right above yours. They are there and you have to go around. They dare you to move them. You have rights but what to do? Sorry, we are her headed for the future.. this is a small problem, work in progress. You will be happy when it is all done. We have not YET ironed out these problems.
Work in progress!! Yes, work is in progress, to take all that has been public and redistribute it into private. George Bush does it openly. We do it under cover of socialist slogans. That is all the difference.
Trees have been earmarked silently for being removed in T Nagar, Sardar patel Road and TTK Road. The decision is kept quiet and not released for public information, or discussion. One morning, residents find that some old trees have been cut. Enquiries bring forth vague answers. Next night some more trees go. Then the buck is passed around - corporation, police, highways department who is responsible. Vague again. In the 21st century, while spouting environmental lines our government and its arms expects all citizens to lose shade on the trees from old trees with no murmur, but congratulations!
There are vague rumours that contractors have been found through auction and the trees have been sold to the highest bidder. As a process this is not necessarily bad. But the rumour mill also connects contractors with political figures.
And we lose shade before the summer reaches its peak... here today and there tomorrow. A cat and mouse game begins with citizens who wish to argue and protest. After all our history books, printed by the same government laud kings who planted trees and built roads. Now wonder the secrecy of the night is needed! How can the rulers today say they are building roads and hacking old trees? This would be bad history. It has to be done in the dead of night. It has to be done against the wisdom of citizens, secretly. And it has to be done against the tide of history. A concealed hand, forbidding and threatening, intimidating any opposition seems to be operating, behind the scenes.
One last point... world class infrastructure surely needs to offer speedy transport facilities, but must include safe walking spaces and cycling spaces. These are very much part of the world class we aim for. And considering that we have large populations, we cannot alienate a large percentage, in the hope of trickle down effect, with enticing roads and no walkways or cycle tracks. I wish the IT companies that wield so much influence would insist on these as well in addition to the optical fibre lines, and roads. The fast lanes need the slow service lanes. The high speeds need the slow frequencies. The falcon and the snail have their needs and they must coexist. Much like the early settlers in America focussed on the headlong rush to the West, we are headed for IT corridors and enclaves. If this is not to lead to ghettoing of the nation, pedestrians and cyclists need to be given their due and more as citizens of a modern nation. Modernity cities not brook enclaves for long.... and we must not give up the ghost of equitable opportunity and dignity for all citizens, neither the sovereign opportunity to be heard and participate.
There was a 4 page pullout announcing, on Tamil new years day, a new housing project - water, promenades, manicured gardens, multi storied apartments and a new concept - offices and apartments nearby, all neat and tidy, school thrown in for children's education, malls for all needs. No need to do more than walk. It could well be titled - "we know you love walking". And we offer you walking to work, to the gym, to the mall, from one air conditioned enclosure to another.
The second 4 page pullout was about a series of new shops selling mobile phones and accessories announcing inauguration on Tamil new years day and discounts. It could well be titled - "we know you love talking". And we offer you talking without walking.
As I went in search of reviving my wife's mobile connection, I saw the city skies, washed clean by the early morning rain. There was some traffic but not too much. So I could drive slowly and watch the roads and the people..
In the middle of the night the phone rang. Trees, 100 yr old trees were being felled. Concerned citizens, including my wife, had spent the afternoon in token protest, hugging the trees, chipko style. The same trees that the media had gathered around in the day were now under the axe in the dead of night. My wife and a few friends dashed off to the site of the unhappy happening. A senior advocate, a senior activist, few lay people discovered half felled trees. They spent ann hour speaking to the policemen, the commissioner, the contractor. The mid night dialogues apparently were very thorough and insightful and would have surely been entertaining had they not been in the presence of the doomed giant trees.
Bystander: Why have you come now? And not when the earlier trees were cut?
Policeman: You are preventing us from going to the relief of the needy. We have to attend here and there is nothing to do.
Activist: Are you saying by protesting we are being anti national?
Policeman: I am not saying you are aninational, but if you ask this question, i will say yes, you are being anti national.
Bystander: Why are you protesting now? You should have protested when all these flats came up. I am ready if you wish to plant bombs in those ugly big flats.
Contractor's supervisor: Look at these people they are blocking development. 6 lane highway will surely benefit the public. Yo are being antisocial.
Corporation official: (on the phone) This is the work of the highways department.
Activist: But this is the job of the corporation and not the highways dept.
This debate must have been frustrating to all concerned. Particularly since it was over a fait accompli.... trees that had been already sawed 50%.
As i drove all these points of view had been in the background. Suddenly on a narrow 3 ft wide pavement i spotted a neat row of young recently planted trees. I said to myself, "Ha, these are how trees should be so they are not axed."
But immediately 50 yards later I saw another neat row of young recently planted trees. These were just off the pavement and were intruding into the road by about 6 inches. "Ha", I said to myself. But this time out popped a question. "Are trees supposed to be this way or that?" I know no one would believe me if I said these things and would think I am making this up for effect. So I took out my poor quality VGA camera attached to the mobile phone and took a few pictures. You can see these pictures and think for yourself!
And as I continued further I saw lots of parked vehicles - 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, 4 wheelers, trucks, vans - and saw wall beyond these vehicles. And tiny bits of space in between. The pavements looked ragged everywhere - in one place the garbage collecting bins were on the pavement, in another there were vehicles moved off the road to the pavement. In another the rubble of construction was heaped to 4 ft high, preventing passage. And in some places there was hardly any pavement. ^ inches to a 1 ft to 2 feet. And each pavement had the legal minimums - lam posts, electrical transformers or telephone switch boxes. And some non legal as well - little pavement shops, little encroachments by shops and houses.
