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Humanitarian Appeal: Leh Flash Floods

gargi — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:39:48 +0000

This is an appeal from SEEDS India, an NGO that works very, very hard in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction.

Do help if you can, and forward to those whom you think can help.

www.seedsindia.org

August, 2010

Humanitarian Appeal: Leh Flash Floods

Ten days since the Flash Flood in Leh, the death toll still continues to climb, and stands at 183. 400 people are still believed to be missing. The flash floods in the mountainous cold desert, washed away houses, schools, farms, bridges and with these, many lives as well. Villages within a 35 kilometres radius of Leh town and its neighboring settlements (Choglamsar, Phyang) has bore the brunt of the flash floods.

Aid agencies including SEEDS estimate that about 25,000 in the Leh region have been severely affected, particularly damage to houses.Though the relief work is taking priority right now, a very grave issue of concern is the short deadline that the government as well as NGOs have to help the people of Leh rebuild their homes. Being a high altitude, mountainous area with extreme weather conditions, once winter sets in around October, no construction activity will be possible and more families will be pushed to the edge.

SEEDS RESPONSE

SEEDS is presently engaged with HCC (Hindustan Construction Company) to restore lives and livelihood in Leh and neighbouring villages. Druk Padma Karpo school is being desilted and efforts are on to restart classes. A house prototype is also being built in the same location in view of the immediate need for housing.

SEEDS has set up “Safe House Clinics” that host mobile vans with material, structural engineers and construction workers to carry out reconstruction of damaged houses in the villages surrounding Leh like Choglamsar, Saspaul, Saspoche and Bazgo. Families can also approach the shelter clinic for restoration of damaged houses.

SEEDS is working on restoration of houses for 200 families before the first winter snowfall. The house prototype for appropriate technology that is culturally and environmentally suitable and safe is being constructed for local inputs.

Photo Credit: SEEDS / Sujoy Sen

Photo Credit: SEEDS / Sarika Gulati

SEEDS has already mobilized 20 Lakhs ($ 44000) from its own resource to steer the ground work for “Safe House Clinic” and “House Prototype”.

Every 1.5 lakhs raised ($ 3500 ) can help provide a house for the affected families. Support us to REBUILD LEH.

SEEDS INDIA: 15/A First Floor, Institutional Area, Sector-IV, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110022, India; Tel: 91-11-26174272

Donate online

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The Promise of Independence !

gargi — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:10:28 +0000

August 15th. A day associated with flags, flag hoisting, and a general level of celebration.
So, what is so very special about this day ? What is it that we are celebrating ?
Freedom is an obvious answer – but freedom from what? Theoretically, it is freedom from the rule of the British Empire or Independence from the British Empire.

So what is it that Independence means – it means the right to run your own life. But, as we all know, as human beings, we can’t ever be totally free. There are too many bonds and obligations. We cannot do what ever we want, in any society that we live in. For example, you cannot run naked down your street without being arrested for obscenity. You cannot increase the size of your home without a zillion permissions. you cannot marry more than one person simultaneously. Infact, most of our lives are determined by all those things that we can’t do, rather than all the things that you can. All that we can do is live within a certain set of laws, rules, norms and regulations – that hopefully, allows you maximum flexibility in leading your life without too many constraints.

What does Independence or indeed Freedom mean to nations? The ability to be free of ‘outside’ interference. But, we live in an interconnected world. (Unless, of course you live in North Korea). The UN, theoretically, ensures ‘good’ political behavior; the World Bank ‘good’ financial behavior; the ITU ‘good’ telecommunications behavior and so on. Most nations cannot get away with murder – unless of course you are the USA led by George Bush or Pakistan under any leader.

So, I come back to my question – what is it that we are celebrating, and should we really be looking at how we define that day – so that in a modern world, it doesn’t just become another day marked by cards and revelry without any substance ?
Is it freedom that we ought to be celebrating or the Right to Self Determination

If it is the latter, then what happens if one part of the Nation wants the right to self determination by itself ? Should there be force used to keep this part back in the whole or should the people be given the chance to exercise their right to determine their future ?

Maybe we ought to be celebrating interdependence rather than independence. A day where most people in this country choose to be part of the whole rather than being part of various fragments. Where each part of that whole is important, is treated with dignity and respect. And, where the nation lives up to the promise of allowing us the freedom to be.

For me, freedom is the ability to live my life with a certain sense of security – economic, political, religious, legal – where I can live my life without interference or threat of interference; without braving bullets to get to work or to get home; where my little savings grow steadily without fear that it will disappear down some rabbit hatch; where food is not a luxury; where medical care is available for all, not just those who can afford it; Where learning is accessible and not forbidden; where i don’t get beaten up for breaking rules written a couple of thousand years ago …

For me, Independence Day actually means all these. And, i have benefited from most of the things that i have listed. I am lucky that I don’t live in a community with a Khap panchayat or a state where the Armed Forces Special Provisions Act is in force; – I am lucky that my home does not adjoin hills rich in minerals that are gifted away to prospectors; and I count my blessings that my desire for education was neither hampered by my gender, or religious rules, or societal norms or abject poverty. But, a large chunk of people who became free on the same day as I, do not enjoy those freedoms.

Maybe – we all collectively, rather than converting 15th August to a Hallmark card and a shopping discount day, ought to keep this day contemplative and work towards ensuring that Independence is not just a term.

