On Egypt

Is a revolution in Egypt underway?

The US government and media's reactions to and analysis of the uprising in Egypt against Mubarak, and now continuing against the military cohorts, has been both predictable and predictably disappointing. But in the wider world, there are some interesting perspectives.

Huma Yusuf, writing in the Dawn newspaper, implores Egyptians to not follow Pakistan's path. The military in Egypt has controlled power in one form or another since 1952, and she warns of the dangers of allowing the military to now assume a 'savior complex'.

"Allowing the military to take partial credit for Mubarak’s deposition would be a disservice to young Egyptians who risked everything for their freedom.As memories from Tahrir Square fade, Egyptians should remember that the fate of their country lies in their hands, not those of the military."

To make sure this is a revolution and not merely a devolution, Hossam el-Hamalawy, opining in the Guardian, presents possibly biased but nevertheless revealing aspects of the struggle. The uprising in the streets were coordinated on Twitter and Facebook, but once the momentum was on, the workers' strikes broke Mubarak's resolve to stay on. And, in a hopeful vision, Hossam sees these strikes continuing until a truly representative democracy sets in.

"Since Hosni Mubarak fled from Cairo, and even before then, some middle-class activists have been urging Egyptians, in the name of patriotism, to suspend their protests and return to work, singing some of the most ridiculous lullabies: "Let's build a new Egypt", "Let's work harder than ever before". They clearly do not know that Egyptians are already among the hardest working people in the world. Those activists want us to trust Mubarak's generals with the transition to democracy – the same junta that provided the backbone of his dictatorship over the past 30 years."

Visit to RMKM

A report from my visit earlier this year to RMKM, a non-profit organization working on women's empowerment and other issues in Rajasthan.

Project: Rajasthan Mahila Kalyan Mandal (RMKM)

Date of Visit: Mar 12, 2009

Project coordinator: Kshama Kshade

Project Details

RMKM is an organization mainly focused on women’s rights and empowerment in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan, India. The projects I have been associated with are initiatives for mentally handicapped children in Ajmer.

Getting there

I traveled by train from Chennai to Jaipur along with my friend Stanley Berly. The train arrived at the Jaipur station early in the morning, and then we took a bus down to Ajmer immediately from there. The bus took about a couple of hours to get to Ajmer, and as soon as we landed, we called Kshama and got a ride to RMKM.

The RMKM campus and activities

At around 9am, we reached RMKM’s campus at Chachiawas. I had visited the campus earlier in 2005, and could visibly see several improvements and new vocational units. Kshama then gave us a tour of the building and campus.

Vocational training

We started with the vocational units including carpentry, paper products, embroidery etc. The vocational training program has been partly supported by Vibha since 2006. Chandrasekar heads the vocational training program.

Finished products

RMKM has a showroom of sorts where they display many of their finished products. There are teaching and learning materials to be used in primary schools, made by the vocational trainers and finished by mentally challenged children. The teaching and learning materials can be sold to other schools, and RMKM may also be able to sell some through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme. There are several arts and crafts made by the children as well.

RMKM is an organization primarily devoted to women’s empowerment, and a big focus is their work through women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs). These women have formed a cooperative through which they make products and sell them at the Pushkar fairs. The social and economic position of these women has improved in society through these activities.

The National Trust supports the sale of products, and some expenses for the hostel etc. ARUNIM is an organization set up for that purpose, and RMKM had sold Rs 13000 worth of products through ARUNIM. ARUNIM had preferred the wooden products. They have also assigned RMKM to be a resource center for other organizations so that RMKM can make some money through training as well.

After we checked out the products in the showroom, we visited some of the outdoor vocational units like vermicompost, water plant, and rainwater harvesting.

The tiger and the goat

While we were outside, we saw a teacher lead some of the children in a game of “tiger catches goat”. This game allows children to mingle with one another and improves their reflexes and other psycho-motor skills.

The wood craft unit

Saurav was trained in 10 months. He is physically disabled, but now works full-time at the wood craft unit.

