These are relevant times for India, the more their cookie crumble, more we’d come out as the stronger and prosperous nation. That might sound mean but its true. I always feel as a nation we are better off than Europe.

They have no jobs but they have social security. Which means at the end of the month they can go and collect their unemployment benefit. Rest of the time they can just sit around, drink and get wasted. Such life kills creativity.

Human were designed to fight all odds and survive, it is our basic instinct to do something, to create, to grow. How dull that life would be where you have nothing in your hands, yet you don’t have to fight to survive. And that’s exactly why even a poor labourer in India who works hard through the day and comes back in the evening with a handful of income probably sufficient for just a day, he still feels complete as a human for he has satisfied his survival instincts.

He would look at tomorrow with hopes of survival.

Perhaps that is also the reason why India is never going to see a revolution. In spite of the fact that we are plagued by poverty, we have farmers committing suicides, we have the largest number of unborn girl child. What we have still not lost as a nation is hope. We still hope that if only we could replace the corrupt leaders with honest ones, if only we could implement the law and order, if only our systems run they way they were meant to run, we would be the greatest nation on earth with our human resource and talent pool.

Anyway, back to the topic of Spanish Revolution, here are some of the interesting reads from the web.

Islamic nations are comparing this Islamic awakening that spread across Eurpote:

Similar to the spread of Islam to Europe via Spain several centuries ago, the growing waves of awakening seem to be spreading from the Middle-East and North Africa to Europe via the same country, where thousands of Spanish protesters have started rallies since a few days ago.

“This awakening move will certainly advance to the very heart of the Europe and the European nations will rise against their politicians and rulers who have fully surrendered to the US and the Zionists’ cultural and economic policies,”[Source:FARSNews]

BBC reports about the angry Spaniards

“Young people are here because they’re worried about the future. We can’t tolerate it that 43% of the young have no jobs. That should be the first priority of our society”

Mellisa Bell on Washington Post writing regular updates on the situation. The article also has a map of all the protest camps that have been set up and some pictures. (The picture on this post is also obtained from the same article)

In the Irish Media writers are wondering, why a similar revolution is not in the risiing in Ireland, when both Spain and Ireland are facing the exact same economic crisis.

And yet despite the parallels in the economic plights of both countries (overheated property market, youth-concentrated unemployment), sustained and co-ordinated protests, youth-led or otherwise, have yet to take place on the same kind of scale in Ireland. This is much to the dismay of Irish activists, who wish their compatriots were more visibly angry about the extent to which external, unelected bodies have assumed the power to dictate social and economic policy here (via the usual method of debt enslavement). [Source: Irish Times]

A must read article by France 24 Observers on the  Feminist angle to the revolution.

When we arrived last week, we unfurled a big banner that read “The Revolution will be a Feminist One”. Pretty soon, a male protester approached us, tore the banner down and began insulting us. He was visibly drunk and rather young, but that’s no excuse for his attitude. The following day, we brought the incident up at the protesters’ general assembly, where we were overwhelmingly supported by participants.

We try to make protesters aware that some of the language and slogans they use are profoundly misogynistic, even if they don’t mean them to be. People tend to call such-and-such politician a “son of a whore”, for example. In response, a group of sex- worker activists began holding posters that read: “Excuse me, but I’m a whore, and I can assure you these politicians are not my sons.”

Finally, check out this beautiful photo story on Flip the Media titled, “Spanish Revolution is Written with a Hashtag” Besides the great pictuers, the article also touches upon role of social media, particularly Twitter hash tag #spanishrevolution in organizing the protests.

At that time I didn’t get the horror of it. I wondered what was there to shudder so much about the idea of an American going to Yemen.

Now I know, since the Arab world is suddenly occupying a lot of space on international mainstream media, owing to all the youth revolution that has been spreading across the Arab countries.

This news about the protests in Yemen particularly stood out. Apparently the President in a desperate and stupid attempt to discourage protests, took recourse to Islamic laws and suggested, “anti-government protesters in the capital were in violation of Islamic law because women were allowed to mix with men.” 

Basically women cannot be at the same place where men are and then participate in anything as equals. Just how stupid. What if there is a natural calamity in an Islamic nation, women and men wouldn’t run for their lives together?

