Lynnisms
stray thoughts about stray subjects
WHAT AILS THE ANIMAL WELFARE MOVEMENT OF GOA? [ edit ]
October 12 2006 (06:53:00) ( 2 views )
(Published in The Herald, Goa on October 11, 2006)
Goa is one of India’s smallest states, geographically. But one of its most advanced states, sociologically and economically. Progress has been rapid in many areas – infrastructure, telecommunications, roadways, tourism, education, female empowerment. There is much that Goa has to be proud of.
As a Goan, raised and educated outside Goa, and having set up an animal welfare NGO within the state a few years ago in a small attempt to make a difference to the land of my ancestors, I am placed with the unique opportunity to look at things both inside out and outside in. I spend 60% of the year in Mumbai, a city as big in heart and spirit as it is in size and population. Another 20% in Goa, a village child that is transforming into a town adult, without passing thru a crucial adolescent phase and sometimes suffering because of that. And another 20% in various other cities of the world, including our capital Delhi, and other important Indian centres like Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Pune.
From first hand experience, I have learnt that the average Goan has at least ten times more contact with the animal kingdom than any of the residents of these places. Almost every home in Goa has a pet of some kind. Indeed, in the villages, the dividing line between street and home animals is often non-existent. The natural world still dominates, though cement and steel are moving in much faster than the environmentalists would like.
And yet, while there is evidence of much love for all things animal, there is curiously very little respect. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt. Perhaps the average Goan takes his animal and bird friends totally for granted. Responsible pet ownership is so rare, it often takes the foreign tourists who visit our land every winter to remind us of our duties and responsibilities towards all God’s creatures great and small.
There is no effectively implemented licensing system that enforces a regular vaccination program and encourages animal population control through planned sterilization. Despite the existence of recognized animal welfare organizations (AWO’s) and honorary animal welfare officers in the State, powers to enforce the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act have consistently been denied to them, making it nearly impossible to enforce the law through the legal process.
There are six animal welfare organizations in various parts of Goa. Every one of them, from People for Animals and Goa Animal Welfare Trust in the South, to the Panjim Animal Welfare Society, International Animal Rescue, Green Cross, and the organization that I chair – the Goa SPCA- in the North, provides sincere service and succor to the animals of Goa, often under severe constraints. The Animal Husbandry Department of Goa has been given general supervisory powers over these organizations, and does what it can by way of providing veterinary services off and on.
And yet, animal welfare is a dirty subject in this animal loving state. Almost everyday, the papers are filled with negative write-ups about street dogs and stray cattle. Myths about the spread of rabies abound, often multiplied rather than clarified by the influential. Everyone seems to have an opinion and not always a well informed one.
I often wonder why is that, in such a well educated state, the citizenry themselves cannot understand their own role in maintaining proper animal health. Has the city grown out of the village far faster than its people or its animals can cope with? We receive so many complaints of ‘cruelty’ that turn out to be just magnifications of interfamilial or neighbourly disputes – the ‘prying village mentality’ that the townsfolk deplore. Within the AWO groups itself, there often creeps in an unhealthy spirit of competition fired by the emotional rather than the professional. When even one AWO tries to bring down another, all it achieves is a general disrespect for the movement in general.
Outside of Goa, the state is cited as a good example of animal love, with a hardworking animal welfare movement with statistics and achievements to be proud of. Within the state, the picture is not so pretty. Sincere genuine cooperation and mutual respect, combined with a positive attitude, is all that the people of Goa and its animal welfare workers really need to ensure that the animals of Goa continue to live freely, happily and without posing a threat to human life.
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A dubious honour [ edit ]
October 09 2006 (07:49:00) ( 2 views )
It's official. In the Bribe Payers Index 2006, released today by the Berlin based Transparency International, India tops the list of countries most likely to pay bribes for business abroad. While Switzerland is the least corrupt.
The index was compiled based on responses received from 11000 businessmen in 125 countries to a World Economic Forum survey this year. A large and representative sample.
We should hang our heads in shame.
In an interview on Times Now yesterday, Sanjay Dutt offered that the third Munnabhai was in the making. This time, Munna and Circuit go off to America - possibly in search of Karan Johar and his magic lamp, the one which rakes in all those hefty international box office dollars. After taking on Gandhiji, perhaps M&C should now do something about this 'corrupt Indian' label. Unless ofcourse all those associated with the film are not above board themselves.
