Journey to Jagannath

Puri - looks divine

Jagannath - The word is made of two syllables - Jagat [The World] and Nath [The Lord]. Together they become Jagannath, which means 'The Lord of the World'.

District Puri in Orissa State has a huge temple of Jagannath. I had heard so many stories of Jagannath that it was imperative for me to visit the place. After a couple of hour long bus journey I arrived in Puri.

It didn't take much time for my excitement to melt away along with sweat in the heat of Puri. The grand temple stood tall in front of me but was nowhere even closer to what I had expected.

Usual site in front of jagannath

Both sides of a wide road leading to the temple, was encroached by pavement vendors, garbage heaps and beggars. I put up with scorching sun, stinking rubbish and pestering beggars as I was looking forward to an extraordinary religious experience once I am inside the temple.

The expectations did not last long! As I arrive at the entrance, the police personnel started asking me which country I was from, what religion I followed, where was my home etc. etc. [maybe because I wore jeans and shirt to enter the temple].

I explained. As I inched further another set of questions was waiting for me. What is my father's name? What is my mother's name? They even asked me to show my passport to prove that I am Hindu. [Personally I believe that Hindu is not a religion but a way of life. We do not follow Hinduism but we practice Hinduism and with that theory anyone who practices Hindu way of life is a Hindu]

visiting Jagannath is a real battle
ask this man...

Funny....I thought. To enter a temple in my own country I have to show my passport!
Surprisingly, no other person was asked to show his/her passport [maybe I looked an alien].

My plight did not end there. As I tried entering the main gate of the temple, another policeman stopped me and asked me to take off my socks. "Take off my socks! Why?" They are made of cotton as the rest of my clothes. If the clothes I am wearing are allowed in why are not the socks?

I was perplexed but I had to follow the diktats otherwise I would be forced to come back without meeting Lord Jagannath.

As I enter I witness people swarming everywhere. Some were trying to reach the Gods by  rolling on the ground, others were mumbling some mantras. There were many performing rituals on both sides of the wide steps of the temple [with the help of the hundreds of priests which were scattered in every corner of the temple - just like ants.

Before I could find my way to the main temple [there are many temples on the campus], someone literally grabbed me by my arm and led me to a small crowded room. I had to struggle to let me go free. The room was full of men and in a corner  behind a caged window a man was writing receipts for prasad [offerings]. I asked the guy sitting behind the cage to give me prasad for Rs 50.

To my surprise I was bluntly refused. "You have to take prasad for not less than Rs 121." Why? I was already irritated with the behaviour of security at the gate, now  this illogical demand was enough to infuriate me.

Inside the temple no bags, no cameras and no mobiles phones are allowed. I had taken just Rs 100 in my pocket to get some symbolic prasad. 

I came out of that small room and decided to simply buy two basil leaves garlands to offer to Gods. Finally, after shooing away many hovering priests I could enter the main temple, which was packed. The devotees were pushing each other to get a good glimpse of their deity. And the priests were snatching prasad like hawks, from the hands of devotees, in lieu of a few bucks.

Close look at the deity was an impossible task as the Gods have been kept in a corner away from the mortals. There was a divide between the Deity and their disciple, which was made of a barricading of brass pillars. If it was not enough to keep the people - who come after spending several days and whole lot of money just for a darshan - there was a man standing with a wick mat neatly folded to work like a baton. He was using this baton ruthlessly at people's backs to push them out of the temple. It was his way of asking the devotees to rush - 'have a quick look at the statue [which was not even visible from that far and from that level] and get lost'.

"If you want to go close to the God, take a ticket of Rs.100," I was told.
"Where can I get the ticket from?"
"At the entrance."
I had neither the inclination nor the will to go out again and buy the ticket to see the yellow and black figures hidden in a corner away from the reach of ordinary folks.
To me this temple ignited all feelings except any feeling of religious sentiments!

I was shocked!
It was the most harrowing experience in my life as far a visit to any temple is related.