Its so weird that throughout the world there has been like 10,000 different kinds of Islamic laws. Each weirdo comes up with his own set of crazy ideas to control and repress human behaviour, particularly that of women.

I think the only hope now lies in the male youth of the Arab world. They will have to be the first ones to outright reject all laws/values that represses women and will have to make women an equal part in their revolution. If even one woman remains repressed in the Arab world, then the so called revolution will be worthless.

New York Times has this amazing set of video interviews by about 25 Arab youth from Morocco to the West Bank to find out how they see their moment in history. A must read this one, please do visit.

A New Arab Generation Finds its Voice

I wouldn’t lie, I was a bit scared to open my cynical mouth earlier. Didn’t want to be the spoil sport amidst this “me too can do Egypt” euphoria over the last 4 days, just in case, I mean just in case something good came out of it. But now that the farce is out in the open, now that my very soul is disturbed with images of aspiring political candidates Baba Ramdev and Swami Agnivesh in saffron sitting with Anna Hazaare I am mad as hell.

“Fast unto death” so to speak! This was all such a gimmick. Really, nothing, absolutely nothing substantial has come out of the last 4 days of drama. It was more like a filler from the World Cup to the IPL. And public memory is so short that they’ll smoothly move on to something else, IPL for now. Presently, junta have been given to believe that a lot has been achieved. Reports of celebrations and rejoicing are coming from Jantar Mantar and Hazaare’s village even as I write this. What exactly are we celebrating here?

All that we have got here is a mere promise of a promise. Mere high hopes. Something we have been living upon for more than the last 60 years.“There WILL be a bill, corrupt WILL be punished.” You know what,  there is nothing more sexy than the future that we will never get to see. And we suck up every time.

What has really happened here is that one Anna Hazaare made tall claims and then sold himself out to trivial achievements, attained God hood and blind followers.

Friend on Facebook argued with me in favour of Hazaare, he said,

“Anna could not possible be on a hunger strike until the bill is passed – that is not rational. Nobody can do that and it’s not fair on our part to expect him to do that. IAC (India Against Corruption) had to keep their demands simple so that the govt could agree to them quickly (within a matter of days). Hunger strike is not a joke – it cannot continue for months. It is up to all of us to follow this bill until it becomes an Act. If the GoI drags its heels in tabling this bill in LS, the agitiation must begin again. If LS does not pass it, the agitation must start again. I’m sure IAC will take the lead, but when they restart the agitation they will need our support.”

I replied,

A lot of what you are saying here is high hopes and I don’t blame you for being optimist, just as you cannot blame me for being pessimist. Time will tell how much of this will actually be done. How much responsibility will be shouldered by Anna Hazaare. Public memory is too short so no body here will follow up. Cynics would not be convinced unless we are proven wrong. All we can do is wait and see where does Anna Hazaare go from here and may be by the end of the monsoon session of Parliament I will tell you, “I told you so” or vice versa.

Why Mr. Hazaare did you make such a unrealistic, tall claim of “fast unto death?” Exactly what were you thinking? You knew you didn’t mean it, right. You know that you were just lying to give some kind of shock, to create drama, to grab sudden attention.

But junta were stupid. They were in the state of “we too can do Egypt” and joined the euphoria, because well, it was just that, an euphoria. You don’t think through much during these times. You don’t take a moment to think about the process that is required for a bill to become a law in the country. The several steps, months, years, debates, discussions, drafts that goes into it. Did people really think Hazaare was going to be on fast till all this was over? Till the issue came to its logical end? Did anybody wonder who are the people behind this campaign, where is the money coming from, what could possibly be the hidden agendas? Actually people weren’t thinking. People brainwashed with too much goodness stop thinking. Its like having blind faith in a religion. You stop questioning.

You dear Junta are too naive if you thought this massive media attention was possible overnight without funds and support from well organized groups:

• On 3rd April early morning, millions of pamphlets were distributed all over the city of Delhi, and am guessing all over India. At 11 am I was driving back from Saket to Dwarka and I saw fliers in front of every door step, on the street, on the parks, scattered all over. Who do you think paid for this?
• On day 1 itself the topics #lokpal #annahazaare #jantarmantar were trending on Twitter, you think that is possible without a well thought of communication strategy? Who ensured this?
• They had set up the system of ‘Missed Call for live Updates‘ who paid for this technology?
• There were sponsored pages on FB for the cause. Who sponsored these pages?

