Ride on Sea Link

I’ve always had one recurring dream, that I am flying…yes I have the immense sense of freedom & although I had to fight for it earlier or now simply get it, I feel the ultimate symbol of freedom is to fly literally…NOT fly a plane as pilot or fly in a plane as a passenger.

I envy birds & after seeing Iron man it gave me more & more the itch to fly. I thought with this sea link my one dream can be fulfilled, sadly it won’t! Recently I went on the Bandra –Worli sea link as I suggested to the editor our auto-journo should take a high-end car and take a test drive across the Mumbai’s new sea link. He first thought I wanted a free ride! I explained in my style I would be paying for the toll & going personally in a taxi don’t need free ride…rather nothing free…when I said it is for the Sunday edition his news sense surfaced!

Finally he alerted the auto journo, she gave me couple of names of cars which really didn’t sound worth the drive. Later she said the Audi showroom had agreed to send the new Q5 vehicle…now we were talking I felt. We left for Bandra in her car, she loves driving is an understatement…anyways, this was the very next day after the launch we were heading to the Sea link. I was quite excited to see how Mumbaikars have received the news of the new link.

We took a little while to get to the sea link, however not as exaggerated as many have stated. It was a village jatra –fair. Mood of festivities & we were the cynosure of all people. Imagine where people have hired cars, taxis, brought out their Hondas, here we went in the Audi Q5 with the hood open & windows all rolled down!

The way people showed us their appreciation was not out of any jealousy, but a positive envy admiring a grand vehicle on a grander sea link…it was amazing, I’d never have imagined. One young exec rolled down the glass of his window and said, “This car’s worth it all,” he clapped his hands. While yet another old uncle, actually must be a grandfather rolled down his window and waved at us.

We had quite a few attractions one being the vehicle itself. Then the fact that my lady colleague was at the wheel was a bigger attraction. I too stood up and looked out of the roof. It was thrilling, my closest to flying, really speaking. I mean if we minus the plane journeys which don’t give you the flying feeling, no way man.

The people’s encouragement and appreciation actually changed this test drive story totally. From an ordinary auto story I am sure it has become a mood piece, it should. Considering this IS the spirit of Mumbai city. The fact that someone else’s luxury is not seen in an evil way. It was admiration in a positive way. I definitely think this positive

I also admire the way the taxi drivers after their gruelling day took their family to enjoy the sea link. Even the otherwise most average middle-class Mumbaikar who is caught in their daily struggle went out of their way to enjoy the ride. Yes, the reason being the Congress politicians got their demand to remove the toll tax for first three days. It is a political decision, so is the inauguration which was rushed, so what. We have had worse political decisions being taken regarding the slums.

Sex over coffee

There is a saying at the Café Coffee Day or CCD as its called here in India – “A lot can happen over coffee.” This is their slogan, which I say is true.

Really a lot happens over coffee. People engage in long conversations, sit staring into each other’s eyes for hours; some others indulge in long drawn out debates or discussions and many simply sit around staring into space. Many others strum guitars, come in groups to chill & enjoy, some for intense personal conversations and generally a lot happens over coffee.

Initially when my friends would force me to go with them because I am not much of a coffee drinker. Rather I detest coffee. I get totally turned on by the brewing smell of tea, chaai. I was most disturbed when I went over to the US. I could smell a Starbucks or any other coffee from a distance of miles…my stomach would churn. It still does, but much less now.

Hence when we would all meet I had to first deal with a severe churning stomach…over a period of time I began adjusting & preparing myself mentally. Coz I think the mind controls all our senses. Last few years even in our office I’ve had to adjust to sipping some absolutely milky (I detest milk) coffee, since I can’t bear to drink ready made milky tea form a machine.

Now this far too milky coffee drinking would go one for hours. I prefer eating at these cafés –one gets good snacks & more so great pastries. Over a period of time I realised one needs to ‘look’ busy at these cafés rather than eat or drink anything. So like in Pune’s Vaishali & Rupali cafés what the Brahmin kids do, is what one needs to do at the coffee shops. Here we all go & buy our coffees or drinks together. Instead like the Brahmin kids one must order one coffee at a time, sit sipping it or like a scotch nurse it for over hours, then according to me we ‘look’ busy & are spending money.

