A Conviction that Garnered Courage!

From this morning, I have been watching and wondering, and praying that all the protests everywhere on the expression of exercising our Constitutional Rights, would go peacefully, and successfully.

And successful this was, the Delhi meet, which was the result of the courage, and conviction born out the indefatigable heart of Namrata, supported admirably by others, as you will find at these blogs:

Indyeah’s

Aneesha Mathur’s

Poonam’s

Also, here is the video, from CNN IBN, with Namrata being the Citizen Journalist of the day!

Had to share it here :

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/85356/cj-raises-voice-against-moral-policing.html

Congratulations and Kudos to all, for a job well done 🙂

****

Also, in the Indian Express, on the edit page, the link of which is given below is a very uplifting article, though its overtones sometimes make it rather flippant :), about a Gandhian ideal being sustained, in the loin cloth, being metamorphosized into a pink panty 🙂 It made for good reading as I waited for the day to unfold, this morning 🙂

Can’t seem to get the exact page clearly, so here is the link at which you will find it; the title will make it easy for you to get it 🙂

It’s on Page 11, of the Saturday’s edition, on the Edit page 🙂

http://epaper.expressbuzz.com/NE/NE/2009/02/14/index.shtml

The voices were heard.

Thanks to the PCC, the Protest Marches, and all the peaceful displays of affection for All 🙂

And, as Indyeah has mentioned, there have been instances of sheer violence by some SS workers, and in Ujjain, a couple beaten up, forcible marriages. But just think, a lot more that could have happened, especially in Mangalore today, was actually prevented. I think that counts for a lot.. a lot.

And this is just the beginning. That is what is most uplifting.

Kudos and Congratulations to all who wished so hard for this upliftment, the thoughts count as much as the actions 🙂

Beat this!!!

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s family refused to meet, and interact with Kerala Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan, and his Home Minister, K. Balakrishanan. He was not welcome, as it was clear he had come under “duress”, the words, of Mr. Unnikrishanan. There were angry scenes at their house.

The CM left.

And now, on Times Now, I just heard this, a slighted CM Achuthanandan reacting to his unceremonious ouster from the martyr’s house.

He said that if it had not been Major Sandeep Unnikrishanan’s house, not even a dog would have gone there.

Can you beat that, any of you politicians?

Who’s next?

(This comes in tandem to the post that at IHM’s blog, about another politician who questioned the citizens’ anguish and their protests against politicians. I had just finished posting a note there, and my son called me urgently to watch and listen to yet another horror unfolding, in the form of the Kerala CM’s remark! Truly unforgivable!)

1 December, 2008

I still Hope..

This morning, from the Warzone Mumbai, that screened on the news channel, I went to school, where it was business as usual, being in a sense, far removed from the happenings in Mumbai. At assembly, the news was read out by Niranjana, and she shared the latest happenings, in numbers and quotes from newspapers and news channels. I was glad she did. I hoped that a sombre mood would prevail, and hoped for the seriousness of it all to sink in, in the minds of the children.

But children will be children, right? My class, the sixth, were busy with the cleanliness campaign, having newly discovered the value of dignity of labour. We had a session yesterday, where I shared some of my own school day tasks. I take heart. Something has transferred itself to them. So I share what I saw just before I left for school. And I ask them, is there anything we can do? Re-phrased. What can we do?

Silence for a while. A young boy pipes up, “Shoot the terrorists.” So we discuss this, and we realize that this is happening. But isn’t that something an elder person would do? What can you do? Re-phrased. What can we here, do? “Pray” came a quiet voice. A young girl. Suddenly, I realized I had been rather insensitive.

Quickly I asked them, do you have anybody in Mumbai? Are they safe? Some nodded. The same young girl looked a little worried. Anna, I asked, anyone there? Yes, teacher, she said. And are they safe? Yes, but they live very close, in Colaba. Hmmm… so did you all speak to them. The response was affirmative. But the atmosphere in the class changed. They empathized with her. At the end of the period, I noticed how some children went across to her to quietly ask her things and speak to her.

In the eighth and ninth standards, the responses were more vocal. Condemning the news channels, especially those taking mileage out of the happenings, and yet sharing all that they knew of what they had seen, they were still not able to go beyond, “Shoot them all”, when it came to what we could do. Treat each other better? I asked. Smiles. No, I insisted, begin there, and see how it ripples out. What if something like this happened again, and to someone who we knew, us, also? Can we make a difference I asked? Usure looks again, but some more positive nods. The how of it, well, they still had to define for themselves. So I spoke of that wonderful story of the man on the beach throwing the gasping starfish back in the sea. It is one of the most inspiring stories I have ever heard. The bell rang, as I wound up. I simply told them how it made a difference to that one starfish, thrown back to life. Could we not in some way internalize that??

Why am I telling the children this, I wondered? But then, there is no one else who would understand it so well, and no one else I would trust to change and make that difference.

And that is why I still hope.

Give us a sense of…

May I first of all say that most of the media is doing a great job covering the events, of horror, and keeping the nation and the world updated

BUT…..

Right through day yesterday and the entire night, to very moment I am at the keyboard, this is what I have been listening to, sometimes, ad nauseum, from news Anchors, Journalists and…

Give us a sense of…

How you feel… your son is inside the Taj, isn’t he?

How you feel… what was it like being in there, with the terrorists firing inside?

What you saw, as you descended the stairwell…

Do they the journos, and anchors have any??

SENSE

that is??

Some of the comments border on sheer and deliberate insensitivity, as they hog limelight, telling you that these are pictures coming only from their news channel… and no one else has!!!! What do you do with this inanity, at this crucial hour of terror!!

I just wondered what would have been the scenario if one of the terrorists had called up Arnab at Times Now… Unthinkable…

He’d go on…
I’d like to give our viewers, brought exclusively by Times Now.. a

Sense of…

blah blah blah blah….

Sadly, even Barkha Dutt, went somewhat overboard.

Will someone please tell them to get some sense, and sensitivity and sensibility!

27 November, 2008

P.S. I am going to be late for school, but what the heck, I had to write this down! Now, give me a sense of … what you think.. !