The Steel City - Jamshedpur

At Dimna Lake

My life has taken me to different places across India and I have witness the culture, food, weather and people first hand. The fast pace of cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore to snail like speed of Jorhat, Navada; chilly weather of Manali to scorching heat of Vellore; the dedication towards their work in down south to more of a lethargic approach in eastern and northern India. India is a wonderful place where you get an opportunity to see through plethora of diversity. Right now I have a city in my mind which possesses almost every diversified quality – Jamshedpur.

Railway Station

Having been in Tata Consulting Engineers for about two and a half year, I got an opportunity to spend about a year’s time in a city built by India’s finest visionary and industrialist – Jamset Ji Tata. Jamshedpur also known as Tata Nagar or just Tata is one of the oldest townships that was ever built in India. This city is supposedly the oldest planned  industrial city of India which accommodates plenty of industries varying from as large as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power etc. to name a few  to scores of ancillary plants spread all across the city and the surrounding. It has more than a thousand SME within town and adjoining areas. With a population of about 15 lacs it the most highly populated city f Jharkhand state. The city bleeds enthusiasm and people are seen all geared up for building India a robust manufacturer.

Tata Steel

The city may sleep at night but the huge plants spread on almost half the land of Jamshedpur hasn’t slept for more than a century. When Indians were trying to figure out their true identity, this town was being built to manufacture indigenous steel to let the British drive this point home that Indians could draw steel too. Today, the whole nation is proud of this initiative that was taken a century ago. It has only flourished since then.

JRD Stadium

Don’t bear this misconception in your mind that Jamshedpur only melts steel and manufactures trucks. Apart from industrial aspect, this city adorns many recreational spots, lakes, temples, museum and what not. The city oozes out prosperity, happiness, merriment and not to forget the number of athletes this city has given to the nation. The JRD stadium is a world class establishment comprising many sporting sections and producing quality athletes. Deepika Kumari, Sourav Ganguly, Bachhendri Pal etc. are just to name a few.

Jubilee Park

Jubilee Park, in the heart of the city, is one of the largest parks among many others that mark a major recreational spots, which serves as a fine picnic spot on holidays. Another place which I liked the most was Dimna Lake, about 20 kms on the outside of the city. The calmness and serenity of the lake makes you staring at it for hours letting you forget the stress that you brought along. Barring a little safety concern for women at late hours, this is the place you want to be spending time when you are free and you are in Jamshedpur.

Chhappan Bhog, Bishtupur

When you are in Jamshedpur, one thing you can forget about is the concern for good food. This place has a much diversified population that makes people involved in restaurant or street food business serve the palate of every individual. This business thrives here. For those food connoisseurs, no need to curse the city and be daunted about food availability. Apart from small restaurants (they serve awesome food, mind you!), you also have chains like Domino's, Dilli Durbar, Mainland china and KFC. People with sweet tooth should not forget to visit Chhapaan Bhog in Bishtupur.

Sakchi Golchakkar

City not being too big, one does not have to bother much about getting late in reaching from one point to the other. Only thing that I always cursed about was the lack of discipline among people when it came at obeying the traffic laws. The roads of Sakchi, Bishtupur, station road or the bus stand at Mango always seems full, with all kinds of vehicles stamping one another. With a proper traffic sense and stricter rules, such scenarios are not inevitable. But as they say people find happiness even in their miseries. I always loved the surrounding, the busy streets, the markets, the people and the city as a whole.

XLRI

I short, I have always had affection about the city, especially because my aim of getting into XLRI which, unfortunately could not fructify. May I always say TATA. J

Operation 'Rahat'

We leave our land to earn our bread, or  a better life style.  But what if the dream starts to backfire? The land which you thought would fetch you a shining future starts to witness the thunder and glitter of bombs and bullets shattering every dream of yours. You then think of one place – Home.  That’s what the expatriates are thinking about in Yemen right now.