Comments
uhuh.. there are some things that money can buy, only for everything else theres munna :) http://manuscrypts.blogspot.com
Posted by manuscrypts on 10/11/2006 11:44:14 AM
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The Mahatma's legacy [ edit ]
October 05 2006 (07:41:00) ( 2 views )
Gandhi has always meant something to me. I have drawn inspiration from his works and his life for many things - my presentations, my simple lifestyle, my respect for nature, my fondness for the truth. Maybe even some of my eccentricities. There are a lot of parallels between him and Christ, so that makes it easier. It's no coincidence that all my close friends have Gandhian values at their core too - that's what makes us gel. So all the Gandhigiri buffoonery that we have been witnessing in the media in the past few days comes across as rather hypocritical.
Till I read this piece by Pritish Nandy in the Bombay Times yesterday, for some reason not showing up on their website today. Edel, my secretary, has been a dear and typed it out so that I can post it here for me to come back to again and again, and for you to read, and think. While Pritish has put a whole new spin on the essence of Gandhi, what he has written is true - and even if it does not sound complimentary, Gandhiji himself would have agreed with him and enjoyed reading it, probably with a chuckle.
There’s much more to Gandhi than Gandhigiri
Munnabhai is irresistible and charming. But Gandhigiri, I dare say, is a total con. And never was that more obvious than on Monday when almost every newspaper and every channel remembered the Mahatma by referring to the power of Gandhigiri. As if that is all there was to him.
India won freedom not because of Gandhigiri but because the Mahatma was an obstinate, obstreperous man who knew the importance of political symbolism. His saintliness was a cover for an astute mind that sought solutions beyond the obvious. Saints don’t win freedom struggles. Politicians do. And Gandhi was a unique politician in that sense.
His theory of non-violence may sound charming to tourists and New Age historians but mighty colonial powers don’t go away simply because an underdressed man appeals to their conscience through unarmed satyagraha.
Gandhi seized centrestage when the freedom struggle had already picked up momentum. There were many campaigns running at the same time. Sri Aurobindo was lobbing bombs like a true blue terrorist. Tagore and Bankim Chandra were raising issues of nationhood in their writings. Savarkar was arguing for a Hindu nation. Jinnah wanted a Muslim state. Maulana Azad and Nehru were campaigning for secularism. Subhash Bose had put together an Indian National Army that was ready to collaborate with the Nazis to throw out the British. Bhagat Singh and Khudiram Bose had already plotted the map for a violent upheaval. A clever Gandhi smartly tapped into all these conflicting struggles to put forth a new strategy that caught the British by surprise.
But to give Gandhigiri the credit for our freedom would be wrong. Hundreds of unsung heroes had already set the stage. Without their sustained struggle, non violence could not have worked. That Gandhi grabbed the opportunity with both hands and became the face of our victory against colonialism shows how politics works. It does not mean Gandhigiri worked. Nor does it mean it can be a panacea for our troubled times.
History often forgets the true heroes or relegates them to footnotes. That’s what has happened to our freedom struggle too. We have forgotten the men who fought the many violent wars against the state and remembered only the one man who stood apart and spoke of ahimsa. This caught the imagination of the world and became the dominant metaphor of our victory. Gandhi was a lucky man. He was at the right place at the right time, waving the right flag. This did not happen by accident. Gandhi knew exactly what he was doing and why. Remember how he outwitted Bose in the Congress elections? He may have been the Mahatma but he knew how to seize his rightful place in history. Not for nothing is he remembered as the last century’s greatest hero. He defined the role for himself and then went out to grab it. Right in the midst of one of the bloodiest partitions in history.
Can Gandhigiri work today? Nonsense. Times have changed. So have values. You cannot use an effete, obsolete tool to reshape the world, however charming the thought may be. We don’t live in Alice’s wonderland. We live in an age where people like Bin Laden and George Bush fight out their sordid wars on a blood soaked planet where millions die at random. In the name of religion.
And, O yes, In the name of freedom as well.
Comments
Hey, that's cool about the poker dogs, can you send me pics once they're up? I'd love to see what they look like up...and I'm sure the dogs' owner would as well... thanks for letting me know!
Posted by sommersend on 10/05/2006 10:43:23 PM
Thought Provoking.
