Across the Great Divide

A small taluk in Karnataka shows India the way to end caste discrimination, writes Ruhi Ahuja

What makes Korategere so special? Across large parts of India, to this day, dalits are looked down upon and ostracized as ‘untouchables’. But Korategere, a small taluk in Karnataka, boasts a record of relative social equality for its dalits. They are being socially and economically integrated into the community and, like every other community, increasingly participate in the public life of the taluk.

Says dalit social activist Venkatesh Murthy, “Untouchability is being removed here and all dalits are given education by the government. Almost 22.75% of the panchayat budget has been reserved for the education of the dalits.” But prejudice dies hard and even in ‘enlightened’ pockets such as Korategere, caste discrimination is an accepted fact of social life.

Murthy says that in Karnataka, the scheduled caste dalits are recognized as touchables while the scheduled tribe dalits are still untouchables. Scheduled caste dalits live with the other communities of people whereas the scheduled tribe dalits cannot and have to live in the surrounding villages.

They are not allotted land where they live and there is no provision of houses for them. Most of them are landless or are marginal land owners and most of them live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their main source of income. The condition of women in dalit society is even worse as they either do not get jobs or are paid less for their work. Most of them work as agricultural labour. Social and economic development has always been the primary concern for the dalits across the state.

The dalits in Korategere taluk are divided into three major categories, namely Adi Karnataka (Madiga) and Bhovi, who are touchables and Adi Dravida (Wolya), who remain untouchables. Over the past 12 years, the Valmiki and Nayaka, sub-divisions of scheduled tribes in the taluk, have joined the community. Like the other dalits in any part of the country, the dalits in Korategere face some problems related to social equality. The government is attempting to address the problem by allotting land to dalits in every part of the taluk, providing them education in schools where the children of the higher classes in the society study and creating job opportunities for both dalit men and women.

Ramamjaiah, an Adi Dravidian dalit who is a broker in Korategere taluk, says, “I haven’t faced any problems in mixing with the society. My children go to school and I get support from the government though not all (laws) it passes are implemented.” He also said that it is only political interference that creates problems sometimes.

Comparing the condition of dalits in Korategere with those in the other taluks in the state, Murthy also said that the dalits in Korategere are in a better condition as they can join any social gathering in the taluk and they get support from the government too. He also said that almost 1,500-1,800 houses for the scheduled caste dalits and 2,500-2,800 for the scheduled tribe dalits have been built in every corner of the taluk.

Manjunatha, a Madiga, says that there is no discrimination in the taluk between the dalits and the other people. The government is promoting social equality although it could do more, he believes. He also said that his children do not face any problem in their school although he works as a coolie and repairs hand-pumps in the taluk. He categorically states that there is no untouchability among the dalits in the taluk.

Anjanappa, an Adi Dravidian, confirms this saying, “I work as a farmer in Korategere and my children go to school. There is no untouchability in the school and not in the taluk either.”

With the efforts of the government and the cooperation of the upper castes in Korategere, the dalits are gradually being integrated into the community. Thanks to land allotment and the creation of job opportunities, the poor dalits in the taluk, especially the scheduled tribes, are pulling themselves out of poverty. According to them, as the problem of social equality receives more attention from the government and as they become more educated, their advancement will help in the development of Korategere taluk itself.

(Also published in www.thesoftcopy.in)

Back from the Brink

Constant vigil is the price we have to pay if the gains of Project Tiger are to be preserved, says Ruhi Ahuja

The long awaited national tiger census that began on January 22 is perhaps the single largest exercise of its kind. The result will determine the success of Project Tiger, an initiative of the government of India launched in 1973 to protect and maintain a substantial tiger population and to preserve biological reserves across the country for their survival.

As Bittu Sahgal, noted environmentalist and editor of Sanctuary Asia magazine says, tigers need food, shelter and absence of human disturbance. “I am fighting to protect the tiger because I know that without them India will lose not just its spirit but also its hope of survival in an era of climate change.” He blames the way humans have been using land for India’s vanishing tiger habitat over the past five decades. “Project Tiger seeks to protect critical tiger habitats as a way to protect the tiger and all other species that reside therein,” he adds.

