Okaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy... I'm suffering from one of my mood swings. Lots of reasons and then again nothing in particular for my mood!
Spent all afternoon listening to Kishore Kumar with a few other friends while writing our stories. Yea, the covering deprivation trip (more details on that when I'm done writing the stories) does that to you. I came back with an allergy (is what I think), but the dermatologist says its an "exaggerated insect bite!". Yea right, thats why I've been itching all over for the last few days?? BULL CRAP! I feel like a tomato field with red boils all over me.
Now for the cranky and sleepy part, add the above reason to the fact that I havent slept well in the past few days. This also for the reason mentioned above. I'm on this weird allergy (insect allergy?? ask the doc!) antibiotic which makes me drowsy at the wrong times. Like for instance, when I have got this sudden urge to write my story and its all flowing through my head. But the left part of my brain argues with the right part and the Winner isssssssssssss the Left! Have a few hundred stories to write and am suffering from WRITER"S BLOCK. Okay. I agree few hundred is pulling it a bit too much, but it's ummmm well you can definitely count them on your fingers! :P
Murderous cause whatever I've written until now is just not acceptable. It has to be revised, re-revised, re-re-revised and then edited and then loads more editing. Argggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. Trust me it sounds much more simpler than it really is!
Deprived - cause I want sleep, I want a non-itchy body and I want Peruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Monday, December 24, 2007
Silent is the land : Silence is the tower
Today was my first trip to the Bombay Doongerwadi i.e. the Tower of silence. Zoroastrians do not cremate their bodies as they worship fire and believe that even after death they should donate their bodies. Yes, we are the benovalent creatures who consider themselves as pure as white snow (a lot more things that can equal pure, but I shall leave some work for your grey cells).
Spread across 70 acres, Doongerwadi is till date the Bombay Parsi Panchayet's (BPP) largest golden egg. And they seem in no hurry to give it away. The class divide is most prominent in the allocation of bunglis (house of rest for the bodies). The poor section of the community are given bumglis in the lower part of the doongerwadi where as the upper middle class who can afford to pay Rs 900 are given the Wadia bunglis. These are situated near the prayer hall
If one thought that the caste factor would be missing in the small community consisting of 69,790 Zoroastrians (India Census 2001), they are sadly msitaken. The Nasasalars or the Nascisar Khandia's(meaning people who carry bodies on their shoulders) are the body bearers of the community. Dressed in white flowy gown like robes, they carry the dead bodies all the way from the bungli's upto the Tower of Silence. This is a 2km walk up a steep slope and requires a lot of energy. Their work does not stop with carrying the body up with a stream of people walking behind them. But they also have to take the body inside the Tower of Silence and walk amongst the other bodies to find an empty slot to place the new body. They also clean the interiors of the tower ocassionally. Clearning up bones and left-over body parts makes these people impure. Hence there are considered the untouchables of the community.
They are not invited to the houses of chust (pure) Zarthusthi's. They find no one from the community who would want to marry them. They are left with no choice to marry the poorest of the poor, the pit of the pile.
They are the outcasts, the outlaws. They are who we made them. We didn't find the courage to pick up our remains after dead and so left them to do it. Those remains which are ironically donated after death.
Spread across 70 acres, Doongerwadi is till date the Bombay Parsi Panchayet's (BPP) largest golden egg. And they seem in no hurry to give it away. The class divide is most prominent in the allocation of bunglis (house of rest for the bodies). The poor section of the community are given bumglis in the lower part of the doongerwadi where as the upper middle class who can afford to pay Rs 900 are given the Wadia bunglis. These are situated near the prayer hall
If one thought that the caste factor would be missing in the small community consisting of 69,790 Zoroastrians (India Census 2001), they are sadly msitaken. The Nasasalars or the Nascisar Khandia's(meaning people who carry bodies on their shoulders) are the body bearers of the community. Dressed in white flowy gown like robes, they carry the dead bodies all the way from the bungli's upto the Tower of Silence. This is a 2km walk up a steep slope and requires a lot of energy. Their work does not stop with carrying the body up with a stream of people walking behind them. But they also have to take the body inside the Tower of Silence and walk amongst the other bodies to find an empty slot to place the new body. They also clean the interiors of the tower ocassionally. Clearning up bones and left-over body parts makes these people impure. Hence there are considered the untouchables of the community.
