A Tryst with Destiny

As a child I always knew the first para of this speech, thank to Internet here is the whole speech, its a speech which takes me on trip of nationalism. The spirit of freedom now resides in our generation.

August 14th, 1947- Jawaharlal Nehru

Speech in the Constituent Assembly of India, on the eve of India's Independence

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

At the dawn of history, India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and grandeur of her success and failures. Through good and ill fortune alike, she has never lost sight of that quest, forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of misfortunes and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom, we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons us now.

That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and poverty and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labour and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace is said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.

To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.

The appointed day has come -the day appointed by destiny- and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning-point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.

It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed!

We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow-stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people.

On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.

Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.

We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good [or] ill fortune alike.

The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.

To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.

And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.

JAI HIND.

Citizens of Bambolim-Goa -Please Stand Up

Its been a long wait, and now finally the citizens of Bambolim have gathered momentum in their efforts to have access to a beach, which has been comfortable made a private beach by Cidade de Goa. The High Court decision has been a shot in the arm for the citizens. Its now high time, that Government Machinery takes cognizance of the fact and provides access of this beach to same citizens who vote for them.

HC directs GCZMA to file fresh report on Fomento Resorts

NT Legal Correspondent

Panaji, Aug 23 The division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Mr Justice RMS Khandeparkar and Mr Justice R S Mohite has directed the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to file a fresh report on Fomento Resorts and Hotels Ltd.

The court passed the orders after it was brought to its notice that both the petitioner and the village panchayat of Taleigao were not present when the inspection was carried out.

The court has directed GCZMA to conduct fresh inspection in the presence of the petitioner and the village panchayat of Taleigao and to submit a report within two weeks.

Petition was filed by the residents of Vaiguinim valley against the GCZMA, village panchayat of Taleigao, Planning and Development Authourity, Fomento Beach Resorts and others on the ground that the respondents have permitted Cidade to privatise and monopolise the public beach.

In the petition it was stated that GCZMA was derelict in its duty to prevent breach of CRZ notification by Fomento Resorts by refusing to act against the violations committed.

It was brought to the notice of the court that, the entire beach was occupied by beach beds, beach umbrellas and barbeque platforms.

It was also noticed that there was a private jetty right into the Zuari for water sports. Further it was noted that Fomento had erected shed on the beach for water sports activity and another shed was erected on the rocks for generation plant and equipment installation.

They also observed private chambers in a public nullah and that all the sewage was directly released in Zuari river and the sewage treatment plant is close to the residential buildings.

Being aggrieved by the various illegalities committed by the Fomento Resorts and the inaction by the respondents to prevent or abet such illegality the writ petition was filed in the court.

Heat is turned on by CRZMA

All those tears of citizens in Goa, whose once virgin beaches became an eyesore with deforestation and compound walls constructed might feel a sign of relief. (I am still awaiting for information asked in my RTI Application on Goan Real Estate and Construction Ltd project of Aldei De Goa) SEE VIDEO ON VIOLATIONS
Nevertheless here is the news update on this....


Bambolim construction permissions challenged in HC

NT Legal Correspondent

Panaji, Aug 24 The permissions granted by the Curca panchayat to Goan Real Estate and Construction Ltd have been challenged before the division bench of the Bombay High Court.

The Curca panchayat had granted permission to the company to construct a hotel cum residential project at Bambolim village, part of which falls within the 100 metre no development zone according to the Coastal Regulation Zone notification.

When the matter came up before the division bench, Mr Justice R M S Khandeparkar informed the counsel for the petitioner that he was unable to take up the matter.

The court however granted liberty to the petitioner to mention the matter for August 28 and the matter will be now heard by the division bench of Mr Justice R S Mohite and Mr Justice N A Britto.

The petitioners have sought a stay on the developments within 100 metres on the grounds that the area has been classified as CRZ III in the Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan, approved by the central government.

The Curca village panchayat had issued a construction license in July 1995 which was again renewed for three years in October, 1998. According to the petitioners no revalidation could be done without considering the law applicable at the time of revalidation and the series of revalidations is illegal because it was issued after the date of expiry.

It may be recalled that the division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Mr Justice R S Mohite and Mr Justice N A Britto had set aside the orders passed by the Goa Coastal Zone management Authority directing the additional collector, North Goa to a pass a status quo order on construction by the company and also the orders passed by the additional collector, Mr Swapnil Naik to stop the work of the construction project.

