20.02.2013:
Five pods of beans, that was what the old woman picked from the vegetable basket of the provision store. Those tiny strips may have weighed not even 100 grams but it costed her four rupees. Four rupees is a big money for a woman who looked so poor. In all probability she is one among the crores of people in our country who find it extremely hard to earn a sum that can ensure one square meal everyday. Even the neighbourhood provision shops now charges goods on Maximum Retail Price (MRP). Why should they do this when they never file Income tax return?
Five pods of beans, that was what the old woman picked from the vegetable basket of the provision store. Those tiny strips may have weighed not even 100 grams but it costed her four rupees. Four rupees is a big money for a woman who looked so poor. In all probability she is one among the crores of people in our country who find it extremely hard to earn a sum that can ensure one square meal everyday. Even the neighbourhood provision shops now charges goods on Maximum Retail Price (MRP). Why should they do this when they never file Income tax return?
As I have
been typing this, advertisements of gold, energy drinks and fairness creams are
raining in on the TV in front of me. I could not see any programmes on it for
the past several minutes. The super stars of the celluloid and cricket have
already told thousands of lies about these products to the admirers and fans
since the day broke. They try their best to prod the unsuspecting followers to
fall in the traps these energy drinks and gold sellers laid so cleverly. These superstars
take home crores of rupees for telling such non-existing qualities of these
products to the public. Many of the products and services they promote are
dangerously adulterated or extremely harmful. They never care for it, sadly
they never show social commitments. For the sake of the publicity, they dole
out a good sum to the charity activities. The hand-to-mouth mass of population
gasps for a source of income while a small percent of the crowd amasses wealth
21.02.2013
The two day long nationwide strike called by various trade unions in protest against the spiralling price rise has just concluded. Price rise is a reality and the poor people of this country are badly affected by this. One kilo rice costs Rs 50 and a kilogram of potato costs Rs 30. A few state governments in the country are distributing rice at Re1 or Rs 2 through the corrupt and sluggish Public Distribution System. But for such concessions, the poor and down trodden section, that constitutes more than 90 percent of the population is reeling under high cost of living
The two day long nationwide strike called by various trade unions in protest against the spiralling price rise has just concluded. Price rise is a reality and the poor people of this country are badly affected by this. One kilo rice costs Rs 50 and a kilogram of potato costs Rs 30. A few state governments in the country are distributing rice at Re1 or Rs 2 through the corrupt and sluggish Public Distribution System. But for such concessions, the poor and down trodden section, that constitutes more than 90 percent of the population is reeling under high cost of living
So, the nationwide
protest needs to be seen against this back ground. The people of Keralam are
celebrating the strike as Onam. This time it was two day celebration- Hartal
Festival -day 1 and Hartal Festival -day2. The most literate and presumed to be
highly informed people take protest strikes as total shut down. Then what is
the meaning of protest in that part of the country? Eventhough the Keralaites' response to Hartals can be apparantly linked to laziness, there is another side to it. They, in fact, convert the adversitites into advantages. A day's house arrest is easily transformed into celebrations by the entire people of a state. That is spectacular, no doubt about that.
In sharp contrast, in Pondicherry, where I am located at present, it is business as usual. The Kamaraj Salai is busier than normal days. All schools, offices and shops are working as usual. Does this mean that people in Pondicherry do not have objection to the sky-rocketing prices of the essential commodities? The situation may not be different in other parts too- all will be going about their business on a strike day.
In sharp contrast, in Pondicherry, where I am located at present, it is business as usual. The Kamaraj Salai is busier than normal days. All schools, offices and shops are working as usual. Does this mean that people in Pondicherry do not have objection to the sky-rocketing prices of the essential commodities? The situation may not be different in other parts too- all will be going about their business on a strike day.
No doubt,
prices of essential commodities are unbearable. The ruling dispensation does
not show any sensitivity in easing the already miserable lives of the poor
people. The only way to show their resentment is to stand up and question
the rulers in non violent means. Hartal is one of the strongest protests to
show their disapproval of the uncontrollable cost of living. Then, why the
majority of the people in this country ignored the strike call? Perhaps, this is the fall out of the frightening indifference our people show towards burning issues. This is fondly called by the English Media in our country resilience!
Non violent
protests were the main stay of our freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi called for
different types of strikes against the colonial government. They did shake the
might of guns and lathis. At last the oppressive and senseless invaders kneeled
down. That is what the purpose of strikes. Strikes are an essential part of the
democracy and it is necessary, sometimes to knock some sense into the
insensitive rules' heads. May the affected mass of the country line up behind
the non-violent and lawful protests to force the hands of the babus. At least for this strike call, the entire nation ought to have stood up with the people of Keralam, to lend their voice against injustice, however feeble it is...
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThe national tv channel DD keep flashing interesting and quite informative snippets under "Jaago grahak jaago" banner. It's about consumer rights. Even I was unaware of many. One related to this MRP is about getting a cash memo from the shopkeeper. Surely they would've to file IT returns then.
Now, talking about this 'festival' called hartal, I strongly disagree to strikes. What came out of the strike against diesel, lpg and petrol price hikes? The oil firms are still calling the shots. If your elected representative isn't voicing your concerns in the parliament and is merely acting to the wishes of his/her high command, what's the use? Let's have something called 'right to reject' and 'right to recall' -Anna's demands.
The modern day strikes can no way be compared with Gandhiji's struggles. On 15th August he was nowhere among the celebrations and the power pie sharing party in New Delhi. Is it so in our times? Mass non violent protests without forceful shutdowns are fine. We have seen such things in recent past.
Price rise is not a single independent issue which can be tamed with a magic wand! It is a fallout of many factors right from local to global ones. That's an entirely broad different aspect which I am not going deep into.
Andamans is also a place where things like strike, hartal, lockouts are alien. It doesn't mean we are not facing the manace here. But of course, there are sufficient locally grown agriculture produce here to sustain oneself without having to feel the pinch.
I would certainly ask not to follow Kerala model of hartal. We are always on the lookout for a hartal/bandh at the drop of a hat!
That's not called a protest, dear Nats.
Ratish.
Rathish,
ReplyDeleteShouldn't we protest? The so called "resilience" of the Indian people needs to be put to an end. Hartals and other non violant protests are an essentail part in a Democratic system like in India to voice our protest. Anyway, I don't agree with the Kerala model
Regards
Natesan