They are not invited to the houses of chust (pure) Zarthusthi's. They find no one from the community who would want to marry them. They are left with no choice to marry the poorest of the poor, the pit of the pile.
They are the outcasts, the outlaws. They are who we made them. We didn't find the courage to pick up our remains after dead and so left them to do it. Those remains which are ironically donated after death.
"Dikra, jara ai kar ni, pelu kar ni ne pachi jara iya avine maari aagal bes ni!"
White haired and wise, sitting on the rickety chair reading three newspapers every morning - Jamejamshed, Times of India and Mid-day - is granny dear (maternal). A most common sight at the Kola house every morning. This is my maternal home. Located on a busy road in South bombay, with cars buzzing by and people queing upto buy tickets at Liberty, granny is oblivious to all of this.
Granny is oblivious to all of this. She lives in her own small world that revolves around newspapers, crows, food, chappatis, switching on and off the fans and many more things that would seem trivial to you and me. But this is her life. It has been for the past the last 20 years. And it will remain so till she exists.
We kids find her extremely repetitive (polite way of saying irritatingly nagging!). But we lover her, never-the-less. Her "Dikra jara ai uchak ni." (Child, plz pick this up.). And that 'this' will be a miniscule paper on the ground or something equally microscopic!
Her never ending, "Dilnaz, kekli chappati bana vanich?" (How many Chappati's are to be made?) is a daily extra dose one gets. She will call my aunt's workplace just to know that coz granny suffers from short term memory loss.
In the morning while eating her breakfast she hates the crow cawing at her. The black crow perched on our hall-room balcony door, caws away asuming he is entertaining my granma. But she thinks, he is complaining about her not feeding him!
These are a few things that havent changed since I was a kid.
(The title translates to "Child, do this, do that and then that also. After all of that come sit with me.)
Granny is oblivious to all of this. She lives in her own small world that revolves around newspapers, crows, food, chappatis, switching on and off the fans and many more things that would seem trivial to you and me. But this is her life. It has been for the past the last 20 years. And it will remain so till she exists.
We kids find her extremely repetitive (polite way of saying irritatingly nagging!). But we lover her, never-the-less. Her "Dikra jara ai uchak ni." (Child, plz pick this up.). And that 'this' will be a miniscule paper on the ground or something equally microscopic!
Her never ending, "Dilnaz, kekli chappati bana vanich?" (How many Chappati's are to be made?) is a daily extra dose one gets. She will call my aunt's workplace just to know that coz granny suffers from short term memory loss.
In the morning while eating her breakfast she hates the crow cawing at her. The black crow perched on our hall-room balcony door, caws away asuming he is entertaining my granma. But she thinks, he is complaining about her not feeding him!
These are a few things that havent changed since I was a kid.
(The title translates to "Child, do this, do that and then that also. After all of that come sit with me.)
Reminiscing...
Ever thought you did catch the flu a few days after landing in Bombay? I got the worst flu that has stayed with me most part of my trip. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh! I never though I would, but then again I have never thought of any of the things that happened to me. Like my dad says, you do things to learn from them especially mistakes. I never do. Cant help it, I think the world is a nice place and people have better things to do then do what they do in reality.
Sneezing away on my wicker chair, wondering if I'm going to get the one call that will answer my questions (Psst psst, not all but most of them), I sit reminiscing of all the days gone by - good and bad. I have been doing that quite often.
Yesterday I went to Bandstand (in Bombay) after 10 years; the one place that my cousin and me would go to frequently when we were kids. All those memories came back like a flash flood, only to make my mood more pensive as my cousin wasn't there to squeal at and say "Look, that's the jungle gym we learnt to hang on like monkeys." Nats where are you? Missing you sweety. Remember all the times that we sat on those horses asking the 'godha wala' to go faster so we could out do one another? We did quite often didn't we? I remeber ruhi and mom saying, "Bhaiyya dheere chalo. Bacche hai ghir jaayenge.' and we used to contradict them, urging them to take us faster.