Is this Lord Jagannath? - The lord of the world!
It forced me to wonder whether the temple is the property of the priests and we are all outsiders, who would be allowed only if these priests want us to go in.
What about those people who travel thousands of kms, spend half of their earnings because they have faith in Lord Jagannath. They are not even allowed to have a relaxed glimpse of their deity!
The whole place - the surroundings and the activities.... suddenly they all appeared  completely illogical to me - a person who is an ardent believer of the almighty.
I came out of the temple depressed. I witnessed people's faith being used and abused by the priests.
I decided never to visit this temple again. I can connect to God better when praying in my house. I don't need to bow before the priests to establish this connect. I do not need to prove that I am Hindu to enter a temple or to pray to God.
My faith in God is much bigger and is more sincere than the statues in any temple anywhere in the world.
Lastly I would prefer to interact with God one to one and not through any priest - no matter how big the temple is and how celebrated is the God!

[apologies to those whose feelings may get hurt by my writing]

Colourful Bhubaneswar

What do you understand by a fully furnished house? Generally, the house should have all furniture, linen, gadgets and the rest, required to live there.
Not in this Indian state - Orissa!
Here, people have their own definition of furnishing.
Ask for a furnished house and the property agent will take you to newly built room with tiled floor and electricity connection. "You asked for furnished house, here you are! The room has tiles and the bathroom has all the fittings."
I gave up.
This is Orissa and people have different perceptions. Fine!
That was the point I decided to explore the famous `haat' (mercado grande or market). This was a effort to perk me up and help me not feel frustrated with the situation.
It was a good decision. When I arrived at the market, my mood was as bright as the lights in the massive shopping area. I was as cheerful as the noise around me.
This `haat' is a place in the heart of Bhubaneswar, where there are over 10,000 shops (ranging from a small kiosk  and pavement shop to big show rooms). They sell everything - you name it and they have it.
The most striking feature of this `haat' - one street has all shoe shops, the other one all bag shops (bags of all sizes shapes and colours). Then there are rows of fruit sellers or rows of shops selling Indian dress `Salwar Kurta' (shirt and trousers).
What surprised me the most were the series of shops selling plastic ropes (see the first pic). What they are for? I couldn't guess. But there were ropes of all thickness and in all possible shades.

Another interesting feature of the market are rows of repair shops. You lost your key for our car, motor bike or house key or you want to get your grand mother's pressure cooker fixed or if there is an old torch needing repair - this market has a solution for all you repair problems.


An hour of going around was not enough as I could explore less than 25 per cent of this most and unfortunately the only one interesting place I have discovered in Bhubaneswar so far.
This `Haat' has given me something to look forward to for the time being at least till I move beyond the city and explore the exotic places which I have  only read or heard about.
So, until then....

Brown Bhubaneswar....

When I took a flight to Bhubaneswar - the capital of Orissa - a south eastern state of India, I was excited. My bags had the best of y dresses and shoes and the rest. What I was thinking was that my friends would be envious of me knowing I am going to an exotic location while they would be slogging in the dusty by lanes of Uttar Pradesh for election coverage.
I was wrong!
As I arrive at the Biju Patnaik airport reality struck like lightning. There was a tourism information center (lights were on, no body home). The well-lit center was closed with no one in sight to help me with at least a map of the city - the most essential apparatus to carry in a new city.
It wasn't a big jolt as tourism offices mostly remain deserted in India. The reason is simple: No one (especially the government) gives a damn to tourism in India - the home to Taj Mahal. I have already given up on tourism authorities so it was no big deal but on expected lines.
I was happy to spot at least a prepaid taxi counter but before I could say 'h' i found that its condition was worse than the tourism office. It seemed it was never visited by anyone before. The airport security was casual about it - "I think they haven't come today."
I went out of the airport and to my surprise a man was sitting at the exit giving receipts to people for taxis. So, a gang of taxi men was operating outside the airport.
So my journey started and Bhubaneswar started unfolding.
I told the taxi guy to take me to hotel Golden Palace. After half an hour of drive, the driver stopped in front of a restaurant Golden Palace Hotel. I was tired and didn't have the energy to argue so I simply asked the taxi guy as to why. He innocently said, "you said hotel".
Alright, so the fault was mine!
I should have said lodge. In Bhubaneswar hotel means restaurant, lodge means a place to live and if you by mistake mention Guest House - they will take you to some shady but expensive accommodation.