It seems that we are in a bit of a trouble in Chennai. As a developing global IT hub, millions of sq ft of construction are being encased in glass for IT companies. To attract investments and such companies, since they will bring jobs and revenue to the city, the city is pulling out all stops in its attempt to be hospitable.
But ten million is a large number. Half of ten million is also a large number. I mention this because I hear all numbers between 5 to ten million as population of Chennai and am unable to stake my claim to 7,633,288 or 8,299,712.
With such large numbers the roads are bound to be full unless you live in places where you only walk ... And this has become a problem. In Singapore or in some other city, 6 lane highway access to work cuts travel costs by 15 mins - a big improvement over the 45 mins it used to take people. All gimmickry has been tried - raise the road and build the flyovers, try Mass rapid transport systems, synchronize signals and make one way roads. But all these have not made life "on par" with the systems abroad. So here we are, like the school boy trying for better grades - working hard, struggling, burring the midnight oil (even if it is to cut trees), going to tut ions to World bank certified and sponsored courses - Chennai is trying hard to get better grades from the IT companies and such other establishments. Chennai is trying to prove that quality of infrastructure is no worse than Bangalore or Hyderabad or Baltimore or Athens.
World class infrastructure is surely something that will do all proud - the nation, the state, the city and of course the residents. Th nation marches on to the colours of one party or the other. Sometimes it is very confusing. Who takes credit for the goings on? The centre or the state or the local government? All or none, or a little bit for all. Like Ali Baba, the taxes go to all the parties and all the governments. So all must have a hand, a hand in the common agenda.
And what does this mean - someone has to clear the project, someone has to agree to fund it. And someone else must develop the promised infrastructure. And lastly someone has to do the dirty job - of moving people , giving compensation, coaxing, cajoling people to move for the sake of the city, state country and humanity at large. And someone has to decide what should be kept under wraps and what opened when... what should be leaked to the press. Unfortunately the RTI has come and may prove a bit difficult and embarrassing at times. But such is the optimism riding through the fibre optic cables that we are 'confident' we will get to the promised land of OMR looking like Boston or Los Angeles.
But we must go further.... why must traffic move so fast? What will happen if there are a few slowdowns? And who will lose and who will gain. Why the unseemly hurry? And what is the price...?
World class infrastructure means fast roads, relaible power, fast fibre optic communication and also satellite communication, water of high quality, drainage, and high quality infrastructure will attract companies and this will attract well educated people. Thus there will be a trickle down effect and all will prosper. But the king is dead, long live the king. It is now out of the bag - trickle down effect does not work, it is a trick of human imagination and optimism. All that trickles down is the difficulties and all that rises up is the privileges....
Good roads mean less pavement, if any. The rights of the fast cars, with no voting rights override in high gear the rights of the voting public to walk, a right so basic that no one thinks of putting it on any list. Like the right to breathe. But these are things being assaulted by the infrastructure drive.
You may shop, you must! But you cannot walk to the shop. And You must shop. But cannot get across the road to your vehicle or bus. Jostle, jostle! With few other pathetic fragile humans but more with iron creations of the human mind.
You must walk, it is good for your health. But mind the trenches dug for the optical cables and the rubble, forgotten when the glass was fixed, gleaming and reflecting. Go around it, lest you twist an ankle.
This is a good residential area, but you need to get inside the gated enclaves. There the paths exist for your safe walking. But on the public road, sorry, sorry, we are sorry. You cannot walk unless you are a warrior with nerves of steel and reflexes of a cheetah.
You cannot cross the road, or walk on the pavement, without encountering garbage bins, electrical posts, telephone switch boxes, unauthorized vehicles parked (cars, autos, two wheelers, trucks, vans.. call taxis) .. and all of them have a right above yours. They are there and you have to go around. They dare you to move them. You have rights but what to do? Sorry, we are her headed for the future.. this is a small problem, work in progress. You will be happy when it is all done. We have not YET ironed out these problems.
Work in progress!! Yes, work is in progress, to take all that has been public and redistribute it into private. George Bush does it openly. We do it under cover of socialist slogans. That is all the difference.
Trees have been earmarked silently for being removed in T Nagar, Sardar patel Road and TTK Road. The decision is kept quiet and not released for public information, or discussion. One morning, residents find that some old trees have been cut. Enquiries bring forth vague answers. Next night some more trees go. Then the buck is passed around - corporation, police, highways department who is responsible. Vague again. In the 21st century, while spouting environmental lines our government and its arms expects all citizens to lose shade on the trees from old trees with no murmur, but congratulations!
There are vague rumours that contractors have been found through auction and the trees have been sold to the highest bidder. As a process this is not necessarily bad. But the rumour mill also connects contractors with political figures.
And we lose shade before the summer reaches its peak... here today and there tomorrow. A cat and mouse game begins with citizens who wish to argue and protest. After all our history books, printed by the same government laud kings who planted trees and built roads. Now wonder the secrecy of the night is needed! How can the rulers today say they are building roads and hacking old trees? This would be bad history. It has to be done in the dead of night. It has to be done against the wisdom of citizens, secretly. And it has to be done against the tide of history. A concealed hand, forbidding and threatening, intimidating any opposition seems to be operating, behind the scenes.