Paper cutting unit

Manoj initially studied at RMKM’s day care center. He has been working in the vocational unit for more than a year now. When RMKM first started working with Manoj, his initial diagnosis was social awkwardness and cerebral palsy (CP) with monoplagia.

Special education classrooms

The children learning here are at different levels, and each special educator works with only 5-6 children at a time.

Physiotherapy unit

This unit is used for physiotherapy for all the childen. The schedules are printed and pasted on the wall. While we were there, a trained worker was stimulating the nerves for one child, and another child was training to walk on the stair-step stool.

The deco unit

Here’s where RMKM makes its greeting cards, jewelry and other products that require decorative finishes.

Hostels

Separate hostel rooms for boys and girls currently exist within the building. They are constructing a new hostel building with help from the Embassy of Japan.

After the tour of the building, I met Rakesh Kaushik and the accountant. We discussed RMKM’s accounts, and other operational issues. Shortly thereafter, we went into the mess and all the staff and children settled into a communal lunch. There was lunch prepared in RMKM’s kitchen, and also food that most staff members and children had brought. It was a great experience to sit in a circle, share stories and laughter, and sample so many different kinds of fantastic native Rajasthani food. We really gorged ourselves here, helped in no small measure by everybody insisting that we have more and more of the food they had brought.

Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program

The CBR program is currently supported by Vibha and the Austin chapter of Asha. In this program, workers trained in special education, physiotherapy and speech therapy visit children periodically (about 1-2 times a fortnight). Parents and other community members are sensitized to the child’s issues and given training so that the child’s rehabilitation is continuous.

We first visited J., 8 years old and diagnosed with a severe handicap. J. needs daily intervention, but he is unable to come to the day care center where he will be taken care of better.

Mohd is 19 years old. When he was younger, doctors and others told his parents that there was no cure. His Muslim parents, in their desperation, had even taken him to various temples. His younger sister is also disabled. His father, who had a secure job with the Indian Army, gave up his job so that he could take care of his children. Mohd can now walk with the help of a walker and wheelchair. He has a natural talent with operating cell phones, and is now assisting in his father’s shop with accounts. RMKM has arranged for Astha disability benefits and insurance for the family.

G. was initially diagnosed with ADL. RMKM has been working with him for 2 years now, and he is now able to take care of some basic daily activities like eating etc. It will be better for him if he can stay at the RMKM hostel, but his relatives (no father) are reluctant.

R. is 17 years old, and RMKM has been working with him for a year now. His family is agricultural, and they own a few bighas of land. Since his childhood, his relatives have made him very conscious of his disability, and even when we were there, they were mocking his “lesser” brain. He was initially diagnosed with mild retardation, but because there has been no childhood intervention, he now needs more attention. RMKM wants to get him admitted into the vocational training program, as they feel that he can pick up a few remunerative activities. However, the parents hesitate to check out the program because they fear the loss of their daily wages if they spend a day traveling to RMKM’s campus.

Discussion with RMKM staff

Well up to 3% of the general population in India is suspected to have some form of mental disability, like retardation or autism etc. This translates into many thousands of children in the Ajmer district alone and RMKM is the only organization working on this issue. The resources available to RMKM in terms of funds and other logistics mean that they are handling far fewer children than they should, and are also strapped in terms of how well they can help these children who are distributed all across the rural landscape. They have been thinking hard and coming up with innovative means to reach more children and make their intervention more effective.

Regarding the vocational unit, they currently support only about 35 children. They can expand with current resources to about 100 children if travel could be arranged for them. In the hostel itself, lodging and food cost only about Rs 100/month. Vocational product sales range from Rs 50-100,000/year, but this is felt to be far below the potential. Part of the problem lies in Ajmer being located in a fairly remote area. They plan to focus on self-sustainability unit-by-unit.

Other ways to expand the number of children with existing resources are being explored. They can train physically handicapped children who can then help with the training of mentally challenged children. Some of these vocational units like decoration and vermicompost can be set up at community centers across the district.

