About the
Azad Reading Room

Azad Reading Room
[Secunderabad]
NEW

Support the Azad Reading Room

Bharat Samajh: Understanding India

India Report
NEW

Corporate Globalization

World Social Forum

Publications

Other sites of Interest

HOME

NEW    INDIA REPORT
No. 25
JULY 2008

INTRODUCTION:

The dominant mass media is full of reports about rapid annual rates of economic growth - now 8%, then 10% and back to 9%. Advertisements in magazines and newspapers plus TV & radio emphasize consumer durables, fast food, jewelry, synthetic textiles as well as automobiles and scooters. Proliferating urban shopping malls prominently display signs ‘GREED IS GOOD’ , ‘HAVE YOU INNOVATED TODAY’ - the latter referring to style in consumer purchases. WalMart type mega shops are highly visible and frequented by segments of the middle & upper income families. All of the above are aspects of the lives of 20% of India’s population. For a majority of the rest of the 80% of the people of India the conditions illustrate spreading displacement, sharpening social divisions and deepening degradation.. In the words of a sober analysis, “ India’s growth process during the last two decades does not seem to have been a virtuous one - it has polarized the economy. It has been a period of growth with inequality” (R. Nagaraj. “Indian Economy since 1980”. Economic & Political Weekly. August 5,2000. Pp.2831-2839; for a recent comment, see: Jeremy Seabrook. “The Paupers Arrive---”. OUTLOOK. June 16,2008).

Over a period of about 5 months, between November ‘07 and April ‘08, the editor of India Report traveled in India across 8 states to 10 destinations (mainly urban). Film screenings, discussions and presentations re. the contemporary global economic turbulence were the main activities of engagement. New contacts were made and ARR is in the process of strengthening its links with a wider and diverse set of individuals/groups.

India Report 25(IR25) will briefly cover aspects of India’s economy, politics and social conditions. The usual segments on Books, Films, Plays, Toons & Pics are included. Added is a short statement regarding new developments in the work of Azad Reading Room (ARR) in Secunderabad. IR 25 concludes with its annual appeal for support in solidarity.

ECONOMY:

High rates of economic growth plus extensive reporting about rising consumption, particularly about durables ( automobiles, refrigerators, motor bikes, scooters and the like) are highlighted by the mass media. Such reporting has been extended into the regional language media. This is a reality for about 20% of the population and is premised on what one prominent economist suggests as ‘predatory growth’ (See: Amit Bhaduri. “Predatory Growth”. Economic & Political Weekly. April 19-25, 2008). Furthermore as noted in the 2006-2007 Alternate Economic Survey, “-----the National Commission for Enterprises in Unorganized Sector reports that 836 million (out of India’s total population of 1.1 billion - Editor) Indians, that is more than twice the number of Indians in 1947, have to live on under Rs. 20/- per day (approximately 50 cents US - Editor). (Alternative Economic Survey Group. Pampering Corporates, Pauperising Masses - 2006-2007).

Alternative Economic Survey. New Delhi. Daanish Books. 2007. P. xiii).

Towards the last quarter of 2007 there were indications of a slowdown in the rate of economic growth in both agriculture and industry. By mid-year 2008 such a slowdown is confirmed along with the appearance of a rapid increase in inflation - these tendencies being linked to & brought about by a world wide economic turbulence and downturn. Food riots and demonstrations against the steep increases in the price of daily necessities have taken place across India.

Contemporary India still has over 70% of its population dependent on agricultural activity. The slowdown of economic growth in agriculture has hit this population the hardest - hunger, malnutrition, suicides displacement and general degradation stalk the daily lives of the rural population. A main factor in India’s agrarian crisis is the persistent inequality in land and its necessary inputs (water, seeds, credit). Using NSSO data from the 48th and 59th Survey rounds, a recent researcher indicates the 40% of the households DO NOT own land, 15 million acres remains in holdings above 20 acres and between 1992 & 2003-’04 inequality has worsened ( See: Vikas Rawal. “Ownership Holdings of Land in Rural India----”. Economic & Political Weekly. March 8-14,2008; D. Bandyopadhyay. “Does Land Still Matter”. Economic & Political Weekly. March 8-14,2008). According to another report a true index of poverty in India is the fact of landlessness (See: “Landlessness True Index of Poverty”. The Hindu. December 9,2007). Over the past year programs have been launched to ’waive debts’ and in the past decade to extend credit through Grameen Banks. The impact of the ‘waive debt’ scheme is summed by an award winning analyst as: “ The UPA government’s waiver is no solution to even the immediate crisis let alone long term agrarian problems. In short we haven’t begun to resolve the debt crisis of these and other millions of farmers” (P.Sainath. “ Oh! What a Lovely Waiver”. The Hindu. March 10,2008.p.11). As regards micro-credit, M.J Akbar noted that interest rates of 20% are standard operating procedures of Grameen Banks plus 80 million Takas are collected as fees. (See: M.J Akbar. “A Dhaka Diary”. Deccan Chronicle. February 10,2008 - In the first half of 2008 the US $1.00 was exchanging for between 68.5 & 68.6 Bangladeshi Takas).