One last point... world class infrastructure surely needs to offer speedy transport facilities, but must include safe walking spaces and cycling spaces. These are very much part of the world class we aim for. And considering that we have large populations, we cannot alienate a large percentage, in the hope of trickle down effect, with enticing roads and no walkways or cycle tracks. I wish the IT companies that wield so much influence would insist on these as well in addition to the optical fibre lines, and roads. The fast lanes need the slow service lanes. The high speeds need the slow frequencies. The falcon and the snail have their needs and they must coexist. Much like the early settlers in America focussed on the headlong rush to the West, we are headed for IT corridors and enclaves. If this is not to lead to ghettoing of the nation, pedestrians and cyclists need to be given their due and more as citizens of a modern nation. Modernity cities not brook enclaves for long.... and we must not give up the ghost of equitable opportunity and dignity for all citizens, neither the sovereign opportunity to be heard and participate.
Apr 13, 2007
the curse of ancient trees....
the curse of ancient trees....
‘We accept our fate, we surrender,
in fact we have no options.
You, the mighty rulers of the land,
The commissars have rights that few others have.
‘We have been around for many years
as the dusty path became a road
and later an important avenue..
flanked by dark woods where animals abound still
‘Unfortunately, we have been outside learning
institutions
where young people are taught
to respect life
and the environment
‘Unfortunately, you will not be able
to stand your ground
in the face of your actions
but hang your heads in shame
‘You build roads, and they are strong
to carry goods and vehicles...
fast, faster, and faster still
all moving, all so busy
‘What chance do we have?
standing for long years,
rooted, and growing
all we offer is shade and leaves..
‘Only death makes us useful to you
our wood will make paper or benches
or burn in the fires that rage
to cook meals in poor homes
‘You speak about the environment
and assault the very thing you should protect
you want fresh air
that none can give except us....
‘we are going, but mark our words
you err, this is a folly!
no road can make it right to take our lives
no development this
You want water, and fresh air
and soil to be held together
But you steal these from your children
and their children
‘And may be on the edge of your grave
or funeral pyre
you may have to answer your grandchild
when he or she asks you
what happened, how did this ravagement occur?
‘Your may not be able to close, knowing
that you had robbed
the rights of the children after you
and their children
‘You may wish then to change things
but the time for change will be past...
It is now not later.
Then will be a time for regrets...
Is it strength
to fell defenceless trees
in the dark night,
with lame excuses to bolster your morale?
Sounds like impotence to our ears
a bit like stories of despots
trampling, whipping, maiming and killing
women and children and old ones...
But may be such acts will win you rewards
or decoration from your rulers,
the elected reprsentatives
wishing to make a mark..
May be such acts will win you a trip to the US
to stand before the failed President
drinking a toasts
to victories large and small.! victories!
May be you will be feted and applauded
by businessmen in suits (in hot Chennai)
who see the fast lane to more profit
in protected enclaves..
But then, you are fated..
like all life and living things
to die one day,
sooner or later
You too will pass
and you would have denuded roads
and leave behind buildings and roads
as legacy for your children and their children
Do think again ...
what will you tell your children, or their children
how much you cared
for the trees and the environment....
All things are forgotten mostly
people and their actions...
but curses linger
and haunt
You have won
and we have lost our stand
but think a bit
have you not lost your standing?
Men and women,
today you wield power
the axe that can hurt
and cleave
Men and women,
take your stand, as you must!
but then, dont cringe
from the curse of ancient trees...
9 Apr 2007
Trees speak
Trees speak.............
We hear there is a new learning
being imparted in these institutes
that the earth is warming
and the environment needs care
and protection
We have watched
as traffic has increased
over our lifetime on this road
as fly overs have raised their heads
We have seen the city yield
to the pressure of engines
and push the cyclist
to a dangerous narrow corner
We have watched the speeding vehicles
when the roads are free
trying to get ahead
trying to move faster, faster
We have seen the traffic policeman
wearying under the sun
breathing the exhaust of vehicles
becoming obsolete, impotent
The lights have come
red green and orange
products of technology
developed in research institutions
Lights blinking unceasingly
blinking order into chaotic roads
We have seen them losing hold
often impatiently ignored...
The new learning is here
ordered by the highest court
"educate all about the environment
teach them to care"
"All school and colleges
You cant ignore this,
whatever else you teach
for life and livelihood"
But we have been around
80 years, 100 years
breathing in the CO2
and refreshing you breath
We have been here
before most of you were born
mute bystanders watching
the growing orgy of speed and hurry
We have been around
long before you recognized the
environment
offering shade and shelter
to all, man bird and animal
Is it not strange
that you push us away
kill us, slaughter us
today?
Is is not strange
that you make your perception
and your teaching
impotent?
What will your students learn
in your proud institutions
that is clearer than your
actions?
.......outside new institutes of learning..... IIT and CLRI, Chennai
We hear there is a new learning
being imparted in these institutes
that the earth is warming
and the environment needs care
and protection
We have watched
as traffic has increased
over our lifetime on this road
as fly overs have raised their heads
We have seen the city yield
to the pressure of engines
and push the cyclist
to a dangerous narrow corner
We have watched the speeding vehicles
when the roads are free
trying to get ahead
trying to move faster, faster
We have seen the traffic policeman
wearying under the sun
breathing the exhaust of vehicles
becoming obsolete, impotent
The lights have come
red green and orange
products of technology
developed in research institutions
Lights blinking unceasingly
blinking order into chaotic roads
We have seen them losing hold
often impatiently ignored...
