The best way to know the self is feeling oneself at the moments of reckoning. The feeling of being alone, just with your senses, may lead you to think more consciously. More and more of such moments may sensitize ‘you towards you’, towards others. We become regular with introspection and retrospection. We get ‘the’ gradual connect to the higher self we may name Spirituality or God or just a Humane Conscious. We tend to get a rhythm again in life. We need to learn the art of being lonely in crowd while being part of the crowd. A multitude of loneliness in mosaic of relations! One needs to feel it severally, with conscience, before making it a way of life. One needs to live several such lonely moments. One needs to live severallyalone.

Sunday 30 November 2014

THE ONLY PERFECTION WAS..THE MASK..

THE POETIC EXPERIMENT

The thought randomly came to my while watching a movie (Jim Carrey's 'Yes Man' in this case) though it had nothing to do with the movie, its plot or other elements.

My thoughts spoke to me that I randomly write down some words spoken by the characters and try to weave a poem around them. I loved the thought and randomly picked up these words during the 30 minutes I watched the movie.

The words were: covenant, molehill, weird, deserve, dicey, beautiful, promise, perfect, amazing, stroll

Another 30 minutes of my late night hours (or early morning hours for most of the folks) came up with these lines. While trying to write a poem around these words, I treated the words as neutral, independent entities free from the context of the movie. After finishing with these words, I felt good and decided I would make this 'poetic experiment' a regular practice.

This is the output of my first randomly thought 'poetic experiment':

THE ONLY PERFECTION WAS..THE MASK.. 

The covenant done,
They looked through each other,
With a weird perception,
They thought they deserved..

In their beautiful world,
The premises remained dicey
It was amazing the way,
The duplicitous promises stayed..

The only perfection was..the mask,
To betray the promises
Yes, the stroll up the molehill,
Had the conscience killed yesterday.. 

 THE POETIC EXPERIMENT

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Saturday 29 November 2014

TO READ THE JOY OF THE EVENING RAIN..

The soil smelled like the freshness of home after a long visit 
A soul was immersed in the aroma of the liveliness emanating 
The richness of black coffee in fusion with the thickness of a book 
The evening was as innocent as the whispers of the morning dew 
Taking back to the chapter that was read and reread every day
Thoughts were musical again, rhymed with the words turned over 
That veranda had returned as my arcade to look through the rain
To read the joy of the evening rain, with some coffee and my book


©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Friday 28 November 2014

WHERE IS THE HOME. WHO YOU ARE. WHAT BECAME OF LIFE.

Where do you call home.
Where do you feel alike.
Where do you come from.
Where do you seek life.
To where do you ride.
To what do you live for.
To where do you ascribe.
To what do you die for.
You were given a notion.
The name you had to be.
You were sold a reflection.
The man you had to be.
Where is the home.
What became of life.
Where is the name.
What became of the guide.
A name was given to you.
A man was thought of you.
A home was to be for you.

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Thursday 27 November 2014

100% FLAWLESS WITH HIGH TURNOUT: J&K PHASE 1 HAS QUESTIONS FOR SEPARATISTS (2)

THE QUESTIONS

Continued from
100% FLAWLESS WITH HIGH TURNOUT: J&K PHASE 1 HAS QUESTIONS FOR SEPARATISTS (1)
http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2014/11/100-flawless-with-high-turnout-j-phase.html 

