Chapter 3 - The Namesake : Stories of a deity and a human

  Place: Masinagudi (Nilgiri District, TN)

Date: 19^th January, 2014

         We often use the phrases “Scheduled castes” and “Scheduled tribes” (mostly in the context of beneficiaries of the Indian Reservation system.) But how often do we actually think of the life of a Dalit or a Tribal? Taking nothing away from their sufferings of the past, the Dalit community has progressed since independence (a long way to go still though). But many Tribal communities of India are still untouched, the stories untold.

Inside the Mudhumalai Forest

Masinagudi is a village in the foothills of Ooty, Tamil Nadu, a popular tourist destination in the region, famous for its jungle safaris and tiger spotting. The village is a named after the Kula-deivam (Family-deity) “Masinan” of the people in the village. It is one of the 5 ranges in the Mudumalai National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary and lies in the boundary between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The mountains house a variety of tribes like Irulars, Badagas, Thenkurumbars, Swalkars, Kasuvars, Pettakurumbars, etc (the last four are sub-divisions in the Irular community). Mr. Masinan (the human) belongs to the Irular tribe of the Mudumalai forest, whom he claims are “the original adivasis of the region.” Badagas were the ones who came last, “40 families came in bullock carts from Karnataka and now have become the top tribe in the region, its members succeeding in various sections of the society, including a High Court Judge.”

Coffee plantation where Masinan works

Masinan works at a coffee plantation-cum-resort in Masinagudi and has been working there since he was a kid. “I have been working here for almost 40 years and I earn Rs. 6500. Kids who have joined after me start off with a salary of at least Rs. 9,500,” Masinan says, visibly disappointed. Salim, a 27-year old cook at the same resort (and an excellent one at that) currently earns Rs. 9,500. However, the lack of adequate remuneration has not deterred Masinan from carrying out his daily chores with a cheerful smile. “I push the workers here from 5 a.m, I believe we should be loyal to our Employers (“Mudhalaligal” could translate to owner as well, atleast in this context) because they feed us.”

The treatment meted out to Tribals is extremely unfair, claims Masinan. “Government has not done anything to improve our living conditions; Forest Officers do not let us enter the forest, which is basically our home; Police officers look at us as criminals and Sandalwood smugglers; even this Resort was built by destroying our houses. We no longer possess anything. We protect the forest, it is our home and in return, we just have to live in a state of constant fear.” Masinan goes on to say that all that he desires are the basic necessities. “I do not desire a ‘maadi-veedu’ (apartment), all that I was is for my kids to come up in life, but I find it tough. I have struggled enough, I do not want my kids to go through the same.”

Probably the most defining moment of the conversation came about when Masinan said “For the first time in so many generations of my family, I’m sitting on par with you here and talking. That is because of the status YOU have afforded to me.” The years of subjugation and inequality that has been infused into his blood is so overwhelming; the concept of equality has not dawned on him or his generation. “In fact it has taken us over twenty years to get over the fear of a ‘pantu-kaaran’ (the “civilized” man in pants), we are still not over that fear. Tigers are less scary.”

As grim as his story may sound, his tone was not one of despair. He finds utmost joy in the little things around him. “I play a wind instrument inherent to our tribe. Music gives me a lot of happiness. Every once in a while, all of us in the village get together around a bon-fire and sing and dance,” smiles Masinan. “We are born here, die here and buried here, inside the forest. This is our home.”

Everyone in India has a story to tell. There just aren’t enough ears.

Salim (left) and Masinan (right)

Chapter 2 : The Tale of Thalanayar

Place : Thalainayar (Nagappatinam District, Tamil Nadu)

Date : 22nd July, 2013

         Thalainayar is a Town Panchayat in the district of Nagappatinam (For people who remember the Tsunami of 2004, Nagappatinam district had the maximum number of casualties in Tamil Nadu.) This is a story of a tiny village in this Panchayat, Santhantheru, whose residents have no food, no drinking water and absolutely no money. This village gets flooded for three months every year and the residents are put up in a nearby school, where close to a hundred families live together with inadequate food and space. The floods take away both the lives and livelihood of these poor people who rely totally on agriculture for their food. 