Posted by Ajay on 10/07/2006 07:52:01 AM
Is Gandhigiri irrelevant or is it that its application is not easily apparent and hence its irrelavance?
Posted by Nitin on 10/11/2006 10:19:32 AM
I strongly believe that Gandhigiri is relevant. He himself never claimed any greatness. He said 'There is nothing new that I teach the world, Non Violence and Truth are as old as the hills'. We of course as Einsten said about him 'Generations to come will scare believe that such a man in flesh and blood eve walked this earth'. Having lived just 500 mts from the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad for 15 years, I went to the Ashram quite a few times, especially when my mind was disturbed. The whole atmosphere captivates you and takes you back in time. You stand in disbelief that you are standing on the very ground where a big revolution such as the Dandi march occured. And yet, most often I found that I was the only one with a few foreigners at the Ashram. If you think Gandhigiri doesn't work, take our homes example. In our Ahmedabad home a pigeon couple regularly made a nest under our bed, inside the house Initially, we kept removing the nest and threw it away. However, next day we would find it back there. Finally we saw that the pigeons had beaten us to it and laid eggs. When we tried to remove the nest now, the female pigeon looked very sorrowfully at my parents. Now, none of us had the heart to throw away the nest. The pigeons and many pigeons thereafter became a regular part of our family for many many years, despite the mess and stink they left behind. It is very easy to reject something which is difficult to follow. Did Gandhi say anything different that Christ, Buddha, The Gita, The Quran. But since he was physically present and according to many 'emotionally blackmailed' everyone to push his point through, many in today's time do not relate to him at all. Throughout the shooting of the scenes in which Munnabhai's encounter with Gandhi (during the Satyagrah in front of Lucky's house), which was shot in our building premises, Sanjay Dutt continuously puffed cigarettes and I am sure Dilip Prabhavalkar (who played Gandhi) may have smelt the stink in all the shots. So much for Gandhigiri and all that they care for. Christ was sold for 30 pieces of silver, so I guess Gandhi's values are now sold for a few crores of rupees. So while Gandhi may be a commercial success, he was truly an emotional failure
Posted by juliusfundas on 10/13/2006 11:48:10 AM
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Munnabhai's bright orange shirt [ edit ]
October 02 2006 (11:35:00) ( 3 views )
One of the celebrity memorabilia being auctioned for the Goa SPCA on ebay.in was Munnabhai's bright orange shirt. There were two bidders, both of them known to me despite their pseudonyms, but neither came anywhere close to the reserve price. So it's still available, and with all the telecast footage that the Gandhiguru has been getting this weekend, it's HOT. The auction is moving to Sahara One TV and to a Dubai radio station. It will be on for another month, by which time Sanjay Dutt will also know whether he gets to spend the next five years of his life in the slammer or not.
Call me quirky, but I simply cannot associate the actor with any facet of the Mahatma. Therefore, Munnabhai is also not a protagonsist for the real thing despite all the public euphoria. Above all else, Gandhiji was a man of great conviction - whatever he believed in he lived out fearlessly, like Jesus Christ. Such men are so rare, that they bring about unprecedented social change. Whereas Munnabhai and his orange shirt will be forgotten well before October 2, 2007, and a new fad will take over. No matter, bid anyway.
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Borrowed inspiration [ edit ]
September 25 2006 (10:51:00) ( 2 views )
This is for my readers who understand Urdu.
For those that don't, these are the lyrics of a Sufi song that I have held dear to me for a few years. They tell you to never ever give up, because the best tomorrows are built up from the broken dreams of today. Enjoy.