  • Lotus was visible everywhere this time in the areas where the Phase 1 of the J&K Assembly Polls were held. RSS affiliate Muslim Rashtriya Manch and Delhi based organization of Muslim clerics, Jamaat-e-Ulema-i-Hind are working with the energy that is known to be an RSS forte. Jammu and Ladakh were always visible on radar but the scenario now speaks of BJP making significant inroads even in the Valley. Entry of another mainstream national political party of India as a major force in the state - isn't it a positive sign for the political integration of the state. 
  • What if the BJP wins 30 seats and manages numbers to form the government or wins the numbers on its own - wouldn't it be about the definitive change of perceptions about Kashmir, about the so-called notions of 'Kashmiriyat' and about the anti-secular credentials of BJP? 
  • First Congress and now BJP, the two main national political parties in India, are now have major presence in the state if we go by the pre-poll projections of these assembly polls in J&K, while the separatists, who claim to be the sole voice of the people of J&K, are marginalized. Could the separatists not read what was coming next for them? 
  • It looks the reports of separatists looting and deflecting the Union Government aid and assistance by the central agencies during the recent floods have dented much the face value of the separatist leaders. Also, like the state government, they, too, were not visible, except for making anti-India rhetoric. Action speaks louder than words - isn't it? 
  • The prompt response of the Indian government, first during the floods, and now in the Budgam shooting case of two teenagers where speedy probe resulted in nine soldiers being indicted today - were these the right messages delivered at right time the impact value of which could finally open the doors to the efforts the Indian government has been trying for long - consistent efforts to bring the people of J&K to realities of the hollow agenda of separatists the terror-driven anti-India moves of Pakistan? 
  • Given by the developments, isn't it the high time for the separatists shed their escapist garb in the name of 'Kashmiriyat' and prove their base in the state? 
  • Alternatively, isn't it the apt time for the Indian government to politically manoeuvre the prevailing situation to co-opt the separatists who are down and out morally? 
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Wednesday 26 November 2014

100% FLAWLESS WITH HIGH TURNOUT: J&K PHASE 1 HAS QUESTIONS FOR SEPARATISTS (1)

THE QUESTIONS
  • Unprecedented enthusiasm, the rural Jammu & Kashmir, the mountainous J&K, the remote J&K, the 15 assembly seats in the first round of the J&K polls, they have spoken, and spoken overwhelmingly, that they have started seeing the point that they are better off with Indian democracy than following the misleading propaganda of separatists. 72% of them turned out, from 61% last time, isn't it a slap in the face of separatists, the so-called flag-bearers of the interests of the people of Jammu & Kashmir?
  • Like always, separatists have called for boycott and general strike during the polls. But there were several polling booths where people remained in long queues even after the polling time was over. Is the influence of separatists on the wane?
  • Same can be said for terrorist groups. The high turnout has proved quite frustrating for them it seems as more 'warning posters' by them cropped up today threatening voters not to participate. The day aptly made for the phrase 'ballot over bullet'. Is the fear of terror not fearful enough now?
  • Also, like in past, the poll campaigning was not a taboo this time. People and politicians shed the stigma attached with campaigning for and participating in elections. It's true the boycott activities were effectively handled. But the level of people's participation tells its spontaneous. Is the thinking about the future of the next generation finally taking over the deleterious notions of worthless self-imposed isolation?
  • The state saw one of the worst floods this year. And there is anger on the way the state government of chief minister Omar Abdullah handled it. The state population also saw how the Indian government, Indian forces and Narendra Modi came forward to extend the helping hand when its elected government failed. Has this calamity affected the way the J&K electorate thinks about its position in the Union of India?
  • Since July, Narendra Modi has been regularly visiting J&K. Like the North-East of India, Narendra Modi regularly speaks about J&K, calling the state a priority focus. July, August, September, October, November - he has been there every month. He spent his Diwali in J&K. So far, he has acted on both the parameters - on delivering on ground and on building symbolism - the factors that can contribute to the positive swing of the electoral behaviour. Is Narendra Modi going to be able to do what he could do in May 2014 Lok Sabha polls and what he was able to do in the recently concluded Maharashtra and Haryana elections?
  • Shouldn't we read the higher turnout as the pro-BJP votes in the state as we saw in the Lok Sabha and in Maharashtra and Haryana elections?
  • The pre-poll projections have written off Congress and National Conference, the ruling Combine which recently split, in these polls. The seat projection for them is around 10-15 seats while BJP is projected to win around 30 seats. PDP is expected to emerge as the largest party, but short of majority. So, the pre-poll projections make it a PDP Vs BJP battle in the 87-member assembly leaving the space for BJP to manoeuvre to arrange the numbers. Emergence of a nationalist party like BJP that has been talking about repealing the Article 370, even if keeping it away this time - doesn't it sound death-knell for separatist politicians and their agenda? 
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Tuesday 25 November 2014

