Learning, not just education

On one wall, there is a crow putting stones in a water-pot. On another, there's a monkey sitting on a crocodile. Where have we reached? A play-school. A Govt. play-school in rural area is called aanganwadi. We are visiting an aanganwadi at Beenjawara village in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh.

Dust and spice

Today I reached the southernmost tip of my journey - Chennai. In the bus from Hyderabad, I could literally feel moving closer to the equator because of the heat. As my third metropolitan city, Chennai stands out as being not cosmopolitan. It could be the areas I've seen are old Chennai because the dressing style of people is quite untouched by western fashion. And plus the crowd is primarily Tamilian, with no mix of races and cultures. It is a dusty city which seems to have clung to its ways.
As being a capital city, it does have its share of chain restaurants and retail outlets. On the ride from CMBT to T Nagar, I saw KFC, Big Bazaar, More, Reliance Fresh etc. Also found a BFC: Bigboy Fried Chicken. It feels good to see that Indian brands have grown as chains. Earlier chains were confined to McD and Dominos.
Since we are talking about food, lets talk about the rava dosai I ate in the evening which came with a daal like saambhar, coconut and green chutneys. The green chutney was tangy as if it had raw mango. It is the first speciality of Tamil Nadu for me. The red garlic chutney of Mysore was also a good experience. After eating versions of Mysore Masala Dosa in BITS and outside Samhita office, the authentic version near Mysore Bus Stand was revealing. In Bangalore and Hyderabad, the south Indian food came from UpSouth and Chutneys respectively. The highlight remains the AP food at a friend's house, home-cooked by her mother.
And lastly, speaking about food, lets talk about chaat. Sadly I missed it in Karnataka. In Hyderabad, the chaat isn't good at all. I ate panipuri in 4 different parts of the city and all of them had soft puris. Of course I am talking about their lack of crispiness before being dipped. Looks like the cooks who make them don't do it well. The chaat ka pani wasn't great either : poor show right from Bikanerwala to the street vendors. Hoping to try Chennai's versions tomorrow.

Review of 'A Calendar too Crowded'

Title: A Calendar too Crowded     Author: Sagarika Chakraborty

Publisher: Niyogi Books     Price: 295

This is the first book that Sagarika has published despite writing light fiction and poetry for various online and print media. The subject of the book is women and their plight in the contemporary society. This in a way matches my work closely as I am currently touring the country visiting organizations working for women development. However, while I know the grim reality, I am meeting people who are trying to better lives and have had excellent achievements too. On the other hand, many of Sagarika’s stories are grey with no silver lining.

The only wholly positive example is ‘Selling a Body to Gain a Mind’. Despite the negative title, it is about breaking the vicious cycle which sucks generations of women into prostitution. It talks about how the daughter of a commercial sex worker studies away from the environment and makes something of herself. It is written in the form of two letters and again stands solitary in this kind of style. While there are other stories that have a hopeful tenor, it is the only one that makes you feel good at the end of the story.

The book is an anthology of stories. Each unit is a month of the calendar and the special days for women are introduced at the beginning of every chapter. In a few cases, the stories have corresponded to the days mentioned. But mostly, it is just a reminder that while life goes on like a chore, there are conferences and discussions being organised on that plight. An example of synchronization is the above-mentioned story. ‘Selling a Body to Gain a Mind’ is featured in the month of April in which April 4 is Anti-Child Prostitution Day in Italy.

While reading the book, the first few stories appear a little unoriginal. While the words are hers, the style of capturing the well-known subjects like gender discrimination etc. isn’t new. The first story especially felt like the general literature on the topic. However, as you progress through the book, her stories get captivating. She has addressed a variety of important issues and seems to have covered an exhaustive list of them. The chauvinistic dictates of society in ‘Behind those Whispers’ (March) and ‘The Trials of a Nice Girl’ (August) culminate well in society’s astonishment in ‘The Last Flicker’ (October).