Now with this petition the fate of the ongoing construction will depend on the decision of the court.

Independence with dignity

Joe Madiath, has been a major part of Initiatives of Change for several years. He has been instrumental in development of a strong team in Orissa. Had heard about him many times at Asia Plateau, Panchgani. And now a hard hitting article on "The Hindu". Looking forward towards meeting him in person.

Source:http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/08/19/stories/2007081950120500.htm
Article by-HARIHARAN BALAKRISHNAN

For more than three decades, Joe Madiath has been helping villagers in Orissa empower themselves.

The devastating super cyclone of 1999 is fresh in the memory of many in Orissa, and others in India and across the world. But few remember the cyclone that ravaged Orissa, Bengal and Bangladesh in 1971. India, particularly Eastern India, had to bear the burden of 10 million refugees from the erstwhile East Pakistan. At a time when world attention was focussed on Bangladesh’s birth pangs, a great cyclone hit the same part of this globe.

Beginnings

Joe Madiath led a group of 400 volunteers from Young Students’ Movement for Development (YSMD) to West Bengal. They worked in West Dinajpur, Malda and a few other districts but Joe soon found that, while international aid was pouring into Bengal, the devastation in Orissa was not on anyone’s radar. So he shifted base and pitched tent in Kendrapara area of Cuttack district with 40 volunteers.

After some basic work, the group decided that providing irrigation facilities would be the best way to put the victims back on their feet. So, they formed a lift-irrigation co-operative of villagers and helped augment resources. But once the facilities were operational, the big land-owners reneged on their earlier promise to cede some of their land for common benefit. Big landlords got the maximum benefit, smaller ones got less, and the landless were left high and dry. Joe decided this was not his calling. The group handed over the irrigation points to the locals and left.

But Joe’s heart was with the poor. He had seen the misery of have-nots at close quarters. When travelling through Orissa — in Kalahandi one day and Keonjhar the next week — one Collector spotted him and asked if he would like to do something for the tribals of Ganjam district. And Joe landed in Mohuda village to what turned out to be his life’s calling.

A dairy cooperative

Joe visited Berhampur, Ganjam’s largest town, in response to Collector D.P. Bagchi’s call, travelled intensively and met many. Among them was Ramanath Das, President of the District Co-operative Bank. Around that time, a mahant donated 100 acres of land for a milk producers’ co-opearative. Ramanath Das asked Joe to take a part of the land on lease and develop a dairy farm. Joe went back to Chennai and Kerala and returned with five volunteers and 30 acres were taken on a 35-year lease.

This was when I first met Joe. In 1974, some of us were involved in civic improvement of Berhampur, besides weekend health work in another village near Mohuda.

On Sundays and holidays, scooters rolled towards the hills and we held clinics. Young doctors from MKCG Medical College volunteered, and the HOD, Paediatrics, helped with immunisation kits. Soon sisters of the newly-started Missionaries of Charity joined in. Thanks to Mother Teresa’s volunteers, there was no more scarcity of medicines.

After a few years of dairy and horticulture work, Joe realised that milk produced in Mohuda did not benefit the local people. Tribals considered milking a cow a “sin”! All produce was going to Berhampur.

Again, he decided this was not his calling either. Soon Joe and his group formed Gram Vikas, which was registered in 1979.

The dairy farm, horticulture and healthcare were going on apace. Micro-finance had made a small beginning. One nationalised bank opened a branch at Mohuda. Simultaneously, the poor tribals were realising the power of a group. A massive andolan was launched to shake off their burden of debt and bonded labour.

Not only were small holdings of land, but even their children, were mortgaged to the Sahukars who lent them money and supplied liberal liquor to men-folk. Women, under the leadership of Anthya Madiath, made a consistent effort to wean the men from liquor. The freshly-enacted Act against bonded labour came in handy. Before long, land came back to the rightful owners.

Benefits of biogas

Meanwhile, Joe had seen the benefits of biogas (earlier, Ramanath Das had taken him to a tea-snack joint where the fuel was produced from cow dung in a makeshift plant). The Government too was thinking on alternative energy, and offered liberal subsidy.

So, Joe decided to provide power to the people with locally available material. Till date, Gram Vikas has installed more than 55,000 biogas plants in Orissa, one of the smallest States.