DRESS UP, WRITE YOUR AMPERSANDS

God was there when you felt the eternal hands
God was there when you suffered the mortal pangs
Dress up, be your muse, write your ampersands
Life is short, waiting still, for you in untrodden lands


 DRESS UP, WRITE YOUR AMPERSANDS

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Monday 24 November 2014

THE LOVE WAS POSTMODERN

Like it had been,

The melodrama, that it was,

Was not so sweet

As it was made to be,

The love was postmodern,

And was discreet

The lines were blurred,

The tradeoffs made clear

With the hindsight scripted,

It then had some smear

The sophist saw it near,

Wrote the end of drama then

The existentialist was hit finally,

A soul was deeply violated when..


©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Sunday 23 November 2014

THE QUESTIONS ARVIND KEJRIWAL SHOULD THINK OVER! (1)

THE QUESTIONS
  • Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, why do you think you can still score in Delhi assembly elections? Do you also feel the way a senior Congress politician had famously remarked that 'public has a very short memory and it soon forgets on allegations in coal scam'?
  • But, why should Delhi trust you after placing its trust in you that you didn't reciprocate?
  • Don't your acts say you are power-hungry? You didn't have majority. Yours were not even the largest party. Yet, you chose to go with a party the policies of which you always berated to form the government when the largest party, BJP, chose to stay away. And when you saw the chance, or were made to believe that you could play a bigger role in the national politics, you simply dumped the confidence of the Delhi voters in search of greener pastures.
  • Now, one of the arguments you give that Aam Aadmi Party's vote share increased in the Lok Sabha election in Delhi. But seen in comparison with BJP, AAP's increase stands nowhere. BJP was leading in 60 of the 70 assembly segments in the Lok Sabha election and it registered growth of over 13% in vote share while AAP's increase was around 4%. Isn't there simply a BJP or Modi wave in Delhi?
  • Also, the different pre-poll projections say if the elections are held today, BJP will win a clear mandate. You have rebuffed surveys in past saying they are manipulative studies. But seeing BJP's performance, that was again proved in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls, don't you feel you are waging a lost battle?
  • Haryana, where BJP was nowhere in the scene, shot to power in one go, and with thumping majority. Yes, BJP had been a player in the state for decades but was always treated as junior partner by its allies. While they fought this election alone after the confidence they gained with the Lok Sabha election results, AAP withdrew from Haryana, not contesting even, when Haryana was being seen as the next logical political extension of AAP beyond Delhi. Don't you think BJP has already won the psychological battle?
  • Is Arvind Kejriwal an answer to the Modi Wave? Can the Kejriwal factor balance the psychological edge the BJP has?
  • Congress is being seen as a non-player as far as the next Delhi assembly polls are concerned, unlike the last year polls where it was being seen as making the fight triangular. How do you see it in the context of the upcoming assembly polls? 
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Saturday 22 November 2014

DOUBLED SALARY BONANZA AMIDST 400 FARM SUICIDES: WAS THE TELANGANA FIGHT FOR IT?

“I myself will represent the Telangana government and argue before the Krishna tribunal. I will create a history by arguing the case in my capacity as CM.” - K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister, Telangana

Now, this statement could have been seen as a routine overstatement coming from a politician who likes to boast and likes to brand himself as a forerunner of his political breed.

But, no, this comes to us from K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), the Telangana chief minister, the top most administrative functionary of India's newest state, who has been a big letdown after assuming the office when Telangana came into existence officially on June 2 this year.