Why Mr. Hazaare are you sold out?

Am not saying you should have necessarily died fasting. But I can’t help remembering the film, ‘Guide’ here. When people put faith in you, when they think your fasting is going to achieve something great you just don’t give it up because you feel hungry. You don’t say ‘fast unto death’ and then give up on day 4 for trivial success. Did you think you have won the battle against corruption? 4 days of fast at Jantar Mantar, candle light vigil at India Gate, all are such usual drill, all so predictable, so short lived, so futile. 4 days of euphoria with no outcome.

So my question to you Mr. Hazaare is, instead of unrealistic claim of fast unto death could you have not said something more realistic like a “sit in dharna” till the bill actually becomes law. That was more feasible. But harder to achieve. Imagine, months of sitting at Jantar Mantar in this approaching heat, who am I kidding?

Let me introduce you Mr. Hazaare to a certain Irom Sharmila from the state of Manipur, which by the way is an Indian state:

She has been on fast for 10 years now. You must be thinking how is that biologically possible. Well this is what happens. She goes on a fast, cops arrest her on attempted suicide charges and start to force feed her through nose. They release her on recovery and she goes back to fasting. They arrest her back. Repeat this for 10 years. Sharmila doesn’t have a Face Book page. There was and never will be an euphoria around her, because she didn’t suddenly out of the blue started mass publicity for herself, no mass distribution of fliers no massive funds. We came to know about her by word of mouth after she had already been on to her mission for years. And now 10 years have passed.

You Mr. Hazaare gave 4 days. It was all very strategically planned wasn’t it? You knew you’d sell out soon they will give you a trivial promise, like a toy to a cry baby.

Meanwhile you dear junta who are so up in arm against corruption, how corruption free you yourself are?

I can bet my life that not a single person who spoke against corruption in the last 4 days are free from corruption themselves. Each one of them wouldn’t hesitate before pushing that 100 in a cops hand when caught jumping the signal, not a single parent would get their children admitted to schools of their choice without paying a bribe. You all will continue to get that ration card made or that gas connection done through corrupt means. In this city 99% of the drivers have got their driving licenses using corrupt means. Not a single person would think twice before submitting a fake rent receipt and medical bills while filing their tax returns.

You know dear friends, its not just a telecom scam that is called ‘corruption’. We all are corrupt to our very core and no law will ever be able to address our own style of corruption. Let me give you the bad news. We DO NOT need the lokpal bill to banish corruption from our lives, for that we need inner strength and the will to fight and not take the easy way out by paying a bribe. Do you have that?

And one final question to the mainstream media and some more eminent writers – Why are you so late in coming up with these criticism? Were you also afraid to open your cynical mouth, like me?

Kaafila

Indian Express

Blogger, Jiten Gajaria

Before I end this rant, here is a golden quote by GB Stern:

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.

This is a fictitious conversation between me and a critic who is upset with the step motherly attitude towards all other sports in the country. It is a follow up to my previous post on the same subject, ‘Cricket mein haar aur desh pe waar.” The previous one was written with better facts and arguments so do read it.

Him: Basically cricket over shadows every other game in the country and that’s unfair. All teams are playing for the same country, whether it is soccer or hockey, then why different enthusiasm when India wins in Cricket but no value when we win in other games? Did you even know in recent time we won a football match too against Pakistan with 3 -1. No body knows, no body celebrates.

I really didn’t know so I found out. Here are the facts: At the start of this year, Indian soccer team qualified for 2011 AFC Asia Cup after 24 years. They lost all matches. This was followed by qualifying matches for 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. It was in these qualifying matches that on 23rd March 2011 India faced and defeated Pakistan by 3-0. After 3 matches (2 wins and 1 draw) India has now qualified for the AFC Challenge Cup. This is all great. I am happy for India. But can this in anyway match up  to the excitement and the joy the nation faced today after India defeated Pakistan at the world cup semi finals. It is unfair to even compare the two.