While Gram Vikas was on its way to becoming the torch-bearer in the biogas field, Joe was visiting places, sharing and learning about empowerment and development. Much of the mortality in rural areas was related to water and hygiene.

So, an ambitious project was started to get rid of this scourge. Clean, continuous running water for each home through taps in toilet, bathroom and kitchen was the target. Technology for building overhead storage tanks, laying pipelines and such work was the domain of government engineers.

Joe and his team sought to demystify this. Soon the villagers, with help from a core group of trained people, dug wells, drilled borewells and put 40 ft. high tanks in place. Pumps were installed where electricity was available. In remote hamlets, where it was not, the gravity flow principle was used with ingenuity.

Simultaneously, toilets and bathrooms were coming up in thousands, all built by the villagers. Gram Vikas lent a helping hand. All toilets and homes were of one type, irrespective of the owner’s caste, social or economic status. It was an “all or none” decision for the village.

Key contributions

Participation and involvement are the key words in this idea of rural development. Each village has to contribute Rs.1000 to the “core fund”, each villager according to his ability. Every family also had to contribute local materials, labour and some cash. Gram Vikas gives the “social costs” in the form of cement, steel, pan and door. Village boys and girls are given free masonry training.

What used to be bathing ponds were turned into farms for pisciculture. Fish became a source of revenue for many a village. Social pressure plays a great part in ensuring norms.

Young rebel

A Marxist at heart, Joe’s initial protest was at age 12 when he organised youngsters in his native Kerala town to get better working conditions for workers in family farms. His father packed him off to distant West Bengal for schooling.

Returning at 16, he was active as a student leader in college. At 21, while he was President of Loyola College, Madras, he went on a solo cycle trip across the country, right up to Sikkim. He found that poverty knew no language or caste.

At the threshold of 60 today, Joe Madiath has set a target of reaching 1,20,000 families by 2010 for his clean water and toilet scheme. It will benefit a million people in all. He says this is achievable. Joe knows this cannot be done within the confines of Orissa State. Gram Vikas volunteers are interacting with like-minded NGOs in Jharkand, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to take the movement forward.

Recognition

Such sustained effort at development is recognised sooner or later. Last year, Gram Vikas won the India NGO Award and the Kyoto World Water Grand Prize at Mexico City. In February this year, Joe Madiath was voted one of the 10 recipients for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. In material terms, it means three-year grants of more than $1,000,000.

With sincerity and good management at the top, each dollar will benefit the poor and the marginalised. The world would be a better place if Madiath and Mohuda inspire some “citizens of tomorrow”.

That would help a million poor Indians stand up with dignity.

Thats all we have

On February 14, 1990, The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth made by Voyager 1 from a record distance, showing it against the vastness of space. Carl Sagan gives the distance as 3.7 billion miles in the book, while NASA website describes it as "more than 4 billion miles" (6.4 billion kilometres). The picture was taken using a narrow-angle camera at 32° above the ecliptic, and created using blue, green, and violet filters.

Now to think of it, all our individual unhappiness, success, struggles, wars, politics, corruption, career, industry, poverty, fame, movies, love, relationships, hatred, greed, every emotion. When I look at this picture, Every emotion of society, and possibility of our life all seems so insignificant. I mean we are almost equal to nothing.
As Al Gore says, "thats all we have"....
To add I feel, we are already an endangered planet, almost extinct race, our life and our civilization is just a dot in the sky.

Message to Young Indians in India

Message by my close buddy, Sonu Arora to the Youth of India on eve of Independence Day.


aj phir humara swantrata diwas hain.

aaj bhi apne is desh mein kitne hee aise log hoge, jinke liye yeh din , bus ek aur chutti jaisa hoga .

aaj phir ,sarkaari daftaro ki diwaro per latki huyi , shaheedo ki tasveero per se dhul jhaadi jayegi .

aaj phir ,alag-alag t.v channel wale ,radio wale , deshbhakti ke naam per apni-apni rotiya sekhege .

aaj phir ,kayi ministers ke writers ,ko aisi speech taiyyar karne ke liye kaha jayega ,jisey sunaaker woh logo ki deshbhakti ki bhawna ki saath aasani se khilwaadh kar sake .

kitne hi navjawaan apne-apne tarike se , jaise apni-apni motor-cycles,cars per is aazadi ki khushi ko prakat karege.

