colony

as per dictionary.com, colony means:
1. a group of people who leave their native country to form in a new land a settlement subject to, or connected with, the parent nation. 2. the country or district settled or colonized
3. any group of individuals having similar interests, occupations, etc., usually living in a particular locality; community: a colony of artists.
and a few other definitions...

scores of tamilians live in defined colonies in matunga and sion in mumbai (definition no. 1).
india was a british colony (definition no. 2).

my parents have lived in syndicate bank colony since 1975 (definition no. 3).

i have never thought of this word in any connotation other than the above definitions.
till Point Return happened and specifically the cycle trip.

in rural TN, colony refers to the part of the village where the lower castes (dalits) stay. see outlook's report where this definition is detailed.
the situation of the lower castes (dalits) in TN is pretty abysmal (a simple search with 'dalit tamilnadu' tells this story).
and contrary to popular rhetoric (of the dravidian parties - DMK, AIADMK, etc), the current atrocities on dalits are not inflicted by brahmins, but by those who are just above them in the caste hierarchy.
but it is true that the brahmins (including a few in my own family) hold the dalits (sudras) in extremely low regard.

so how does it look, out there in the villages and in the segregated 'colonies'.
1. they are filthier/dirtier
2. they are visibly poorer (from the type of huts)
3. the kids wear lesser clothes and look scruffier and scrawnier.
4. ambedkar statues and busts are aplenty.
5. plethora of paraphernalia of dalit based political parties like VCK (dalit panther's party) and BSP (of mayawati).

in addition to these visible differences, the colonies face a high level of violence inflicted by the higher castes and are easy target for religious conversions.

saddening as it was to assimilate these visuals and read the reports, there is a newer form of economic casteism evolving in the cities, which could be just as dangerous.

bajrang dal - 'militancy' to 'terrorism'

the bajrang dal is the militant youth wing of the vishwa hindu parishad (VHP).
they have perpetrated series of violent acts in the last months in orissa, karnataka, etc.
their tag-line is slowly being changed from militant group to terror group.

since the dramatic arrest of sadhvi pragya, the face of 'hindu terror' is emerging.
the convenient 'SIMI scapegoating' should finally end.

tehelka has run a long interview with their current president - prakash sharma.
it is good reading and a lot of cut and thrust.
i am quite amused by sharma's constant refrain to 'spontaneous reaction'.
sometimes i wish for spontaneous human combustion.

tehelka - sting - gujarat 2002

it is certainly the mother of all stings.
tehleka, aaj tak and headlines today bringing out the most gruesome confessions on live tv.
here is the total coverage.
since it is a lot, i would recommend reading in this order:
1. ashish khetan - the reporter who did the undercover job.
2. the editor's note - harinder baweja
3. the sequence - from the train burning onwards
4. the ahemdabad carnage - naroda patiya
5. the role of the police.

if you still have the patience and energy, read the transcripts of babu bajrangi, anil patel, and much more.

this expose is just blazing up the wires. since 12 hours, the vitriol, acid and all corrosive elements are on full flow.

some issues i have:
1. tehelka is extreme reporting and assumes culpability - which biases reporting
2. follow up stamina - they did the stings on defence deals and bangaru laxman which led up to nothing.
3. timing - with the gujarat polls coming upon in a month, mud-slinging, congress bankrolling are accusations to be battled.
4. could it polarise the communities further? some thinks this expose could make modi hand stronger.

whatever, it is great investigative journalism - the motives be damned - and a ray of hope for justice for the victims of 2002 gujarat.

sufi-ism and religious pluralism*

the famed ajmer dargah of khwaja moinuddin chishti is recently in the news for the wrong reasons.
what is a dargah? (from wikipedia). it is the abode of the saints (usually sufi).
staying in bombay, one cannot miss the geographically outstanding haji ali dargah.

my interest in sufism arose with the album by rabbi shergill which featured the moving 'bulla ki jaana main kaun' (watch on youtube). a seering philosophical kafi - a verse form written by baba bulleh shah.
here are more examples of bulleh shah's kaafiyaan.

the feature of all of the above is the pluralism - in thought, philosophy, acceptance and practice.

and it seems like the radical muslims are not very supportive of sufi-isms and the extensive popularity of the sufi saints. praveen swami writes in the hindu on this phenomenon.

in my younger days, though living in a typical religiously insular setting, studying in a christian missionary school (i guess) gave some of us a slightly 'outsular' perspective. i recall going to the school chapel with pals before exams for prayers.
small acts but great meaning.

* - never expected to use such words

where our taxes go - 2

the tamilnadu government has a chief kazi.

here he announces the Ramzan Id date in Nov 2004.
here is him gracing an iftar party this sunday. we have visual sighting.

my subsequent research is showing that there is a Chief Kazi for the shias as well as the sunnis.

troubled bridge under waters

ok. i have avoided the sethu schema all this time as there is more muck than the dredgers can rake up.
its all over the place.
the hindu
rediff

this is the official site, but doesn't open.
this site looks really official, but is surely a smart bunch of anti-sethu activists.
they have a news blog site too

what got me starting was this rediff interview with a mariner. he says that the sethu project does 'naut'ical make sense :-)
i was waiting to see the financials and 'if this report is correct', then this is a classic fill the pockets project.
i feel that any opposition from the opposition parties at the center and the state are purely due to the fact that they missed a golden goose.
am now trying to read all the official documents to get a further grip on the technicalities.

brahmin in buddha vihar

buddha vihars are places of worship for buddhists.
majority of buddhists in india are from the dalit community.
ambedkar led a large scale conversion of dalits to buddhism in protest to the stiflingly entrenched caste system in india.
when this was embedded in india's freedom struggle, there were healthy conflicts between gandhi and ambedkar. read here for a detailed thesis on this conflict between 2 geniuses.

gandhi adorned the 'untouchables' with the title of harijan (children of god).
many (including ambedkar) thought this was extremely patronising and rejected this title.

and in the south, periyar led a widespread campaign against brahmins (or rather as some say, against brahminism).

in the midst of this history lesson, mayawati (the undisputed leader of the dalits through her party - Bahujan Samaj Party) wins a historic election in UP in June 2007.
one of the major reasons attributed to her victory, is the alliance with brahmins.
very few saw the significance of this inspired strategy made in 2005, leading to a completely unexpected 'dalit-brahmin-muslim' trimurti combination.

yesterday, i was in a buddha vihar in a dalit scavenger community in mumbai making a presentation pitching for a educational program for their children.
i was born into a brahmin family.
loving it.