The life of a mother is viewed with a negative lens in ‘Finding an Ideal Mother for my Unborn Child’ (January). This clashes harmoniously with ‘Of Jatakarmas and their Stana Pradidhanas’ (August) which is about the expectations from expectant mothers and how the pressures of modern lives keep these expectations unmet. As a short story is usually an intrigue on its own, I am not commenting further on any story or mentioning the topics of other stories.

The book is a good read for both men and women. While it is feminist in its outlook, it will be a study in the more struggling circumstances that women face. As I read a lot of contemporary and older literature in Hindi, the topics of these short stories are not new to me. But if you have not read that kind of fiction, this one is a sound initiator.

A little about Sagarika:

This Kolkata-born studied law at National Law University in Jodhpur. She is currently enrolled in ISB, Hyderabad. She loves Salsa and as mentioned earlier has made a foray into fiction and poetry earlier. Her research projects have been on varied topics like corporate governance, monetary economics and religion. 


This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda. Participate now to get free books!

Mother earth, ICPL & ICF

Industree is a social enterprise which consists of two entities the for-profit Industree Crafts Pvt. Ltd. (ICPL) and the non-profit Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF). ICPL has a domestic brand called “Mother Earth” which has outlets in Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The brand sells apparels, home furnishings and organic food under the lines Earth Fashion, Earth Home and Earth Food.  
The foundation engages in skill development programmes for the artisans. ICPL sources its products from rural artisans and SHGs. ICF has incubated and mentored four SHGs. A significant fact is that this mentoring is not aimed just at getting regular suppliers for ICPL. Along with supplying to ICPL, the SHGs are encouraged to get other buyers and establish themselves as a micro-enterprise. In some instances, ICF has helped them develop customer relationships with other organisations. For example, Industree transferred all assets as an advance to two SHGs, Ashraya and Samanvaya, and encouraged them to become independent enterprises. This enabled them to achieve orders from different companies such as Thunk, Volvo and Govt. of Karnataka, as well as supply regularly to Industree. The groups have constantly repaid all their loans.
Annual Reports and financial statements for the last three years are available on their website for both ICPL and ICF. A notable fact about ICF is that it takes no donations from external organisations or ICPL. Its inflow comes from Grant-in-aid project grants and consultancy fees from the Government.
Grant-in-aid projects
The Ministry of Labour has been financing, since 1981-82, voluntary organizations by way of grant-in-aid for taking up action-oriented projects for the benefit of child labour and women labour. The women’s cell in the Ministry of Labour, thus encourages voluntary agencies and non-governmental agencies to formulate income-generating schemes and other action projects for women labour and renders financial assistance to such agencies for executing these projects. The amount of assistance given by the Ministry of Labour will be restricted to 75% of the recurring cost of the project as per the approved budget. The remaining 25% of the cost including the non-recurring cost, if any, will have to be borne by the organization concerned.
Source: Ministry of Labour

Reviewing Conversations

Conversations are a part of our daily grind - the memorable moments and also the ones we'd rather forget. Some are stimulating, some are mundane. They capture thoughts of the speakers and the silence around them captures the unspoken expressions. One kind word can warm three winter months says a Japanese proverb. At the same time, the wounds by words are deeper than those by swords. It is this magic of words and situations that Rajeev Nanda has beautifully captured in his first fiction book "Conversations". 

The book is a collection of short stories. The setting is always urban and contemporary. The stories span from dreams to truths. It is a book that has benefited from crispy editing. While the first story ‘Splinters’ talks about dreams and how the protagonist has lost track of his own. The next one is still surreal with its conversations with God. There is a struggle with idealism in ‘Soldier’.  ‘The Taxi Ride’ is fiction within fiction while stories thereon have taken a touch of reality. The graduation from lofty heights to earthy depths is brilliantly assembled. Short pieces of poetry strewn amongst the stories add value to the book. At the same time, lines from these poems can be quoted by themselves:

E.g. from ‘I Have’

“I have a lifetime full of joy,

     But, all I need is a moment of ecstasy”.