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Aao School Chale ….

gargi — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:54:04 +0000

One of the parameters of development is girls going to school.
For me, there are few more uplifting sights than mothers taking their kids to school

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Kishore Kumar – Intoxicating Classics

gargi — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:45:48 +0000

Kishore Kumar was a genius. His repertoire varied. and his legacy phenomenal. He was perfectly at ease with all kinds of music
from the fun & frolic (my name is anthony gonsalves); to the melancholy (manzilen apni jagah hai); from the soft wooing numbers (ek ajnabi hasina se) to the boisterous declaration of intent (haal kya hai dilon ka na pucho sanam). He also was great at the rebel anthem – muqaddar ka sikandar – and the whimsical folksy philo number -which Mukesh did very well – like ruk jaana nahin …

There is another area of songs that Kishoreda excelled in, and that was the inebriated lover. I am not quite sure whether he imbibed or not, but the songs that he sang for the intoxicated lover were quite outstanding. Here in, no order of preference are my favorite Kishore da ‘drunken’ numbers

A) Yeh jo Mohabat Hai - no one sang for a wounded lover, better than Kishoreda. For some reason he managed the bitterness, the hurt and the ‘why me’ feeling better than most. Rafi sahaab’s drunken songs (hum bekhudi mein tum ko pukare) were more melanchonic, Kishore da’s more punchy

Here he is, in the film Kati Patang, drinking to the vagaries of a disloyal love. ‘mar jaye mit jaaye, ho jaaye badnaam’ sound incredibly personal.

B) My Name is Anthony Gonsalves – Kishore Da sings for the Big B. I can’t think of a more endearing drunk than Anthony Gonsalves. Remember the scene in the film, where Anthony after a punch up with Amar (Vinod Khanna) begins applying band aid on the mirror !
This is the song where Anthony chances upon Jenny (Parveen Babi) and promptly gets drunk. The song is a blast and an all time favorite.

The English gibberish ‘the hemoglobin of the atmosphere’ is rapped (before the term came into existence ) by Amitabh Bachchan.

C) Yeh Kya Huva - alcohol does not just get you drunk, it also leads to philosophical clarity (atleast in Hindi films) as is the case in Amar Prem. Kishore Da sings this for Rajesh Khanna who is trying to figure the who, where, when, what, why of life

D) Salaam-e-Ishq meri jaan - alcohol doesn’t just make you melanchonic or philosophical, it also lowers your inhibitions. Here is a song from Muqadaar ka Sikandar – my favorite adaptation of Devdas. Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan setting the screen on fire with Salaam-e-Ishq

E) Jai Jai Shiv Shankar - Bhang is not alcohol – but its effects are similar. Loss of inhibition, boisterous behavior, and the belief you can ‘handle’ it. An emotion akin to that felt by idiots who get behind the wheel of a car and drive after one too many. Here is Kishore da (with Lata Mangeshkar) singing for a completely sloshed Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz in Aap ki Kasam

and of course, there is the Big B, after consuming bhang laced paan who has a blast in the old “Don”. Legend had it that Kishoreda, sang the first part of the song with paan in his mouth – whether it was laced with Bhaang or not is anyone’s guess.

F) Thodi si jo Peeli - When you are drunk, you do strange things like dance on tables (a friend has done that) or sing antakshari with Shiv Sena workers (me – or you do what AB does in Namak Halaal – tho’ in this song, if memory serves me right, he pretends to be drunk rather than being. But still a good inebriated song. Check for KK’s well timed hiccups

for me, this film was the best that Bappi Da has ever composed for – each song is a classic.

G) Hai Hai Hai Yeh Nighayen - In early Hindi films – 50′s and even 1960′s alcohol meant westernization – unless of course you were getting drunk on country liquor in a tawaif’s kota. It never happenend in a family, party scenario. Here is one of the early Kishore numbers picturised on Dev Anand – who actually didn’t need alcohol to be wobbly – The film is Paying Guest

H) Khulam Khula Pyaar Karenge Hum Dono – Alcohol, in Hindi films, is also a pheromone, that brings about strange behavior in those who imbibe it. Such as the desire to make out on a public road in the hill stations. Here are Kishore Da and Asha Bhonsle singing for Rishi Kapoor & Neetu Singh – in Khel Khel Mein.

I) Badi Sooni Sooni Hai - the single drink is a dangerous thing, especially when you are depressed or alone. It accentuates the feeling and pushes you to the second, and the third and so on…. As exhibited by AB in Mili. There is no one more alone than AB in this film – his father murdered his mother when he was a kid, and the neighbours can’t stop talking about him. His salvation is Mili (Jaya B) – classic Mills & Boon plot with a great dose of sentimentality. There is one more first here – AB acted in a chick flic before the term came into existence.

J) Chingari Koi Badke - Alcohol disperses all illusions and makes the world a clearer place – atleast until you stay drunk. The film is Amar Prem, and Kishore Kumar sings for Rajesh Khanna – who is in a permanent state of alcohol induced philosopher mode. One of my favorite songs of all times.

Do add your favorites to this list.

Also check out last year’s list – Classical Kishore - Kishore da singing songs based on classical ragas.

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Bone Cutter

gargi — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:02:24 +0000

Was at the dentist yesterday. To have extracted a molar in the lower jaw that had been killed by the wisdom that grew in a strange way.

The dentist took out a particularly mean looking instrument.
“what is that”, i mumbled – the jaw and lips numb & heavy with local anesthetic.
“a bone cutter’, replied the dentist – without missing a beat.
He then smiled and said “don’t ask me any questions”

after that, I didn’t.

Am I the only one with visions of Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman in the Marathon Man – when sitting in a dentist’s chair, I wonder !

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