The young college kids know how to wisely spend their money & divide more time at the cafés. They strum guitars, stare for long into each other’s eyes.

I love one hobby & that is to observe people pass on the streets. And with this observation one morning at Andheri opposite fame ad labs Anne & I sat at a CCD. We were waiting on a friend. We were sitting in the air-conditioned section & suddenly we saw a yucky man…the typical pimp, gigolo looking types.

Yes these gigolo, pimp types are recognisable in India. This one was straight out of a Hindi film…the gigolo pimp shady looking character.

Most of the pimps have ugly coloured streaks or colours on their hair, they were gold earrings, they have thick gold bracelet flashy in every sense of the word. They are on their cell phone which is not one…they speak in code language & are loud.

We saw one Russian whore…to be politically correct, a Russian sex worker walk in the porch wt a trolley bag. She was white that’s about it. Not great looks –well ofcourse I am aware looks has nothing to do with sex! Especially as regards many Indian men are concerned, they are more interested in the colour, whatever may be in front of them. The pimp kept himself busy on the cell & was networking all the while. In few minutes we saw a typical Marawari businessman walk in….a fat slob, in a shiny shirt, tight pants, bursting out of his clothes (I’m sure by now he was, considering he was close to fulfilling his dream of sleeping with a white woman) and chewing the famous paan…how can even their wives sleep with them is a question I always have.

Anne & I sat looking bewildered, since the whole sex call unfolded in front of our eyes. We were like she is a hooker & this businessman wants her & the pimp was striking the deal. Yes, hands were shaken, money exchanged between the pimp & the Russian walked away wt the Maru dragging her trolley behind.

Sure besides love, singing & staring, sex seems to have happened over the coffee. Yes, the pimp had ordered a coffee and sat showing he was interested in it!

My tribute if I can say....

Hemant Karkare: Progressive and Secular to the Core
Here is one of the best, and most revealing, obits of Hemant Karkare. It appeared in today's DNA.

Ramakumar

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210370&pageid=0

'He always led from the front'

Neeta Kolhatkar / DNA

Sunday, November 30, 2008 03:26 IST

Hemant Karkare, the Anti-Terrorist Squad chief was born into a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh where his parents lived. His father, Kamlakar worked in Central Railways as a guard and his mother was a teacher.

The family moved to Nagpur when Karkare was in the sixth standard. His mother Kumudini who had both bachelor's and master's degrees in education, after her marriage, taught at D Dinanath School.

Karkare's childhood friends remember the family as warm, simple, rational and highly educated. "Kamlakar and I were worked together. He was an active trade unionist of National Railway Mazdoor Union and All-India Guards Council," recalls Narayan Rao, secretary of Maharashtra unit for All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation, an affiliate of World Peace Organisation.

Kamlakar was a great influence on Hemant. "He inherited his father's qualities of being rational and able to identify with the masses," Rao says.

Kamlakar was close to AB Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India. "Kamlakar helped the poor, he would give them homeopathic medicines," he added. He was also inspired by his mother's resilience and was his role model.

"The one thing that stands out about the Karkare family is that while they were Brahmins, who were not atheists but were never pro-RSS. His family was far from fundamentalist Brahmins you meet in this city," says Rao.

Hemant studied at the New English High School in Nagpur. "When the bigger boys bullied him, he would just ignore them," says his friend Colonel Rahul Goverdhan.

Hermant later went on to study Mechanical engineering. He then joined Hindustan Lever, appeared for his UPSC exams and joined the Indian Police Services.

Karkare was an excellent sculptor. He made lampshades and artefacts from wood. As SP, Chandrapur, he had learnt these skills from local artisans. He even helped them sell their wares. Hemant would make gifts for his friends and family like photo frames," recalls Avinash Joshi, a friend.

Goverdhan says Karkare liked to take charge of things. "The day he was to take over as SP Chandrapur, there was an attack on the police. Hemant went and opened the police station and lead the attack on the Naxals. He always wanted his men to know they could count on him,"says Goverdhan.