 "Once a year, our village gets flooded. The houses get washed away, there will be snakes moving around and dead bodies floating around us. We will not have time for anything, we just pick up our children and swim to the nearby school where they would put us up for three months." - says Lakshmi, a resident. The normalcy with which these words were uttered is quite haunting and their situation, almost unimaginable.

    

Ploughed land waiting for rain

     Most of the agriculture done in this part of Tamil Nadu is rain-fed and yes, it seldom rains. When it does rain, the rain water and sea water together displace the entire village. The village does not have any irrigation facilities and laying bores is meaningless because the groundwater is mostly salty. There has been very little farming in the past ten years and as a direct consequence, there has been very little money as well for the past ten years. To add salt to their wounds, the village has been converted from Village Panchayat to Town Panchayat (because of the growing size and population) which implies that they don't get the benefits of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and hence, no alternate source of income. Just to put things into perspective, the average annual income of a family here is Rs. 10,000 (that's around $166.66, less than a dollar a day!).

      Although the households don't have food or water, each house has a color television, thanks to our politicians. Lakshmi makes a very valid point when she asks "What's the point of a TV? Can we eat it?" Typically, a family runs on the very little money the woman makes. In spite of the lack of funds, the men drink alcohol with whatever money they earn. "Once they see the money, they forget that they have families and that they have to bring home some money. Their priority is to drink, with even the little they make" say Shanthi, who has quite visibly been affected by an alcoholic husband. It is not much of a surprise that the political parties buy votes with a few bottles of liquor in rural Tamil Nadu. Democracy is neatly mixed, bottled and sold. 

The women's "support" group

    There is a Women's support group present in Thalainayar, whose main job is to provide loans for women and help in improving their living condition. "We provide awareness to women about hygiene and provide loans upto Rs.6,000 for women to help them build toilets in their houses." says K. Dhanabagyam, a field agent in this organization for almost ten years. Just when you think there is some hope left in this village, she says "We charge an interest of 26 per cent on these loans." TWENTY SIX PERCENT!! These villagers have no means of livelihood, meanwhile this organization is sucking the blood out of them. When asked why they charge so much (Banks offer loans at 6%-10% interest), she says, "With us, there is not much hassle and no waiting time." Lets call a spade a spade, this is merely a business, not a support group. They do not provide awareness on health or usage of sanitary pads or equality. Just out of curiosity, I asked the women of Santhanatheru if they think they are equal to men. There was a long pause, some giggling and then, a subdued response, "Men and women here live in peace."

     In spite of all the difficulties, the people have made sure that their kids go to school. The village school has classes only upto eighth grade, but they are determined to send the kids to the nearby town for further studies. A few people have managed to send their kids to college as well and try to make a living out of the little money their kids send from the cities.  The "Midday Meal Scheme" is quite successful here and is keeping the kids at school. In the wake of recent controversies surrounding the meal program, this particular village and its people (especially the teachers) have made sure that the safety of the students is their top priority. 

The privileged masses of India is not aware of the difficulties faced by the bottom 22%. We read about "them" in the newspapers and see "them" on television. For us, "they" are merely a statistic. But to see these guys in flesh and blood and hear their problems is an extremely moving (even haunting) experience. The villagers are quite convinced that we will never understand their problems. Maybe we never will. But lets at least start trying?

The residents of Santhanatheru, Thalainayar

Chapter 1 - An attempt to discover India

This is my entry for “Travel That Moved me” contest, in support of Rang de, conducted by desi Traveler .