hmmm :)

yeh navjawaan ,aaj phir desh bhakti ke geet sunker aaj khud ko josh se labaa-lab bhar dege ..magar .....................................................................................................................................

yeh josh bilkul us murgi ki tarah hoga joh kuch feet hawa mein uddhker baitth jaati hain.

pata nahi aisa kitne hi baar hua hain ki , koyi jawaan apne is desh ke liye kuch karne ko josh mein aa toh jata hain

per baar-baar ubaale gaye pani ki tarah bhaap bunker is josh hawa mein kayi kho deta hain .

aao , hum sabhi is aazadi ke pavitra awsar per yeh kasam khaaye ki ,hum desh ke liye kuch karne ko ,humme paida huye is jazbe ko kabhi bhi marne nahi dege

aur apne is jeevan mein apne is aazad desh ki neev jisey mazboot banane ke liye kitne hi logo ne apna khun bahaya hain ,usey kabhi ladhkhadae nahi dege.

itihaas gawah hain ,humare desh ko aazad karane ke liye najaane kitne hi log shaeed huye .yeh aazadi toh humney baahari mulk se haasil ki thi ,

per lagta hain ki hum aaj bhi dhire-dhire ghulaam bante jaa rahe hain aur woh bhi aur kisi se nahi , balki apne hi desh ke kuch logo se (ministers ).

yeh mutthi bhar log purey desh ke liye faisle lete hain .

yeh faisle sirf ek hi chiz soch ker lete ki ,unke is faisle se agle election mein unki kursi surakshit bach jaaye .

yaha hum sabh ko jaagne ki zaroorat hain .

aaj agar dekha jaye toh humarey desh ki aadhey se zyaada public joh vote deti hain ,woh ya toh anpadh hoti hain ya kharidi gayi hoti hain ya jaat-paath ,aarakshit (reservations) sahuliyat paanewali hoti hain .

aao hum sabh aaj ek aur kasam khaaye ki hum kum-se kum 2-5 aise log joh vote nahi daalne jaate unhe apne saath , sahi candidate ko vote dalwaane le jaye.

bus anth mein yeh kahuga agar aaj ka yeh din celebrate karna hai toh , bus

IS AAZADI KE LIYE CHUKAAYI GAYI KEEMAT KO JAANKER .

JAI-HIND

sonu:

Message to Indians Abroad on Independence Day

A message by my buddy, Sonu Arora, to all Indians abroad....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

is desh se bichdey huye dosto ,bhaiyo aur behano ...

agar aap ko yaad hoga toh aaj humara swantrata diwas ..oops ..independence day

aaj yeh bharat mata aapse kuch kehna chahti hain..

'' yeh jhokha ,hawa ka desh se tere

aaj ik sandesh laaya hain

kabh se dekh rahi hain teri raah,

chal...maa ne tujhe bulaya hain.

1. manaa rahi hain aazadi ka jashn ,.

maa pyar se tere aaj bhi,

apne parivaar se bichddhey bachho ka

is maa ko intezaar hain aaj bhi ,

bhul naa jaana bete tujhko,

isi maa ne dhudh pilaya hain

kabh se dekh rahi hain teri raah

chal ..maa ne tujhe bulaya hain

2.

dekh ke tere maa ki kamzori,

hustey hain padosi sabhi,

kehte hain , rahega sadha andhera yaha

roshni yaha ki kyuki, kahi aur hain jal rahi

umeed hain aaj bhi is maa ki aakho mein

jisey tumne rulaaya hain

kabh se dekh rahi hain teri raah

chal ..maa ne tujhe bulaya hain

3.

socha tuney kabhi yeh ki

sabh hain phir bhi mann udaas kyu hain ?

samander mein tair raha hain

per phir bhi ajeeb si aisi pyas kyu hain ?

pooch bete khud se yeh ,kyuki

aise sawalo ne aksar ,soya zameer jagaaya hain

kabh se dekh rahi hain teri raah

chal ..maa ne tujhe bulaya hain

'' yeh jhokha ,hawa ka desh se tere

aaj ik sandesh laaya hain

kabh se dekh rahi hain teri raah,

chal...maa ne tujhe bulaya hain.

tujhe bulaya hain...

tujhe bulaya hain

JAI HIND

18 Hours with a Gandhian

On 11 August we the team of IofC-Bangalore visited Fireflies. I reached pretty late, so I missed the introduction part. At the dinner time, our friend Aswini informed the presence of an Old Man, as Gandhian from Wardha. Somehow, as soon I heard those words Wardha, I got up and went to meet him and joined him on table where he was having dinner. I guess that’s when the KT –Knowledge Transfer started. Here our some of the excerpts:

Thakurdas Bang, a Gandhian, had joined Mahatma Gandhi when he was 25 years old. From the time of Quit India movement, assassination of Mahatma, and Jai Prakash Narayan Movement against the emergency has been some of his milestones in path of practising Gandhian way of life. Both sons of Thakurdas, Abhay Bang and Ashok Bang run NGOs in Wardha and have received International acclaim.

