Apu’s World

So, Barack Obama has won the race to the White house, and there is jubilation all around, with much talk about breaking of racial glass ceilings and so on. Whether or not Obama is a “typical” African-American (after all, his father was a recent, educated immigrant from Kenya, and his mother white), symbolically, it is still a big deal.

Television channels in India have immediately started drawing parallels to the Indian context. We don’t have race of course (or not as a significant issue), but what we have is Caste. So, the obvious question is, is India ready to elect a Dalit prime minister? More specifically, are we ready to elect the likeliest Dalit candidate on the horizon, Mayawati?  

Leaving aside the fact that Indian politics is more complicated than the American landscape, with its multiple parties, both national and state-level, I have to say that Mayawati somehow draws a very polarized response from me. Put simply, these days, whenever I see her on television, I feel a terrible dislike. But, I didn’t always feel this way. I remember the 90s when she first emerged as someone to reckon with, I was thrilled - a woman and a Dalit - mobilizing a constituency that had never been really mobilized before (despite all the lip service paid by most politicians); for the first time, there was a sense that there could really be an India where Dalits mattered. While the Mandal issue had brought caste to the table as a major election issue, the BSP gave out the hope that Dalits could haul themselves up and march to the capital - they didn’t need handouts from anyone else.

As an upper-caste woman who gets to see upper-caste whingeing and prejudice at close quarters, I thought that here was an opportunity for the historically oppressed to really have the power that is needed to create a new social order. Perhaps because my expectations from the BSP, and from Mayawati were so high, I feel all the more let down.

Yes, symbolically, she is a huge inspiration and in a sense, she proves that India has reached a stage where being Dalit need not be a barrier to success. But, beyond all that, how have her stints in power been? Let’s see.

She has built up what seems to be assets disproportionate to her income, and then claimed that these were gifts from party members.

Her government has been in the news for accepting kickbacks.

She got involved in the Taj Corridor case, which could have caused damage to India’s best-known monument.

She has about 40 statues erected to herself.

Now, none of these are unique to Mayawati. Every Indian politician makes money, steals money from public coffers and spends extravagant sums on his/her self-aggrandisement. Should Mayawati necessarily be different simply because she has come to power, promising to fulfil the aspirations of Dalit voters? In other words, should she be held to a higher standard?

On the one hand, as a feminist, I am tired of hearing people say that women have to work twice as hard to make it. Do you have any idea how tough it is to work twice as hard? And that too, when most women actually hold down two jobs, one outside, and one inside the house. Doesn’t expecting a Dalit Chief Minister to be better than every other politician smack of this?

On the other hand, no one can deny that there is so much work to be done. And Dalit or not, can we not ask our leaders to be accountable for the money (our money) that they use?

Apart from issues of misuse and accountability, there is also a worry that in her haste to consolidate power, Mayawati is willing to woo the upper castes - as such, there is nothing wrong in this - having an inclusive agenda can lead to less caste-divisions and progress for everyone. But, is that what it is, or simply vote bank politics and fear of losing out on the upper-caste vote? I’m also surprised that we don’t hear her much on Dalit issues anymore - According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the last data available (for 2005) shows a small decline in the number of atrocities against SC/STs, but even so, we are a long way from caste-based crimes being eradicated. Plus, while she clearly shows prime-ministerial ambitions, we don’t really hear her speak or do enough when there are such cases being reported in other states regularly, which makes me suspicious that she is soft-pedalling the issue to gain wider acceptance.

So. Is a symbol enough or should we be expecting more?

apu Other Social issues in India

What comes to mind when you think of famine, of people starving, of death from hunger ? Africa, isn’t it? Harsh as that may sound, most of us tend to associate that unfortunate continent with the misery of famine and hunger - Ethiopia, Somalia - these are the names that come to mind. Though we see poor people all around us, somehow, our own country, India, doesn’t figure in our minds, because, oh, we are not short of food, are we? There is no famine here, there is plenty of food in the shops - if only you can afford to buy it. I am ashamed that I fall into this category myself, the category which sees, yet somehow doesn’t really see.