Place : Aalapalayam (50km North of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)

Date : 25th June, 2013

Barren, uncultivated land

In the past few months, I have often asked myself the question "What do I consider to be a privilege in my life?" The answer seemed to be obvious "food, shelter and education." Now that I think about it, this might have been a very shallow response from a guy sitting inside an AC room, oblivious to the actual hardships of the world. How about eating your food without the stench of an exposed drainage that runs around your house? How about a house whose roof falls on your head with every rainfall? How about the absence of an avenue to dispose your dead ones? 

The wells have dried up

A village which relied on agriculture about 15 years back, has gone completely barren. An entire generation of farmers, like the profession, has become weak and fragile. Lack of rain and the ineffectiveness of a corrupt Bureaucracy has landed these helpless people in their current predicament. The local body, namely the Gram Sabha, is the organization that has to make sure money from the State Government reaches these unfortunate souls. But corruption in every level of our bureaucracy has hampered our growth and sustenance, in some cases even mere existence. Farming has taken a back step in this village, mainly due to the lack of rain and irrigation facilities. Wells are the only other source of water and most of them have dried up. Furthermore, the cost of cultivating a piece of land (say 5-6 acres) costs about a lakh and half in Indian rupees and the farmers barely break even if they don't incur losses.

The dairy tyrant

So automatically, the people have started looking at alternate modes of income, like selling milk (from the very few cows that they own) and construction work. "The local dairy mart buys milk from us at Rs.18 a litre and sells it at Rs.28. When I went and asked the guys for a raise of Rs.2 per litre, the guy in-charge reduced the price to Rs.17.50 out of anger" says Muthusamy, a former farmer. "I have now decided to give up selling milk as well, as I incur a loss on that as well." 65-year old Muthusamy, like his brothers, owns a land of 6 acres which lies barren and uncultivated presently.

Women employed under MNREGA laying a mud road

 The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) has ensured that most of these guys have at least 100-150 days of employment in a year at a wage of Rs.140 a day. "Its easier than farming and pays the same. So people don't want to do farming anymore." Says Selvi, Muthusamy's daughter, who has completed her B.Ed, but has not been able to find a job. The average savings of a person in the village is a staggering low figure of Rs. 4000.

Open, stagnated sewage line around the house

The tiny graveyard

Every house in the village has a color television (thanks to Karunanidhi) and a mixer/grinder (thanks to "Amma") although there is hardly any electricity. "Every man in the village has a cell-phone, TVS-50 and a color TV" says Selvi. Under the present regime, rice is given for free in the Ration shop. She says that during Karunanidhi's regime, a couple of street lights were installed  (which are clearly hidden from plain-sight) and a road was laid. So they keep voting for the DMK party. "All I got under Amma's regime was my hip surgery" laughs Muthusamy. A Tasmac is closer to the village than a departmental store. Hospitals are even farther. Most houses don't have toilets or a bath, the village doesn't have a common toilet or a bathroom. The worst part is the houses that are surrounded by an open, stagnated drainage (sewage line) which automatically attracts flies and mosquitoes. Also the stench, oh my God, the stench! Its inhuman for people to eat, sleep and live with coagulated sewage a few feet away. Another common complaint is the absence of a graveyard for the village. The people have dedicated a very small piece of land (fits 4-5 bodies at most) for this purpose where they burn/bury the bodies. "It is extremely inconvenient. We have begged and pleaded in the Panchayat, but they don't seem to care. We don't have place to bury the bodies, and when it rains, we just leave the body out in the open and go back to the huts" sobs a woman who recently lost her husband.

The village is a good 3km inside from the main road and there are no street lights present, which means after sunset, people cannot walk safely on the streets. There are some more villages further inside, which don't even have roads leading to them. Add to this the lack of adequate public transportation to get to a nearby town, it presents a very grim situation. A situation which is extremely difficult to imagine and even harder to digest.

Muthusamy and his family                      

These people need our support, they need a more humane form of existence. I would like to strongly urge the reader to give a moment of thought about the privileges we have in our life, which we take for granted and sometimes even abuse. Mr. M.K.Gandhi once said that India lives in her villages. A careful observation or even a mere glance suggests that, today, India and her people barely survive in her villages. Lets shrug off our laziness and do whatever we can, in our limited power, to help the people, our fellow human beings.