Our RMKM visit concluded here. It was a wonderful experience interacting with all the children, the community members and the staff of RMKM.

LINKS:

1. Rajasthan Mahila Kalyan Mandal (RMKM)

2. CBR program supported by Vibha

3. CBR program supported by Asha Austin

4. Vocational training supported by Vibha

5. Pictures and videos from site visit

Mind your language

Complementing Jane Sahi's thoughts on the power words chosen carefully have in conveying a wealth of meaning and raising our consciousness, here is a wonderful post by Huma Yusuf in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn about how words chosen carelessly or possibly even intentionally can have a demeaning and deleterious effect. Huma provides some telling though sadly common examples of chauvinism and prejudice against women expressed through words like eve-teasing and sharminda (ashamed, shy):

...the Karachi police surgeon, the man who oversaw all medical examinations that could have a bearing in criminal cases, was referring to women who had been raped and gang-raped as girls who had ‘become sharminda’ or suffered a ‘beizzati’. The surgeon’s choice of words instantly bothered me. They inappropriately cleansed the act of rape of all violence and violation. Even worse, they seemed to put the onus of the heinous act on the female victims – instead of having been violated and abused, the surgeon’s description implied that the women had done something they should be ashamed of.

...let’s be honest, ‘eve-teasing’ is a charming way of talking about blatant sexual harassment...Eves are not being ‘teased’ – there is nothing flirtatious or innocent about men fondling women on buses, yelling out obscenities to college girls crossing the street, or groping young girls outside schools.

Do words reflect the true intent and conception of the speaker? Or, is this merely a cultural or linguistic handicap? It probably varies from person to person using such terms, but there is no doubt about the cultural acceptance of such verbal euphemisms that transform ugly truths into tolerable constructs, in not just Pakistan, but across the border in India and the wider world as well.

Raising consciousness

There are moments in our lives, perhaps when reading a book or when talking to someone or even when in thought, when we go "aha!". A moment that fundamentally alters our vision, our carefully constructed world-views, and perhaps even our calling in life. A moment in which our consciousness is raised.

Words are especial transport vehicles for such moments. Simple substitutions in everyday phrases can add a wealth of information to common understanding. An example of that was in the '70s and '80s, when feminists consistently challenged the phrase "one man, one vote" and successfully substituted it with "one person, one vote". Such a simple change can carry an important social message. If "man" in the former phrase is meant to represent an adult of the human species, then using "person" is more precise and inclusive, and is less misogynistic in usage. Importantly, when people start watching their phraseology deliberately to avoid any unintended misogynistic connotations, the consciousness of both the speaker and the listener is enriched.

Recently, I had the opportunity to interact with Jane Sahi, who runs Sita School outside Bangalore. She is an inspiring educator, thinker and speaker who has the ability to communicate in a manner that fosters mutual learning and understanding. And, she also did something far more important for me: she raised my consciousness by choosing her words so carefully and precisely. The effect is quite stunning. 

Learners vs school-goers

To her, education for a child is far more than the child just going to school every day. This leads her to use phrases like "first generation school-goers", as opposed to the more commonly used "first generation learners" to describe children who are first in their families to get a formal education. When you think about it for a minute, you realize how many profound thoughts can be conveyed just by being precise with your words - school-going is not necessarily learning, learning does not happen exclusively at school, people who are considered "uneducated" (defined by the world as folks without a school education) actually have a lot of learning to offer their children, learning happens in the home, the community and other communal spaces. And so on.

Economically Poor

Another example of her consciousness-raising for me was this: about how we call some people "poor" or "under-privileged" in an unqualified manner. She makes it a point to be more concise in how she describes people: for instance, who we think of as poor are actually only "economically poor". The term "economically poor" says a lot about these people, and also about what the speaker thinks of them - you realize their poverty is in only one dimension among many, unlike the meaning conveyed by the more generic "poor". So people may be intellectually rich, emotionally rich, culturally rich etc, but in just one aspect, they are impoverished. 