My first learning about the city!                                                                                        
Next day while travelling to my work place I realised that the city was not as cool and beautiful as I had thought of. Everywhere construction going on - more or less all roads dug. But no where I saw any work going on. Looking objectively at the environment the most spontaneous word which cam to my mind was brown - 'brown Bhubanesawr'.
Then another shock came that the city has only autos (scooter rickshaw or tuktuk) and if you are lucky you can also find a 'town bus' (this is what city buses are known as).
For autos the motto of 'the more the better' works. Built for two passengers and a driver here the autos carry four people at the back seat and at least three at the front, including the driver. Seven people in an auto for three (and I found ourselves crammed if I had to adjust a fifth person in my Santro - which officially claims to be a car for five people).
The first days helped me in one way - I did not open my bag full of nice clothes. A pair of jeans and a few T shirts were enough for a week along with my walking shoes.
Nonetheless, nothing can be all negative and same goes true for Bhubaneswar too. The city has certain things which are sure to catch the attention of an outsider, especially if that outsider is from a place called Uttar Pradesh.
In a 'town bus', where people are crammed like sardines, people don't forget to give due respect to women. The bus conductor stops everyone to let women get down and same way he will ask everyone to stay aside and let a woman board the bus. Very impressive! In Uttar Pradesh I cannot even think of this behaviour in a bus.
Another striking thing I spotted was women working as traffic cops at every crossing. Smartly dresses in blue trousers and white shirt and white hats, they look pleasing to eyes.
And yes, all traffic cops wear long white gloves covering their full hands. I don't know whether it is to save them from getting tanned or to make their hand more visible to people (the latter argument I find more rational).

The last but most important thing is food - I have yet to find a KFC, McDonald or Cafe Coffee Day or Barista. The saving grace are the lovely colourful shops selling variety of fruit on which I have survived so far..

But it is less than a week I have passed here - i think the more and the better is yet to come - let me start travelling to nearby locations like Puri and Cuttak....    

No more a burden!

Declining sex ratio (male/female) has very little to do with enforcement of law but has got everything to do with people's attitude. By enforcing the law we can save a couple of unborn  children but by changing the mindset of people, many unborn girl children can be saved from being killed when they are still in their mothers' womb.

People only need to be told that a girl is no more a burden on the society!

Its true, especially in a nation like India where the President is a woman, the Speaker in the Parliament is a woman, the major parties in the country are headed by women and the number of women in various male dominated fields is ever-increasing!  Besides, a religious nation most of the Indian deities are goddesses!

Recently, ActionAid, an international agency working on issues like hunger, poverty, gender issues etc. held a brain-storming workshop on declining sex ratio in India. It was a co-incident that a day later when I got the invitation for the workshop, a dear friend of mine sent me a link on illegal but rampant use of ultrasound technique in India, for identifying the sex of the foetus and then aborting the same if it is a girl. 

The link (a sting operation by a western journalist) in the states  of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh was horrifying but was also an eye opener. Even educated people were involved in the henious crime of killing their unborn children - just because they  were girls.

A few basic reasons which can be identified o have been working behind this inhuman practice is dowry system. In India dowry system is prevalent in almost all the societies and communities. Even today, most families arrange the marriages of their children and that arrangement brings in the demand for expensive presents - which can be anything ranging from lavish parties to expensive cars or from jewellary to palatial houses. 

So the moment a girl is born the first thing that comes to parents' minds is how and from where the dowry would be arranged for her? And to save themselves from this Herculean task many parents decide to abort the child if it is diagnosed to be a girl. For this they depend on ultrasound technique.

The ultrasound is a useful technology to know any genetic deformities in the babies or to keep a track of the proper development of the babies in the womb. However the technology is used more for identifying the sex of the child. 

Although the government has made it mandatory for each ultrasound centre to specify that "no sex determination test is done" yet one cannot stop the parents to pay the doctor and also know the sex of the foetus. How can the law find out and if the doctors and the parents (in connivance to each other) misuse the technique and indulge in this illegal practice?  

The  law can only keep an occasional check on such ultrasound centres but what is actually required is changing the mindset of people. 

If a couple understands that a girl is not a burden. She can work in any sector today and excel. She can also be a respectable earning member of the family. Also, it is mostly the daughters who look after their parents when they are old. 