TAMIL NADU UNDER ARREST

For all that is right and wrong in the world, fair and unfair, true and false, there is one singular thing which is always unbiased. FACT. It is an established fact that the Al-qaeda is an Islamic organization, that most members (if not all) are Muslims. Now here is a point which is lost, NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS, MOST AL QAEDA MEMBERS WHO HAVE BEEN CAUGHT ARE MUSLIMS. It is a very important distinction that has been lost among the handful protesting Kamal Hassan's "Vishwaroopam". The movie has nothing to do with Muslims living in Tamil Nadu. The movie is based in AFGHANISTAN, for crying out lout.

Now, Tamil Nadu has been the most secular of states in India and there is absolutely no denying that. These radical fundamentalist parties which have shown their ugly side, have cropped up very recently. It may be the Puthiya Thamizhakam, Hindu Mahasabha, Shiv Sena or the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, it is extremely important to note that not one of these parties have improved the living conditions for people. These parties have become popular by just opposing anything that "hurts" their sentiments. And the Government has always entertained their inability to take any imagined offence by restricting the freedom of expression of the opponent party. May it be M.F.Hussain, Salman Rushdie or Kamal Hassan, justice has been denied to them and is an undeniable truth.

Article 19 (1.a) of the Constitution of India says “All citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression.” This means the protestors have all the right to protest the movie, as much right as Kamal Hassan has in making and releasing this movie. However Article 19 (1.b) of the Constitution says “All citizens shall have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.” Throwing petrol bombs into theaters, tearing down screens, burning images of the artist, etc is in clear violation of the constitution and law. Has there been adequate action taken to quell these violent acts? No. If a Government is scared of riots, then it should prepare itself to suppress the riot, not suspend constitutional rights.

Now the TMMK. There have been so many “Kazhagams” of late in Tamil Nadu, that it is really difficult to keep track of what they stand for. This one is the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. This party has not had a voice in the governance of the state till January 2013. A little investigative research (Wikipedia) would show that the TMMK has been an avid supporter of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which in turn is directly linked to Indian Mujahideen (remember 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts?) and Al-qaeda (Needs no introduction). The leaders of the TMMK themselves have been arrested in connection to the 1998 Coimbatore bombings. But the Tamil Nadu Government has given this extremist group recognition by backing its’ claims and taking the onus upon itself to go as far as obtaining a stay order on the High Court order to release the movie. So clearly the buck does not stop with the TMMK protests.

So is there a political underlining to this entire drama? DMK patriarch M.Karunanidhi latched on to the opportunity to blame his opponent, Chief Minister Ms.J.Jayalalithaa, saying that the latter is against Kamal Hassan because the veteran actor supported P.Chidambaram for Prime Minister, at a recent book release function. Other sources indicate that the TV rights for the movie went to another channel (Vijay TV) though the ADMK-supported channel bid for it. So that might have made the Chief Minister angry. Of course, all these are speculations; if there is any truth to these, then “Rajnikanth” save Tamil Nadu. But the very fact that the Tamil Nadu Government has ignored the orders of the Censor Board, High Court, The Constitution of India and the requests of the Central Govt and above all the People (who have come out in huge numbers) to lift the ban on the movie, indicates that either the Chief Minister is ready to go to any extent to play Vote-Bank politics or she is ready to cater to a group of minority radicals to prove that her state is secular.

Either way, this episode has managed to defame the moderate Muslim community of the state and has taken away secularism from Tamil Nadu, where once, the Pakistan team had a victory lap after their victory over India. All that remains now is Pseudo-secularism and a sinking feeling of injustice done to one of the greatest artistes of the state.

