Please god rain in the catchment areas !!

What kind of god is this that doesn’t know where to rain?!!. Or shall we say the rain doesn’t know where to rain!. It rains in the wrong places, in wrong time, and behold in wrong quantity. It pours gallons onto hapless people, stranding innocent souls whose only crime seems to be rushing to meet deadlines for grander future. All that mess and confusion it creates, no propriety. Surely no economic sense: if you really have to rain, rain in the fields and catchment areas why cities for godsake?!.

There is a well next to my house that was dug in mid 1940s, about 30 odd feet deep, it was always full of water till two years back, then it went dry no amount of rain fills even a centimeter. An old man (he doesn’t forget to mention that he was a graduate when India got independence) who is one of my neighbor expresses amazement every time he looks into it recently though he has stopped even looking, given up I guess. Clearly despite the rains the groundwater table is not rising. Also note the place where I stay now was decades back was part of river bed (well that’s what the man said; he even elaborated that few meters down was funeral grounds. That did make me creepy). So the ponds and water bodies are now covered with buildings, needs of development and population pressure one can say. The issue here though is: cannot they atleast have some basic planning and rules for what kind of buildings be allowed. This is the pic of one huge ugly building coming up very near to where I stay. It looks like a mall and I expect it to be similar to one found anywhere in the country (they really don’t have much imagination or need for understanding local climatic conditions when constructing these monsters. Then when youngsters come holding hands morons will protest threat to Indian culture and then other devious equally competitive dimwits counter it by their versions of freedom in streets and TV. Its showtime folks!!). Next year since these terrible buildings are going to suck more electricity (as these concrete boxes will need AC and artificial ventilators, a kind of building very suited to hot desert climate) also only insignificant percentage of water seep into ground. We really are in for horrible times. And yes since most people have no access to these and serious social economic disparities have seen to that the per capita emission are low. A minuscule percentage of people are crossing even norms of profligacy with very tacit understanding of policy makers. It is big loot at the expense of poorest who are going to suffer and they say emissions cannot be cut because the poor will suffer!!. Elites playing victims is a traditional understanding in Indian context.

Despite rains Bangalore still has power cuts, I read it didn’t rain where it should. All the claims of development it seems are hinged on good monsoons. It is amusing, to see men in black suit dead serious about deadlines talking uncomfortably about monsoons, a factor they thought should be constant!!. Clearly GDP is very much about monsoons, forget GDP everything is dependent on nature, and in case one has forgotten we still live on planet earth. One year of no rain and they had it, this blogger is very concerned about how the sensitive indexes and tender people at stock exchange going to handle this!. The rising and falling indexes as this blogger understands is rarely about any rationality but a system wherein they have created indices for emotions, more weeping it tumbles down, happiness makes it rise sometimes even “touching the roof” some kind of ecstatic state of being. Since they vacillate so often from one end of emotional spectrum to another with no apparent reason, collectively these people seem to be suffering from serious case of bipolar. Few powerful people have cleverly manipulated it as some kind some kind of national preoccupation, thus making themselves very important. Funny part here is they don’t do anything much except manipulate these, invest, sell and so on and make easy money. Homo sapiens associate these curious happening to other mammalian references: Bulls and Bears. Intimidating one must say but yes does give an impression of ringside view of Wild West. Clearly (and unfortunately) market media does influence policy makers and so does the monkey business at stock exchange.

Shocking: I was shocked to see Swami Agnivesh in some trash discussion the other day (saw it for five odd minutes, no time for nonsense, just to check what he had to say), it is disheartening to see him participating in what I would say vulgar. It saddened me lot and even contemplated removing him from dedication (it may not matter to him or the world but for me it is quite significant). Not about what he said (he still is an amazing man), on why he need to participate in these nonsense which is meant to promote some trash program (that I think it is about talking personal details to make disproportionate amount of money kind of question program, it is new low but who is bothered). Swami Agnivesh has degraded himself by encouraging these trashes, there is no excuse for encouraging or even allowing crude people one’s attention. He needs to be aware that there are people who can misuse, his view doesn’t matter what matters is publicity for these people good or bad. Infact they create controversy (against themselves too) for cheap publicity and if you could package it as freedom of expression or other egalitarian ideals then crudeness gets legitimacy.

Swami Agnivesh is expected to more responsible and show some dignity by denying these disgusting people or has he also got bug of TV channels like small timers. This blogger think he doesn’t need these manipulations. I still have admiration for him as I have listened to him many times during 1997-98, so these incidents does dent but any other breach it is over. Very upset about this.

I recall a seminar on ‘value education’ I happen to participate a decade back where he spoke at length (those days I was trying to have an in depth understanding on Education, even visiting schools in Uttrakhand to later some in south India). Later I even decided to dedicate sometime to teach street children. I recall going to Salam Balak trust (finding address even in posh colonies of south Delhi can be arduous chore, walking many kms, back and forth), the man-I recollect distinctly- had long white hair. I also recall he had very intriguing photo of woman pissing in a bush on his table (fond memories there I guess!). He turned out to be a nice decent man caring even to ask for tea (I preferred gallons of water!). Next few days was in Delhi railway station as an observer, it was an interesting experience but by then I had to take care of other pressing problem so dropped the idea.

By the way Ela Bhatt is another person I forgot to mention, what an amazing woman. Few months back while traveling I came across these girls from US who had come as exchange students to a college in Bangalore. I was traveling from Jodhpur to Bangalore and they got in from Ahmedabad to the same compartment. They were studying Sociology and had gone to Ahmedabad for studying more on woman emancipation. The shocking part was when asked about SEWA they showed ignorance. That really upset me (what kind of brief these kids given before being send for tour by teachers?). I spend some precious time to explain about Ela Bhatt and SEWA and that there couldn’t be any better place to visit for knowing about woman’s emancipation than this, I recall even writing down the details on paper for them!!.