Things haven't changed one bit at Bandstand. It's the same. Almost. The horses aren't same, neither are the godha walas. But the kids who play there, making their own memories are the same. Faces aren't, but the spirits are. Why Nats couldn't we be just kids, with none of the problems to share but just fond memories. We could grow old by staying young and living our stories. Our fairy tale stories, not the 'big bad world' stories that we living through now.
Why o why did things have to change?
Sneezing away on my wicker chair, wondering if I'm going to get the one call that will answer my questions (Psst psst, not all but most of them), I sit reminiscing of all the days gone by - good and bad. I have been doing that quite often.
Yesterday I went to Bandstand (in Bombay) after 10 years; the one place that my cousin and me would go to frequently when we were kids. All those memories came back like a flash flood, only to make my mood more pensive as my cousin wasn't there to squeal at and say "Look, that's the jungle gym we learnt to hang on like monkeys." Nats where are you? Missing you sweety. Remember all the times that we sat on those horses asking the 'godha wala' to go faster so we could out do one another? We did quite often didn't we? I remeber ruhi and mom saying, "Bhaiyya dheere chalo. Bacche hai ghir jaayenge.' and we used to contradict them, urging them to take us faster.
Things haven't changed one bit at Bandstand. It's the same. Almost. The horses aren't same, neither are the godha walas. But the kids who play there, making their own memories are the same. Faces aren't, but the spirits are. Why Nats couldn't we be just kids, with none of the problems to share but just fond memories. We could grow old by staying young and living our stories. Our fairy tale stories, not the 'big bad world' stories that we living through now.
Why o why did things have to change?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Long last.....
It feels like donkey years since i wrote a personalised blog. The last few have beena plug of my work which i shamelessly posted due to lack of time and motivation to write :) Five months spent in ACJ,gives you a lot to reflect on and very little time to implement it. Scraping my knees against the gruelling schedule that MJ puts us through, its no surprise that we are working through our holidays- either for our dissertation or gearing up for our deprivation trip to Cuddalore.
Sitting on my cousin's PC with nothing better to do in bombay, yes you read right - BOMBAY. Tired running around the desks of beuracrats gathering information for my dissertation. The threat of facing a RTI doesn't really bring a change in the sourly looks on their faces. The atrocity of this being, i had to take permission to enter the Doongerwadi (written to the Bombay Parsi Panchayet a letter, but havent got a reply on that as yet.) - atrocious cause I'm a Zarthushthi myself. This is the whole mess in my religion that i was/am talking about. Thought the dissertation would help answer a few of my questions, but it has raised more questions that what I or THEY- the wise men of my religion can answer.
Wonder what MJ would have to say about my dilemna. I think her reply would be "Jessica if more questions are being raised, you are on the right track. Follow the trail." But how do I follow the trail, if there is nothing for me to sniff around? BPP refuses to talk about the nuances of their funds as its not open for discussion and at this point I remember P.Sainath saying "Follow the money, that's where your story is." All i've got from the BPP is that thei liquid assets are Rs 50 crores! Mind you, this is not counting the property they own, which would cost a few billion rupees in the very least. Our Doongerwadi's minimal SP would be 1000crores (at the very least!) The baugs are a different story altogether. This is the story i've to get to the bottom of! The other conflict that arises is the intra-communal conflict, which is larger canvass that i've to paint.
I've one helluva long trip ahead, I'm not expecting it to be smooth without any bumps. But I do want to reach my destination with all the places I passed and stopped at on my way carefully marked out.
Sitting on my cousin's PC with nothing better to do in bombay, yes you read right - BOMBAY. Tired running around the desks of beuracrats gathering information for my dissertation. The threat of facing a RTI doesn't really bring a change in the sourly looks on their faces. The atrocity of this being, i had to take permission to enter the Doongerwadi (written to the Bombay Parsi Panchayet a letter, but havent got a reply on that as yet.) - atrocious cause I'm a Zarthushthi myself. This is the whole mess in my religion that i was/am talking about. Thought the dissertation would help answer a few of my questions, but it has raised more questions that what I or THEY- the wise men of my religion can answer.