The new learning is here
ordered by the highest court
"educate all about the environment
teach them to care"
"All school and colleges
You cant ignore this,
whatever else you teach
for life and livelihood"
But we have been around
80 years, 100 years
breathing in the CO2
and refreshing you breath
We have been here
before most of you were born
mute bystanders watching
the growing orgy of speed and hurry
We have been around
long before you recognized the
environment
offering shade and shelter
to all, man bird and animal
Is it not strange
that you push us away
kill us, slaughter us
today?
Is is not strange
that you make your perception
and your teaching
impotent?
What will your students learn
in your proud institutions
that is clearer than your
actions?
13 Apr 07
Apr 3, 2007
we all would like clean bathrooms. cochin 2 Apr07
I am sure we all would like clean bathrooms.
As I used the toilet at the airport, i felt happy. The toilet was clean and dry, and odourless. A faint perfume hung in the air. There were but 2 other people using the large toilet complex. And then water started to flow.... at all the urinals in a steady cleaning flushing movement. I waited with bated breath, alarmed and thinking. Thought can cause alarm, fear, panic etc... Often one wishes one did not think...
The water was obviously clean, may even have been drinking quality. And a question sprang into my mind. Is this the best we could do? This is Kerala, the land of plenty of water. This is Kerala where water levels have dropped and drinking water is scarce nowadays. And this is the same Kerala where the water was going down rapidly, being converted from pure clean water to grey or black water in a jiffy! Is this the best?
Black water is that which carries pathogens and needs to be drastically treated before being used again. It cannot be let out without much treatment. The sewage water, the water flushed down toilets is black water. Grey water is the bath water, wash water from kitchen or clothes washing etc. It does not have the same level of pathogens; in fact it can easily be cleaned and reused for gardening, irrigation, even flushing. Urine is supposed to be a sterile fluid and not at all pathogenic. In fact it is best useable as fertilizer for plants. Now is it necessary to use pure water to flush down sterile urine, and possibly make it balck water by leading it to a septic tank? Is this the best we can do?
Once upon a time we thought water was an endless resource. ANd now we know that drinking water is a scare resource and a privilege to have. It is anticipated that the shortage of drinking water is going to drive human society into reexamining many of the assumptions. Then why do we continue with such practices? At hotels, in airports, in public buildings and even homes?
Yes we must have clean floors and no odours. The floors must not slip. But is this the best solution? If we can afford to buy the water is it alright to treat it with scant respect? For example, would it be right to buy a lorry loads of water and bathe using the bath tub twice a day? One can afford it. And one has earned the money honestly.
Or is it that as a society, we are waiting for things to become unbearable before changing? That is possible.
"It must be ok since we are all doing it!" seems a dangerous line of thinking. Air, water and use of public space would come under this ambit. It is almost like saying, "Why change when i dont have to. When I have to I will, just like you and everybody else." The consequence seems to be - So let us then continue, using water electricity and air and all public property the way we have been. Let us also grumble... Let us rest with intention and helplessness.
There must be another way to move ahead. There must be simple stands we can take. There must be simple wisdom that we can pool.
I was most happy to hear about the dry toilet system being propogated by Paul Calvert in Tamilnadu and Kerala. Right use of water seems eminently possible, and near at hand. Dont miss..
http://www.eco-solutions.org/urbanecosan.html
As I used the toilet at the airport, i felt happy. The toilet was clean and dry, and odourless. A faint perfume hung in the air. There were but 2 other people using the large toilet complex. And then water started to flow.... at all the urinals in a steady cleaning flushing movement. I waited with bated breath, alarmed and thinking. Thought can cause alarm, fear, panic etc... Often one wishes one did not think...
The water was obviously clean, may even have been drinking quality. And a question sprang into my mind. Is this the best we could do? This is Kerala, the land of plenty of water. This is Kerala where water levels have dropped and drinking water is scarce nowadays. And this is the same Kerala where the water was going down rapidly, being converted from pure clean water to grey or black water in a jiffy! Is this the best?
Black water is that which carries pathogens and needs to be drastically treated before being used again. It cannot be let out without much treatment. The sewage water, the water flushed down toilets is black water. Grey water is the bath water, wash water from kitchen or clothes washing etc. It does not have the same level of pathogens; in fact it can easily be cleaned and reused for gardening, irrigation, even flushing. Urine is supposed to be a sterile fluid and not at all pathogenic. In fact it is best useable as fertilizer for plants. Now is it necessary to use pure water to flush down sterile urine, and possibly make it balck water by leading it to a septic tank? Is this the best we can do?
Once upon a time we thought water was an endless resource. ANd now we know that drinking water is a scare resource and a privilege to have. It is anticipated that the shortage of drinking water is going to drive human society into reexamining many of the assumptions. Then why do we continue with such practices? At hotels, in airports, in public buildings and even homes?
Yes we must have clean floors and no odours. The floors must not slip. But is this the best solution? If we can afford to buy the water is it alright to treat it with scant respect? For example, would it be right to buy a lorry loads of water and bathe using the bath tub twice a day? One can afford it. And one has earned the money honestly.
Or is it that as a society, we are waiting for things to become unbearable before changing? That is possible.
"It must be ok since we are all doing it!" seems a dangerous line of thinking. Air, water and use of public space would come under this ambit. It is almost like saying, "Why change when i dont have to. When I have to I will, just like you and everybody else." The consequence seems to be - So let us then continue, using water electricity and air and all public property the way we have been. Let us also grumble... Let us rest with intention and helplessness.