An open letter to Lalit Modi

Mr. Lalit Modi

Hope you are doing well. Congratulations on the grand success of IPL, your "brainchild”. You have made a great deal of money for the BCCI, sold cricket commercially and won a lot of new fans. You are a great manager and an excellent businessman. You have managed to monopolise cricket and become "the most powerful man in world cricket today" (quoting Chris Cairns). And I definitely should mention that you are very good at the press conferences. Of course you always have Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta or some other pretty lady for your support. A good job nevertheless. You have received enough accolades for your effort I am sure.

I however, have a few questions for you. I could not help looking up the word "brainchild" in the dictionary. It means "a product of one's creative work or thought." May I ask you what was so creative about the IPL? You just changed "English" in EPL to "Indian" to make it IPL. Very convenient. Not even the idea of providing opportunities to youngsters was yours. It belonged to Mr. Kapil Dev and crew. You could not even come up with innovative franchise names for crying out loud! All you had to do was go online and browse for the names of baseball and football leagues in USA. Kansas City Royals became Rajasthan Royals, San Diego Chargers became Deccan Chargers and Outer Banks Daredevils became Delhi Daredevils. So Mr. Modi, it is very clear that no part of your work is creative. Please refrain from using the word "brainchild" henceforth.

I forgot to congratulate you on the moving of IPL to South Africa on such a short notice last year. Great job on that. And on your donation to the schools in South Africa, over $890000 if I am not wrong. Very generous indeed. Where were you when our own hockey team needed financial help? A man of your stature and position could have done a lot for a fellow sporting body in the country. It’s after all our national game. Please do something to popularise hockey in India. Only you can do it. You can probably copy the format of NFL and call it NHL(National Hockey League). Go for it Mr. Modi!!

I grew up watching Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Glenn Mcgrath, Shane Warne, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting, among many others, battling it out for their countries for five days, bowling till the last sinew in their body cracked up and taking blows on their bodies just to survive. That was cricket. They might not have been paid a lot but they sure did give all of theirs for their respective countries. Times may have changed now, but if test cricket has to survive in India, leave alone flourish, IPL is definitely not the way to go. If you are going to offer such large amounts of money even for rookies, no one is ever going to venture close to Test cricket. As the legendary Gary Sobers noted, you can pay the guys such huge sums of money for winning but not for just participating. You are just spoiling the upcoming cricketers.

I was proud when India said it won’t play the inaugural T20 world cup. I was proud that we stood up for something. But now we are just another hypocritical cricketing nation. It’s not very surprising now that we are the only country against the Test Championship Tournament. At this rate, I am sure we won’t produce another Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Tendulkar or Dravid. We already have players like Flintoff, Lee, Tait and Nannes retiring from the longer format of the game to play the shorter one. Very soon Test cricket is going to have overly aggressive and technically weak batsmen playing against mediocre bowlers with shortened boundaries. Is that what you want? Test cricket is marching towards a decline and you, Mr. Modi, are leading the march. You have the power to stop it. Like Peter Roebuck says, Test matches are like classic movies and T20s are not anything more than sitcoms, each has to be treated with different amounts of respect. Please don’t lure away the cricketers from the glory of test matches by showing them the wealth of IPL. As I said earlier, you have won a lot of new fans for cricket, but please do not take away what we old diehard fans adore - Test Cricket. Please stop the madness

Snakes and Ladders

I have never been a big fan of public displays of affection. It happens quite a lot here you know. And most of the time its more than just affection, if you know what I mean. The other day I was looking to cross the road and was waiting for the signal. There was this couple on the the other side of the road, kissing away to glory. The signal eventually fell and I started crossing the road. This couple was still standing there, making out. Now there was very little time left and I had almost crossed the road. When there were just 3 seconds left, those love birds held hands, ran across the road and continued their act of "love". I just wished someone would walk up to them and tell them, "Please go get a room!" But yeah, that's never gonna happen!!!

