Monday begins at 7, as I get ready to set out on my sales mission. A driver by the name Munnabhai picks me up in a grey cab. He greets me with a handle-bar moustache smile!! (Wonder if Vivek Oberoi was inspired by Munna!! ) As I begin to wonder if the wild wild west had any effect on him, “Darbar” he says, “I m from Rajasthan”.
All drivers in Gujarat are from Rajasthan, either Udaipur or Dungarpur. These people are adept at their driving skills. A driver I met once had driven all the way to Sikkim from Ahmedabad over 11 days. The farthest Darbar has been is to Karnataka by road. He beams with a sense of pride, an achievement indeed. He looks exactly like the brass sun god that is hung at the entrance to my land lady’s room. She says the figurine cures us of all diseases and evil.
All drivers in Gujarat are from Rajasthan, either Udaipur or Dungarpur. These people are adept at their driving skills. A driver I met once had driven all the way to Sikkim from Ahmedabad over 11 days. The farthest Darbar has been is to Karnataka by road. He beams with a sense of pride, an achievement indeed. He looks exactly like the brass sun god that is hung at the entrance to my land lady’s room. She says the figurine cures us of all diseases and evil.
The Sun God is known to be a symbol of courage and strength. The Udaipur royal palace (not turned into a Taj/Leela guest abode) has a golden Sun God statuette. According to a myth, long ago when dark clouded skies brought upon destruction in the Mewar land, the kings worshipped the Golden Sun and everything was restored to natural peace and order. The sun is revered not just in India, but is highly prevalent in Egypt and Africa.
Africans and Indians also share similarities in devotional music. A tribe descendant of Africa, the Sidis, lives in Gujarat. They are known to perform with melungas and drums. One such group performed a tribal dance for “India’s got Talent – Khoj 2” on Colors TV. In breaking coconuts or dancing in feathers, they were astounding. Most of them were cobblers and mechanics. There are 10000 such people in Saurashtra, around the Gir forest.
Wonder if IBM’s initiative with Gujarat Govt of creating an amusement and artisan “Gram Haat” would be able to help them out soon.
One such Haat near Udaipur is called Shilpgram and is known to enhance awareness of rural life and crafts and provide opportunities for the under-privileged. I however, met PadmaShri artists, who work with big names in the Hindi film industry.
Is the true motive of the gram haat being met??? Compelling all artists to be a part of the Gram to receive perennial funds from the Government – is that enough motivation?? I feel it is being misused. The concept is for the disadvantaged, to give them a common standing. The purpose seems to have diluted before it could do good to the masses. Be it the mid-day meal scheme or the execution of NREGA, monitoring becomes difficult. Is control the issue?
Wonder if IBM’s initiative with Gujarat Govt of creating an amusement and artisan “Gram Haat” would be able to help them out soon.
One such Haat near Udaipur is called Shilpgram and is known to enhance awareness of rural life and crafts and provide opportunities for the under-privileged. I however, met PadmaShri artists, who work with big names in the Hindi film industry.
Is the true motive of the gram haat being met??? Compelling all artists to be a part of the Gram to receive perennial funds from the Government – is that enough motivation?? I feel it is being misused. The concept is for the disadvantaged, to give them a common standing. The purpose seems to have diluted before it could do good to the masses. Be it the mid-day meal scheme or the execution of NREGA, monitoring becomes difficult. Is control the issue?
Bangladesh has seen 80% agricultural growth over the past 5 years with India growing at 25%. Rate of reduction of poverty has been stagnant since 1970. Is it because the span of control is less in a country of small geography?? Do we change our policies or governments to progress??
Inclusive growth has remained a mere term in every honorary speech while taking up responsibility of the country and its people. As we start featuring in (Forbes) lists of richest people, hot looking stars, etc., are we forgetting about the Great Indian divide!!!
Villages in Orissa do not have electricity, as the meters are expensive at Rs.2000!!! The average monthly per capita expenditure is Rs.772 in the rural areas. Electrifying rural India definitely seems to be a problem when spend on items like fuel and electricity is 10% (Rs.77). While even medical expenditure seems to be a luxury at 8%, tobacco purchase fits in comfortably at 15%. India is the third largest producer of tobacco and second largest consumer of tobacco and derivative products.
Health minister Azad, concurs with me as he just announced a “Jihad” against tobacco (the news flashed on google news about 5 seconds ago). He is concerned that it kills 0.9 million people every year in India, while there are 5.5 million deaths worldwide. At a death rate of 6.6 and a population of 1.14 billion, will the 2011 census report be the only comfort in creasing out India’s concerns.
To avoid ending on a grim note: Fun fact :) : Cigarettes contain more than 4000 ingredients and is an industry of over 400 billion dollars.
Villages in Orissa do not have electricity, as the meters are expensive at Rs.2000!!! The average monthly per capita expenditure is Rs.772 in the rural areas. Electrifying rural India definitely seems to be a problem when spend on items like fuel and electricity is 10% (Rs.77). While even medical expenditure seems to be a luxury at 8%, tobacco purchase fits in comfortably at 15%. India is the third largest producer of tobacco and second largest consumer of tobacco and derivative products.
Health minister Azad, concurs with me as he just announced a “Jihad” against tobacco (the news flashed on google news about 5 seconds ago). He is concerned that it kills 0.9 million people every year in India, while there are 5.5 million deaths worldwide. At a death rate of 6.6 and a population of 1.14 billion, will the 2011 census report be the only comfort in creasing out India’s concerns.