Under-privileged vs dis-privileged

And how about saying "dis-privileged" instead of "under-privileged" when you want to convey that some people were denied or stripped of their privileges, as opposed to being born into them. Again, says a lot about them, and also establishes the existence of more active agents.  Again, the difference in the effect it has can be dramatic - "under-privileged" people need our charity, while "dis-privileged" people need the active dis-privilege-ising agent removed. Using the latter term forces us to recognize the existence of agents that strip away privileges. Do starving third world agricultural communities need our aid pennies, or would they rather have the crushing "free-trade" agreements modified and first world subsidies removed? Depends on how you think of them, "under-privileged" or "dis-privileged".

Choosing the right words is important. In some cases like the ones used by Jane, it can show how thoughtful we are, can convey precise and concise meaning, and could ultimately even bring about a change in the way we think. And collectively raise our consciousness for a better world for all of us.

Some links to Jane Sahi's work:

[1] Education and Peace  

[2] Work and Wisdom of Vernacular Educators from India 

[3] Promises of Schooling 

[4] Sita School (pictures)

A dangerous intellectual infancy

Arundhati Roy writes another essay, in a way only she can, this time about the Mumbai attacks. From the politicians to the police, from the US to Pakistan, from terrorists to communists to communalists, and from celebrities to the media, they all come under fire for the state of affairs that allows incidents like Mumbai's terror attacks to happen.

In Mumbai was not our 9/11, Arundhati has some classic one-liners.

A superpower never has allies. It only has agents.

We're now in the era of Grabbing by Force, and democracy has a terrible habit of getting in the way.

In the business of terrorism, victims and perpetrators sometimes exchange roles.

If Kashmir won't willingly integrate into India, it's beginning to look as though India will integrate/disintegrate into Kashmir.

Anti-terrorism laws are not meant for terrorists; they're for people that governments don't like.

There are many threads to follow in the essay. One concerns why the Mumbai attacks should so outrage the Indian media and elite, and why it is even being called India's 9/11. That is a stretch in so many ways, and Arundhati surely does a great job of bringing that out. Reasons why these attacks are "special" probably include the targeting of elites by the terrorists, and the opportunity for breathless media coverage.

An even more dangerous development seems to be, what she calls rightly, a regression into intellectual infancy. Media and elites flirting with the idea of a police state, and whipping up anger against all politicians seems like an attack on Indian democracy itself. Truly, media coverage and analysis in India has touched heights that Fox News can only dream of.

Terror in Mumbai: Enough Already

Some more links on the terror in Mumbai, there are quite a few more thoughtful and sober analysis coming out now.

An editorial in Guardian talking about what the idea of India means, and why that dream is still attainable. Inspiring, and despite all the social inequalities that still persist, I think we should take heart from what has been achieved so far in the face of almost-insurmountable odds.
The unforgotten dream

Adding perspective to the media's hysterical coverage, Badri Raina plays on NDTV's rather ridiculous and vacuous caption 'Enough is Enough'. Enough of NDTV and its breathless sensationalism perhaps.
Enough is Enough

Mumbai, Muslims, beards and Jews. Jawed Naqvi looks at some misconceptions and dangerous stereotyping by a terrorized people.
Mumbai rekindles debate about Muslims, their beard and so on

Patrick Cockburn, a journalist whose reporting and analysis I mostly look forward to, lays the blame at various commissions of Pakistan and omissions by the US.
From Baghdad to Mumbai, by way of Pakistan

Good ol' Tom! Never thought I'd say this, but I actually find good merit in what Thomas Friedman says in his op-ed piece. He calls on all Pakistanis to rally and protest against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage, similar to how they stood up and even lost lives over the Danish cartoons. Its an altogether different matter that he didnt write such a sensible and potentially more useful article asking Americans to stand up for, say, the Iraqis dead in some mindless collateral damage in the Iraq war. Oh well, with dear Tom, we are grateful for the small mercies of life...
Calling All Pakistanis

