Don’t lock me in the toilet: skit

Politician- We will make toilets for women in public places and give money for you to construct toilets in your houses.

Girl- Sir, will I get a job?

Politician- I am giving you a toilet. Why do you need a job?

(Politicians supporters take him away.)

Girl and her friend- I don’t know why they only talk about toilets.

Friend- It is for us no?

Girl- Yes, that is true. But going out to the field is the only time I get to come out of the house. With a toilet inside that will also come to an end.

Friend- But having a toilet inside the house will be so nice. I am going to tell my husband to build a toilet soon.

Girl- I also like having a toilet at home. But I also want the freedom of going out without anyone staring at me and trying to molest me. I also want to be treated with respect. Just because we live in the village, does it mean we are fools?

Friend- Yes, that is true.

Boy on the road- Hi sweety. Let’s go for a movie.

Girl and friend get annoyed.
Friend- Look at that shameless boy. Who does he think he is? It must be better in the cities. I wish I could go there with my family.

Girl- All this happens in the cities too. And there are toilets in the city houses. I don’t think toilets will make our lives better. Will we get more freedom and respect?

Friend- But the government is saying that constructing toilets is more important than constructing temples and churches. Is it true?

Girl- I would say that having the freedom to go to toilets, temples and churches by ourselves is the need of the hour. Will anyone provide that?

Friend- Sshh. Our village leader is coming.

Leader- How are you girls? Did you hear? The government is going to build toilets for you. You must be so happy. (Saying this he tries to hold the cheek of the girl.)

(She gets irritated and says.)
Girl- I would like a laptop and an internet connection than a toilet. Will your government give me that?

Leader- What will you do with a laptop, you village girl? Keep it at your head to sleep? ( ha ha ha)

Girl- No. I would like to use it to write letters to government officials to come and see what is happening in our village. We have to walk so much to get water, there is no regular electricity and all you can think of is a toilet. How will I put water into the toilet after using it?

Leader- Don’t talk such things girl. You are a young village girl. Be quiet and go home.

Girl- I will go home but I won’t keep quiet. And don’t call me village girl. I am an educated girl.

Friend- Come lets go. Don’t get into a fight with our leader.

Girl- We will go. But remember leader, “I want a laptop so that I can get my freedom and my toilet. Don’t think that you can lock us inside the toilet!!!”


(Picture credit www.shaadi.com)

Willful blindness: The lies of the empire

Empires are built on the lives of an unsuspecting public. People are spied on, privacy is intruded upon and reputations are battered. Every once in a while, however rare that may be, the empire gets to taste its own concoction. It will taste so bitter that the very empire that manufactured it will wonder at the ruthless content of the mixture. Rupert Murdoch and his media empire are facing the heat. The hacking of phones and the subsequent investigations has led to the closing down of one of U.K.’s oldest newspapers, the News of the World. On July 19 in a rigorous exercise by the Parliamentary Committee in the House of Commons in the U.K., the father and son duo were made to answer some hard questions. One interesting thing which came out of the much publicized affair was the term “willful blindness.” As through the entire questioning, the media baron sought to hide behind the term itself.

Margaret Heffernan in her upcoming book “Why we ignore the obvious at our peril” tries to explore this term. She explains “examining examples of willful blindness in the Catholic Church, the SEC, Nazi Germany, Bernard Madoff's investors, BP's safety record, the military in Afghanistan and the dog-eat-dog world of subprime mortgage lenders” how we fail to see and admit certain things. In an article on Rupert Murdoch himself she identifies some characteristics of willful blindness which come out of the News of the World episode. They include “ideology, obedience, conformity, money, power and affirmation”.

Rupert Murdoch’s net worth is $7.6 billion. Yet with all this money he still had to undergo the unsettling questions of the parliamentary committee in the U.K. For the first time the media baron was made to answer questions which he looked like evading most of the time. The event, broadcast live even in India brought out his importance and the fact that other media houses for once could get back at the person who threatened to take away readers and viewers from them. In India it also brought forward a debate on whether it would be possible to bring powerful media owners to task in this country and have a parliamentary committee asking them uncomfortable questions. The predominant argument that came out was that this would not be possible as Indian politicians are themselves so corrupt that they cannot question the corrupt practices of the media here.