Karkare's colleagues from the ministry of external affairs remember him as a teacher to them. "We worked in Vienna many years ago. He was my guru," says Kamaldeep Khanna, an officer with MEA.

Hemant was just 54 when his career was cut short. He is survived by his wife Kavita, a teacher, the backbone of the family.

k_neeta@dnaindia.net
Posted by R. Ramakumar at 2:49 PM 1 comments
Labels: Mumbai

Thai government changes its approach to the stateless

Thai government changes its approach to the stateless
Neeta Kolhatkar
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 21:01 IST

Bangkok: Boon is a 44-year-old, barefoot lawyer who heads the human rights clinic in Mei Aai district, Northern province of Chaing Rai in Thailand. Aided by UNICEF, she visits villages and district authorities to pursue the cause of stateless people in the country.
Neeta Kolhatkar / DNA
Nasoh is a 12-year-old student, born in Chai Sen. Her parents are Thai, but hold a pink card

Boon herself is a victim of the stateless problem. She was 22 when she learnt that although she was born and lived in Thailand, she had no nationality. "My mother missed the census and although she is Thai by birth, I am not a citizen. In 2002, some of my relatives got Thai citizenship. I got an identity card and then realised I was not a citizen of this country," Boon says.

Boon began making enquiries with district-level authorities, who told her she needed to prove she was a Thai national. "I was frustrated with the system but I did not get bogged down. Instead, I decided to take this up as a challenge. I studied law and began to pursue my citizenship," she says.

She went to her birthplace and spoke to relatives, a midwife, neighbours and relatives who had witnessed her birth. She drew a family tree of those relatives who had received Thai nationality, and was helped by professor Phunthip Sasoonthorn, faculty of law, Thammasat University, lawyers and UNICEF. "They took DNA samples from me and my relatives. The cost was exorbitant, but finally, my case was admitted in court and I won it," says a beaming Boon.

Human Rights Clinic has paid for the families of two of us and it came to nearly 80,000Bahts because of the distance between the relatives.

After 2006, 1,243 applicants could be admitted. There are more than 100 students and a total of 3,000 people who have applied for citizenship. Till now, 100 of them have received Thai nationality.

Apart from Boon, others, like Panee Sukom, 25, are suffering despite being the children of Thai nationals. Sukom's mother came to Thailand from Myanmar over four decades ago; Sukom was born before 1992, and under Thai law, that makes her eligible for citizenship. But her civil registration certificate says she was born in Burma, while her birth certificate says she was born in Thailand.

"In my case it is the local officer who made a mistake in my civil registration. I don't know if it was deliberate, because my mother is illiterate and could not read it at the time and correct it on the spot," Sukom says. Today, she is married to a Thai man, has a child who is a Thai national, but still has a long fight ahead.

"The fact is, not having Thai nationality or citizenship means one is deprived of all rights. I get no voting rights, I can't own land or a house," says a sad Sukom.

Nasoh, a 12-year-old student, was born in Chai Sen. Her parents are Thai but hold a pink card. When the refugee problem escalated, the Thai government came out with a proposal to give refugee cards to Burmese migrants. Nasoh's parents took the card with the hope that they would get benefits, not realising that their citizenship would be nullified.

"My parents took it because they could not read. They thought the pink card was free and would give them some benefits, but it changed our status completely. Today we have zero status," says Nasoh.

Her parents gave her up for adoption to her aunt and uncle, who were childless and who notified her as their daughter. However, last year, when volunteers came to tell her of her status, Nasoh realised she had zero none. "I began to feel different from others the minute I realised I was not a Thai national. In class, nobody treats me badly or excludes me, but I feel odd about this whole experience."

The fact is, the Thai government has been trying to address this issue based on the national security concern. The Thai national human rights commission, civil society organisations and academicians have pressured the government into seeing this with a humanitarian approach. In the last three years, three acts - the Immigration Act, the Nationality Act and the Civil Registration Act - have been amended to solve this problem.