Me: Ok, I hear you. And this is not new, this debate has always been there. And am all for cricket. I think the attention cricket as a sport and its players get wasn’t served on a platter to them. The team performed consistently to earn it. In other sports India don’t perform, so no attention, isn’t it simple?

Him: No, don’t undermine their achievements,  they do perform, in fact they probably put in more hard work than any of the cricketers do to even achieve a bit of success because success don’t come easy in Soccer. With over 180 countries playing soccer it takes a lot of effort to even get recognized as a team and our team does put that effort, its too bad that you don’t care to know that. How many countries play cricket? Not more than 18 I think.

Me: Ok I hear you, its harder to perform as a football team, competition is tough, so we are not the best. We are best at cricket, Let’s celebrate what we are best at. Why this jealousy? A country doesn’t have to be best at all sports. If soccer isn’t happening then so be it, why so much angst against cricket because of soccer’s failure? You yourself said we are not best at Soccer because it’s a difficult game, competition is tough but we have our moments of glory and success, like the recent win against Pakistan. All this is great. And I am sure the few soccer fans in India do keep a track of the soccer scene and when there is a reason to celebrate they do indeed celebrate in their own way. True, there is no mass celebration and that’s because the game doesn’t have a mass appeal. How can you argue with what does and what doesn’t have mass appeal? Its like Sunil Shetty fretting over, “Why don’t I have the same following as SRK”

He: But what I am saying is that we could do better if the system would give us better pay, better opportunities and better facilities.

Me: Now that is the vicious circle of what came before? The chicken or the egg. Our soccer / hockey teams are underperformers so they don’t have enough money and media attention. And they are underperformers because they don’t have money and media attention. You can never fully answer this question which came before? We live in a capitalist society, money fetches more money and money fetches success and success fetches money. Yet in the true spirit of hard work it has always been said that money is never the reason why you cannot succeed, as long as you have the zeal in you, you give your best.

Him: Its not just about the money, what about the facilities? We need better coaches, better practicing grounds, better opportunities and the Government have to provide us with that. The Government should not discriminate between two sports.

Me: First, don’t blame the government for everything.  Government doesn’t have an evil agenda to ignore or undermine any game. Cricket just happens to be our stronger point, the team performed over the years, the nation’s pride in and love for cricket grew stronger with time and automatically more resources started getting pumped into it. It’s a natural evolution of sports in the country. Its not like it was written in our Constitution that we’d undermine all other games but cricket. Second, this is highly speculative, “We would have performed better if we had better facilities.” If only all great achievements in the world were so conditional. There are many small African countries that play soccer and they don’t even have half the resources or facility we have. These  are countries that are far more poor and less developed than India. Yet they practice, they perform and they qualify for the World Cup. But India never qualifies for the world cup? Why? All because we don’t have the facility? Not once in so many years and blame it all on Government? This is so typical of a loser, “I failed because everything in the world is unfair, from the system to the people, every thing else is to be blamed but my own performance.“

There are 54 African football playing nations out of which 6 qualified for the 2010 FIFA cup, these were Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa. Do we fully know what kind of swanky facilities and money are being showered upon these teams by their government? Are we going to give the credit of their performances in the FIFA cup (fact that they even qualified is an achievement) to the facilities and resources their Goverment gave them or will we give the credit to the sportsmanship, the zeal, courage and determination of the players?

HOCKEY

If we learn anything from the film Chak De India it is that instead of whining and cribbing about the money and the attention you didn’t get, just put your 100% and perform. The day you perform the world will no longer be able to ignore you. After the success of Chak De, last year we did put our focus on our national game, hockey. We hosted the 2010 Hockey World Cup, corporate money was pumped into the game, Hero Honda gave us the slogan, “Phir dil do Hockey Ko.” Stars from Bollywood to Cricket were roped in for the campaign, the nation’s youth followed with much excitement – what did we get – poorest of poor performance by Indian hockey team they ranked 12th (3rd last) in the tournament. Didn’t even play the quarter finals. Such abysmal performance by the Indian hockey team or football team is utter shame and we are supposed to empathise with them?

How are we supposed to feel anything but embarrassment for such performance. Why are we then blamed for celebrating the glorious victory India achieves over the cricket playing world.