The central reason behind the decades old Telangana struggle was the contention that the Andhra counterparts had ignored the Telangana areas totally leaving the concerned population in poverty and backwardness.

KCR projected himself as the champion of the cause and though he cannot take the sole credit, going by the political equations of the time, he was rewarded by the Telangana electorate in hopes he would bring home the change. But the downward spiral began from the day-1.

As soon as he took over, the dynast in him came out. He is chief minister who made his son and nephew ministers. His daughter is a member of the Parliament (MP). And he defends and justifies it with an 'air'.

When the agenda should have been reconciliation and synthesis till the whole process of bifurcation of revenue and resources is complete, he chose to indulge in cheap politics of sloganeering, not delivering on ground, and finding an easy escape in anti-Andhra Pradesh slogans.

And rational minds know that is not going to work.

Friday 21 November 2014

SLEEP..THE NIGHT IS NOT SO DEEP..

Sleep..
The night is not so deep
Sleep..
Before it fades away
Embrace your silence
Hug your worn-out soul
Sleep..
The night is mischievous
It runs away,
Like a betraying beloved
It humiliates,  
Like a lying companion  
Sleep before it haunts again

Thursday 20 November 2014

THE QUESTIONS AFTER SUPREME COURT'S ORDER ON RANJIT SINHA REMOVING HIM FROM 2G PROBE

THE QUESTIONS
  • It is unprecedented. It is the first time that the Supreme Court has intervened to the extent in removing the director of a central investigating agency from a probe that is working on. Can we term it judicial activism or the Supreme Court was forced to do after the apex court's patience was tested enough by the CBI director?
  • But, shouldn't have this decision come much before given the fact that it has come almost three months after the visitor diary of CBI chief's residence containing details of visits of people facing probe in 2G and coal-blocks allocation cases was put in public domain and the Supreme Court attention was drawn to it?
  • Shouldn't have the CBI chief recused himself from the 2G probe when the allegations surfaced in the first place? Should he step down now?
  • Isn't it too late given the fact that Ranjit Sinha is finishing his term as the CBI director on December 2, just after 12 days from now, and removing him from the 2G probe cannot alter the functional grounds of the investigation process now?
  • Should the government wait and let Ranjit Sinha finish his term or it should act after the Supreme Court's order on Ranjit Sinha on moral grounds?
  • If the decision doesn't hold for the technical elements of the investigation now given his term is ending, what is the symbolic message that it conveys?
  • 'CBI is a caged parrot and set it free' - Ranjit Sinha had famously demanded once. It opened a Pandora's box of debates given the fact that CBI thoroughly enjoyed the reputation of being a central investigating agency controlled and manipulated by the parties in power. Will the Supreme Court's decision to remove him from the 2G probe prove an effective reminder in that direction?
  • When Ranjit Sinha had demanded so, it sounded hollow as coming from a person who had faced allegations of being biased and favouring politicians and whose appointment had a streak of controversy behind it. Hasn't the Supreme Court decision today proved the controversy justified?
  • Supreme Court went as far as in setting the seriousness of its observations while removing Ranjit Sinha by saying that it was not passing a detailed order as it would hurt CBI's reputation. What does it tell to the government given the fact that Ranjit Sinha is finishing his term and a new CBI director is to be appointed?
  • Don't we need to relook at the debate on CBI's autonomy in the context of the Supreme Court decision today? 
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

Wednesday 19 November 2014

NOVEMBER 19 RESONATES FOR A DAY NINE YEARS AGO: SHANMUGAM MANJUNATH

November 19 resonates for a day nine years ago. In 2005, an honest and promising youngster, who was trying to live his ideals, the ideals that are supposed to be followed universally, as parents expect from their children, as is taught in all schools, as all the scriptures scream to convey, was shot to death for following these universal principles of human civilization.