Toota Toota Ek Parinda Aise Toota
Ke Phir Jud Naa Paaya
Loota Loota Kisne Usko Aise Loota
Ke Phir Ud Naa Paaya
O O O O Toota Toota Ek Parinda Aise Toota
Ke Phir Jud Naa Paaya
Loota Loota Kisne Usko Aise Loota
Ke Phir Ud Naa Paaya
Girta Hua Woh Asma Se
Aakar Gira Zameen Par
Khwabon Mein Phir Bhi Badal Hi The
Woh Kehta Raha Magar
Ke Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Kho Ke Aapne Par Hi To Usne Tha Ud Naa Sikha
Kho Ke Aapne Par Hi To O O O
Kho Ke Aapne Par Hi To Usne Tha Ud Naa Sikha
Gham Ko Aapne Saath Mein Lele Dard Bhi Tere Kaam Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Aa Aa Aaa
Tukde Tuke Ho Gaya Tha Har Sapna Jab Woh Toota
Tukde Tuke Ho Gaya Tha Aa Aaa Aa
Tukde Tuke Ho Gaya Tha Har Sapna Jab Woh Toota
Bhikre Tukdon Mein Allah Ki Marzi Ka Manzar Paayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Toota Toota Ek Parinda Aise Toota
Ke Phir Jud Naa Paaya
Loota Loota Kisne Usko Aise Loota
Ke Phir Ud Naa Paaya
Girta Hua Woh Asma Se
Aakar Gira Zameen Par
Khwabon Mein Phir Bhi Badal Hi The
Woh Kehta Raha Magar
Ke Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Comments
Great to meet you at the IBS. Its so good to see the same zest to live and learn in you. Keep smiling. Yr blogs are intense....went thru a few of them...keep the intensity but keep smiling...Rajeev
Posted by Rajeev on 09/25/2006 06:10:54 PM
Have u seen the latest big babol commercial? it has the most amazing looking birdies, all bihari mind u, and a cutie turtle that wants to fly and finally does. easily one of the most endearing ads i've seen in recent times.Goes with the lyrics of the song.
Posted by svety on 09/26/2006 02:24:06 AM
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LET'S STOP THE ABUSE [ edit ]
September 24 2006 (11:58:00) ( 2 views )
(Published in Hindustan Times on 23.9.06 - Though my working title was "Prabhakar Singh is not to blame. We are too".)
The photograph of Laxmi in Hindustan Times the day before she passed away was a rather haunting one. Elephants have a strong sense of family, community and compassion. Their gentle eyes speak volumes, and are often known to weep. From the picture, it’s hard to tell whether that was actually a tear rolling down her eye. The pain, however, was palpable. I wonder whether she was crying for herself or for us, her human friends whom she served tirelessly, who came to her aid in her dying hours, but who are fully responsible for the traumatic way in which she died.
Laxmi is not the first elephant to have been hit by a truck, and won’t be the last. It is thanks to the media that the general public have been made aware of the crime, and the rescue. So public sympathy and prayers were forthcoming in abundance. But how about some public outrage as well? That an elephant can be made to walk the hot tarred streets of our city, where traffic has increased to the point where even pedestrians find it unsafe, just to beg and earn some money for her keepers, is a cruel inhuman act.
How long will the authorities continue to turn a blind eye? PETA and the SPCA have thankfully roped in their celebrity ambassadors to petition the local authorities to enforce the law that disallows the use of elephants for begging. Laxmi’s mahouts were charged and let go. While she lay in pain, unable to move, they attempted to garner sympathy by declaring their love for her.
As long as we, the general public, continue to give alms to these mahouts, feed their elephants in crowded markets, and encourage them to earn from this reprehensible profession, there will be mahouts who march their elephants down our streets, and drunken drivers like Prabhakar Singh who knock them down.
Treating and rescuing an elephant is not easy. As the newspapers have shown, it takes a lot of effort, a lot of people, a lot of equipment, a lot of medicines, plus of course a lot of money. Can you imagine a conscious human being with a broken back ever allowing himself to be hauled up by a crane and metal ropes? The pain that Laxmi must have gone through, even while she was being rescued, is humanly impossible to imagine. It should never be allowed to come to this again.
Perhaps it’s time someone reminded us that all the revelry, drama and devotion that we display around the worship of a clay elephant comes to naught when we humans, through the sheer thoughtlessness and callousness of our actions, put a living serving elephant through so much pain and suffering.
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Happy Birthday, Pixie [ edit ]
September 20 2006 (08:19:00) ( 2 views )
Fourteen is a good age.
Especially when you fought for your life twice.
You pack more spunk into your spindly little legs than Maria Sharapova does.
Your cataracts still don't hold you back, not when you have those perked up ears.
And thanks for keeping the whole of Khar informed when I get back home.
Have a great year ahead. I'll do my best to make sure it is, and so must you.