I sometimes wonder how the perception of love will change if we take out the physical intimacy from it. Just imagine, a relationship where you don't kiss, make out, etc etc. Just two people who hang out, talk over the phone for a long time, keep texting throughout the day and share everything. But wait. There's already a word for it- "We're just friends." So there is a thin line somewhere which differentiates between friends and lovers. The line is no longer gender as we all know. So clearly, the physical intimacy is the line here. It may seem outrageous and some people may not accept it. But if we just give it a serious thought, it makes a lot of sense. People of our generation just want instant gratification. Yes, there maybe exceptions. But as we all know, exceptions are not examples. People just go in search of emotional closeness and are filled with this misconstrued opinion that physical intimacy leads to emotional intimacy which brings about mental harmony and peace. Yes, the path to the "divine harmony" may seem absolutely right, but somewhere down the road something goes wrong. Loving couples end up as two self-centered people looking for satisfaction which is no longer available-boredom. End result - break up.

So why this pathetic charade? We know there is pain involved in every relationship. Every relationship comes with an expiry date. No wonder the western part of the world has drifted towards one-night stands and meaningless flings. No emotional attachment, no sentiments, no pain. Many people want their life to be like beautiful music. Well, beautiful music can only be created with ups and downs. Life is just like that. Its just a game of snakes and ladders.

BLUE

This is my fourth day now, sitting alone in my room, nobody to talk to, nothing to do or look forward to. Meaningless flings with beautiful movies, sitcoms which dont even tickle you, guitar exercises which yield in more of pain than music, microwaved food, a laptop which has more mood swings than a girl in her periods- 'nuff said!! Loneliness can make you go crazy, you tend to look at all the negative things around you through a magnifying glass. And in a strange way, your past comes up in front of you and dances to the slow tunes of your sad life. Memories!! A beautiful creation. In a way they add more meaning to your life, gives you something from your past which makes you look forward to your future. Sort of keeps you going. And the most beautiful part is, happier memories overpower the bitter ones. Have you noticed it? When you sit and think about your past, the times you have been happy and had fun come first. Human psychology!! The divine pursuit of happiness! Whatever we do, we want to be happy. If we are not happy, we try to go into a comfort zone which tends to make us happy. The same reason why we get into relationships. Relationships!! Love!! Humans have this incessant need to be pampered, cared about, appreciated and satisfied. And being the masters of our own creations, we come up with this all fancy and chaste word, LOVE! TRUE LOVE! Feels real good to be in one. Accepted. Its like dope, a constant state of inebriation. And when I see a couple "truly in love", I do envy them. They are in their own state of "happiness". Two people appreciating each others' flaws, pampering each other away to glory, showering expensive gifts and calling it "selfless love" - a falsely conjured oxymoronic term. Yes I believed in it! And I still want to believe in it. But I guess when you are in love you think with your heart and when you are out of it your brain takes over. A chemical reaction nonetheless. Pursuit of happiness!!!

Yes. Thats how your brain works when it has nothing to do. It is depressing when you have believed in something throughout your life and your brain starts questioning it and proves it completely wrong. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop!" Right!! I decide to stop thinking. I walk out of the house into the street. The lovely portland street. Trust me, my depressing thoughts are way better. City of angels, my ass! The underdeveloped, crowded, pothole-filled streets of Chennai are way better! You can live life there. Here you merely exist. Rules, rules, rules. And then more rules. Even driving in this country is boring. Perfect roads, automatic gears, neatly chalked out rules. Tell me, what is the fun in driving? I wonder what an american guy would do if he had to drive on Indian roads. I am sure he will die of a heart attack. The poor guy cant even call 911. Oh in India I heard its 108. Like someone is gonna use that and succeed in getting timely help!! But yeah, that's India for you. Mera bharath mahaan.

Am back in my house now. The uncleaned vessels, non-vacuumed carpet floor, the lonely fooseball table, my red vaio( I still wonder how my mom convinced me into buying that color). Hmphhh!! I guess am back to where I started. Staring into the abyss. More and more thoughts flood my tiny brain now. And trust me, its all sooooo blueee!!!!