GOVERNMENT’S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

The above argument didn’t have a logical conclusion. Even though it was never really put in proper words, what the critic meant to say was that there is a need for Government’s affirmative action to lift the conditions of sports like soccer and hockey in the country. I agree with this in spirit because I am a pro affirmative action person. For those unfamiliar with sociology terms ‘affirmative action’ means ‘reservation.’ Reservations or other forms of affirmative actions are required for people and causes which are systematically oppressed, for example, women and dalits. I am not sure if sports fall under this category.

But I can say this, the government’s support could have helped our hockey or soccer team’s performances if, on a scale of 10, they were at least at 4 or 5. With the current performance level being at ZERO I doubt anybody can help them.

In about an hour or so, I will go to the Dwarika Telephone Exchange Building, Sector-6, Dwarka, New Delhi to file this written complaint with the Dwarka and Najafgarh Area Manager Mr. KK Rawat. I will be maintaining this live-blog to update you with the outcome of this complaint.

To

Date: 18^th December 2010

The Area Manager

MTNL Broadband internet

Dwarka, New Delhi

Sub: Complaint related to broadband internet connection not attended for 14 days

Dear Sir,

This is to inform you that I am the resident of Flat no. 324, Sector 3 Pocket 1 and 2, Dwarka. I am using broadband internet connection at my home with phone number 011 25087693 which is in the name of my father Mr. PK Basu

There is no internet connection at my place as the modem is defective. There is no light on the modem except the power light. I have lodged several complaints in this regard from 6^th December onwards but no one has attended the complaint. As per records obtained from customer care 1504:

• 6^th December – complaint registered for first time
• 11^th December – Follow up complaint registered with 1504
• 13^th December – Follow up complaint registered with 1504
• 15^th December – Follow up complaint registered with 1504

Nobody has visited the home till date

I am now lodging this written complaint with you, hoping you will not only see that the complaint is attended within today but also take proper action as to why it is taking so long for this complaint to be attended.

Please also let me know the procedure for filing a Right to Information application to find answers to the following questions:

1. What is the maximum time period for which a complaint can be kept in pending status without attending?
2. What procedure is required to be followed when complaint are kept pending beyond prescribed period?
3. What action is required to be taken by area manager when a written complaint is filed by a customer?

This is also not the first time that I have had to make personal visit to Dwarka exchange to make someone attend the complaint. In today’s age of communication and consumerism, it is not acceptable if MTNL is not able to keep up with the private service providers with regard to attending complaints. It is not acceptable that a complaint is not attended for 14 days without any due explanation.

Please do something so that we consumers can keep our faith in MTNL’s service and are not prompted to shift to AIRTEL or some other service.

Thanking you

Faithfully

Sanjukta Basu

This may seem to be a great breakthrough, but it really isn’t because according to the Malaysian censorship guidelines, showing homosexuality has recently been allowed so long the gay charecters are shown to repent or end tragically in the film.

Thus the film “Dalam Botol” (In a bottle) is a tragic love story between two men, quite on the lines of “Brokeback Mountain“

Perhaps its time for Malaysia for a change.

Related report on NYT

Working with French-born photographer Magali Pettier, women involved in a weekly drop-in support group called Girls are Proud (GAP), at the homeless charity Tyneside Cyrenians, learned about the technical aspects of taking and developing photographs. They then took the images and used the project as a means of escaping from their covert activities, says Laura Seebohm, manager of women’s services at Tyneside Cyrenians. "We work to develop confidence and self-esteem within this group. We decided a creative project such as photography was perfect."

The images draw attention to things the audience thinks it knows but force the viewer to look at them through different eyes – hence the title. It also allows the women to express themselves and communicate their stories by capturing their lives through a series of moments.