The first three decades of the project were an undoubted success, with the area under conservation steadily increasing. It began across an expanse of 16,000 square kilometres with a population of just 268 tigers. By 2000, the area under the project’s preserve had increased to about 37,000 square kilometres and the population of tigers had increased to 1,498.

But despite the best efforts, India’s tiger population has fallen sharply in recent years. According to The Hindu newspaper, a nationwide survey conducted in 2006 indicated that the country’s tiger population had dropped to 1,141, with Karnataka being home to 290 followed by Madhya Pradesh. Uncontrolled tiger poaching across various parts of the country, especially north India, has taken a deadly toll and it is in this context that the latest census assumes significance.

In Karnataka, the tiger census is being carried out in four areas including Nagarhole National Park, Bandipur National Park, BR Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. The resettlement of people in these areas has been going on for years. Says Praveen Bhargav, managing trustee of Wildlife First and a member of the National Board for Wildlife, “Three voluntary resettlement schemes for forest dwellers marooned inside protected areas in Karnataka have provided some solutions.”

The first resettlement effort involved more than 400 non-tribal families living in 16 enclaves in the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary in Chikkamagalur. This project was completed in the year 2003. Under the second scheme in Nagarhole National Park in Mysore, since 1998 more than 350 tribal families have been relocated outside the park and been provided land, housing and other social amenities by the government. The third scheme will adopt an innovative approach in which the resettlement of people will be done through private donor funding. More than 12 families and 700 cattle have been moved out of Kudremukh National Park, Chikkamagalur and resettled on land bought from private conservation funding.

But efforts to save the tiger from extinction in the wild don’t end there. K. Ullas Karanth, a conservation scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and a trustee of the World Wide Fund for Nature-India suggests camera-trap sampling as one way to keep a constant check on the tiger population and monitor their location. Though the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 have done much to preserve Indian wildlife, the “tiger crisis” suggests that the battle is far from over.

(Also published in The Softcopy, an IIJNM Web Publication. Here's the link: http://thesoftcopy.in/project%20tiger.html)

Moments of Pain

Moments of pain in life-
Give you the strength
To live and resist
All the sorrows and unhappiness,
That knock your door,
And set your past alive...

Moments of pain in life-
Give you the forbearance
And tolerance to shape up
The mould of your life,
And face all the challenges,
With an enthusiastic vigor...

Moments of pain in life-
Give you the temperance
When you find no hand planting
The seeds of love and care,
To nourish your heart,
And embellish it with joyfulness...

You'd sure hear the melodious
And truly endless echoes of pain,
That'll help you climb higher,
Every time you fall,
Because these moments of pain are truly-
The wind beneath your wings...

Still In Search Of...

I'm still in search of...
A shoulder eager to sponge my tears,
Arms waiting to hug me,
A tongue wanting to say, 'I'm here...',
A heart whispering, 'I care for you...',
A mind drenched into my thoughts,
Eyes gazing into mine,
And tears rolling down to feel my presence.

You know who I'm talking about,
If you really have the heart to understand,
Come and shoulder me...
You know how helpless I stand without you,
You know that I'll fall if I don't have you...
Life seems so dull and dark today,
You know who I'm looking for,
I'm still in search of...

I've Grown Up Enough...

Just because I keep smiling always,
Doesn't mean I haven't grown up.
I've grown up enough to understand,
How steadily life has changed...

Just beacuse I'm silent always,
Doesn't mean I haven't grown up.
I've grown up enough to understand,
That silence conveys what words never say...

Just because I'm patient always,
Doesn't mean I haven't grown up.
I've grown up enough to understand,
How excruciating it is to bear with a change...

Just beacuse I never wear false faces,
Doesn't mean I haven't grown up.
I've grown up enough to understand,
That a soul flooding with pain never speaks,
It perhaps needs aid because it is too weak...

If You Possess a Heart...

Do you possess a heart?
A heart too selfless to say, 'I care',
And cast on a kid, a very soft stare.
Or one which would always say,
'Escort me dear, on my way.'

Do you possess a heart?
A heart that adores a child,
And where feelings never go wild.
Or one that yokes us akin,
Desiderating never to pull this callous sin.