The poet has penned universal experiences in ‘Darkness’:

“This one idea that was aborted,

Sits in my heart like a lump,

Like a still child in a womb.”

In the last poem, the ‘Misfit’ says:

“I kept quiet to contemplate,

Mirror and the reflection expectantly wait

I turned and walked away;

The mirror and reflection shattered lay.”

Coversations is a book that makes you think what would you have done in the protagonist’s place. It teaches without preaching. It is not a mystery thriller that binds yet it allures the reader with reality, which is a staggering feat to accomplish. The enigma in some of Rajeev Nanda’s stories reminds me of Anton Chekhov’s works - The questions hanging in the air after a story has ended. 

While the setting is urban, it is also very contemporary. Some of the stories are also based in the U.S. Rajeev has shown struggles within families when issues like adultery and extra-marital affairs arise. While the issues are not new, he has changed the angles. Whether his characters are fence sitters or on either sides of the line – there remains an element of unease and introspection. Incidentally, there is a poem called ‘Introspection’ :

“If I never talk to myself,

      Whom can I expect to speak to me?

If I fail to own myself,

      Whom can I expect to take charge of me?” 

                                                                                                           

In his stories, there is death but not grief. There is depression but not sorrow. There is envy but not jealousy. To experience these, read the book.

About the book:

Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd

Price: India: ₹195              Elsewhere: US $14

ISBN: 978-93-81115-12-1

About the author:

Rajeev Nanda completed his graduation (B.Sc) in general sciences from D.A.V College in Jallandhar, Punjab (India) in 1984. He did post-graduate diploma in Computer Science and other professional certification courses in software & technology from various institutes in New Delhi while working for a startup.

After spending more than 10+ years in the US, he relocated to Bangalore to help Intel setup their IT group in India. His professional expertise lies in strategy, technology and management leadership.  More on his professional experience can be found on:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeevnanda

He started writing at the age of 10. In his college years, he picked up controversial subjects, like atheism, to write for the college magazine. He published his first book (e-verything.com: How to map out a viable e-strategy) in 2001. His fiction writing was a private affair until 2005 when he uploaded sample stories on American Book Publishers’ (ABP) web-site. The editorial board of ABP extended the contract in Sep 2005 which resulted in the book ‘Conversations’ in 2009.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda. Participate now to get free books!

Entrepreneurship School by SSP

You read about my romp in Katgaon earlier. Let us now talk about why was I walking amidst the bhindi plants.

So I was in the field to capture a woman talking about organic farming, which in turn, was a part of the field visit to record the progress of E-school program. The Entreprenuership School is run by Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP). This project is being supported by a corporate donor via Samhita. The visit was part of the reporting services provided by Samhita.

SSP has been working with rural women since many years. During their interactions, they saw that though women were able to get loans through micro-finance and cooperative societies etc., they are unable to run a business profitably because of lack of relevant information.

Maid in India 2.0

My earlier post Maid in India 1.0 described the method of operations and the impact of the project. An interesting distinction is that is financially sustainable in the long run and also scalable. Though the organization needs grants for supporting some activities, Decimal Foundation wants MII to run independently. The project has received Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation.To know more about MII namely its financial sustainability, scale of operations, challenges etc. read on.

Fulfilling Half Day in a Village

Visiting a village was one of the things I wanted to do since long. Though Jagriti Yatra filled that wish to some extent, today was better. (And ya desire for a longer visit still smoulders) I'd gone to an official visit today to Katgaon village in Osmanabad district in Maharashtra. The purpose is to monitor and report on a project supported by a corporate donor. It's a small village with population of around 5000. This post is about my travels, another about the impact of the NGO which I visited will follow.

The two-day visit started in Solapur with taking a room in Hotel Surya International. The room is good except for the fact that it has no tubelight (only CFLs) and there is no ironing facility at the hotel. But my colleague opined that there are no cockroaches and the bathroom is sparkling clean so it's a great deal :P

Moving on, we reached a training centre of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), the NGO we are visiting.