In the rush to modernity, the State (national & regional) has taken the course of creating SEZ’s (special economic zones). In order to attract investment, a package of incentives is offered to potential investors (often big business and/or Trans-national’s e.g. Lakshmi Mittal, the UK based steel billionaire) in order to establish their business ventures. Part of the package is the provision of land, often taken forcibly from settlers/owners. Any resistance to such a process is met with the full force of the State (police & army) and local militias - Nandigram in West Bengal is a recent example (See: Prem Shankar Jha. “The State as Landlord”. OUTLOOK. March 17,2008). Do village level governing bodies (Panchayats) make a significant difference in upholding the rights of the grieved? More often than not these village level governing bodies are under-staffed as well as under-funded which makes their work ineffective (See: Soumyajit Pattnaik. “Panchayat Hands Tied ---”. Hindustan Times. February 25, 2008).

It is no wonder that rural conditions have deteriorated to the extent that a farmer is likely to commit suicide every 30 minutes (See: Vishwa Mohan & Nitin Sethi. “Developed States Have Worst Record”. Times of India. November 22,2007).

A comment regarding the high-tech IT industry. While this segment of the urban economy does provide a large number of jobs, the founder of Hotmail (Sabeer Bhatia) notes, “ India has a long way to go before it can call itself a IT power because we have yet to create a world class IT product ---- we have yet to master the skills necessary for product innovation.” (Sabeer Bhatia. “India Has a Long Way to Go” The Hindu. December 9,’07. Magazine section. P.1). Furthermore the jobs provided are usually during ‘graveyard’ hours and concentrated at the lower level of work/skill spectrum. Several of the prominent firms in this sector keep their employees ‘on the bench’ for extended periods of time (See: Gopi Rajagopal. “The Other Side of the IT BOOM” The Hindu. December 30, 2007).

Finally a comment about world disparities and whether the ‘world is flat’. The Indian economy is unequal and growing more so. How does this fit into the global pattern? A small segment of the global population controls and uses a very large proportion of the resources of the world In the past two decades such inequality has increased with devastating consequences for the poorest third of the worlds population. In this sense the world is NOT flat but unequal & uneven - neo-Malthusians and followers of Thomas Friedman spin tales of fantasy. (See: George Monbiot, “Finite Resources: The Greed of the Rich”. The Hindu. January 30,2008; Neelima Mahajan. “An Antidote to Thomas Friedman”. The Times of India (Mumbai). November 20, 2007; Raj Patel. Stuffed and Starved. 2008. N.Y. Melville House Publishing ).

POLITICS:

In the early months of 2008, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the elections in Pakistan, nuclear deals between India & the US and the not too distant elections in India took a large portion of the media’s attention regarding politics in the region. Elections in India, as in most other places are like horse races and in the period before there is hectic activity among the leadership/ranks of the UPA(the current coalition in power in New Delhi) as well as the NDA( former coalition government in New Delhi - defeated in 2004) to chalk out strategies aimed at securing a leading position at the gate.

A persistent and disturbing aspect of politics is the spread of violence (physical, economic & social) visible in dramatic form by shootings in schools, random physical attacks particularly against women as well as orchestrated as ethno-linguistic mob violence as in Maharashtra (See: Our Correspondent. “One Rape every 29 Minutes”. Asian Age. January 9,’08).

Terms and phrases like democracy and democratic values are casually thrown about in connection with the restoration of civilian rule in Pakistan and with regard to participatory inclusiveness in India. However ground realities indicate the tight control by political machines , lack of staff & funds for grassroots level organization (See: B.Raman. “Who killed Benazir? Sunday Times of India (Bangalore). January 6,2008;
Soumyajit Pattnaik. Op.cit).