Bhagat Singh-

Gandhi personally wrote 4 letters to Lord Irwin seeking release of Bhagat Singh, one of the letters replied by Irwin was addressed to Gandhi as “Dear Barrister Mohandas”, in which he reiterated that Bhagat Singh has expressed in court that he was no regretting for his act of violence, which on based of moral code can be forgiven but not on Legal code. To which Gandhi discussed on impacts of sentence on future generation. All three; Gandhi, Bhagat singh and Irwin, were right on their sides.

Jawarhalal Nehru chosen as PM-

It was not that Gandhi had handpicked Nehru as PM, it was more that he was the undisputed popular Leader amongst the masses and youth specially, as well was a face of India to outer world to whom India was much unknown. For successful democracy most popular leader is to be chosen.

Partition-

Gandhi always stood with will that partition of India can happen only over his dead body. He explained that he would practise Satyagraha and fasting until death. In Congress Party Meeting, Gandhi was invited along with all senior leaders of Congress to discuss proposed partition of India. Nehru and Sardar Patel presented before them that they have given their word as consent towards Partition of India. To which Gandhi in shock asked them, as to why he wasn’t informed before this. Nehru mentioned that Gandhi was in Calcutta, and it was not possible to contact him. To which Gandhi in disturbed manner asked that in 1947, how was he not able to contact him, he could have used a messenger or anything of such crucial nature to be discussed. To which he was replied that it was assumed that Gandhi’ stand would anyways be against the Partition of India. To which Gandhi, thought in silence and said that “Mein Kuch tho rasta nikalunga” (I will find some way out). He gazed into the eyes of Nehru and in few seconds Nehru head was down in shame, and same was done to Sardar Patel and other members. In the Congress Working Committee Meeting when Gandhi asked who would join him against the Partition only 1 member supported him, that was Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan. All other seniors including Nehru and Patel were in favour of the partition. Jai Prakash Narayan along with many abstained from taking any sides. This entire details of this meeting was narrated by JP Narayan to Thakurdas.

Reservation-

There has been a lot of atrocities against communities based on caste and tribes. Reservation was required post Independence, but its benefits have not yet been materialised. If reservation has to be there it must have time limits of next 5 to 10 years.

How did Youth buy the idea of non-violence versus violence? Was it just the charisma of Gandhi?

Non violence has been a concept far before Gandhi came. Yes, Gandhi did have charisma, but it was not accepted just because of that. Because, many decades later, JP Narayan started a similar movement across the nation when millions of Indians protested in peaceful manner against the imposition of Emergency. Weapons were banned by the British to be available among the masses. Since it was difficult to procure arms, Non Violence as a concept to many seemed difficult but a way of achieving freedom. Non Violence shows not cowardice but courage.

Failure of Gandhism as mass movement Post Assassination-was it a failure of Institution building?
Who is follower of Gandhi, his sons, me, you, followers? What is Gandhi, if I drink Pepsi can I be a follower of Gandhi.

Doesn’t anti-Globalisation conflict with concept of Vasudev Kutumbak-
Do we need products from distant places? Should we consume products of what is available near us? Where I as a consumer can go and see the quality of production, how he does it. Why do we buy goods from far? Just to reduce costs isn’t, because scales of production are cheaper in far distant lands. The concept of Swadeshi, and how it relates to the self sustaining economies. Why buy from distant place where there is control by consumer, where he is not witness to the production or creation of a product.

Godse-
There were 7 attempts to kill Gandhi, Godse was arrested at Wardha before, and on Gandhi’s consent he was pardoned. Thakurdas was in Wardha Ashram when this event happened. Infact the Home Ministry was informed by senior person from ICS, that a possible assassination bid was being attempted and planned by some senior people in Hindu Maha Sabha.