Another Pakistani opinion-piece. Another one looking self-critically at the politics and policies of Pakistan. In many ways, the mass media in Pakistan is more independent and sober about their own country than the generally India-is-shining media in India. Pakistanis seem quite pessimistic about their government and even country, possibly because of the rather sorry state of affairs there. Irfan Hussain is fun to read though, and I have generally enjoyed many travel and political articles written with insight and compassion by him.
Facing the truth

Terror in Mumbai

Perspectives

Praveen Swami has a well-researched article from a terrorism-security framework:

India's strategic deafness & the massacre in Mumbai

Progressive publications have been silent on this issue thus far. Have they no perspective on this? They seem unable to provide even basic answers to pressing issues that trouble average folks, like security. Terrorism, though not a major killer in numbers, has a much greater effect psychologically because, like Bush says, of the 'hopelessness' offered by it. A rather indifferent article by Tariq Ali conflating ideological pet themes with real ground issues that connect tenuously:

India's leaders need to look closer to home

Kashmir

William Dalrymple has a sober informative article relating how normal and middle-class Kashmiris and other South Asian Muslims become emotively resentful of India's treatment of Kashmiri Muslims.

Mumbai atrocities highlight need for solution in Kashmir

Pakistan

And Pakistan, poor Pakistan. At the end of all this jingoistic barrage, helpless to protect its image, and helpless itself against the same forces at work, Pakistan is really paying a big price for its misadventures of the past. Pakistan has already faced more suicide bombings than any other nation including Iraq this year, and is caught between a barely restrained marauding force (US) and further alienating and radicalizing their own citizenry. Even as the Mumbai street battles were winding down, Pakistan faced yet another suicide bombing killing 6 security personnel.

Indian jingoism, barely separated from Hindu righteousness, is threatening to unnecessarily and unhelpfully escalate an already terrible situation. Political leaders are proving no more than opportunistic by feeding red meat to the raving dogs of war...

Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

...neighbouring nations would have to face a cost if they allowed their territory to be used to launch attacks on India...

Pranab Mukherjee, Foreign Minister of India

...prima facie evidence indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved...

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat

This is for the first time Pakistan has allowed use of sea routes to further terrorism against India

Never mind the absence of evidence thus far. What a shame.

Why am I running?

I am training to run the Rocky Raccoon 50 Miler race as part of Team Asha. My target race is on February 7, 2009, in the Huntsville State Park, Texas.
This is my first 50 miler ever! Infact, it is way longer than anything I have attempted so far. Training has been fun but hard, and has involved a lot of commitment in time and effort for my first 50 miler. I am doing all this, as I keep reminding myself on runs that keep getting longer and harder, for a cause I absolutely love and support. I am running as part of Team Asha this year to raise funds for the wonderful and deserving schools run by Gramin Shiksha Kendra in rural Rajasthan.
The schools provide a high quality of education thats relevant to the local community in order to bring about meaningful socioeconomic change. It is a very thoughtful effort by a few committed and talented educators to make a real and qualitative difference in the lives of the impoverished rural community. They promote learning based on fun and child-centric activities. Teachers employ innovative teaching techniques and educational materials tailored specifically for every child to learn effectively and thoroughly. Local knowledge and cultural expertise is incorporated into the syllabus so that the children have a broad curriculum that they can relate to easily. More importantly, it also grounds the education of the children to the success of the local community. I passionately believe that the success of this initiative can provide a good model of education that can be replicated across various rural and urban communities all over India!
For this initiative to succeed, it needs your support! Learn more about this exciting project here.
I have pledged to raise $100 for every mile I run in my race. All the proceeds from my runner page go towards supporting Gramin Shiksha Kendra. Please contact me to sponsor my race and help me reach my fundraising target as I strive to reach my 50 mile distance.

My runner fund-raising page where you can DONATE is here.