Review of "Musings of a Wanderer"

Author: Shreya Chatterjee        ISBN:9381205006

"Musings of a Wanderer" is Shreya's first published work. This collection of poetry by Power Publishers is a slim volume at 96 pages and very conveniently priced at ₹100. She has written since her school days and her poetry has been published in magazines and blogs. Like most Indians, she is bilingual and writes both in her native tongue Bengali and English. Without further ado, lets talk about her book.

Shreya has captured everyday emotions with a simplicity and depth that is both touching and surprising. Touching because you would have experienced the same feelings some time or the other and her words hold the potential to evoke buried memories. Surprising, because at times, what she writes is so straightforward, one wonders why didn’t no one think of putting it this way before. E.g. while writing about her mother’s abandoned slippers,

“Perhaps they even

Had a rest outside the temple steps,

But who knows for how long.”

from ‘Her Foot Friend Played Hide and Seek’. Here, she beautifully crafts an ordinary image that conveys the tirelessness of a busy homemaker. Similarly in ‘A Quiet Stroll’,

“A stroll

By the quiet river,

Nibbling at

Grass strands.”

Many of her poems are based on the onset of monsoon. And almost every one of these is heartwarming as, though she chooses simple words and writes a short verse, she manages to draw a vivid image for her reader. E.g.

“My window weaving a new tale….

When a gush of wind drenched me wet…” from ‘A Shower at Night’ and

“A laughing face,

I rush outside,

To welcome

My first shower

In love with

Those once a year,

Raindrops.” from ‘In Love with Raindrops’

Though the above lines express the joy of the poet at the first rain of the season, melancholy is more pervasive a theme in this collection. I wonder why this would be so in such a young poetess. Although, I must confess that this surprise comes forth from an optimist and joyous soul who rarely pays homage to pain. Based on this collection, it is of course beyond my judgement to know whether sorrow is a dominant theme in all her work or it catches the fancy of the poetess’ pen alone. Shreya underlines this distinction in her work on the back cover of the book when she defines herself as a “writer by profession, poet by will”.  Her poems have not been grouped according to themes or tones. So the interplay of joy and sorrow can be a refreshing read or a bumpy ride depending on the readers’ mood.

“Even they speak

A volume of words

With their downcast eyes.” from ‘Downcast Eyes’ and

“Your silence

Softens

The sore toes

The aching heels.” from ‘Curiously Silent’

As you can make out from the above lines, the diversity in themes truly makes them expressions of a meandering traveller on the journey of life. In the anthology, there are love tales in ‘Two Cups of Coffee’, ‘Behind the Blinds’ and ‘Breaking’. There are tales of warriors and cries of the natives in ‘Warrior’ and ‘Voice’. There are also some poems that encompass social issues, these are the ones which captured my interest first out of the lot. The plight of child labourers is captured in ‘Child Labors…’

“I cry out at her glittering face

‘Books would FEED me

-But NEVER within hours’. ”. Indeed how true that is.

A dutiful women caged in her home in ‘Queen of Our Land’

“Given to the whims of an insolent husband

She wore a painful smile-

Scrubbed and polished,

-Kept things spick and span.”

Or “I am light that stays invisible” in ‘To Be a Woman’.

On the whole, the book is an interesting and different read. For all lovers of poetry, Shreya is one to watch out for. May her poems never get shackled by eight-letter words and nor the emotions so abstract as to be beyond the understanding of anyone but the poet.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda. Participate now to get free books!

Maid in India 1.0

"The ‘decimal’ is simply a dot within a number. Its position within a number determines what the number means to us. Just a shift to the right or left changes its meaning exponentially." 

Decimal Foundation, an NGO in Mumbai, cites the above as their inspiration. They serve an omnipresent and yet ignored section of society - domestic help. Do you know when was the last time your maid had a health check-up? Every woman associated with Maid in India gets free medical care every couple of months. To read more about the great work they are doing, and about my visit to their office, read on.