The 27-year old IIM Lucknow MBA and Indian Oil Corporation's 'Marketing Manager Grade A' was killed while carrying out his duty honestly, living the ideals the way we all are supposed to do, the way the oath given to ministers, legislators and bureaucrats expects - not compromising on values of honesty and integrity while holding the office.

And that behaviour in office reflects the conduct in personal life.

And the universal norms expect them to be voluntary and not forced.

But he was living in a time when 'honesty is equated with foolishness' and when 'honest people are fools' had become, for long, valid themes for public discourses and when 'corruption had become a way of life'. Corruption has, very much, become a way of life.

Yes, he was not alone. But humanity gets such souls rarely, the commoners who stand up and speak up for what is right, without fear, with an unflinching resolve. He was one among the rare breed of leaders who continue to show us the light in spite of our betraying attitude; they continue to put their lives in grave danger for the principles of humanity, for the social ethos of human civilizations, that societies tend to undermine.

I caught somewhere an article on a college debate on S. Manjunath titled 'Was Manjunath idiotic or heroic?' with the team behind the biopic 'Manjunath'. Its director Sandeep Verma here talks about his meeting with Manjunath's parents in Karnataka. The observations on conversation he had with them is an eye-opener on the social ethos today.

Here it goes:*

"I met Manjunath’s family in Karnataka. I knew that Manjunath had come from a humble background. I met his grief-stricken but proud parents. I could discern that his mother was shocked that people were implying that Manjunath could have exposed the scam in a different way. He could have been more patient, used different methods, that he was stupid or naïve, and that is why he was killed. People made them feel almost ashamed that they had a son who could not adjust to a situation. While the students absorbed Verma’s statement, the director looked angry as he stated, "This was really a barometer of how society treats its heroes. It was a reflection of us. I was angry when I heard this. Manjunath’s mother told me she does not want a single rupee from this movie. She only wants me to show that her son was not stupid but courageous."""

People like Shanmugam Manjunath are the reminders of what we have become, in the name of civilized societies of a thriving democracy where a 'Goonda Godman'(Rampal, Hisar, Haryana) takes on a state machinery and refuses to bow before the Constitution of the land.

What we have become reflects in her mother's worries that people see his brave and honest son as 'stupid or naive', as someone who could not 'adjust to the situation' when we need to live the spirit with which he lived the ideals of personal and professional integrity.


People like Shanmugam Manjunath are the guiding spirit for them who still believe in the universal values of humanity, the human life and the societies should follow. For them, November 19 reflects more on lives like S. Manjunath than the 'high and mighty' names like Indira Gandhi whose birth anniversary also falls today.

 Collage created from photographs sourced from Internet resources

NOVEMBER 19 RESONATES FOR A DAY NINE YEARS AGO: SHANMUGAM MANJUNATH 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/

*Was Manjunath idiotic or heroic? Mumbai college debates 
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/was-manjunath-idiotic-or-heroic-mumbai-college-debates/15777168

Tuesday 18 November 2014

WITHIN A WEEK, SHARAD PAWAR SPEAKS UP, AND WARNS BJP

It was to happen, and was just a matter of time.

It was a typical Sharad Pawar move, and after placing the cards initially, he transitioned to the next stage, stirring the elements of political opportunism to score the brownie points that were envisaged earlier.

Smelling the flavour, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party had announced unconditional support to BJP to form the government in Maharashtra after the assembly poll results on October 19. Though BJP emerged as the largest party, it was 23 seats short of the majority mark in the 288-member assembly and the talks with Shivsena were not making much headway apart from the routine newsmaking noise.

He reiterated his support on November 10, two days before the trust vote on November 12. He said, "We have made our position clear. We want stability. We cannot have elections again. We will ensure that there will be no instability".

The 'tacit' understanding continued to sing the melody on November 12 when BJP played on the tune Pawar had in mind while Congress and Shivsena created din on the 'murder of democracy' after BJP won the controversial trust vote by 'voice vote'.