The strife torn Yemen has been witnessing an internal warlike situation from few day resulting in its president fleeing the country and supposed murder of its ministers. A country that has been suffering from a civil war like situation has not been quiet after the Arab spring that started in 2011. That resulted in the termination of a 20-year rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh.  Even his ouster didn’t calm the situation for a very long period as the Houthi rebels started creating nuisance right after Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was sworn in as new president. The shi’ite Hoauthi majorly present in the northern Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was sworn in as new president. The shi’ite Hoauthi majorly present in the northern Yemen was not settling with the Hadi government and finally managed a coup d’état in January this year.

 The strife has resulted in a chaos in the country disturbing its citizens as well as expatriates. Citizen for a reason cannot leave their houses but the expatriates feel like trapped in a country where they thought of a better life. Indian nationals comprising every class like nurses to techies, workers to officers were trapped feeling helpless along with others. It was only then Indian government realized that the situation was grim and its citizen was left at God’s mercy.

The MEA including the cabinet minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj , State minister Gen. V.K. Singh and Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddinn came to forefront with valiant effort to leave no stone unturned to evacuate our fellow countrymen. The Indian Navy, Air force, Air India, Shipping, Railways & State Govts have made commendable effort in rescue operation.

The story doesn’t end here. Apart from saving more than 3300 Indians, these brave hearts have rescued citizen from 26 (and counting) nations catching the due attention of the world. The humanitarian effort put in by these valiant fighters needs a thousand standing ovation. In a situation when saving one life turns out to be a mammoth task, our government and the armed forces have saved thousands of lives and are must be saving even when I am writing this piece.

The letters, facebook messages, tweets and what not were posted by foreign nationals like German, U.S and many other developed nations, mentioning the effort that has been put by the India. It fills me proud to be living to see such moments when countries once loathing you for the supposed backwardness appear to the fore with token of appreciation and a request for seeking help.

I should congratulate the Indian government as a whole and especially the soldiers who have been incessantly worked on this mission “Operation Rahat”. The soldiers whose name will never be published or telecasted have again proved that they are the headgear of our nation and we must all be proud of them.

The Third Eye... (Conclusion)

Social Upliftment

• Comprehensive civil rights legislation should be enacted to offer eunuch the same protection and rights now guaranteed to others on the basis of sex, caste, creed and colour. A clause may be included wherever the word person is defined to include third sex. Courts must interpret sex as including male, female and eunuch.
• Laws should be made to punish the person who discriminates on the basis of their gender identity. A comprehensive sexual assault law should be enacted applying to all persons irrespective of their sexual orientation and marital status.
• Civil rights under law such as the right to get a ration card, make a will, inherit property and adopt children must be available to all regardless of change in gender/sex identities. Right to marry is a fundamental right of the people so; laws must be made regarding the marriages of eunuch. In voter’s identity card, one category of eunuch can be added other than male/ female.
• Education is one area where eunuchs find themselves alienated. I propose special schools for them, or be inducted in normal schools under special provisions. Education will provide them self confidence as well as a way forward to be getting jobs in future.
• I also propose a nationwide campaign to enlighten the mainstream citizen about the tattered condition of eunuchs and consider them as human as they themselves are. The main aim should be to bring the eunuchs in the mainstream population and bridge the gap as well as stave off the coming generation from detesting them. If by the wide campaign of polio vaccination India has achieved a tag of polio-free nation in about ten years, this mental virus can also be obliterated. 