Farmer suicides-
Thakurdas asked us, why did Farmer Suicides increase Post Independence? To which some said that it, in those there might information deprivation, now we have access to rural parts of India. To which he talked of modern methods of cultivation which are actually degrading soil and environment, drinking water, long run losses. He reiterated that Farmers are losing methods of organic farming, towards short term benefits of in-organic farming.

Direct Retail Sourcing from Farmers-
Thakurdas mentioned that the entire ecosystem will be abused further. They will be dictated which crops to grow, and with large scale, organizational farming, many will become unemployed. Even the middle layer of present abusers will be unemployed. To which the Youth asked as the middle layer is much worse than direct retail sourcing. To which Thakurdas replied that, today we are less sensitive to fellow humans. We don’t have feelings and compassion for other humans. If these middlemen have compassion they wouldn’t have abused the farmers.

Bitasta Das, one of the young visitors said- “It was a rare occasion for me to meet a person of this stature like Sri Thakurdas Bang. After talking to him one could indeed sense the power of simplicity. I managed to catch him for a while to talk about my interest area- the North East India. On being asked about the integration of the North Eastern states during the freedom struggle, he was of the opinion that the leaders from Assam were ardent Gandhian. In fact the first CM of independent Assam Sri Gopinath Bordoloi had very close contact with Gandhiji. The new blood of Assam showed some spark to topple the negligence from the centre but they eventually got corrupted and things are back to square one. He reaffirmed that Jay Prakash Narayan was a popular and a very influential person in the North Eastern states. The unification of these states with mainland India has been mostly due to his efforts.”

It was memorable day for all us, so much of high energy discussions. Thakurdas offered meeting us at 6.30 am, he was infact ready to meet us at 4 am, but since many of the youngsters were burnt out, we met 6.30 am, he was present at the meeting place well before that, just like Gandhian should be.

The questions he asked us, made me introspect how I have been using my youth. When I discussed with him some of my inhibitions, his personal advice and guidance was really thought provoking, and made me feel grateful towards destiny, for creating an opportunity to meet such soft spoken Gandhian, for so much time, for so much inspiration, for so much knowledge

A Gandhian, whom I shall always hold close to my memories.

Jai Hind.

Navendu

Ramon Magsaysay award for P.Sainath

I met P Sainath, in 2003, the stories and conversations with him, I will remember for the rest of my life. His Book Everybody loves a Good Drought, has completely shaken my version of India and its development. P Sainath has been a great inspiration and I recommend everyone to read his books and articles.

P.Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu and the Mumbai Chief of Bureau is among the seven awardees of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for the year 2007.

In a citation, released on Tuesday afternoon, the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation recognised Mr.Sainath for his "passionate commitment as a journalist to restore the rural poor to India's consciousness, moving the nation to action." He joined The Hindu in June 2004 and wrote extensively on the agrarian crisis.

"This award is as much The Hindu's as it is mine," Mr.Sainath said, after the announcement came from Manila. "The freedom and flexibility allowed me (by The Hindu) to plan as I wished or react very spontaneously to a new idea or development."

Profile and comments by Sainath on the Award Foundation website.

"In the early twentieth century, the press was at the heart of India's freedom struggle. During those formative years, says Indian reporter Palagummi Sainath, journalism contributed to "the liberation of the human being." In contrast, he says, India's press today merely performs "stenography" for big business and the governing elite. As the economy surges, matters that call for the urgent attention of the public and government are ignored in favor of film starlets and beauty queens, the stock market, and India's famed IT boom. Sainath has taken a different path. Believing that "journalism is for people, not for shareholders," he has doggedly covered the lives of those who have been left behind.

Born in Chennai in 1957, Sainath completed a master's degree in history before turning to a life of journalism. At Blitz, a Mumbai tabloid, he rose to be deputy chief editor and became a popular columnist. In 1993, he changed course.

For the next few years, under a Fellowship from the Times of India, Sainath painstakingly investigated life in India's ten poorest districts. In Everybody Loves a Good Drought, his bestselling book of 1997, and in hundreds of subsequent articles, Sainath presented his readers with a world that belied the giddy accounts of India's economic miracle. In this India, the harsh life of the rural poor was, in fact, growing harsher.