"The stateless people's issue is of concern to the government because they see it as being related to national security. This is the mainstream, conventional way of seeing things," says Dr Amara Pongsapich, anthropologist with Chulalongkorn University.
The shift in this approach, Amara says, came when the sub-commission roped in academicians and human rights groups. However, victims face problems at the district level because officials are not accustomed to the human-rights approach.

"A paradigm shift was pushed by civil society and academicians. However, district officers who work on this issue are caught in a dilemma - whether to follow the law to the letter, or be humanitarian. They don't have an open mind about human rights. Although information has been passed down regarding the amendments to the law, they seem reluctant to implement them," Amara says.

The government Human Rights Commission says one of the biggest hurdles is making other departments and ministries understand the human security issue and help them shed their traditional roles as security officials.

"We are not only the implementing agency, but the monitoring agency as well. Cabinet ministers take our views and reports seriously. It is not easy at the district level," says Ekachai Pinkaew, a senior officer of the Human Rights Commission. "On the other hand, it is equally hard working with other ministries. I have to convince and negotiate with the military and immigration officers. We need their support but this is a typical characteristic of the bureaucracy," Pinkaew adds.

An important development this week was that the Human Rights Commission could get the approval of the National Health Commission to pass the right to health for stateless people. "Ministers are open to new ideas; this week, we discussed the right to health for stateless people as it has already been passed by the National Health Committee. It will soon be passed in Parliament," Pinkaew adds.

Poems of girls

A girl
She suffered in silence
She held herself guilty
What had she done to attract this crime on herself?
She was a young girl, he an uncle

She woke up one night to a hand feeling up her thigh
She threw her blanket and woke up with a start
She felt like a kitten

He had tried but couldn’t penetrate
She was scared but had shown her strength
She transformed her hatred & got empowered

She didn’t want to be a martyr, but she bid time
Her confidence had given her more power
Many looked upon her with awe
By then she had blocked out the past


A Lesson
The girl knocked on the door
Dogs greeted her by jumping with glee
The man came and lost colour on his face
He didn’t welcome the lady at all

The man turned away to the house
But the man’s partner welcomed the niece
Memories came flooding to them all
The uncle remembered the day he had set up the girl

Her escape had emancipated her
She no more feared
She looked up and ignored the man
He shifted around the room uncomfortably

The silence was eerie for them, the girl was serene
The dogs barked in the passage
Finally the uncle spoke on deaf ears

It was a day of reckoning
The stakes had changed
The powerless was empowered
While the philanderer was a loser

India’s mandate

Who said the Indian voter has no brains? Who said that the Indian voter can be easily bought by illicit liquor and money? Who said the Indian voter is predictable? Yes, the sephologists and media had run down all the voters and the Indian mandate.

We did see faces of the poor, malnourished Indians who seemed to have attended many a rally. Those who were paid to mark their presence for ‘crowd’ factor when big wig political leaders came to talk down to them. Huh! Few leaders took that effort to go the extra mile to walk and plead for votes. Most have now got detached. Fewer still like Sonia Gandhi and her children Priyanka or Rahul break the cordon and walk to greet the ordinary people. Most simply step out of their air conditioned cars and wave.

The voter has seen them all. Come, promise, not deliver, come again, promise again and simply disappear. This time the stalwarts came, folded hands and said, “vote.” The voter by now has been used to been taken for a ride. As if this is not enough, the political leaders took advantage of the November 26 carnage and militancy attack on Mumbai city. Some political parties like the Bharatiya Janta Party, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena tried to emotionally black mail the voters. They actually said go out and vote to prevent militant attacks!

Now I have never heard this before, that if I voted, then elections would protect me any possible terror death in future. Such was the joke of the politicians in these elections. Then us, the media, that nearly put the Congress down. The infilteration of the chaddiwallas or the right wing thought people in our media immense. Right from bottom to the top most level the chaddiwallas have taken over news rooms. So, we had pre-polls predictions saying that the BJP alliance is surely winning.

The voter was quiet. There were new trends in this city of Mumbai. The MNS and its leaders who were fielded. They proved to be fatal to the BJP-Sena combine, they also dug their own graves in some places. Because in their fight they simply lost out on crucial seats.