Wonder what MJ would have to say about my dilemna. I think her reply would be "Jessica if more questions are being raised, you are on the right track. Follow the trail." But how do I follow the trail, if there is nothing for me to sniff around? BPP refuses to talk about the nuances of their funds as its not open for discussion and at this point I remember P.Sainath saying "Follow the money, that's where your story is." All i've got from the BPP is that thei liquid assets are Rs 50 crores! Mind you, this is not counting the property they own, which would cost a few billion rupees in the very least. Our Doongerwadi's minimal SP would be 1000crores (at the very least!) The baugs are a different story altogether. This is the story i've to get to the bottom of! The other conflict that arises is the intra-communal conflict, which is larger canvass that i've to paint.
I've one helluva long trip ahead, I'm not expecting it to be smooth without any bumps. But I do want to reach my destination with all the places I passed and stopped at on my way carefully marked out.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Landfills need no more refills
Ten feet high-unsorted garbage spread over 250 acres of the Perungudi landfills is testimony to the fact that there is no segregation of solid waste despite the claims of the Chennai Corporation.
No effort for sustainable waste management has been taken by the Corporation or the private companies who are in-charge of collecting the waste despite the MSW (Handling and Management Act 2000) which specifically states that segregation of solid waste is a must. The garbage is also dumped in ecologically fragile areas like the Pallikaranai Marsh in spite of the High Court granting it protected status. A corporation official says that it does not dump waste at the marsh but it’s the local people and town panchayat who do. But one look at the Pallikaranai ‘dump yard’ and the leveled out garbage spread across 10 acres is proof that an organization is involved. There is a run-down unit with a dysfunctional weigh bridge and private security guards at the entrance of the marsh leading to speculation in the involvement of the Chennai Corporation and other private players. Prashant, a resident of the area, says “Once a week, the garbage at the ‘dump yard’ is burnt and the smoke causes a lot of health problems. We have to wait for the smoke to settle before we can start driving.” More garbage is heaped onto the ashes and the cycle goes on.
The Perungudi landfill has been in use for 20 years, yet there is no reform in the manner in which the garbage is dumped. The road that leads to the landfill is a mud-track despite the claims made by the Corporation of spending Rs 25 lakh to build the road. It is a place where rag pickers earn their living. Plastic, paper, optical fibers, rubber products, organic waste all of it can be found together in large heaps that have accumulated over the years. It is left to dry in the sun; the latest garbage is taken to the back of the landfill and the front of the landfill is dried garbage. During the rainy season, the environmental and health hazards are prominent and the stench is unbearable. Bags with segregated garbage which is meant for recycling can be found lying amongst the other trash. So the efforts made by an individual become meaningless due to official apathy. 50 trucks carrying garbage come to the landfill everyday and they cannot measure the quantity as the weighbridge hasn’t been working for the last two months. The Supervisor at the landfill says, “Each truck can hold 5 tonnes of garbage and that’s how we note it down.” As per his calculation there are 2500 tonnes of garbage that are collected and disposed at the landfill. But most trucks are not filled to their entire capacity and this is overlooked by the Chennai Corporation.
The Chennai Corporation could learn from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras on how to collect and manage waste. They segregate their garbage into organic and non organic waste. The organic waste is dumped into a pit dug in the forest which is partly consumed by monkeys and deer, and the rest is composted by nature and acts as manure. The non-organic is sold and sent for recycling.
No effort for sustainable waste management has been taken by the Corporation or the private companies who are in-charge of collecting the waste despite the MSW (Handling and Management Act 2000) which specifically states that segregation of solid waste is a must. The garbage is also dumped in ecologically fragile areas like the Pallikaranai Marsh in spite of the High Court granting it protected status. A corporation official says that it does not dump waste at the marsh but it’s the local people and town panchayat who do. But one look at the Pallikaranai ‘dump yard’ and the leveled out garbage spread across 10 acres is proof that an organization is involved. There is a run-down unit with a dysfunctional weigh bridge and private security guards at the entrance of the marsh leading to speculation in the involvement of the Chennai Corporation and other private players. Prashant, a resident of the area, says “Once a week, the garbage at the ‘dump yard’ is burnt and the smoke causes a lot of health problems. We have to wait for the smoke to settle before we can start driving.” More garbage is heaped onto the ashes and the cycle goes on.