Though, even after this, the BJP-Shivsena exercise to find a way in out of the logjam continued. But nothing concrete came out and Shivsena, being the second largest party in the assembly with 63 seats, bagged the opposition leader position as the deadline to do so approached.

Now, the ball was perfectly in Sharad Pawar's court waiting to be played further by his next stroke. And the next stroke came within a week.

Monday 17 November 2014

BEAUTIFULLY STACKED PESTLE & MORTAR PIECES IN SHIRDI

PHOTOGRAPHY

These beautifully staked pestle and mortar (khal batta - associated with a ritual of Puja offerings to Sai Baba) peices at shoprs at Shirdi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra pull attention easily.

And the captivating flow of the pattern their stacking makes elongates the attention span.

There are idols of Gods as well in the frame but the eyes make effort to go there.

A worthwhile click while on the go.



BEAUTIFULLY STACKED PESTLE & MORTAR PIECES OF MARBLE IN SHIRDI 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Sunday 16 November 2014

WHERE DID NEHRU ERR?

Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, like others were, in 1947, was a freedom fighter first, before being the politician of the Independent India, who was going to be its first prime minister.

And in spite of the differences with his fellow freedom fighters, he was one of the luminaries who could comfortably be placed in the second line with fellow members with the mutual respect they had for each-other. Naturally, the first line was the Mahatma himself.

But, then, that was it only.

Probably, it was one among the many harms that the sudden demise of the Mahatma caused to the cause of the independent India.

Mahatma, the architect of the Indian Independence Movement and the Father of the Nation, had foreseen something and had advocated of dissolving the Indian National Congress to establish a new political order in India with wider participation and diversified freshness.

Till August 15, 1947, the Indian National Congress was an independence movement.

After it, it directly donned the role of a political party when India needed a 'political movement'.

What the Mahatma advocated was the propagation of a political movement.

Saturday 15 November 2014

GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014 (4)

..DIYAS, LAMPS, LIGHTS, ILLUMINATION, REFLECTION.. 

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE SKY IS LIT AS THE GANGA FLOWS

http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2014/11/the-sky-is-lit-as-ganga-flows-dev.html



GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014 

DEV DEEPAWALI @ VARANASI: NOVEMBER 6, 2014

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS, PEOPLE: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014 (4)

..DIYAS, LAMPS, LIGHTS, ILLUMINATION, REFLECTION.. 

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE SKY IS LIT AS THE GANGA FLOWS

http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2014/11/the-sky-is-lit-as-ganga-flows-dev.html


GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS, PEOPLE: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014

DEV DEEPAWALI @ VARANASI: NOVEMBER 6, 2014

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Friday 14 November 2014

ALONE

Alone was the feeling
Alone was the day
Thoughts were speaking
The grey was gone
When evening came calling
Alone was the feeling

Life saw the clarity
Silence was musical again
Words were melting
Breathing was composed
The soul was in again
And Alone was the feeling

Thursday 13 November 2014

FEMALE STERILIZATION DEATHS: SOCIAL MALAISE MADE PERMANENT BY TENTACLES OF A PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY

A Supreme Court ruling says there cannot be more than 30 female sterilization surgeries by a team of doctors in a day. The ruling also says a doctor cannot perform more than 10 such surgeries in a day. The convention also says such surgeries can only be performed in a government run facility.

The doctor in question, rewarded by the state health minister of Chhattisgarh for scoring the 50,000 mark of such surgeries and arrested now, performed 83 surgeries in five hours in a private hospital that was not in operation for months.

13 of these women died after developing complications. Many are still serious and in hospitals. And there are reports of hospitalization from some other camps as well.

And 'such' deaths make for regular news flow. What happened in Chhattisgarh is not a standalone incident. Yes, but the way it happened pulled the global attention. A Google survey will return with reports in almost every language.