Yes, I personally would like Maywati to win some day. Only because she is a Dalit. That should not be criteria. I agree, she now needs to do a lot of introspection. She needs better strategy. But the fact is she can be formidable and we do need alternate thought.

Like the right wing extremist thought there exists for donkeys years a left wing etrmist thought, ideological party, Communist Party of India. They need to realise that they cannot hold a government to ransom. One man, Prakash Karat, who is not even an elected candidate heads a party and over the nuclear deal holds the nation and government to ransom, he thought he could get away with it.

The Congress too had to resort to dirty tactics, of horse trading, of bribing, paying to keep the government. Well, better late than never. Finally they woke up to a harsh reality, they needed to change with the modern times. It had to shed a lot.

They woke up a bit late but better they did. They began to give the power mantle to the next gen. So we see more like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, types who are new faces, brining in new hope.

The old right and left wing candidates began mud slinging match. They called names to stalwarts of other parties. They picked on women –Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka, other women candidates by calling them names. Whatever it is, the Indian voter has heard and seen it. The emotional cords make a difference in this country. For years the male leaders have tried to get away calling names to women in this country. There is a time for change.

The likes of Narendra Modi who now harp on ‘development’ have forgotten vital factor –HUMAN RIGHTS. He was the conduit and abettor for crimes and murder in his state the Gujarat. The so-called Gujarat model was being promoted even in Maharashtra. I agree once my state Maharashtra was a power-excess state. We could have sold the excess power to toher states and made some money, plus initiated projects to add to the existing megawatts. We did NOTHING. We were arrogant with ‘power!’

Today we have to listen to a abettor of murders tell us that he will teach us a lesson. He claims to be the prime minister candidate? All these events and developments made some ‘intelligent’ extra politically wise and enlightened people say that the American model can only work in India. They claimed overnight that India is a shit place to be in, our politics sucks, why? Because the next gen America had voted for Obama dude!

Dude, one needs to understand to this country and its set up. We voters choose a council of ministers who elect one man as Prime minister. But we choose people who are able or at least considered. They and an even more able administration are supposed to draft pro- people policies and ensure the mandate benefits. That many have failed to fulfil this basic right or principle is another matter. That doesn’t make a system redundant. The people elected were wrong or not worth it. Some in fact are the ones who now claim of given a chance they could have made a difference, made a better govt. All have been given a chance. For the sake of petty politics they have sacrificed the whole good. They sacrificed people’s power for their own power – like the BJP and CPI (M).

The people have realised this all petty politics doesn’t work. This time for the first time in years people have reposed faith in the Congress, the old able party. This time the youth came out to vote, the rural and urban voter though alike. We want change. We want the country to go forward, develop and we want policies for ourselves. This clear majority of Congress is definitely a way the Indian voter has rubbished misplaced claims by the elite intelligentsia (who has no bloody clue of people’s pulse), media and regressive right, left wing people that the Indian voter does not understand. We do and we surely know that the issues of the national level are different from local and state.

Being positive in times of Economic Recession

Now I do read financial and economic news, especially because 0ver 10 years ago i used to cover the stock market, economic news & even did stories on the interest rates. That apart, initially i could not differentiate between the Blue chip & other companies...that understanding was as good as my understanding of 'windows' & dos when it first was launched.

According to my sister i was total embarrassment to her IT super speciality types...because when I first heard of 'windows & dos' i thought doors & windows open and some software comes out of it.. now i am a creative, communication person, although highly logical...but that is so different from IT which is unnecessarily complicated and sorry for me these IT types are as good as bank clerks or tech up loaders...similarly was my understanding of the stock market..i never understood why any company was called 'blue chip' company. Chip i always associated with software chips, blue...i thought was to do with blue collared workers. Now that too baffles me, why certain types of workers, managers basically humans were called blue-collared...i know there is colloquialism, but it need not stretch to such an extent.

Coming to the modern economic news - the banks in India were working well, till some dumb white fellows asked us to roll back on nationalism on every front..everything got privatised. Privatisation means NO public service or welfare. This is true, because if you see how the power companies world over have taken consumers for a ride with the pricing of per unit, rates & their total lack of public commitment, this should have given an indicator to the bloody Americans that privatisation has simply NOT worked. Yet, they went ahead & introduced privatisation of banking processes.