The Perungudi landfill has been in use for 20 years, yet there is no reform in the manner in which the garbage is dumped. The road that leads to the landfill is a mud-track despite the claims made by the Corporation of spending Rs 25 lakh to build the road. It is a place where rag pickers earn their living. Plastic, paper, optical fibers, rubber products, organic waste all of it can be found together in large heaps that have accumulated over the years. It is left to dry in the sun; the latest garbage is taken to the back of the landfill and the front of the landfill is dried garbage. During the rainy season, the environmental and health hazards are prominent and the stench is unbearable. Bags with segregated garbage which is meant for recycling can be found lying amongst the other trash. So the efforts made by an individual become meaningless due to official apathy. 50 trucks carrying garbage come to the landfill everyday and they cannot measure the quantity as the weighbridge hasn’t been working for the last two months. The Supervisor at the landfill says, “Each truck can hold 5 tonnes of garbage and that’s how we note it down.” As per his calculation there are 2500 tonnes of garbage that are collected and disposed at the landfill. But most trucks are not filled to their entire capacity and this is overlooked by the Chennai Corporation.
The Chennai Corporation could learn from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras on how to collect and manage waste. They segregate their garbage into organic and non organic waste. The organic waste is dumped into a pit dug in the forest which is partly consumed by monkeys and deer, and the rest is composted by nature and acts as manure. The non-organic is sold and sent for recycling.
Jackpot with Garbage: IIT-M
Zero Waste Zone (OZONE) is IIT-Madras’s scheme of handling solid waste and recycling management. It was started in October 2004 with the help of Exnora, Vellore who studied the garbage in the campus. Based on the study a segregation plan for garbage disposal was set up.
The OZONE follows an eco-friendly method of disposal. They segregate their waste into organic and non-organic material and dispose it in two different bins present all over the campus. Pits are built in the forest area of the campus and the organic waste is dumped into these pits. Jayashree Anand, committee member of OZONE, says “The monkeys, deer and other campus animals know our timings and are ‘bang on time’ to pick the best out of the lot for food. The rest of it acts as manure for the forest.” Apart from being eco-friendly, this is also an economically viable method as IIT earlier used to pay Rs 30,000 once in two days to Onyx to collect their garbage. The non-vegetarian organic waste is dumped separately in a bin which is emptied once a week by Neel Metal Fanalca. Sujatha, Treasurer of OZONE, says “If we dump the vegetarian and non-vegetarian into the pit, it will cause a foul smell.”
The non-organic waste consisting of glass materials, plastic, cement, aluminium foils, electrical and barbed wires, papers are all collected into separate bags and at the end of the month it is auctioned to the highest bidder who then recycles it. OZONE earns Rs 70,000 a month from selling their non-organic waste. Jayashree says, “By the mad scramble for our waste material, one would think we have gold. There is a slight problem when it comes to selling polystyrene as there is no way method to recycle it.” even the paper is separated into colour and white paper as the Weight of colour is more and fetches a higher price.
The campus is divided into three zones – residential, academic and hostel. An awareness campaign via distribution of pamphlets was carried out. Each of these zones has red and green bins for people to throw the garbage in. From here, the garbage is collected using tricycles to a shed in each of these zones where a group of men and women segregate it. The segregated garbage is stored in synthetic sacks until the month end.
There are a total of 75 men and women employed from the neighbouring slums. They work six and a half days of the week and earn Rs 90/day. There is a two-week training programme conducted by Exnora and everyone is given certificates. Jayashree Anand says, “We have adult literary programmes as most of them couldn’t sign their names. Each one of them has a bank account now and all of them can at least sign their names now.” These classes are held every afternoon for half an hour and an incentive of Rs 4 is given to every worker to motivate them to attend these classes.