Which is why, I was shocked to read a week or so ago, the findings of a global study on hunger, which revealed that not only does India figure in the list of 88 countries which fail to meet standards, it ranks 66th on this list, with many Indian states ranking below countries such as Gabon, Ethiopia and Chad. What does it say about us, that 60 years after Independence, our populations continues to rise steeply, but we still cannot feed the millions entering this world? Does it not indicate a huge lack of political will as well as systemic failures that prevent social welfare schemes from really reaching the poor?

The causes are many. Populations are huge, making implementation of our Below the Poverty Line (BPL) food programme difficult. Mid-day meals, which are a huge incentive for children to go to school, are not uniformly or well implemented by all states. Rural areas continue to be excessively dependent on low-paying, subsistence agriculture. Worse, there are many landless people, who are under-employed. India’s long history of license-quota raj meant that manufacturing has grown very slowly, and is still much lower than what is needed to employ such a large population. No jobs, no land - no food is a natural result.

Does it not tear your heart to hear that “India…does not have a single state in the ‘low hunger´ or ’moderate hunger’ categories?” After all, food is the most basic of needs. Parents who cannot feed their children are unlikely to be able to afford other expensus such as sending them to school. Hunger leads to malnutrition and lesser immunity to diseases; it also stunts mental growth.

Too often, we think of patriotism as fighting at the border, indulging ourselves in rants against Pakistan, or insisting that everyone should sing Vande Mataram; but if true patriotism is love for this country that has give us, privileged ones, such a good life, surely, this love has to reflect as concern for its masses of under-fed people, whose only crime is to have been born on the wrong side. There is no way we can claim to have become a developed country, till this problem is addressed.

But, I don’t work in the government. I do my bit by paying my taxes, which are supposed to address such issues. Occasionally, I contribute to charities, especially those that work with children. Is this enough? What else can we, individual citizens do? The scale of the problem is so large that individual efforts at charity may not make much of a dent. Ever since I read this report, I find it difficult to get it off my mind. What can we really do to bring about the change we want to see?

apu Other Social issues in India

The other day, I was talking to my sister about this feeling I have increasingly; this feeling that I am living an extremely privileged life due to what is essentially an accident of birth. I didn’t always feel this way. When I was younger, my focus was mainly on what I wanted to do, the obstacles I had to cross, the things I would achieve. As I grow older, I feel more and more that individual effort and success is only part of the game. Let me explain.

For the last year or so, I have been noticing this group of children in and around M.G.Road. All of them are impossibly thin. They stand at traffic signals, often in groups of 2 or 3. Sometimes, one of the older kids will even carry an infant. These children are not ordinary beggars. Their modus operandi is to entertain you in return for money. This entertainment, they provide by putting themselves through hoops, literally. They carry these tiny hoops, hardly more than a foot in diameter, and they contort their bodies to pass through these hoops. Then, they come up to you, tap the windows of you car, and ask for money. They don’t beg or plead. They demand. When I look at their eyes, I see sullenness and anger. There is no childhood left in these eyes. I have seen beggars before. Who hasn’t, on our streets? But these children are one of the most painful sights I’ve ever seen.

Everytime I pass them, I wonder - what is this rage that their young life has already taught them to feel? Watching them put their bodies through those hoops, somersault at busy junctions, move away just as vehicles begin to speed - it is gut-wrenching. Watching their eyes - it is impossible to feel contented with one’s safe life. It is not difficult to imagine how one’s life would be, if born into such a family.

India is shining, in a sense. Certainly the economic boom has benefited many people, including people from poor families who can now get better jobs. But large parts of the population are still left out. Sometimes I feel that the middle class is either immune to or contemptuous of poor people. Often, I hear comments like, “they just squander away their money.” Certainly, there are men from poor families who drink away their money instead of spending it on their children. But, I am sure alcoholism is not absent in affluent families as well; the only difference may be that they have a better safety net to fall back on.

Once, someone told me that they didn’t contribute to charity since the children supported by these organizations were kept in “unnecessary luxury.” Who are we to decide that destitute children should not enjoy some comforts? Why should we prescribe that children on welfare should only get the most basic of materials? I bet no one thinks the same for their own children. It’s a different story that in reality, many charitable organizations have little comfort to offer - they operate in fairly basic conditions.