Every human life lost owing to such misplaced and ill-conceived human priorities is an utter shame but we are living in an age of lost priorities.

Smaller number of deaths don't figure at all beyond the local news coverage. Even this huge calamity was not potent enough to storm a national outrage and serious debate. No social media campaign was launched. No 'such' self-proclaimed advocates came forward. It did not trend beyond the realm of news making machinery.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

KEEP HOLD OF YOUR FANTASIES..

My reflections on life – in quotes (XCI)

“KEEP HOLD OF YOUR FANTASIES..
LIFE IS NOTORIOUSLY SIMPLE..
..TO DEMYSTIFY THEM.”



KEEP HOLD OF YOUR FANTASIES..

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Tuesday 11 November 2014

THE INCENTIVIZED FEMALE STERILIZATION SURGERY DEATHS!

Getty Images - In this 1950 photo, a group of women sit below posters advocating family planning in a doctor’s clinic in the Indian village of Badlapur in Maharashtra.

A well thought out photograph tells all. It is the essay in itself. The sayings say so. And it is true always, as this photograph tells.

Midst the controversy (that didn't pull the outrage it should have, nationally or locally) on 10 sterilization deaths in Chhattisgarh (which got global media pull), I came across this photograph in a The Wall Street Journal's web write-up*.

The photo tells us how wrong our priorities were when we began, as it dates back to 1950, shot in a Maharashtra village.

And it also explains why, in the 21st Century India, that claims to be a space power, a missile power, an Information Technology power and an economic power house, we still come across regular news headlines like this.

This 1950 photograph had family planning posters hanging in a doctor's clinic in a Maharashtra village.

And the posters were in English, in a village, probably Marathi speaking (as being in Maharashtra). It was not in some town, city or metro. Also, way back in 1950, literacy rate in India was in pathetic situation. And here the subjects were women. Education for them is still a secondary priority across a large section of the Indian society. So, think of 1950!

And in those days, we began with wrong priorities, this photograph is symbolic of that. The messages were packaged in alienated words and the ground work was supported with draconian practices like 'forced' female sterilization camps. Yes, the camps.

Such camps and such 'forced' practices (though some would like to say incentivized) can be seen throughout the history of independent India.

And this Chhattisgarh camp was also a forced (incentivized) one where 10 women lost their lives owing to the expertise of the state medical practitioners who botched up the surgical process that is routinely performed at 'camp' levels in many parts of India. 

* Why India Continues to Sterilize Its Women
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/11/11/why-india-continues-to-sterilize-its-women/

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Monday 10 November 2014

THE GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LAMPS, ILLUMINATION..

THE DEV DEEPAWALI 2014 REFLECTIONS: NOVEMBER 6, 2014 @ VARANASI

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE SKY IS LIT AS THE GANGA FLOWS

http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2014/11/the-sky-is-lit-as-ganga-flows-dev.html





THE GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LAMPS, ILLUMINATION..

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Sunday 9 November 2014

GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS, PEOPLE: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014 (3)

..DIYAS, LAMPS, LIGHTS, ILLUMINATION, REFLECTION.. 

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE SKY IS LIT AS THE GANGA FLOWS

http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2014/11/the-sky-is-lit-as-ganga-flows-dev.html



GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS, PEOPLE: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014

DEV DEEPAWALI @ VARANASI: NOVEMBER 6, 2014

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS, PEOPLE: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014 (2)

..DIYAS, LAMPS, LIGHTS, ILLUMINATION, REFLECTION.. 

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE SKY IS LIT AS THE GANGA FLOWS

http://severallyalone.blogspot.in/2014/11/the-sky-is-lit-as-ganga-flows-dev.html



GANGA, GHATS, DIYAS, LIGHTS, PEOPLE: DEV DEEPAWALI 2014

DEV DEEPAWALI @ VARANASI: NOVEMBER 6, 2014

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/