Lastly, and most importantly, if someday suppose all women are dead and only men are left - the world would then eventually come to an end as there would not be any new human being. But if all men are dead and only women are left, there would definitely be a few women who are carrying new lives in them and they would continue the world to move forward.

So please all men and women understand the value of being a woman. Don't underestimate her capabilities - a woman is in no way less than a man, rather in some cases she can do what a man cannot do - give birth to a new life!

Stop killing those who are creating the world! 

why we don't love hindi

Its high time though, the government has understood that the Hindi language, which is being used in the official documents is beyond comprehension of even those Indians, who are primarily Hindi speaking race. Finally, the government is seriously planning to do away with all those archaic Hindi words, which seem to appear straight from a dictionary and which are never used by people who are constantly conversing in Hindi.
Take a sample - here are a few Hindi words, which very few people would understand -- Lauh Path Gamini, tankad, kunjipatal, sanganak missil!!! They mean train, type writer, notice board, computer and file, in the same order.
These are the words, which not only an illiterate can not understand, they are incomprehensible even for the literate people. Even if people know the meaning of these words how many people use such words in their communication.
We all sometime or the other come across some official forms - it can be a simple train reservation form - we unknowingly turn to the English side and start filling the form. We don't even realise that the other side of the form is in our mother tongue. Reason is simple - it is so archaic and impractical.
This is also one reason, which has hindered popularity of Hindi to that level where every Indian could say that I love Hindi - I  love speaking Hindi - and I love reading Hindi.
To popularise a language it needs to evolve with evolution of the society which the 'sarkari' (official) Hindi never did.
Now some linguistics might argue against the move saying one should not play with the language and maintain its character.
But the question is - What is the use of language? The answer is - Communication. So, a language that fails to communicate needs to undergo a change.    
In normal life too we speak a language, which is though Hindi but is full of words from Urdu, Persian, English and even French. This day to day language neither sounds obnoxious nor it spoils the core nature of the language - rather it gives Hindi a cosmopolitan sound making it comprehensible for everyone.
That is why many must have felt relieved by the government decision to evolve the language with the changing times.
We look forward to seeing registration forms and official government documents in a new Hindi, which will be practical and understandable for all.

   

A Tort for those who Distort

A recent case that made headlines in India was the case of a young Bollywood actor - Ranbir Kapoor - a heart throb of millions of girls – who are going head over heels for this cute chocolate hero.

Recently, the police in the state of Maharashtra caught Ranbir peeing on a highway. He was instantly fined 200 rupees - about US$4. Ranbir not only paid the penalty he also vouched never to repeat his act again.

Who knows? In future he might become an icon for dissemination of message of sanitation and hygiene among the masses!

The other example is of a few government buildings in Uttar Pradesh – an Indian state known for illiteracy, poverty and population – and for paan and tobacco chewing men. The corners of all public places – even hospitals are coloured red with paan spit. A few years back the administration in a few buildings enforced heavy penalties for spitting. And voila! Those buildings are now comparatively clean.

In the times of recession, India is emerging as one of the most favoured destination for tourism. Every year it is witnessing an inflow of millions of travellers from different parts of the globe.

Thus, now it is no secret that sanitation and hygiene stand last anywhere on the agenda in the Indian society.

All road sides and all corners at any place – even at the tourist monuments – serve as 'conveniences' for men – especially in the urban areas. The sides of all railway tracks function as free and open toilets for people in urban and rural areas, both.

All those who visited Mumbai for Global Forum on Sanitation in October 2011, witnessed the most common scene on their way to or from the airport to the conference venue – people in congregation squatting on the roadsides or near railway tracks. The sight was visible even from the five-star hotel where the conference was being held - there was a railway track next to the hotel located next to Powai lake.

Spitting on the road is a common phenomenon in India and throwing rubbish anywhere on the road is taken as a birthright by most people. The worst aspect of the issue is that the educated and urban society too, does not pay any heed to issues of sanitation and hygiene, at times.

In such situation a strict implementation of Tort seems to be a solution, considering the examples of Ranbir Kapoor and the government buildings where strict law coupled with a penalty showed positive results.