There must be another way to move ahead. There must be simple stands we can take. There must be simple wisdom that we can pool.
I was most happy to hear about the dry toilet system being propogated by Paul Calvert in Tamilnadu and Kerala. Right use of water seems eminently possible, and near at hand. Dont miss..
http://www.eco-solutions.org/urbanecosan.html
Apr 2, 2007
March of folly... 2 apr
The march of folly is such a wonderful book! It brings to fore one of the persistent themes in my own thinking. As mankind, as a group of teachers, as people who inhabit this planet, we often have dreams, big dreams. Over the years it seems enough if we accomplish small things. One of them being - not repeating a few of the persistent mistakes of history.
One - Not assuming we understand another fully, even if we think we understand the words. Probably this is the most frequently made mistake that we make. WHo knows what the other means, despite our sureness! To walk this path slowly and carefully seems the most challenging thing. To hold back our conclusions, suspend them as it were, and ask some questions, to clarify, seems so obvious, but also so elusive in real life.
Two - Not dismissing Mr Murphy, but making allowance for him. The unexpected will show itself, surely and mostly adversely. If ever it is a positive, it does happen some times, this is a gift. Usually this is available at the end of a lot of plodding and a surprise from the world is truly a gift, an unexpected gift.
Three - Being satisfied if things by and large work out, and not look for exactitude. When one embarks on a project or a thing to be accomplished, one may have a very clear picture of what one wishes to accomplish. When one does not reach the exact goal in the specified time, one looks for excuses or people or things to blame. To accept that we cannot ever exactly predict things, because we dont have ultimate knowledge, is also to accept with the same wisdom that we wont get exactly where we wanted to reach. To be able to call this humility, and not compromise, is an important step.
Four - Being ready with small beginnings and not looking for large end results. Another part of the above us that we can make beginnings, start a journey, point our nose in a certain direction, and accepting the destinations that unfold. There is no one destination. That is a mistake. Time does not stand still after one achievement. It rolls on and sustaining a movement is often more difficult that starting one. And often a high point is followed by a low point. What is this? Is it part of the reckoning or out of it?
Five - recognizing the difference between the house on fire matters and those that are not house on fire. How are we to bypass our alarm signals? the real ones from the adrenaline...?
and Six - avoiding a discipline for oneself. Refusal to anchor oneself in a discipline can probably be the cause of much rootlessness. The things we do dont have a consistency. It is said one of the traits of successful people is a personal discipline. a something they do each day, allowing for a slow maturing. Allowing for this discipline menas alowig for slow maturing and a movement that has a different flavour than the quik leading to endings. Avoiding this happens for obvious reasons. The excitement is lacking.. The end is not in sight or clear. And slip goes unoticed, is unnoticeable and does not affect the immediate.
Seems so difficult to avoid all these mistakes, follies. SO if we can avoid a few that would already be a huge step ahead.
One - Not assuming we understand another fully, even if we think we understand the words. Probably this is the most frequently made mistake that we make. WHo knows what the other means, despite our sureness! To walk this path slowly and carefully seems the most challenging thing. To hold back our conclusions, suspend them as it were, and ask some questions, to clarify, seems so obvious, but also so elusive in real life.
Two - Not dismissing Mr Murphy, but making allowance for him. The unexpected will show itself, surely and mostly adversely. If ever it is a positive, it does happen some times, this is a gift. Usually this is available at the end of a lot of plodding and a surprise from the world is truly a gift, an unexpected gift.
Three - Being satisfied if things by and large work out, and not look for exactitude. When one embarks on a project or a thing to be accomplished, one may have a very clear picture of what one wishes to accomplish. When one does not reach the exact goal in the specified time, one looks for excuses or people or things to blame. To accept that we cannot ever exactly predict things, because we dont have ultimate knowledge, is also to accept with the same wisdom that we wont get exactly where we wanted to reach. To be able to call this humility, and not compromise, is an important step.
Four - Being ready with small beginnings and not looking for large end results. Another part of the above us that we can make beginnings, start a journey, point our nose in a certain direction, and accepting the destinations that unfold. There is no one destination. That is a mistake. Time does not stand still after one achievement. It rolls on and sustaining a movement is often more difficult that starting one. And often a high point is followed by a low point. What is this? Is it part of the reckoning or out of it?
Five - recognizing the difference between the house on fire matters and those that are not house on fire. How are we to bypass our alarm signals? the real ones from the adrenaline...?
and Six - avoiding a discipline for oneself. Refusal to anchor oneself in a discipline can probably be the cause of much rootlessness. The things we do dont have a consistency. It is said one of the traits of successful people is a personal discipline. a something they do each day, allowing for a slow maturing. Allowing for this discipline menas alowig for slow maturing and a movement that has a different flavour than the quik leading to endings. Avoiding this happens for obvious reasons. The excitement is lacking.. The end is not in sight or clear. And slip goes unoticed, is unnoticeable and does not affect the immediate.
Seems so difficult to avoid all these mistakes, follies. SO if we can avoid a few that would already be a huge step ahead.
Apr 1, 2007
schools, teachers and salaries
schools, teachers and salaries
It is difficult to see how things will have long term impact. But this awareness cannot stop us from making decisions that look sensible. Most decisions can always be modified in time. Very few cannot be changed. Salaries are one such and this landscape has always been navigated cautiously by private schools.