So NO people interaction, NO people giving or taking slips, cheques...now over a period of time this whole complicated process got majorly marred by vested interests, greedy officials, so now we landed with major economic recession. In the midst of this recession, me with 21 other fellows got selected for the international rotary course for peace & conflict resolution. I was constantly plagued by only one question that my friends & well wishers had, "How has your office given you permission? What about your job? etc, etc" Their concern was basically how would i survive this job during recession times.

Everyday i saw on Al Jazeera (My sensible window to the world it was), how older & more experienced professionals were being asked to sit at home, losing jobs & facing the worst time of their lives. I do not need to see recession for that, i have experienced it few years ago, for sticking my neck for myself & standing up to my own rights.

On this note, our office i am told was sacking people. I got emails from certain friends who confessed they were asked to put in their papers. The whole sacking was done decently & sensitively, but the persons were asked to leave. Then came the news of pay cuts. Which again has been done with caution & thoughtfulness...they have tried to save our cash component, etc. I am sure no person likes to tell another person to sit at home or tell staff that their pay is being cut. I have no problems to the latter, because if cutting my pay can save jobs i am absolutely satisfied about. Yes, because i also strongly believe if my job has to go it will, if it has to survive it will...but i have also realised a few complications that are beyond my understanding. Like why windows was called as windows for a bloody software programme...

The complications are as follows - the restaurants have NOT increased prices, but they drastically cut down on the portions they serve. They have NOT reduced prices, like our salaries, but you get to eat less. Imagine, as it is we earn lesser now we get to eat lesser...this equation i have NOT understood.

Then some products their prices keep mounting -like the darn Apple products! How their prices have increased when stupid ones like me go to buy them on zero EMI instalments??? I wonder.. they are still bloody expensive...

NO utility has reduced its fares because there is recession. If there is No or lesser money around every sector is affected, the diesel, petrol, CNG rates haven't fallen. A a result the bus & cab fares haven't decreased. So we as consumers continue to spend as much or more than what we have been till now, except the value for what i get in return seems to be decreasing.

Now i thought is a good time the stupid governments announce that the interest rates will increase, so the savings will at least double or become one and a half times...no but we don't get such bonanzas. Our tipping by the way has NOT decreased. If the portions have decreased, salaries have decreased, we continue to be weighed down by the social responsibility & guilt for paying less tips. But how does NO other person get weighed down by the cut in my salary. My working hours have not decreased, the pressures have not decreased, rather they have doubled. My work load has been modified & more has been added. More output is expected...

so the law of economics do not work in our favour, but they work for in those above and below my category. I n all this some bloody evil-minded person stole my expensive Ipod (of 8gb memory), that too a piece i bought on zero EMI on instalments...I'm supposed to forgive that person for his/her misdeed & pray i am able to afford it again?? I cursed the person & said that the person should & will incur 5 & a half times my loss for causing me such immense grief.

I have now given my status line as, "pay cuts, hot weather, no houses at cheap rates, bad candidates, NO better opps & people stealing my Ipod...yet i am told be +, this too shall pass...." i mean i really should be given a meddle for being positive, optimistic & surreal hopeful!

Confidentiality of rape victim

Yet again a girl has been raped in the so-called 'safe' city, Bombay, alias Mumbai! Guess if some incident occurs frequently it means a few things. Firstly, there is something drastically lacking in the very systems & structures - here its primarily secuirty, law & order; more so self-control & respect for a girls / women. It also means the safety of women in the city has fallen down drastically. The secuirty i mean the whole city. Who is secure? Can anyone of us claim to be? I really don't think so.

It also means that there is some sort of sanction or sniggering approval for such violent acts. Because so many are silent & tight lipped when such incidents occur. Somehow the hypocrisy of the Indian society gets thoroughly exposed. Yes, because the men folk can roam around late at night, they can be arrogant, forceful & flaunt their sexuality. But if women even remotely show similar attitude, they are termed as 'fast' women who deserve the consequences. The very faith they have in the system is destroyed, rather crushed to bits...