India & US relations are in the process of being further consolidated - joint military exercises, growing receipt of outsourced IT jobs as well as expanding trade relations are some of the prominent indicators (See:RUPE. ‘Global Power Client State’. Aspects of India’s Economy.#41. December,2005). As regards the nuclear deal, a former Deputy National Security Adviser, notes: “---- While the nuclear deal has soured in India mainly because of its intrinsic flaws, government, on its part, has also not helped its cause in the matter. Guilty of failing to progress the deal on a consensual basis it has compounded the error by marketing the deal on a series of half truths and outright falsehoods and through a campaign of vilification of those opposed to the deal” (Satish Chandra. “UPA cannot ignore N-Deal critics”. Deccan Chronicle. December 7,’07. P.7).



SOCIETY

Indian society gives the impression of undergoing rapid change with general improvement. Contrary to popular conceptions the change is accompanied by tensions, rife with violence - school shootings, organized attacks of an inter-communal nature as well as the violence of the dispossession of economic resources notably land & work (jobs). Nandigram (W. Bengal) and Nayagarh (Orissa) are dramatic examples symptomatic of the widespread presence/use of violence (See: K.Srinivas Reddy. “Operation Nayagarh was waiting to Happen”. The Hindu. February 17, 2008; TEHELKA - Cover story. November 24,2007. Pp. 38-43).

In Maharashtra, specifically Mumbai, the Raj Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has unleashed the fury of the frustrated, unemployed & socially marginalized segment of the population to drive out non-Marathi speaking people - brutal physical beatings were widespread; shops & residential property were torched while the police were non-existent (See: Olga Tellis. “Mumbai’s Fight is For New Marathi Raj”. Deccan Chronicle. February 10,2008).

The above conditions of society are triggers for calls for separate administrative areas (States) e.g. Telengana in Andhra Pradesh. In the words of the well known balladeer, Gaddar, “Many have been fighting for independence for decades. They want a separate State. They are fighting for it.---”. (Sutirtho Patranobis. Hindustan Times. February 24, 2008. P.14).

With private market dominated changes taking effect, social divisions (class & caste) are undergoing change. For example, sociologist Christophe Jaffrelot notes the changes in the middle class as becoming strengthened in its quest to make money/amass material wealth and weakened in its earlier quest to ‘serve India’. “----- today’s middle class is produced not by the State, but the market. It is no longer reformist and idealistic----”. (“Professors’ sons prefer MBA’s not PhD’s”. Interview with Morgan Harrington. TEHELKA. March 1,2008. P.47).

Part of the change is dominated by the pervasive influence of big business/transnational advertising. The English language magazine OUTLOOK in a issue of March ’08 contained 26 pages of full-page color ads out of a total of 90 pages in the entire magazine - almost a third. A majority of the ads were from non-Indian business companies. Indeed a significant indicator of the penetration of ‘global’ transnationals in the Indian written media and into the life-style of consumers.

The pattern and process of modernity in India is one where rational discourse is constantly threatened by prejudice and obscurantism - witness the recent controversy about the paintings by the celebrated artist M.F Hussain or the work of the distinguished scholar A.K.Ramanujan regarding the existence of several texts of Ramayanas each different as well as legitimate compared to Valmiki’s version championed by religious orthodoxy (“The Lord Takes Many Forms”. OUTLOOK. March 17,2008). At the same time there are concerned citizens who are actively bringing a different message before people in India. “While it may have gone unnoticed till now in Bangalore city, these artistes brought with them the hope they traveled with everywhere - of an India, casteless, superstition-free and rising above mere religious differences, when they performed at the Samsa auditorium --”. (Staff Reporter. “For a superstition-free and casteless India”. The Hindu. January 7,2008. P.3).

Societal stress is visible in many forms. One of them being at the level of societal space as ecological/environmental upheaval.. As in many parts of the world living and working space is under attack with growing/deepening degradation of land, water and air. Such a destruction of nature accentuates the oppression experienced by the working poor (See: The current issues of Down to Earth, January - June, ‘08; Cf. Ravi Chellam. “Environmental Challenges”. The Hindu. December 30,’07; Sanjeev K. Ahuja. “Disappearing Greens of Aravalli”. Hindustan Times. February 25,’08; Aruna Rodrigues. “Dancing with Frankenstein”. TEHELKA. March 29,’08).

Finally the status of women continues to remain as second class citizens - subject to oppressive violence, lower pay for similar work, limitations as to access to social services (education & health care) and severely constrained social respect (See: Kiran Bhatty. “Falling through the cracks”. The Hindu. Magazine section. March 16,2008; Kalpana Sharma. “How Confident are We?” The Hindu. Magazine section. February 10,2008; Kalpana Sharma. “Invisible Women”. The Hindu. Magazine section. December 30,2007).