However the salaries in schools have not been free of the influence of the market forces. Today in the urban metropolis such as Chennai, salaries have gone up and continue to rise. Govt schools have upped the salaries as well. Schools are clear that they have to keep pace or perish. The question haunting schools is whether the upward increase in salaries and better facilities will actually also improve quality. While school administrators and managing committees are engaged with what constitutes quality, the most obvious definitions rise to the surface - cleaner appearances, computers, air conditioned offices, classrooms, audio visual aids, plastic cups and disposable plates and bottles etc. The quality of relatedness amongst staff and management, and among teachers and students, the actual learning and quality of education do not change much. The relationship between management and staff has tended to become more hierarchic if anything. The teachers having to use more child friendly methods have been diminished in stature as the tools for effective teaching have not been assimilated, internalized. Thus schools manifest two facets in this time of nerveracking change - heightened authority of the head and diminished authority of the teacher along with heightened autonomy and freedom for the student. While this trend may in itself not be a bad thing, combined wih the fact that salaries are going up, and few talented individuals come to school education, teacher quality is in a spiral. Schools are recruiting and being satisfied with traditionally successful teachers - these are better than the uncertain ones. But ironically this process just reinforces the authority model of edcation rather than a participativve engaged model of education. Just when control needs to be given up for more democratic processes, we find the authoritarian models gaining ascendance.
There seems to be only one way out - continuous staff education, followed up by pressure to reflect this training in the classrooms. Now this is likely to have low priority for most schools, simply because of the number of things on the crowded calendars of the schools. Thus it is likely to sporadically surface and bubble - a culture of ongoing change and movement is likely to be difficult to find.
It is difficult to see how things will have long term impact. But this awareness cannot stop us from making decisions that look sensible. Most decisions can always be modified in time. Very few cannot be changed. Salaries are one such and this landscape has always been navigated cautiously by private schools.
However the salaries in schools have not been free of the influence of the market forces. Today in the urban metropolis such as Chennai, salaries have gone up and continue to rise. Govt schools have upped the salaries as well. Schools are clear that they have to keep pace or perish. The question haunting schools is whether the upward increase in salaries and better facilities will actually also improve quality. While school administrators and managing committees are engaged with what constitutes quality, the most obvious definitions rise to the surface - cleaner appearances, computers, air conditioned offices, classrooms, audio visual aids, plastic cups and disposable plates and bottles etc. The quality of relatedness amongst staff and management, and among teachers and students, the actual learning and quality of education do not change much. The relationship between management and staff has tended to become more hierarchic if anything. The teachers having to use more child friendly methods have been diminished in stature as the tools for effective teaching have not been assimilated, internalized. Thus schools manifest two facets in this time of nerveracking change - heightened authority of the head and diminished authority of the teacher along with heightened autonomy and freedom for the student. While this trend may in itself not be a bad thing, combined wih the fact that salaries are going up, and few talented individuals come to school education, teacher quality is in a spiral. Schools are recruiting and being satisfied with traditionally successful teachers - these are better than the uncertain ones. But ironically this process just reinforces the authority model of edcation rather than a participativve engaged model of education. Just when control needs to be given up for more democratic processes, we find the authoritarian models gaining ascendance.
There seems to be only one way out - continuous staff education, followed up by pressure to reflect this training in the classrooms. Now this is likely to have low priority for most schools, simply because of the number of things on the crowded calendars of the schools. Thus it is likely to sporadically surface and bubble - a culture of ongoing change and movement is likely to be difficult to find.
Mar 31, 2007
Death on the roads.... people and trees... Besant Avenue Chennai
Death on the roads.... people and trees... Besant Avenue Chennai
"Hush be still my heart. these great trees are prayers."
Rabindranath tagore
The juggernaut is on the roll again. Roads have to be built in the
summer and contracts have to be awarded. The roads that were good till
last year are suddenly inadequate. The traffic is a beast and snarling
for more space. The two wheelers need wheeling space and the 4
wheelers too need the more space.. but more, they need clear straight
road space , to travel fast... the new, high rpm engines need to match
the ads on TV screens. If the roads don't offer such possibilities the
riders and drivers feel cheated, the manufacturers press for better
and wider roads, read 'better infrastructure', and the administrators
need to find things to improve.
In the meantime the road has to be cleared... not asphalt roads, but
the trees that are crucial to road widening.. they need to be cleared
out.
So roads will be built, and pavements narrowed, and trees will be
murdered. The reason stated is that, trees cause accidents and young
people die. The reason also that the speed of traffic is 'too
difficult to curtail'. Also that replacement trees with tree guards
have been planted further away from the road. Thus, for the logic of
things, roads will have trees, only new trees. And we will all have
more space for our vehicles. And all will be happy ever after...
Sorry, till the next spate of road widening...
On Besant Avenue there are many old trees, just as there were on many
other roads in the Chennai of the years gone by. These trees, many
over 80 and 100 years old, have grown slowly and have seen 3
generations of the city dwellers move from bullock carts to fast
moving cars and two wheelers move under them. But suddenly we hear
that their time is come.... the executioner is ready, the contractor,
who will carry out the job for the Corporation of Chennai, will come
one night and when the city sleeps fell the trees. This is the one way
of presenting everyone with a fait accompli. People with their
sensitivities are hindrances and have to be overcome or sidestepped.
Who can argue once a tree is felled and then carted away? The
anguished cries are impotent and will last but for a small while!