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Lucas Pocus [ edit ]
September 15 2006 (09:41:00) ( 2 views )
So Lucas Rossi won. While Supernova will not be able to keep that name. I didn't realise we were getting a delayed live telecast, till I read the news today - thought it was aired a few months ago. Watching the finals last night, I kept hoping that either Dilana or Toby would win - unfortunately, for them Supernova decided to go by viewer's choice eventually.
For Dilana fans, here are two of her best performances that I found on YouTube -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCYQmYQmG3A&mode=related&search=dilana.
This was for the mesmerising Time after Time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5rL2spNJjc&search=dilana
This was for her utterly fantastic cover of Nirvana's Lithium.
Enjoy, and hope to see more of her sometime soon.
Here is the best performance of Lucas according to me - his version of Radiohead's Creep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4EwTrVmGpI
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DO READERSHIP STUDIES DO JUSTICE TO MAGAZINES? [ edit ]
September 14 2006 (11:15:00) ( 2 views )
( published in the October 8 issue of Business Today)
The National Readership Survey of 2006 was released a fortnight ago. Once again it has shown a fall in the reach of magazines in India, from 9% to 8% of all adults, while every other mass medium has registered an increase. The second round of the Indian Readership Survey will also be released soon. Expect similar results.
Indeed, the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) reports a loss of 14.3 million magazine readers between 2000 and 2005, a fall of 12%. Among the worst sufferers being the English magazines. In 2000, 32 million Indians read English magazines, today only 26 million do, that’s an 18% drop.
Do these figures truly represent reality? When every other month, a new often international glossy hits the market. New titles for women, business, interiors, advertising, automotive, construction, travel – the list is specialist and long. Surely they all have readers. Unfortunately studies like the NRS and the IRS are just no longer designed to do justice to the way in which magazines are now read, and the kind of people who read them.
For the most part, neither does the INS ( Indian Newspaper Society), or the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations), both of which are geared to cater more to newspapers. In 2000, the INS had 284 magazine members, that is now down to 274. Likewise, 29 English magazines subscribed to the ABC in 2000, that is now drastically down to just 13, at a time where this category has shown tremendous growth in advertising revenue (up from Rs 2378 crores to Rs 6508 crores for the same period, at card rates).
Clearly therefore, advertisers continue to use magazines extensively, despite the lack of figures to support them. Magazine publishers have been highly responsive to the demand for innovative advertising layouts, often throwing open their front covers to the not-so-hidden persuaders. Editorial plugs and spreads, and promotional offers, gifts and discounts, have all helped magazines stay afloat both financially and also in securing readers. Sponsorships, tie-ups, and partnerships with on ground events have helped magazines obtain content as well as revenue.
Wouldn’t it be great therefore if there were real useable measures available to the media planner to help decide on magazine selection and evaluate post campaign performance? Most of the titles are not measured by either of the readership studies, being too ‘niche’ to qualify, and most of them also do not conform to the stringent audit norms of the ABC in order to get a certified circulation.
There is growing trend in the UK and other stronger print markets to invest in industry sponsored studies that supplement the broad readership measures provided by the national readership studies. These studies place a greater emphasis on sampling people from higher socio economic groups. Lower circulation cut offs are allowed. Measures of the quality of reading are also introduced – preferred pages and content, time spent, and indeed some go so far as to attempt measuring advertising ROI per page.
Audience accumulation is something that is rapidly gaining preference over simple average issue readership. Newspapers have a limited life. Magazines on the other hand tend to pick up only 60% or less of their readership during the actual life of the issue. The rest is picked up over time even as newer issues hit the stands. A masthead and recall based measurement technology such as those used by the IRS and the NRS do not pick up accumulated audiences well enough.
If the magazine industry in India can come together to set up and support industry level readership and engagement measures, it will not be a day too soon. Otherwise we will all have to continue to live with depressing figures of 20% fall in readership when the reality may be quite the opposite, and base our selection of titles more on gut than evidence.
Comments
Thanks. Quick question: Why is advertising spend in magazines increasing if indicators like NRS and IRS aren't helping their cause. What is causing advertisers to spend?
Posted by Raj on 11/02/2006 09:43:03 AM
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What is family? [ edit ]
September 08 2006 (07:47:00) ( 2 views )
People you share a bloodline with
and wish like hell you didn't?
People who walked down the aisle with you
but wouldn't walk the rest of the way?
Or people who may have two legs or four
who cannot say the word 'family'
yet breathe it, live it, are it, day after day after day?
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