Last week an American Indian student from a social sciences college went out with her female friend for drinks. The whole episode till here & thereafter has many a loophole. Was there any breach of trust between these two? Why did this girl go out with 'friends' of her female friends. so on so forth is now coming out. I have a question. Do we not trust our own friends? Do we distruct every person we meet? I travel alone, i interact with people and its interesting what one can see around. I don't drink with strangers except close friends, this is a rule. On tour or travel i restrict myself to only a glass of beer. Plus a BIG lesson, NO mixing drinks...However this has been soemthing i have been able to stick with come what may. Sometimes like in this case of Ms R things didn't go her way.

She couldn't resist the forceful men. They forced her to drink, offered her LSD marijuana ciggie, etc...a lot is being said of what she could have done. I know one thing i can imagine is she could have just shouted out for help. Would she have got it i can't vouch, it would've at least put some pressure on the horny males with her. Poor child, a lot of mixes happened & eventually she landed in a huge personal, emotional & physcial trauma - she was raped.

But as if this wasn't enough. She had the courage to go to her hostel officials & tell them. They went to the hospital, police station, underwent all tests, etc. She filed a 'First Information Report.' Now this is supposed to be CONFIDENTIAL. Interestingly, the media in India has become very 'investigative.' The editors more pushy. so according to what my colleagues told me many news organisations & people had been given by the police the copies of the FIR.

The FIR is a real weapon for the victim. That is also confidential a document. Also if a journalist gets the copy of an FIR, one is NOT supposed to reporduce it verbatim. Here we had an over-excited tabloid newspaper male reporter who went ahead & published all details. Every action that the poor child could remember was described like a D grade sex film! Readers were subjected to the Gory details...instead of publishing the excerpts from this FIR, the whole darn paper was reproduced.

It was the most disgusting & repulsive piece of journalism i have read or seen in modern times. I sincerely believe such journalists should be castrated or flogged...Not for once did the bloody editor of this tabloid stop to think she is a woman & how she is encroaching upon a vulnerable, already shattered girl's privacy. Every word was published as if the reporter & the editor had relished & enjoyed every word that was printed on their paper. It nauseated some of us.

I did write to the network for working women journalists, asking us to file a suit against this third rate paper & its editor, especially since she was a woman. Pathetic is the situation in India i feel. To what extent will journalists go to get a story. In Our paper the bosses acutally pulled up the crime team for 'missing' out on this story. I want to ask do editors forget they too are humans. We all have women in our households. Would we allow something to be written abt any woman or girl we know in our private life? We owuld mover every stone on the way to protect that girl's relative's identity.

Why then do we not follow the same rule? Why do we not do things we'd expect others to follow? The paper failed in its very commitment to send the message of the incident to the masses, or readers. Instead it tantillised the readers, it made them curious and more so it perpetuated false perceptions of girls & women. This piece of tabloid journalism actually made people talk ill about the victim. Except for her name they had gone to town with every detail that the honest victim had recorded with the police.

It definitely brings us to the roles of ; living & suffering in a patriarchial society. The boys are being made out to be 'poor' boys, 'misled inccocents' "who did not rape but only gave the apartment to rapists." Even to know a rapist is a scary thought. How can men go beyond to help him. It is scary...The police first need to go inside the jail. Plus write ups about them need to come out more openly. The editor got her due. The women's organisations from the city went to that newspaper's office & they actually lodged an FIR with the azad maidan police.

We all suppoted this protest. I do hope this makes the editors, journalists realise the true meaning of 'confidentiality & it breach.' i only hope people use the same parametres for others that they will like to use for themselves.

Meeting former 'killers' - meeting with few soldiers of Khmer Rouge bastion

Chamcar Bei village

As a journalist I have met some amazing people from even more amazing backgrounds. Ranging from police, administrative or civil servants, judges, politicians, world leaders, extremely creative people, killers, gangsters, murderers, social workers, ordinary people doing great work...Around the 17th/ 18th of March our Peace fellows group travelled 4 hours from Phnom Penh on a visit to the once bastion of the Khmer Rouge regime. Chamcar Bei is the village.