What this debate has done is to bring out the importance of the usage willful blindness. This is an important point of discussion for the church as the church may also fall into the same wrong of willful blindness saying that ‘ we did not know.’ But the question of ‘did we not seek to know or want to know’ is also pertinent. Whenever the church is faced with allegations of wrong doing it could be that the church leaders may feign ignorance and say we were blind to the happenings. Wrong doing could include not only the now popular topic of corruption but also the centuries old wrong doing of gender and caste related atrocities and wrongs. Discussing this more openly could bring more responsibility, accountability and the addressing of wrong doing in the church and society at large.

Sacrificing one’s independence

As Kerala has surely shifted from a period of joint families (kootu kudumbam) to compact families, people are shifting more to an all for one concept. The one for all and all for one thought has undergone a real age change not only in the backwater rich state but also in the country as well. Even the car companies have understood the shift pretty much and it is reflected in the new hatch back models that have entered the market with their fuel efficient engines. The drive in the front seat is futuristic but the back is cramped into an almost “if you must, get in and don’t complain” design. It is like saying “If you want something you better be prepared to sacrifice.”

The law maker politicians have also found it difficult to understand what sacrifice is all about. The Congress in their whites and the Communists in their reds are finding the very word uncomfortable. Isn’t life supposed to be about making deals (money) and enjoying everything? What about the people? The people? “Oh, they will help us to fulfill our ideals”, say the politicos. So the people will sacrifice for the law makers. More electricity cuts, water shortage, accidents, hooligans, murderers! The people have to sacrifice and make do with these sufferings!!

So as an after thought to the independence day, one sees confusion as to what sacrifice really is. Churches talk about sacrifice every Sunday with priests going on and on about the virtues of sacrifice. Something they, like the politicians never practice. In this scenario the word sacrifice undergoes a transformation into what others have to do for the sake of our good. A far cry from what it is supposed to be “what we can do for the betterment of others.”

As an individual then the thought of independence and whose independence comes back strongly. Even though we have the independence to vote we don’t have the same independence to question what is done for five years in our state and country. Why? Because we are supposed to sacrifice! Poor Gandhiji’s picture will be thrust upon us with the much heard dialogue, “The India that Mahatma dreamt of. Let us work towards it.” And how? By sacrificing! If you ask me I feel pretty close to the wives who have jumped into their husband’s funeral pyre because they had to sacrifice. It is the most noble thing to do! Humbug. In the name of sacrifice the common person in this country is made to go through the most un-imaginable things and put through humiliation and hardship. Maybe it’s time for an equal responsibility pact in India. We do 50% of the sacrificing and the leadership has to do the other 50%. Like we listen to our leaders on independence day, let them listen to what we have to say too. Happy sacrificing.

Achuthanandan: Yesterday’s hero, today’s zero???

(Picture: India Today: Saurabh Singh)

If ever the media needed a quote, he was there. If ever the media wanted a controversy, he was there. If ever the media wanted a winner, he was there again. Kerala is a state which is a table tennis match between the Left Democratic Front with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) being a major constituent and the United Democratic Front, with the Congress party of India being a major constituent. For five years the ball is in one court and for the next five years it is in the other court. There is no alternative.

Two years ago, it was the turn of the LDF to come to power. But the UDF was not willing to let go easily. The LDF needed a face, a sure score winner. The leader of the opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan and his one liners became the darling of the media. Achuthanandan was denied a ticket initially but the public outcry changed that. Not only did he lead the alliance to victory, he then became the only choice for the post of the chief minister.