Do you possess a heart?
A heart too lusty to ferry,
The silence of a damsel in merry.
Or one that loves to hate,
And then spell life in bait.

Do you possess a heart?
A heart that wishes to savor,
God's most bonny favor.
Or a heart that would slaughter,
The spirit of his own daughter.

If you say you possess a Heart:
A heart that simply chimes,
All those beauteous rhymes.
And one that will constantly beat,
At every single step of my feet.
So just think over and ideate,
Its you who clenches my ultimate fate.
Allow me, I beg, to come to life:
To brighten up your lovely face,
And make your world a beautiful place...



Here's one on the abolition of Female Foeticide...An eye-opener for those who bestow thought to having a girl as having a burden on their heads for the rest of their lives and those who keep on adding to the increasing population thinking that having a son is tantamount to exploring the seventh heaven on earth. The increasing population is calling down the evil on us and this poor thinking of a majority of the people is worsening the condition of our nation and the honor and admiration the world has for it today.

Our Education System: Really Ethical and Flawless?

I had my B.Com. III year final exams starting from today and the first was the Hindi exam. The exam was to start early in the morning at 7. I reached the college campus exactly at 7. By the time I reached the examination hall, it was already 5 minutes past 7. As there was no electricity, it was pretty dark in the classroom (generators are rarely found in government colleges).

There were two lady invigilators in the class. The clock must have barely struck half past 7 when another lady teacher passed by our class. One of the invigilators insisted her to come inside the room while the other one was engaged in signing the answer sheets of the students. In the mean time, these two teachers spilled the beans of their personal and family matters. I was right infront of them, at the right corner seat of the second bench and their chat was so loud that even though I tried steering clear to them , I could hear almost every bit of what they were talking. After 20-25 minutes, the teacher who was called in the class left. Only the teacher who was signing the answer sheets of the students seemed a little bothered while the other was immersed in her mobile phone after having had a long-drawn-out talk with the other teacher. Only twice or thrice was she heard asking the students not to talk.

Students in our college are not permitted to carry their cell phones in the college campus. After a very short while, she was seen making and receiving calls on her phone too. No wonder, her long telephonic conversations could easily be heard by me and it was rather bugging to have her as the invigilator in the class.

After another half an hour, two other teachers came and stood at the door of our class and again this lady was seen talking to them on how her children make merry over her not knowing how to operate her cell phone properly. Later, she made a call from her phone and the second invigilator who was sitting next to her asked the students not to talk. The person whom she had called heard this and disconnected the call listening to this. This was followed by laughter by both of them. The teacher who was invited by her again came in the class and they started talking again. I had now started taking intent interest in what she had been doing because according to me, that was a big question mark on the education system of our country.

Whenever the Head of the Examination Department came to pay a visit to the class, she was found doing her duty. But all these 3 hours, she did nothing but distributed and collected the answer sheets and beat her gums on her phone and with most of the other teachers who passed by the examination hall. It was such a problematic situation for me (and may have been for most of the other students writing the exam too) to write the Hindi exam with such long and loud conversations going on continuously.

My question is when students are not allowed to carry their cell phones in the college campus, then why are the professors allowed to fissure the rules by making long telephone calls in the classroom especially when the students are writing their exam. Keep aside the chats she had with the other teachers, but her negligence towards her duty cannot be ignored. Her phone was heard ringing loudly constantly and she did not even bother herself to put it on silent mode. Besides, she made and attended every possible call and for the maximum possible duration. It seemed as if the Prime Minister of the country was sitting right infront of us settling the disputes of the country. I ask the opinion of everybody reading this towards this situation. What action should be taken against such people as this is the case in most of the insitutions today. I know that the development of a nation is a very broad term and and this is a negligible parameter in it but this is a critical situation that needs to be dissected especially when our nation is on the verge of development. How can we count on our education system and expect it to gain ground and reach the rock bottom of our nation with such flaws sitting on the throne?

The unfeigned portrait of our society is not what happens infront of us but that which happens behind us. And with such things happening under our very noses, we should open our eyes and ask others to do the same and raise our voices against such people.