Read more – http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/05/sex-workers-photography-project-newcastle

This issue has been media’s favorite for a long time. Enough has already been written on both sides. I still have not been able to find answers to so many questions. Here is one article though that explains a lot. This is by far the best piece on this matter that I have come across.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home-Sunday-TOI-Special-Report/Oz-us-A-banged-up-equation/articleshow/5826770.cms

MELBOURNE: An evening of merrymaking that ended in a nightmarish experience in May last year gave Shravan Kumar his 15 minutes of fame. The young Andhraite, a student in a private college here, had hosted a party at his home in a western suburb of the city to celebrate his birthday. All the 20-odd guests were fellow Indians; all pursued vocational courses in institutions of dubious worth; all led a hand-to-mouth existence; all worked well beyond the stipulated 20 hours a week; all settled for wages much lower than the official wage; all lived four-to-six in a room; and all were fired by a single ambition: to acquire permanent resident (PR) status within two years of their arrival in Australia.

Liquor, much like loud music and laughter, flowed freely at the party. On such occasions, it is not unusual for uninvited guests to join in the revelry. When two young, white gatecrashers rang the doorbell, the Indians welcomed them with open arms. But soon the booze began to take its toll. Hot words were exchanged when the whites made passes at Indian girls. They were shown the door.

Minutes later the boys turned up again. Unknown to the Indians, one of them carried a screwdriver in the pocket of his trousers. They were allowed to come inside in the hope that they would behave themselves. But no sooner had they stepped in that the boy with the screwdriver plunged its sharp edge into Shravan Kumar’s skull. This is when all hell broke loose.

Even as Shravan Kumar struggled for his life in the hospital, a small group of left-wing radicals, both Indian and Australian, staged a demonstration outside the Victoria state Parliament House. They shouted angry slogans, pelted a few stones and bricks, broke some windows. From the sidelines, half a dozen or so members of the Australian Socialist Party, a fringe group, made provocative speeches. Among the rabble-rousers, according to a witness, was an Indian, Gautam Gupta, a failed businessman and a jobless cardiologist who over the years had fancied himself as an avatar of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. (Efforts to reach Gupta bore no fruit.) By sunset, the police had dispersed the demonstrators. Along the way however they, and especially the firebrand Gupta, attracted a huge amount of attention in the national media. And that coverage in turn got the Indian media all worked up.

On certain TV news channels in particular, charges of racism flew thick and fast. Fuelling their rage was the initial claim of the Australian authorities that race did not figure at all in the attacks. No one this writer spoke to, including office-bearers of the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria, denied that racial prejudice had to be taken into account to understand the factors that led to the tragic sequence of events. At the same time they emphasized that such prejudice was limited to a small group of young ruffians. To focus solely on race, as the Indian media had done, detracted attention from the more important factors that caused the crisis in the first place.

The most significant factor by far was the decision taken by the previous John Howard government to open up the vocational education sector to private groups and link it with migration. This was the government’s logic: invite young people to study in the country in order to boost earnings from education; persuade them to develop vocational skills needed to grease the wheels of the economy; give them permission to do part-time work even while they took their courses; above all, dangle before them the carrot of PR status two years after their arrival, provided they acquired a certain number of points in their studies.

The policy was disastrous on many counts. Individuals with no experience in the educational field, including a shop assistant from Kerala, were allowed to open colleges. The government did not bother to find out how they functioned. There were no controls — on the kind of courses offered, fees charged, the number of students admitted. For instance, permission had been given to enrol, say, 250 students. Double the number were enrolled. In no time, more than 170 private colleges mushroomed in Victoria. As many as 40% of them were controlled by individuals from the sub-continent. More often than not, their backers were former Australian politicians. They constituted a powerful lobby that no government could go against.

Between 2006 and 2009, the annual number of Indian students admitted to private colleges was more than three times the 2005 figure. This was the handiwork of Indian agents — nearly 1,700 at the last count — whose job was to lure prospective applicants with tall promises. In return for an investment of Rs 12-15 lakh, the student was assured ‘help’ to procure a visa (including a certificate certifying good knowledge of English), admission to a ‘posh’ college, a well-paid job on arrival, good accommodation, a great lifestyle and, not least, PR status after two years. Most of the agents’ ‘victims’ came from three states — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and, above all, Punjab. The agent’s commission ran-ged between 15-20% of the overall expenditure.

Aiding, if not quite abetting, the agent was Australia’s lax visa regime. The visa-seeker had to furnish proof that he had enough money in the bank to pay for the travel, tuition fees and lodging and boarding costs for two years. With the agent’s help, a loan would be obtained from a bank by the applicant or his family, the money deposited in an account for three months and the bank statement attached to the visa application form. As soon as the visa was granted — without a counter-check or an interview — the loan was returned to the bank and the student was left high and dry.