 Econonomic Upliftment

• A leaf can be taken out of the books of PC Air Thailand,which in the past recruited four eunuchs in its cabin crew in order to provide equal opportunity to them.Similarly, Pakistan's national database has appointed three eunuchs as data entry operators and were designated as officials of the 'National Database and Registration Authority'.
• Since a large chunk of eunuchs live by begging in the train, they have fair knowledge of railways and areas around railway stations. They can be employed in railways for jobs based on their intellect and abilities e.g. as clerks, sanitation personnel, vendors, pantry personnel etc
• On conversation with eunuchs, they wished to start business of producing pickles, papads and other homemade products. Some of them even wanted to learn embroidery work on cloths apart from normal sewing work in which they are currently involved. The biggest roadblock for them is the lack of source of funds as they are totally deprived of financial backing. This can be done away with by forming a cooperative society in each state with its local centres based on eunuch’s population density in the area. The society will address their problems and request the government for easy loans at subsidised rate. The moratorium period for their business should also be prolonged to give them a firm beginning.
• Historically,in the Mughal dynasty,eunuchs found a place in society where they were appointed as royal guards for the queens.The emperors found them strong and trustworthy enough to guard his family while he would be away at war.A similar role can be given to eunuchs in today’s context,where both the husband and wife are working and need someone to look after and protect their children at crèches or homes.
• Eunuchs have always used the song and dance routine to embarrass people into paying them money.The Government can use this skill of their’s to appoint them as Tax collection agents,who can publicly humiliate a defaulter until he agrees to clear his dues.
• According to the latest census,the largest population of eunuchs in India,hail from the states of U.P.,Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh which are famous for leather industry,sugarcane – cotton industry and food processing industry respectively.The Government should focus on providing pertinent training to the eunuchs in these states to make them employable in such industries

Silver Lining in the cloud

• ·The tri-gender classification in the census of India, 2011 and inclusion of third gender option in Aadhar card shows a positive and an affirmative stand form the side of central government. This move will help the eunuchs to finally find their identity which was denied to them for long. They will be able to find their names on voter’s list, get ration card, passport, and driving license etc.
•  The Bihar government is trying out innovative ways to involve the eunuchs in socially useful work. It has come out with a proposal for the eunuchs to work as drivers, guards. They will also be given vocational training and education which will help those getting jobs and raise their socio-economic condition.
•  After being given voting rights in 1994, eunuchs have taken this right quite seriously. The statement is quite evident from the fact that Shabnam Mausi Bano, an MLA candidate from Sohagpur constituency of Madhya Pradesh won the seat being an eunuch showcasing the positivity that has been cropping up in the minds of mainstream population. 

Note: I had presented an international paper on this topic at IRC, 2014. 

The Third Eye! (Part 1)

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have deemed to have found their origin some 200,000 years ago. The early human, like its ancestors, hunted and reproduced. The human being, as the history sates, started to socialize, raise cattle and grow food grains. Hence followed the establishment of the  new era  , where people assembled together and ultimately formed the society; family being the unit for it which strived to stay in harmony. But, In the modern era, discrimination and hatred formed a parallel track with solidarity and affection between families and societies at large.

Discrimination has had plethora of reasons, be it colour, creed, gender, economic status, religion and many more. Gender discrimination in particular has grave repercussions. Even in 21^st century, women in many parts of the world are considered inferior to men. When the third gender i.e. the “Eunuchs” is brought in to picture, the situation turns out to be worse. Many countries including India do not even recognize the third gender. Eunuchs in India today are fighting for an identity problem of which they are denied across the nation.

A eunuch is a castrated man, usually one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences. The origin of the word “Eunuch” is from the Greek eune ("bed") and ekhein ("to keep"), effectively "bed keeper". Eunuchs or Hijras have been part of Indian culture form time immemorial. They were a respectable figure in the medieval period, where they possessed the responsibility of protecting the Harems. Today India supposes to inhabit 5-6 millions of eunuchs scattered across the nation.

Problems faced by eunuchs in india:

Education:  The eunuchs or hijra in India, still find it hard to receive a proper education. They are outcaste from society and remain backward due to lack of enlightenment. Employment opportunities are few and far between. Almost all public and private companies use various excuses to reject them. Suffering from gender-crisis, members of this "third sex" usually adopt feminine names and dress. Living their lives in isolation, poverty and public ridicule, they quite often resort to prostitution for economic survival.

Unemployment: Major part of their livelihood is earned by the age-old traditions of song and dance routines at weddings, babyshowers etc. It is widely believed that they possess supernatural powers people pay cash to seek their blessings.  Eunuchs in Southern India  have a different cultural role from their counterparts in North India and usually take up sex work as a profession because employers reject them due to their gender identity. Even as commercial sex workers, eunuchs are the most vulnerable group, occupying the lowest position in the hierarchy of sex workers. As a result, they have little bargaining power and are unable to ensure that their customers practice safe sex.