A Tort is a civil wrong. The word comes from Latin expression ‘Tortum’ – which means to twist. The English equivalent is ‘wrong’ and in Roman it is ‘delict. 

Tort covers all those acts which are twisted, crooked or unlawful. In simpler words – people are expected to behave in certain ways and when they deviate from that path it is said that they have committed a tort.

The suggestion should ignite a normal reaction that a strict tort law will cause violation of human rights – especially of those who are weak and marginalised (in case of sanitation and hygiene it is people who do not have toilets).

So the answer to that is that we – working in this sector - are already pushing the governments to improve infrastructure in the field of sanitation. Now the need is to imbibe the habit in people to use these toilets and evolve a culture of self restriction in terms of not littering the road – not dirtying their surroundings – keeping in mind that by doing so they are saving themselves from violating the rights of others to live in clean and hygienic environment.

Don't Compare !

Don't compare!

But we have all reasons to compare and it is not like we are comparing apples with oranges - here the comparison is between two similar situations - the only difference is how they are handled by two different governments.

Here the two governments in question are United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ruling the world's biggest democracy - India and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a political party, which is ruling the most populous state of India - Uttar Pradesh.

Both the parties are led by women, incidentally. UPA is chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and BSP is led by its head Mayawati.

The latter (Mayawati) is getting a pat on her back for making the India's first Formula 1 Grand Prix a reality, that too, in a state, which is more popular for its illiteracy, poverty and backwardness. Today, authorities concerned are not getting tired of praising the F1 track, which passes all the international standards and which is getting accolades from every quarter.

If the F1 drivers are referring the track as "fast, flowing, beautiful and one of the best", the Federation Internationale de Automobile Jean Todt finds the construction "impressive and majestic".

What made the F1 track an international success, is a clever decision by the State Government led by its woman Chief Minister Mayawati. She handed over the responsibility to private player along with a clear deadline. The result is in front of the world!

The private company JayPee Sports International - a subsidiary of JayPee Group of Companies - a leading Indian company into infrastructures - which is also constructing major highways in the state - did the job in the given time. More importantly, the job was not only done, it was well done with no compromise on quality.

Now the comparison - most people have forgotten about the Common Wealth Games, which India organised recently. Just a mention of the word CWG brings back all black memories. India was ridiculed for not being able to complete the preparation in time. At the last moment, the Prime Minister had to intervene to save the face of the nation. For some time the situation had gone so grave that everyone thought of CWG slipping out of India's hands.

The games somehow happened and then followed the shameful dissection, which unearthed bad quality of work, fake payments and many other such grave anomalies. The ghost of CWG continues to haunt the nation and continues to stare squarely into the face of the ruling party of India.

On the other hand, no one even realised when the F1 track was ready for its maiden races in India!

So, the moral of the story is - the government cannot do everything alone but it has to depend on others for certain things. But the mantra is : when you depend on others - trust them fully and give them independence and time to deliver. In CWG the private players were involved by through the government and therefore the corruption. In Formula 1 it was the private player with no interference by the government.

The results of both the experiments are in front of the world.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati might be facing criticism for erecting monuments and her statues. But in this case she has proved her mettle and she has surpassed all leaders of the country.

It was said in joke that if the responsibility of organising CWG was given to Mayawati, th situation of CWG would have been completely different. She would have ensured quality and punctuality and the world would have gaped at India in awe.

Lastly and most importantly, the governments, which are supposed to spend money for the welfare of its people, especially for the poor and the needy, would not have spent huge sums of money on luxury sports. While the UPA government spent millions of rupees in organising CWG and drew flak from all quarters, Mayawati government had to spend nothing in putting up this grand show for which she is getting the accolades!

it's court again!

In India most of the public welfare work is done only when the judiciary intervenes and directs the governments to budge.

The trend has become quite frequent in the recent times - be it an issue as big as corruption and black money or an issue so sensitive as water and sanitation, which affects the lives of thousands of Indians all across the nation.

The governments mostly do not act on their own despite boasting of huge funds under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Rejuvenation Mission or heavy finances under Total Sanitation Campaign.

The most recent case is an appeal in the Supreme Court. The petitioner informed the court that over 300 schools in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh do not have any facility of drinking water (mind you, he is talking of drinking water as the question of safe drinking water does not arise in places where availability of water is in question).