This is where his travails began. There was no one to receive him at the airport. He had to make his own arrangements for accommodation. The ‘posh’ college was often a small, decrepit structure. Courses were few and far between. They were of course conducted in English, a language the student barely knew. To sustain himself, he worked long hours at all sorts of odd jobs and accepted wages well below the official rate, which placed him at odds with local job-seekers.

The illegal wage was paid in cash, which the student carried on his person. That made him a target for attack, especially when he took the last train home located in a remote suburb. In case he was assaulted, he never turned to the police for help because that would mean exposing the illegality of his working hours and wages. With no family support system, no contact with Indian associations or the Indian consulate, no friends in any other community, he had no choice but to seek the company of similarly placed fellow Indians. In the few hours he had for rest and leisure he would drink himself silly, sometimes take to drugs and gambling, enjoy loud music and, not least, chase girls. None of this obviously endeared him to the host population.

For Indian girls, the experience has proved to be far more harrowing. According to Krishna Arora, a community leader, Punjabi girls have been the worst victims of this search for an El Dorado. An educated girl is married off to a rich farmer’s son. In return, the father-in-law agrees to fund her travel, tuition and stay in Australia. Her husband, who is entitled to get a spouse visa, goes along with her. Once they land, the husband links up with other women, treats his wife shabbily and as soon as both get their PR, he files for divorce, obtains it and goes his own way leaving the young woman to fend for herself.

Last year, of the 18 cases of domestic violence reported to the Melbourne police, as many as 13 were student-related. Victims of such violence do receive some financial assistance from the government. But the money is grossly insufficient. As a consequence, more and more such women take to prostitution. Indian women make up a sizeable percentage of the escort service business in cities across Australia.

Indian community associations are making a valiant effort to come to the rescue of students duped into coming to the country. They are lobbying the government to strengthen security for Indians and to come down hard on the perpetrators of violence. The Indian consulate, too, is straining every nerve to assist them. But it is woefully understaffed. All the same, the leaders — including high-profile ones like Vasan Srinivasan, who very nearly got elected to the Victoria parliament; Vernon da Gama, a hugely sought-after solicitor and Ravi Bhatia, the suave and highly admired CEO of a telecom company — are unanimous in their belief that the issue at stake in the spate of attacks on Indians is not so much racism as a question of maintaining order and enforcing the law.

They repeat that the Indian media’s charges of racism quite correctly rile the Australians. This, in turn, tarnishes the entire Indian diaspora, most of whose members are successful professionals and adds strains and stresses to the India-Australia bilateral relationship. I asked the community leaders why Indians were targeted and not students from other countries. One reason, I was told, is that most of the other students come from good social backgrounds. They have a working knowledge of English and have the necessary funds to pay for their education.

Indeed, most of them study in universities, not in private colleges. Their numbers are small. As against this, the sheer size of the Indian student body, its general rowdiness, pecuniary situation and inability or unwillingness to live according to local norms gives it a higher visibility and makes it a target of suspicion, prejudice and sometimes violence.

Australia, one Indian executive told me, can be a tough place to live if you don’t know English, don’t know how to use a Western-style toilet, don’t know elementary rules of courtesy, if you don’t follow traffic rules and are perceived to be a lout. That, he said, was the case with most Indian students. And a bulk of them come from Punjab — indeed, straight from a Punjabi village to a cosmopolitan metropolis like Melbourne or Sydney. In no position to handle the culture shock, they just go out of control.

The attacks on Indians have, however, had a negative impact on Australia’s booming education business. Figures published by the Federal Education Department just days ago show an overall decline of foreign students seeking admission to the country’s colleges and universities. The decline is sharpest among Indian students. Numbers plummeted 40% in Victoria, from 6,303 to 3,761 for the first two months of the year. Especially affected are private vocational colleges. Experts believe that the numbers are likely to drop further in the months ahead.