 

Violence: Several reports on Human Rights Violations Against the Transgender Community document the acts of prejudice faced by  hijras in Bangalore. It shows that this prejudice leads to violence, often in public areas, police stations and even in their homes. The primary cause for this is that society is not able to adjust to the fact that hijras do not conform to any accepted gender category. Apart from this, most eunuchs belong to the lower middle-class background, which makes them vulnerable to harassment by the police.

Discrimination: They seek  an official gender status of the third sex, health check-ups in hospitals. Currently most hospitals deny them entry. They also want the same job opportunities as everyone else. A group of eunuchs had moved the Supreme Court, seeking their rights to education, social and political rehabilitation. The petition filed by Sonam Singh, a eunuch from Ajmer, sought direction to the union government to constitute a National Kinnar Ayog or commission on the lines of those for dalits and tribes.

Political Rights: Part III, Article 5 of the Constitution of India clearly states citizenship as the political status of a person, which come along with some fundamental rights. Eunuchs have for long been deprived of such rights in India. This mainly happens due to the fact that they do not Article 14 of the Constitution of India states “the state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India”. The eunuchs are deprived of the right to equality guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Article 7 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights provides that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of law”. The Indian state policy does not recognize eunuchs/hijras as being male or female. This act of omission by the Government of India has completely deprived the transgender community of various rights such as, right to vote, right to own property, right to marry, right to claim a formal identity through a passport and a ration card, driving license and even employment

Continued..

The three P's of Success.

Has it ever occurred to you that you found a task so difficult that it seemed impossible for you to ever be able to complete it? what may look a tiny little task to others has created horror in your mind and scared it so much that your heart doesn't even try to try. i have quite many such experiences. but, such instances have taught me one thing and one thing only - that it the the persistence, patience and perseverance that sails you through. 

Till three years ago,  I didn't know how to swim. While I took admission in the swimming section at JRD Sports complex at Jamshedpur, I could hardly swim  about few meters initially in starting fortnight. Then in a month, a swimming competition was organized by the swimming committee for all sections, even a special event for those who were learning newly. The competition was hardly a month away and I decided to take part in this event.

I swam for about one and a half hour in the morning and also about an hour in the evening so that I could get used to my movements in water. My hard work was showing its color. Now within two week’s time I could swim 25 meter stretch in one go. I was making the difference among my colleagues who had joined swimming with me. While they struggled in their initial moves, I swam quite better than them.

The competition was too tough as there were freshers who had joined about a month earlier than me. Every time I thought of winning the competition, my patience gave way as I was not able to better my performance any more. In demo swims among participants, I was hardly showing any improvements. But I thought of keep continuing my effort as each defeat in demo competition didn't dishearten me, rather it boosted a positive energy within me that if my competitors could then I also could. So I kept on practicing even harder without losing hope so that my differences with my opponents with regard to finish line could get shortened.

I knew I had a tough task ahead and a lot to do in order to bag at least one prize. I had to be patient and not lose hope. I just did that.

On final day of competition, I went into it with full confidence and thought that I had practiced really well and I was definitely bettering my moves. My hard work, perseverance and my patience paid its price. Among many better swimmers, I could not bag any prize but I very minutely missed the third place by very less margin. I was more than satisfied with my effort and level of competition in the event

Rise High !

“Rise high and touch the sky!” was what organic chemistry professor, Prof Dutta at St. Xavier’s College used to repeatedly used to say. He always had this theory of life and showered us with thousands of anecdotes where he explained how keeping a higher than possible aim landed you to the zenith of ambitious ladder. Though he is no more in this world but his voice always resonate in my ear. I have always followed this principle of achieving a little extra in all my endeavors.

Being born in middle class family, I was always fed with the concept of compromise and adjust. The sense of fear was injected like a mandatory course of meal. The deadly repercussions of performing a task was mentioned before I set sail even on a trivial voyage of daily work. How on earth would an individual succeed when he is reminded that there was always an individual called ‘failure’, waiting at just around the corner?