It is sad to see a large living thing felled, killed and
slaughtered.... but we have all seen trees die, what is the problem if
people want to fell them?
There IS really no problem if one tree has to be cut. But if we see
this as part of a systematic pattern - 900 trees have been earmarked
for disposal - questions begin to form and doubts begin to surface....
We talk about protecting the environment and then we take down
trees... large tall old trees, older than most of us alive today,
trees belonging to another era. Do we all like the idea of the
environment, but unable to work for it in our small ways?
Today getting rid of 3 to 4 feet of pavement seems very important, to
hustle the traffic along. But what will happen tomorrow? Roads fill
sooner than expected. Have all options been considered?
For example, is slower traffic on Besant Avenue not a boon? Should we
not have more speed-restraining mechanisms such as rumblers to meet
the unseemly hurry sponsored by the advertisements?
What has been done in the city when the traffic congestion is high? In
Panagal Park and in a thousand other places, the roads have become one
way. Not only is traffic more orderly but also slower.
In a city full of 10 million people there is only that much road
space. One thing is sure - the roads are going to fill and soon will
be filled to the brim. This cannot be changed. But can we have full
roads and trees or shall we strip the roads of all cover?
Besant Avenue is among the less crowded roads. Why this attention to
this road? Is it that it is easy to widen the road and allocate some
money for the purpose? Is it that the other animal, the budget and
expenditure, has to grow, at least a little fatter over last year?
More contracts have to be given, more rock quarries given permission
and the industrial juggernaut needs work? And building roads here will
be easier than building them in some remote village... any day.
What is the minimum size of pavements needed in the city? What are our
entitlements?
And what about public transport - one bus can carry the equivalent of
30 to 40 car loads of passengers. Is there no answer in that
direction, learning from Bogota and other such experiments? Or is our
commitment to the 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler market more pressing than to
the environment?
Many more questions, many more questions!
In our time does the tree not have a voice? Can a tree just because a
road needs to be built have no defence? Are there no men or women to
raise a voice? Or have we all been co opted into silence... punctuated
by the rasping noise of the tree saws? All! Citizens, students,
bureaucrats, politicians? Don't the tax payers have a voice? Should
such schemes not be debated openly?
We all agree that some trees need to go. But don't we need to question
the inevitability of this direction?
Sure, the city will fill up, with more roads and more cars, and more
high rise apartments! Sure, the water table will go down further and
the trees won't find water... this has happened to all large cities.
These large trees have managed to survive despite being choked in the
pavement and despite years of drought. And now that all other devices
have failed, we say the lives of people are more precious than the
lives of trees?
I invite, any politician, any minister, any bureaucrat to bring his
old father or mother, hold their hand and try and cross some of our
roads. They will see how speed has stolen our birthright to safety on
the roads. Sure, young motor cyclists, even if they drive fast,
sometimes under influence of alcohol, must not die. But surely, we
cannot maim our population giving privilege to speed over the right of
the pedestrian and the cyclist!
Soon, all too soon, the oil is going to dry up, Soon, all to soon,
before the next generation of shade giving trees grow to 30 feet or 40
feet! in fact their only chance of survival and growth is less of this
madness.
Surely the next generation will ask us.. what did you do to these
beautiful trees? Have you merely replaced them with asphalt roads?
Surely we have photographs for calendars and images for the screen
savers..
And Tagore, if he were to visit Chennai again as he did in the 1920s,
would he say, "Hush be still my heart. these great trees are prayers."
Sure go ahead and cut the trees! Just tell me what should I say to
your grandchild when he asks "Where did all the green go? Did you all
save trees or cut them down?" I am a teacher, you see. My ilk meet
questions that others probably avoid...
G.Gautama
"Hush be still my heart. these great trees are prayers."
Rabindranath tagore
The juggernaut is on the roll again. Roads have to be built in the
summer and contracts have to be awarded. The roads that were good till
last year are suddenly inadequate. The traffic is a beast and snarling
for more space. The two wheelers need wheeling space and the 4
wheelers too need the more space.. but more, they need clear straight
road space , to travel fast... the new, high rpm engines need to match
the ads on TV screens. If the roads don't offer such possibilities the
riders and drivers feel cheated, the manufacturers press for better
and wider roads, read 'better infrastructure', and the administrators
need to find things to improve.
In the meantime the road has to be cleared... not asphalt roads, but
the trees that are crucial to road widening.. they need to be cleared
out.
So roads will be built, and pavements narrowed, and trees will be
murdered. The reason stated is that, trees cause accidents and young
people die. The reason also that the speed of traffic is 'too
difficult to curtail'. Also that replacement trees with tree guards
have been planted further away from the road. Thus, for the logic of
things, roads will have trees, only new trees. And we will all have
more space for our vehicles. And all will be happy ever after...
Sorry, till the next spate of road widening...
On Besant Avenue there are many old trees, just as there were on many
other roads in the Chennai of the years gone by. These trees, many
over 80 and 100 years old, have grown slowly and have seen 3
generations of the city dwellers move from bullock carts to fast
moving cars and two wheelers move under them. But suddenly we hear
that their time is come.... the executioner is ready, the contractor,
who will carry out the job for the Corporation of Chennai, will come
one night and when the city sleeps fell the trees. This is the one way
of presenting everyone with a fait accompli. People with their
sensitivities are hindrances and have to be overcome or sidestepped.