Sometimes I feel the middle class has an inflated sense of its own troubles. We spend a 1000 rupees for a celebratory meal at a fancy restaurent, but crib about how expensive maids have become, when it comes to adding a 100 rupees to her pay. I am not advocating austerity - every individual has the right to spend their hard earned money - but if we cannot do much for others, atleast let us not harm those poorer than us. Propagating negative stereotypes of the poor is harming them - it creates a climate of acceptance. It makes it convenient to say, “Oh, these people will never improve” and walk away. Sure, personal responsibility is important. But, even to take that responsibility, each individual needs the right opportunities. Let us not blame poor people for their poverty.

Some worthy organizations working with children: Project Why (New Delhi), Sri Rakum School for the Blind (Bangalore), Udavum Illangal Ullam (Chennai)

apu Other Social issues in India

A few days ago, when I thought about the conflict parents face when their daughters become “too liberal”, I was really thinking from my own perspective as an educated, young, urban professional. When a commenter mentioned that liberalism does not yet extend to accepting choices such as homosexuality, I was, at first, a bit startled. This was because, frankly, I had not thought about the issues faced by people different from me. …

Read the complete piece over at Ultraviolet, that lovely Indian Feminist colla-blog; I have just joined the team there, and I’m so honoured to be part of such an initiative!

Blogging will be slow here this week due to work + travel. Rukavat ke liye khed hai!

 

apu Other Social issues in India, Women & Feminism

Religious leaders in India do their best to outdo one another - not in wisdom, compassion or charity, but in demanding concessions, sticking to outmoded ways of seeing and doing things, generally being intolerant of anything, etc. So, a few years ago, RSS Chief K.S.Sudarshan urged Hindus to have atleast 3 children. Now it is the turn of the Church in Kerala. Alarmed that Christians are having only 1 or 2 children, the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council has now said it will support families that have more children.

And what may you ask is the cause of this alarm? The realization that the Christian population in the state has declined by precisely 0.3 percentage points over a 10 year period while that of Muslims has increased in the same period by 1.43 percentage points. (Percentage Data for Kerala state from 1991 and 2001 census below)

 

The motives could be many. A general desire to ‘Save as many souls’ as possible. Fear of dwindling church coffers. Some in the media have even claimed that this is because the Church is facing a shortage of nuns and priests, Kerala being one of the largest contributors of such resources. Fear of one’s community losing its political voice due to lower vote numbers. Whatever be the reason, religious leaders of course conveniently forget, or choose to ignore, that there are WOMEN involved in giving birth to children; they don’t just appear magically.

Women carry these children for 9 months and it is still largely women who take on the task of child rearing. The Church leaders believe that economic reasons are preventing families from having more children. Presto, offering aid will boost up the numbers of the faithful. They are forgetting a number of other reasons!

Kerala is one of the most educated states in the country. It has for long had a highly literate population. Educated families realise that they can focus better on children so long as there are fewer of them. It’s not just a question of money - most parents simply do not have the energy to deal with a large number of kids, especially as families go nuclear, and child raising is no longer shared with many people.

Women want to do other things too. Dear religious men (men, of course), this may be news to you, but many women now do a number of things outside the home. Whether or not they work, they have a number of other interests and activities. Having three or more kids might be great if they just grew up fine themselves, but since it takes a lot of time (and usually women’s time), perhaps you might let families, and especially women, decide on what number suits them?

The Church also forgets that the resources of the Earth are not inexhaustible. Just to keep up with another community’s numbers or make sure that one has a certain numerical strength, if everyone starts adding to the earth’s burden - pretty soon, this country won’t sustain any community at all.

And lastly, dear religious leaders, will you please stop thinking of women’s bodies as public goods to be used for the benefit of any (selfish or not) interests? Wombs are private property, not instruments available for use.

Data Sources: Kerala Census Data 1991, Total Census Data, 2001

apu Other Social issues in India, Women & Feminism