FRINGE BENEFITS FOR WORKERS
In collaboration with State Bank of India – IIT Branch, OZONE has formed two women and one men self-help groups. Taking into account how long these people have been working here, they get a loan from Rs 5000 to Rs 25,000 per person. These accounts are handled by the Ladies club and they help out the workers in case of any problems. There are quite a few men who have been working within the campus for as long as 14 years. One of the workers has built himself a house. They use the loans for paying their children's school fees, taking care of the house, investing in small chit schemes. Most of their husbands are contract workers and do not have a permanent job hence the women have to take responsibility of their family. A few of the worker's children are given scholarships for their education and recommendation for admission in the Kendriya Vidyalaya – IIT by the resident professors. This has helped them deal with financial problems largely. They are also paid overtime in case of extra clearance work in labs.
Salary of the workers is drawn from contributions made by the residents and is handled by the Ladies Club Madras.
OZONE’s policy of non-hazardous disposal of waste is one that should be replicated by larger sections of the people for a pollutant free environment.
The OZONE follows an eco-friendly method of disposal. They segregate their waste into organic and non-organic material and dispose it in two different bins present all over the campus. Pits are built in the forest area of the campus and the organic waste is dumped into these pits. Jayashree Anand, committee member of OZONE, says “The monkeys, deer and other campus animals know our timings and are ‘bang on time’ to pick the best out of the lot for food. The rest of it acts as manure for the forest.” Apart from being eco-friendly, this is also an economically viable method as IIT earlier used to pay Rs 30,000 once in two days to Onyx to collect their garbage. The non-vegetarian organic waste is dumped separately in a bin which is emptied once a week by Neel Metal Fanalca. Sujatha, Treasurer of OZONE, says “If we dump the vegetarian and non-vegetarian into the pit, it will cause a foul smell.”
The non-organic waste consisting of glass materials, plastic, cement, aluminium foils, electrical and barbed wires, papers are all collected into separate bags and at the end of the month it is auctioned to the highest bidder who then recycles it. OZONE earns Rs 70,000 a month from selling their non-organic waste. Jayashree says, “By the mad scramble for our waste material, one would think we have gold. There is a slight problem when it comes to selling polystyrene as there is no way method to recycle it.” even the paper is separated into colour and white paper as the Weight of colour is more and fetches a higher price.
The campus is divided into three zones – residential, academic and hostel. An awareness campaign via distribution of pamphlets was carried out. Each of these zones has red and green bins for people to throw the garbage in. From here, the garbage is collected using tricycles to a shed in each of these zones where a group of men and women segregate it. The segregated garbage is stored in synthetic sacks until the month end.
There are a total of 75 men and women employed from the neighbouring slums. They work six and a half days of the week and earn Rs 90/day. There is a two-week training programme conducted by Exnora and everyone is given certificates. Jayashree Anand says, “We have adult literary programmes as most of them couldn’t sign their names. Each one of them has a bank account now and all of them can at least sign their names now.” These classes are held every afternoon for half an hour and an incentive of Rs 4 is given to every worker to motivate them to attend these classes.
FRINGE BENEFITS FOR WORKERS
In collaboration with State Bank of India – IIT Branch, OZONE has formed two women and one men self-help groups. Taking into account how long these people have been working here, they get a loan from Rs 5000 to Rs 25,000 per person. These accounts are handled by the Ladies club and they help out the workers in case of any problems. There are quite a few men who have been working within the campus for as long as 14 years. One of the workers has built himself a house. They use the loans for paying their children's school fees, taking care of the house, investing in small chit schemes. Most of their husbands are contract workers and do not have a permanent job hence the women have to take responsibility of their family. A few of the worker's children are given scholarships for their education and recommendation for admission in the Kendriya Vidyalaya – IIT by the resident professors. This has helped them deal with financial problems largely. They are also paid overtime in case of extra clearance work in labs.
Salary of the workers is drawn from contributions made by the residents and is handled by the Ladies Club Madras.
OZONE’s policy of non-hazardous disposal of waste is one that should be replicated by larger sections of the people for a pollutant free environment.
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