I don’t blame the upbringing in the middle class families. The family simply tries to protect their children from the atrocity of the otherwise cruel world. They consider that by installing fear and precaution, they are preparing their children for the harsh condition in the outside world. They may be right in their own way in performing a parental duty but what they forget in the meanwhile that the child is slowly turning into an idol, with fine spots of fear and concern. The idol may look marvelous from a distance but closer you go, you witness the reality.

Truth be told, when I asked my father for a bicycle when I was 14 years old, my proposal was turned down with a concern of me having an accident. I wasn't allowed to ride one, until I managed to sneak with my friends to learn how to ride. I was again doubted when I said that I could take mom on my bike if required. Again, I am not alone who has suffered from this over-caring syndrome which made me vulnerable and an under-prepared person in this highly competitive world. These cases are just an example. Kids are not allowed to go for swimming for the fear of being drowned, they are allowed for trekking for they may fall down.   Dear parents! You are not protecting your child by this but rather preparing them to be meek and submissive.

I was fortunate enough to be let free by my parents in taking my own decisions once I was out of school. He never interfered with career and the paths I chose. He instead supported me by all his means. But, our country does not have fathers like him. I have seen children being smothered mentally by parents when it came to choosing career options. And I am talking about adult students. None of their decisions are their own. What course to study, what tuition to take, what cloths to wear and what not. If you can't let them take their own decisions, then how on earth can he prosper when you parents are not around. Such kids always falter when they have to shift their bases from hometown. They even compromise in a big deal only to stay near his home.

Set them free, only then can they flourish and disperse in the heterogeneous surrounding. Let them rise, let them touch the sky. Make them take decisions on their own, with you being a helping hand and no more. A person is called an adult for a reason. Let them justify to the world outside that they have actually grown up.

If birds can push their offspring for them to learn to fly, let us the human take a leaf from the lesson that birds preach us for free. 

When moving forward is the only way out!

This is no Westeros, where people fear the Winter. Here no one shudders with that intensity when they hear "Winter is Coming". What is more daunting to the majority of Indian is when summer approaches. Barring a few hilly states and regions, majority of the Indian subcontinent fears the arrival of scorching heat that brings plentiful of fatal currents. Still in that seared heat, the major chunk of Indian population is out there on streets to earn his bread, cuz not everyone is born with silver spoons. 

This picture was taken when I was visiting a countryside in heartland of Bihar's once notorious district Jehanabad. I was on a holiday and visiting my hometown to chill out in that summer. I was simply rambling around with my camera garlanded in my neck. The sun was blazing  heat with such an intensity that when I saw across, it looked as if I accidentally saw a welding machine in action. I had no courage to wander around. So i planned of taking a snap sitting idly. 

Then came this woman. All you spokesperson of equality between genders, I have a sincere request. Stop howling those rosy words sitting in your AC rooms and be my guest in the rural areas where I come from. The term equality sounds absurd and imaginary. the only equality that exists is the sense of poverty and deficiency. Summers especially is a difficult period when they are bombarded with fatal tropical wind called 'Loo'. They still toil day in and day out, just to make two ends meet. I may sound pessimistic but bitter gourd has bitter as a prefix for a reason, isn't it. 

But, let me also add that not everything is gloomy and an ocean of misery out there. The locallites aren't dejected all the time. they have kind of made an agreement with their fate and constantly challenge the weather to prove their dominance over the nature's havoc.

The picture depicts the scenario in which the fury of blistering heat by the sun is not able to rope in fear into the mind of the woman and she on the contrary keeps on moving to her destination. The beauty of the picture glorifies when one closely notices that even the cattle have turned their faces away from the woman in despair but the woman is not ready to stoop low to other's state of mind. She has her destination pictured in her mind and doesn't need a Google map to reach there. All that she requires is a handful of courage and a bagful of dauntless heart. 

Let the world turn its head against you...... let darkness be your identity............ fear not... walk, walk, and just walk.............