Rugged, surrounded by forests, it is no wonder then that the Khmer Rouge found solace in that tucked away area, protected naturally from getting hounded from any side. Today there is more civilisation and it is NO wonder. As part of our studies we were to look at, rather analyse the re-integration model. The former Khmer Rouge soldiers were integrated in the Royal Thai Army & in the villages with other Cambodians, as part of the amnesty programme.

In this Chamcar Bei village we sat among villagers who were killers & perpetuators of violence! They were once Khmer Rouge soldiers. These people were being helped by a NGO -Bridge across borders, to help the villagers to adjust, rebuild their lives & become an united Cambodia.

However the fact is there are simmering differences & anger within the people. Our mini group of 5 persons spoke & interacted with the founder of this village, Prep Chem. He is an 82 year old man who was present in 1995. This was the time when the last group of Khmer Rouge soldiers surrendered & gave up their arms in Chamcar Bei village.

Prep was present on the day the last bastion of the Khmer Rouge soldiers laid their arms. It was a forested area, not a surprise, since Chamcar Bei even after 14 years bears the forest look. He recollected that day & told us that they watched soldiers being given the amnesty & welcomed by the Thai army. From being killers, from an extremist insurgent ideology they moved into more official status to kill. Prep told us forthrightly, "Life was harsh in the times of Khmer Rouge. We toiled as labour but today we have machines & life has become easier."

When we asked him how did the Khmer Rouge senior officers recruit the foot soldiers, Prep said their anger was NOT against these lower soldiers. "They were forced. They would have died anyways. The officers would come with the rolls of names like a muster, call out names randomly & simply order people to join them. If they did they were doomed, if they didn't they would have been killed!"

He also added, "Earlier some joined them out of fascination for their ideology. They got attracted to all the talk of working as labourers for the country & the promises they made."I am sure people's expectations were raised. Because like in India, the elite, Brahmins were THE only ones who got access to education, creativity & fine arts. They good jobs & as a result were held in high esteem by the ordinary people. As a result the rural areas or hinterlands were completely IGNORED!

May be for the first time I heard & witnessed what my Communist friends had been saying. I NOWHERE condone the daths & killings or their mentality...what started as a good anti-Brahmin, anti-elitist movement turned into one of the worst genocide crimes in the world. That too NOT ancient, but as recent as 1979-1989!! Our generation was born, educated & graduated by then...

He remembers the past distinctly, like most of the others who survived the horrors of the genocide. For over 2 generations people have suffered & are still struggling to come to terms with this tragedy. However like a majority of Cambodians, Prep refuses to visit his or his country's past. "There is no point going back to the past. It was horrible and we are glad it is over."

We asked Prep & the other villagers who among them was a Khmer Rouge soldier or were among the high ranking officers. They simply did not hear or rather behaved NOT to hear it. Prep told us there were new forms of conflict in their village. They admitted that had only heard of the tribunal but had no clue what it was. One person however said, "There are many killers who still live amongst us. They are not Duche or others."

This form of restorative justice or even the tribunal doesn't seem to have gone down well with a majority of Cambodian people. People here believe spending millions of dollars for 5 accused who they have never met or interacted with is a waste, when the millions in this country are struggling to get a decent living, jobs, food and a roof over their heads. Hu Noon, a volunteer with the Red Cross told me, "We find it difficult to work in the dark. We hear the cities have power 24 hours. We would like to have some electricity."

This speaks volumes regarding their government's priorities. Everyone knows the PM of Cambodia was a former Khmer Rouge & Heun Sung. He was never in favour of this tribunal. In another group a high ranking Khmer Rouge lady soldier was the spokeswoman. In fact she was so dominating that she didn't give anyone an opportunity to put their point across. She infact made it a point to tell the group that is all was well & there was no problem. Later at the time of wrap up she created a furore with murmurs of demanding money. Her logic was simple, we had taken their time & energy & they needed to be compensated. After they were given a token monetary gift, she voiced her opposition.

People feel the real perpetuators have escaped the trial while the country heads are wasting time & resources on those biggies who do not matter