Fortunately, the court took a serious note of the complaint and asked the government to ensure availability of drinking water in all the schools in a week's time. Not only Uttar Pradesh, a few other states like Jammu and Kashmir too, were asked to work on war footing.

Not only water, the court asked these states to ensure the facility of toilets in the schools as well.

In India, most of the girls drop out of schools after achieving puberty as majority of schools do not have toilets.

The best part of this case in the Supreme Court was that the court reminded the governments that it was violation of the human rights if it failed in providing drinking water and sanitation facilities to its people.

November 30 is the deadline for the governments to execute the court order - It would be interesting to watch whether the governments now act or continue to have a placid attitude to such an urgent need and come before the court with some lame excuse for its failure!

The Mindset !

It's all about the mindset! Or India would have set an example before the world by making its President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the champions of sanitation and hygiene.

Somebody with a high thinking about sanitation and hygiene must have placed the photos of these highest dignitaries of India on the doors of the washrooms of an Airport in Nagpur city in the state of Maharashtra. The photos were used to indicate 'men' and 'women'.

Although the photos were used in the washrooms of the VIP (very important person) lounge of the airport (which the mere mortals of the nation have no access to), yet a legislative assembly member of Maharashtra complained against the use of these photos.

His plea is that the display of these photos is against the discipline and the protocol. He has also demanded disciplinary action against the official responsible for this "huge mistake".

I wonder why no one has ever objected to photos of film stars and top models of the country on washroom doors.

India is a country where the sides of all the roads function as public urinals and where the toilets in any government office stink like hell (it is impossible for a person with a sensitive nose to pass in front of these toilets without covering not only his/her nose but also covering the whole face). The nation is losing at least 5 per cent of its GDP (gross domestic product) due to lack of sanitation and hygiene practices and facilities. India is also losing its tourism due to lack of sanitation facilities (tourists prefer to go to nearby nations like Sri Lanka or Thailand -which have better sanitation facilities)

The nation could have taken a lead in sanitation and hygiene sector in the South Asia by making its President and Prime Minister the brand ambassadors.

But the mindset is that washroom is a dirty place and putting a photo of a dignitary is an insult to the person.

In such situation how can we expect some celebrity to become the bran ambassador of sanitation and hygiene and disseminate the message down in the masses?

Kudos to Shah Rukh Khan (who is popular as King Khan) - India's one of the biggest film star who felt the urgency of spreading the message in this connection and agreed to become the brand ambassador of Sanitation and hygiene through Waste Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).

Here is one more reason why Indian people follow the film stars rather than following their leaders!!!

No Monday Blues!

Monday blues... or Just another maniac Monday....
Who is not familiar with these common terms? We all have lived through these phases sometime or the other in our lives. But there are no such terms when it comes to pushing a story on as dry and non-glamorous a topic as sanitation.
"Mondays are the best days for journalists, who are working on WASH (Water Sanitation Hygiene) related issue, if they want to ensure that their stories get good placement and substantial space. The Parliament is closed on Sundays, the government offices remain closed, there are no activities during the weekends. And on Mondays, the editors are craving for stories. At such times reports on sanitation (which otherwise get discarded by the editors), have fairly good chances of getting prominent placement in the newspapers."
The idea (an encouraging one especially for scribes who are passionately writing on WASH) came from the Communication Specialist of World Bank Vandana Mehra. Mehra said this whilst addressing the journalists from South Asia and Africa, who are participating in the Global Forum on Sanitation, which is being convened by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), in Mumbai at present.
The idea was not hypothetical as it was preceded by a full page interesting reading on sanitation, which was published a few years back in one of the leading English dailies of India. The story simply displayed and expressed (through sketches, which were supported by facts) how unhygienic is the way the flour (the basic ingredient used for making cookies and pastries) is produced in India and many other neighbouring countries. It is stored amidst rats and cockroaches and is constantly handled by dirty hands.The intriguingly written story covered each and every aspect of the issue.
I am sure the mantra given by Ms Mehra's would prove quite useful for the journalists, who are working on WASH issues and are continuously struggling with their editors for getting their stories published.
And the mantra is - there is no maniac Monday for sanitation stories!!!