Sainath discovered that the acute misery of India's poorest districts was not caused by drought, as the government said. It was rooted in India's enduring structural inequalities - in poverty, illiteracy, and caste discrimination-and exacerbated by recent economic reforms favoring foreign investment and privatization. Indeed, these sweeping changes combined with endemic corruption had led small farmers and landless laborers into ever more crippling debt-with devastating consequences.

Sainath provided the evidence. He reported, for example, that the number of migrant-swollen buses leaving a single poor district for Mumbai each week had increased from one to thirty-four in less than ten years. He exposed the shocking rise in suicides among India's debt-pressed farmers, revealing that in just six hard-hit districts in 2006 alone, the number of suicides had soared to well over a thousand. He revealed that at a time when officials boasted of a national grain surplus, 250 million Indians were suffering from endemic hunger, and that in districts where government storehouses were "stacked to the roof with food grain," tribal children were starving to death.

Sainath's authoritative reporting led Indian authorities to address certain discrete abuses and to enhance relief efforts in states such as Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. But his deeper message also struck home. In 2000, nearly thirty of his articles were submitted as evidence at a national hearing on anti-dalit atrocities. In such ways, he has touched the conscience of the nation.

India's press today, Sainath says, is "creating audiences that have no interest in other human beings." He is training a new breed of rural reporters with a different point of view. His journalism workshops occur directly in the villages, where he teaches young them to identify and write good stories and to be agents of change.

Sainath finds hope in these young reporters and in the resilience and courage of the people he writes about - such as the legions of poor rural women in Tamil Nadu who have overcome taboos and learned to ride a bicycle. To advance freedom, even small freedoms such as this, is the most significant legacy of the early giants of Indian journalism to today's reporters, he says. "I'm not ready to give up on my legacy yet."

In electing Palagummi Sainath to receive the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts, the board of trustees recognizes his passionate commitment as a journalist to restore the rural poor to India's consciousness, moving the nation to action.

AP reports from Manila: A Filipino nationalist at the forefront of struggle for democracy during and after Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship, and a South Korean minister who dedicated his life to curing blindness are among the winners of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Jovito R. Salonga, 87, won the award for government service for tirelessly fighting for the rule of law, honest and competent government and showing compassion for the poor - democratic and social ideals that were not always easy to find in the Philippines under Marcos.

A law graduate and senator, he was crippled by a bomb blast at a political rally in 1971, a year before Marcos declared martial law. He fought Marcos' iron-fisted rule by defending the president's opponents and working for the release of political prisoners. He was briefly jailed in 1980 and spent four years in U.S. exile.

He returned a year before Marcos was ousted in the ''people power'' revolt and put his personal ambitions aside to back Corazon Aquino, the pro-democracy icon who succeeded Marcos.

Salonga initiated the government's efforts to recover Marcos' ill-gotten wealth. In 1991, as the Senate president, he clinched his nationalist credentials by leading fellow senators in voting to close down U.S. military bases in the Philippines.

''His rare moral authority stems from a simple fact: he practices what he preaches,'' the organizers said.

The Rev. Kim Sun-tae, 66, from South Korea, is being honored for public service for devoting himself to a hospital dedicated to treating and curing blindness. During the Korean War, Kim was blinded by a mortar shell, but soon learned to read Korean Braille and to type. The Korean Presbyterian Church named Kim director of Blind Evangelical Missions.

In 1986, with support from Korean businesses, he led in founding Siloam Eye Hospital, where sight-restoring surgery and modern facilities are available to the needy at no cost. In 1997, Kim opened Korea's largest rehabilitation and learning center to help blind people cope with daily life.

More than 20,000 people have received free eye surgery, and 200,000 more have been treated at the hospital.

Other winners include Mahabir Pun of Nepal, who received the community leadership award for his innovative application of wireless computer technology that brought progress to remote mountain areas. Tang Xiyang from China received the peace and international understanding award for guiding his country to meet its mounting environmental crisis.

Chung To and Chen Guangcheng of China won the emergent leadership awards. Chung's AIDS Orphans Project provides children who have an AIDS-infected parent with school fees.

Chen, blinded by a fever as a child, became a ''barefoot lawyer'' helping farmers with grievances to file court cases, leading protests against a river-polluting paper factory and documenting abuses. He and his friends were beaten, Chen was held for months under house arrest and in a closed-door trial was sentenced to four years in prison for disturbing public order. He is still serving the sentence. The awards will be presented Aug. 31 in Manila.