AZAD READING ROOM

(Report submitted by Ms.Ambika - Coordinator): In May 06, ‘Aman Vedika’,AP chapter of Aman Biradari-a country wide campaign for peace, justice, secularism and democracy decided to be active partner in running Azad Reading Room from their office premises. In February this year, Aman Vedika had to be shifted due to unavoidable circumstances.

It was always felt that the right place for a people’s library and reading room should be in a slum area within easy access of marginalized sections of society. Since Aman Vedika was offered premises in a community hall built and belonging to an organisation working for women’s welfare, in return for activities for awareness raising, it was felt that reading room services by ARR(Azad Reading Room) like film screenings, readings and talks on various issues could also be made accessible to the community. This provides us with several advantages:
• It is centrally located near the Secunderabad Railway Station and Gandhi Hospital (Govt);
• It is located in a slum area, where people from very poor as well as lower and middle class backgrounds live.
• It is a rather ‘developed’ slum, with many young educated people interested in the activities proposed by ARR.
• There are many school going children of all ages, and a lot of them go to English medium schools, so they will have need and interest to use the books and magazines in ARR.

The current address is: AZAD READING ROOM c/o Aman Vedika, 11-1-809/1, Chinta Bavi( lane beside Sridevi cinema hall), Chilakalaguda, Secunderabad, AP-500061. The landline number is 91-40-27502013.

An added dimension to this situation is that Aman Vedika is also running a Home for traumatized children without adult care, in partnership with the government programme ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ meaning Every Child in School Campaign. This home is temporarily housed in the Aman Vedika office premises till the actual building, a Government school nearby, is ready, i.e. another 20 days.

There is considerable excitement in the area, because of the flurry of activity created by the flow of visitors to the Home. Volunteers from Satyam Foundation have chipped in to help in a big way. They have sent a lot of rice and other food basics, some of them came and celebrated their birthdays with the children, and two of them have offered to teach them dance and music. In the process, these visitors also went round the library. This has generated considerable interest, and several people have donated children’s books in Telugu and English.

Students of University of Hyderabad, have returned the 2 books and 4 films they had borrowed. They wrote to ARR saying that they had screened the film, The Long Walk Home, followed by an animated discussion about resolution of racial conflict, particularly in the context of Iraq. Parallels with caste were noted and discussed. Some reading sessions took place in May with the children of the Home, in which stories from (Telugu) books by Jana Vigyan Vedika were read out followed by discussion on values like honesty and sincerity.

Mohammed Aslam from the IPG, Delhi, sent Rs. 210/- by money order towards payment of outstanding dues to ARR. Sales of the ECOLOGY--- booklet to Suresh Kosaraju(SK) were to the amount of Rs.100/-. A further request from SK for additional copies of the ECOLOGY--- booklet has been registered. In the USA sales of 3 booklets (ECOLOGY--, SOCIAL RESISTANCE & IMPERIALISM) have been good.

Near-future plans:
• Ramanjaneyulu, from the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, has agreed to come to ARR to give a talk on food security. He did not specify the date, but promised to come by end of July.
• A discussion is planned in Kasturba Gandhi College for Women on July 25th, on the issue of food rights, in association with Caring Citizens’ Collective, working on the issue of suicides and hunger deaths among weavers and farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
• By July 20, plans for bringing out a fortnightly wall-journal for children will be finalized.

Please see our APPEAL page to continue your valued support.

BOOKS:

Manoj Mitra & H.S. Phoolka. WHEN A TREE SHOOK DELHI.’07. Lotus Roli.
Rakshanda Jalil (Ed.) NEITHER NIGHT NOR DAY.’07. Harper Collins.
Nalini Jones. WHAT YOU CALL WINTER.’07. Harper Collins.
Rishi Reddi. KARMA & OTHER STORIES.’07. Harper Collins.
Priya S. Chabria. GENERATION 14.’08.
Tarun Vijay. SAFFRON SURGE.’07. Har Anand Books.
Mukul Kesavan. THE UGLINESS OF THE INDIAN MALE.’07. Permanent Black.
David Page(Ed.). FAULT LINES OF NATIONHOOD.’07. Roli Books.
David Devdas. IN SEARCH OF A FUTURE.’07. Penguin Viking. (on Kashmir)
Geeta Aravamudan. DISAPPEARING DAUGHTERS.’07. Penguin.
Rajinder Singh Bedi. I TAKE THIS WOMAN.’07. Orient(paper - trans. By Khushwant Singh).
Ritesh Sharma. JOKER IN THE PACK.’07. Orient(paper).
Kaveree Bamzai. BOLLYWOOD TODAY.’07. Roli Books.
Amaresh Misra. WAR OF CIVILISATIONS.’07. Rupa.
Kuldip Nayar. WITHOUT FEAR-THE LIFE & TRIAL OF BHAGAT SINGH.’08. Harper Collins.
Nikita Lalwani. GIFTED.’08. Penguin.
Dilip Chitre. AS IS, WHERE IS.’07. Poetrywala Publiishers.
Jaishree Mishra. RANI.’07. Penguin.
FIRST PROOF:THE PENGUIN BOOK OF NEW WRITING FROM INDIA 3.’07.Penguin.
Indira Parthasarathy. RAMANUJAN.’07. Oxford U. Press. (Trans.- T. Sriraman).
Gurujada Apparao. GIRLS FOR SALE.’07. Indiana U. Press. (Trans. Of KANYASULAKAM by V.Narayana Rao).
Upendra Kachru. EXTREME TURBULENCE.’07. Harper Collins.
Bernard Imhasly. GOODBYE TO GANDHI?’08. Penguin.
Sudeep Chakravarti. RED SUN - TRAVELS IN NAXALITE COUNTRY.’07. Penguin Viking.
Saeed Mirza. AMMI-LETTER TO DEMOCRATIC MOTHER.’07.
Kamla Markandaya. BOMBAY TIGER.’07. Penguin.
Chitrita Banerji. EATING INDIA.’07. Penguin.
Tahmima Alam. A GOLDEN AGE.’08. Harper.
Suvarana Cherukari. WOMEN IN PRISON.’07. Foundation.
Dilip Hiro. BLOOD OF THE EARTH.’08. Penguin.
Neel Mukherjee. PAST CONTINUOUS.’08. Picador.
Tarun Khanna. BILLIONS OF ENTREPRENEURS.’08. Penguin Viking.
Anu Jayant. THE FINGER PUPPET.’07. Harper Collins.
Christopher Joffrelot. PATTERNS OOF MIDDLE CLASS CONSUMPTION IN INDIA & CHINA.’08. Sage.
Arun Agarisal. ENVIRONMENTALITY.’06. Oxford U. Press.
Hanif Kureshi. SOMETHING TO TELL YOU.’08. Faber & Faber.
Uday Prakash. CHEENI BABA.’08. Penguin.(Hindi)
Perumal Murruggan. SEASONS OF THE PALM.’07.


FILMS:
DUS KAHANIYAN. Dir’s. -Apoorva Lakhia;Hansal Mehta &others. Producer: Sanjay Gupta.
FROM BOMBAY TO BANGKOK. Dir. - Nagesh Kukunoor.
TAARE ZAMIN PAR. Dir. - Amir Khan.
IN SUCH TIMES. Dir. - Nandita Das. (forthcoming).
NO SMOKING. Dir. - Anurag Kayshap.
PAANI. Dir. - Shekhar Kapur (forthcoming).
SUNDAY. Dir. - Rohit Shetty (forthcoming).
I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT. Dir. - Shamim Sarif.
THE WORLD UNSEEN. Dir. - Shamim Sarif (forthcoming).
HALLA BOL. Dir. - Rajkumar Santoshi.
DHARM. Dir. - Bhavna Talwar.
MITHYA. Dir. - Rajat Kapoor.
JAB WE MET. Dir. - Imtiaz Ali.
8 x 10. Dir. - Nagesh Kukunoor (forthcoming).
A JEHAD FOR LOVE. Dir. - Parvez Sharma.
MANPASAND. Dir. -Dhavni Desai.
NAACH. Dir. - Saba Dewan.
SORRY BHAI. Dir. - Onir (forthcoming).
KHUDA KE LIYE. Dir. - Shoaib Mansoor (Pakistan).
ANJATE. Dir. - Misskin. (Tamil).
JANNAT. Dir. - Mahesh Bhatt (forthcoming).
FOREVER YOUNG. Dir. - Ranjan Palit.


PLAYS:
AAO SAATHI SAPNA DEKHE. Dir. - Swanand Kirkire
ME GRANDAD’AD AN ELEPHANT. Dir. - Digvijay Sawant.
MAREEZ. Dir. - Manoj Shah.
THE SUIT. Dir. - Neelam Mansingh.
ELECTRONIC CITY. Dir. - Amitesh Grover.
CHAKRAYUHA. Dir. - Ratan Thiyam.
WAQT MEIN HOTA HAI. Dir. - Rajendran.

About the Azad Reading Room
Support the Azad Reading Room    
Bharat Samajh: Understanding India     India Report     Corporate Globalization     World Social Forum    Publications    Other sites of Interest     HOME