In the more than two years, Achuthanandan’s defining moment came in the form of the Munnar action plan, where illegal land holders where evicted and illegal constructions where demolished. (Mind you the illegal evictions did not include the small land of the poor). One of his most trusted and controversial lieutenants was Suresh Kumar, a bureaucrat who helped him implement this action plan.

The rich and famous cried foul. The enemies grouped together to form a formidable alliance. The action had to be stopped and the plan was dismantled. Many of you would have been introduced to Achu mama (as he is fondly called in Kerala) in the context of the Sandeep Unnikrishnan controversy, where it was reported that Achuthanandan made a statement saying if not for Sandeep not even a ‘dog’ would look in the direction of his house. This after a so-called rebuff by Sandip’s father which also included the use of the three letter word. But Achuthanandan is much more than the three letter word.

In this context it is understandable that people inside and outside Kerala look at Achuthanandan as an insensitive, old, and foolish man who is running things with a coterie rather than in a democratic way. (His own party has come up with this allegation). In the haze of all these allegations and counter allegations, one must not forget that a majority of the people in Kerala saw him as the leader they wanted. He did what no one dared to do, by taking on the rich and the powerful in Munnar. In a matter of months he has become a monster.

The media are hand in glove with the powerful, be it the politicians or others. Many are created and then pulled down with a few words. It is a much larger plot which we should see through. Many are working together to pull Achuthanandan down and this is a result of this. Yesterday everything he said was good, because the media wanted him to be a hero. Today everything he says is quoted out of context, because he must be made into a zero. This is a construction in which the media also has it’s own part to play. We should go beyond the newspaper reports and see the truth of it all. I am not saying that politicians are good as a group. What I am saying is that this man needs to be seen in the context of something else and not on the level of a three letter word.

Tera kya hoga kaliya?

(Picture from rediff.com)


The year 1975 has been etched in the history manuals of Indian cinema. That year Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’ (Flame or Embers) was released and ever since the movie set and broke records in India and all over the world. It grossed in atleast 60 million U.S. dollars and ran for five years consecutively in the Minerva theatre in Mumbai. Truly it is a movie which has been unmatched in it’s public acceptance.

The movie as such is about hero’s and one specific villain, Gabbar, played by Amjad Khan. He is on the one hand a dacoit, a rule unto himself and feared by the nearby villagers. In the absence of a rule by law, he himself becomes the rule and the law. My aim here is to see the commonalities between Gabbar and the present mode of functioning of the government in India by highlighting four critical dialogues in the movie. In the event of a public outcry in our country in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, it is noteworthy (in a satirical way ofcourse) how we can draw a similarity.

Gabbar’s henchmen get beaten up by two people (played by Dharmendra and Amitabh) and they come back to the dacoit's den with their heads hanging in shame. Gabbar questions them and is angry that they were beaten by two, whereas they were three in all. He points his gun at the main person in the three and tells him, ‘Tera kya hoga kaliya?’ (What will happen to you Kaliya?). Kaliya the dacoit answers, ‘Meine apka namak kaya.’ (I have eaten your (salt (literal)) food and remain loyal to you). Gabbar answers, ‘Ab goli ka.’ (Now, eat my bullet). After shooting all three men, Gabbar says, ‘Jo dar gaya, samjo mar gaya.’ (Those who are afraid (fear), will die. Death is imminent if fear overcomes you).

The Mumbai attacks have opened a can of worms. Everyone is blaming everyone else. But who thinks of the common person? The one who can’t even complain because of fear and lack of resources. The common person who is used in every election for votes and to stand in big crowds and clap for the leaders. The silent ones who listen to every bid of their so called masters. After a life long following and unrelenting loyalty, there comes the time when they need help from the ones that have used them so much. In true Gabbar style, the politician/leader will say, ‘Tera kya hoga kaliya?’, followed by the frantic cry by the commoner, ‘Meine apka namak kaya.’ After an eerie silence the leader says in total disrespect, ‘Ab goli ka.’ And then the electioneering will continue and people will be galvanised and ghettoised with the war like slogan, ‘Jo dar gaya, samjo mar gaya.’