The Australian authorities have finally begun to take meaningful steps to arrest the trend. Regulations for private colleges have been toughened; 21 rogue institutions have been identified. Rules have been changed to grant licenses to educational entrepreneurs. They are now obliged to re-register to meet the standards prescribed in the National Education Code. Some 1,500 educational providers have to undergo stringent tests. And courses like hair-dressing have been scrapped.

Visa regulations, too, have been revised. Now money needed for travel, tuition and boarding and lodging has to be deposited in a bank for six months instead of three. The Australian High Commission has been asked directly to consult chartered accountants and banks to verify the bonafides of the visa applicants. Living expenses have been raised from AU$1,000 to AU$1,500 a month. English proficiency tests have been made more rigorous. Most important of all, rules to grant permanent resident status have been overhauled to make it that much more difficult to immigrate.

Indian community leaders now hope that the Indian authorities will also crack down on unscrupulous agents and make sure that students wanting to study in Australia are given an accurate picture of the conditions that await them on arrival. Similarly, they would like on-the-spot reporting by Indian journalists of the problems confronting Indian students. This, they say, is urgent because under the revised rules, visas of a substantial number of students are not likely to be extended once they expire. This could well lead to more protests and perhaps to an outbreak of violence just in case a desperate student, unwilling to return to an uncertain future back home and fearful of losing face, attempts to commit suicide.

Meanwhile, Shravan Kumar has staged a remarkable recovery. The Australian government paid his hospital bills as he had no health insurance. It also funded the visit and stay of his father, brother and uncle. Undeterred by charges of racism and fears for his security, the young Andhraite applied for permanent resident status. He obtained it days ago. He is not quite sure if he will return to India once he finishes his courses. But chances are that he will choose to remain in Australia to get on with his life, hoping that by and by he will put behind him the birthday bash that turned into a ghoulish nightmare one balmy day in May last year.

This video is entitled "Back in Their Burkhas Again" and it was taken at the 2010 American Atheist Convention in Newark, NJ last weekend (April 2-4)

They’re back in their burkas again
Women obeying their men
No other man should ever see
Her eyebrow or her knee
They’re back in their burkas again

Women are wrapped up by men
Protecting their bodies from sin
Women must comply
And not tempt some lustful eye
So they’re back in their burkas again

The wrap must be shared with a friend
With sister and cousin and kin
It costs far too much
With accessories and such
But they’re back in their burkas again

A woman can’t leave her pen
While the burka is still out on lend
So in her house she’s trapped
‘Till in that horror she is wrapped
‘Till she’s back in her burka again

The burka’s a smothering affair
No garment can even compare
It gets so hot in there
She can barely breathe the air
They’re back in their burkas again

Covered head and eyes and nose
Down their thighs right to their toes
They’re back in their burkas again

But sometimes under there
They wear sexy underwear
They’re back in their burkas again

Everybody will finally win
When women aren’t wrapped end to end
Law is a disgrace
When it hides a pretty face
And puts women in burkas again

Freedom can only begin
When women can show off some skin
That law will have to go
When all women just say “No”
“We’ll not wear those burkas again”

And on some happy day
They will put those laws away
And never wear burkas again
And on that glorious day
They will throw those rags away
And never wear burkas again.

Source

After RBI, it’s now Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) that has cracked the whip on outsourced agencies that harass consumers for outstanding dues. Issuing guidelines on Friday prescribing a code of conduct for outsourced agencies, the regulator said telecom operators must have a transparent policy on recovering dues, without affecting the rights of consumers. Trai asked each operator to post its policy and formal code of conduct on its website for the information of consumers. A Trai statement made it clear to operators that engaging an outsourced agency “does not absolve them of their responsibility to fulfil their obligation to consumers”. The guidelines come in the wake of complaints received by Trai from consumers about methods adopted by service providers for the collection of outstanding dues.

Trai said service providers were obliged to ensure an effective complaint handling mechanism for billing and that before a case was given to an outsourced agency, advance intimation be given to a customer regarding outstanding dues.

Service providers will now also have to publish the names and telephone numbers of their outsourced agencies and their authorised staff on their website. Agents of the outsourced agency are permitted to call consumers only from the telephone numbers published on these websites between 8 am and 9 pm.

Besides, the agency should have a clean record and meet selection and eligibility criteria. Agents are also expected to wear photo identity cards.