Who can argue once a tree is felled and then carted away? The
anguished cries are impotent and will last but for a small while!
It is sad to see a large living thing felled, killed and
slaughtered.... but we have all seen trees die, what is the problem if
people want to fell them?
There IS really no problem if one tree has to be cut. But if we see
this as part of a systematic pattern - 900 trees have been earmarked
for disposal - questions begin to form and doubts begin to surface....
We talk about protecting the environment and then we take down
trees... large tall old trees, older than most of us alive today,
trees belonging to another era. Do we all like the idea of the
environment, but unable to work for it in our small ways?
Today getting rid of 3 to 4 feet of pavement seems very important, to
hustle the traffic along. But what will happen tomorrow? Roads fill
sooner than expected. Have all options been considered?
For example, is slower traffic on Besant Avenue not a boon? Should we
not have more speed-restraining mechanisms such as rumblers to meet
the unseemly hurry sponsored by the advertisements?
What has been done in the city when the traffic congestion is high? In
Panagal Park and in a thousand other places, the roads have become one
way. Not only is traffic more orderly but also slower.
In a city full of 10 million people there is only that much road
space. One thing is sure - the roads are going to fill and soon will
be filled to the brim. This cannot be changed. But can we have full
roads and trees or shall we strip the roads of all cover?
Besant Avenue is among the less crowded roads. Why this attention to
this road? Is it that it is easy to widen the road and allocate some
money for the purpose? Is it that the other animal, the budget and
expenditure, has to grow, at least a little fatter over last year?
More contracts have to be given, more rock quarries given permission
and the industrial juggernaut needs work? And building roads here will
be easier than building them in some remote village... any day.
What is the minimum size of pavements needed in the city? What are our
entitlements?
And what about public transport - one bus can carry the equivalent of
30 to 40 car loads of passengers. Is there no answer in that
direction, learning from Bogota and other such experiments? Or is our
commitment to the 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler market more pressing than to
the environment?
Many more questions, many more questions!
In our time does the tree not have a voice? Can a tree just because a
road needs to be built have no defence? Are there no men or women to
raise a voice? Or have we all been co opted into silence... punctuated
by the rasping noise of the tree saws? All! Citizens, students,
bureaucrats, politicians? Don't the tax payers have a voice? Should
such schemes not be debated openly?
We all agree that some trees need to go. But don't we need to question
the inevitability of this direction?
Sure, the city will fill up, with more roads and more cars, and more
high rise apartments! Sure, the water table will go down further and
the trees won't find water... this has happened to all large cities.
These large trees have managed to survive despite being choked in the
pavement and despite years of drought. And now that all other devices
have failed, we say the lives of people are more precious than the
lives of trees?
I invite, any politician, any minister, any bureaucrat to bring his
old father or mother, hold their hand and try and cross some of our
roads. They will see how speed has stolen our birthright to safety on
the roads. Sure, young motor cyclists, even if they drive fast,
sometimes under influence of alcohol, must not die. But surely, we
cannot maim our population giving privilege to speed over the right of
the pedestrian and the cyclist!
Soon, all too soon, the oil is going to dry up, Soon, all to soon,
before the next generation of shade giving trees grow to 30 feet or 40
feet! in fact their only chance of survival and growth is less of this
madness.
Surely the next generation will ask us.. what did you do to these
beautiful trees? Have you merely replaced them with asphalt roads?
Surely we have photographs for calendars and images for the screen
savers..
And Tagore, if he were to visit Chennai again as he did in the 1920s,
would he say, "Hush be still my heart. these great trees are prayers."
Sure go ahead and cut the trees! Just tell me what should I say to
your grandchild when he asks "Where did all the green go? Did you all
save trees or cut them down?" I am a teacher, you see. My ilk meet
questions that others probably avoid...
G.Gautama
We are here together....
We are here
all together
we are responsible for the way things are
we may not think so
but we are.
all of us are not responsible for all the things
fully
but all things, all things we like and dislike
we are part of
in tiny measure or not so tiny
mostly we can be only responsible for tiny measures
we one in 6 billion
even if we count ourselves as one in 100 million
the well to do
we are still a small part, only a small part
the temptation is high
to just give up and believe
since we are so small we dont count
since we dont count we need not make any effort
the temptation is high
to continue with the small follies
believing again, that they dont count
and since we dont count, we can continue
but we count, a wee bit
and the wee bits add up
wee bitsof caring add up
and wee bits of uncaring add up
no one can say
if the world is a better place
for the wee bits we have added
or a worse place
a choice we make each day
what is yours, what is mine?
to say it hardly matters, so let me do little?
to say it hardly matters, so let me do a little?
all together
we are responsible for the way things are
we may not think so
but we are.
all of us are not responsible for all the things
fully
but all things, all things we like and dislike
we are part of
in tiny measure or not so tiny
mostly we can be only responsible for tiny measures
we one in 6 billion
even if we count ourselves as one in 100 million
the well to do
we are still a small part, only a small part
the temptation is high
to just give up and believe
since we are so small we dont count
since we dont count we need not make any effort
the temptation is high
to continue with the small follies
believing again, that they dont count
and since we dont count, we can continue
but we count, a wee bit
and the wee bits add up
wee bitsof caring add up
and wee bits of uncaring add up
no one can say
if the world is a better place
for the wee bits we have added
or a worse place
a choice we make each day
what is yours, what is mine?
to say it hardly matters, so let me do little?
to say it hardly matters, so let me do a little?
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