[Reader-list] Happy Sunday :) Library and Garbage bins

[Monica Narula]

Reading the paper everyday is like reading a litany of those dead  
because of sewers. So many fall in and so many more die trying to save  
them.

Indeed: DJB will tell you it is impossible to relay and fix the  
sewers. Why so?


M
Monica Narula
Raqs Media Collective
Sarai-CSDS
www.raqsmediacollective.net
www.sarai.net



On 14-May-09, at 3:00 PM, Navayana Publishing wrote:

> Dear All
>
> Am coming a bit late into this.
>
> Jebeesh had raised two issues: libraries and their poor state and way
> garbage bins are designed so badly. I was wondering how and why this
> discussion list took up the library question more eagerly and has  
> nothing to
> say on the question of garbage and the way we dispose it. This  
> perhaps owes
> to the fact that millions of unnamed/ unknown dalits out there who  
> do the
> job of garbage disposal without any recourse to decent gear or  
> equipment. I
> had written exentesively on this in Tehelka
> series<http://www.tehelka.com/story_main36.asp?filename=Ne081207LIFE_INSIDE.asp 
> >nearly
> two years ago. Our garbage bins/ disposal sites are ill-designed
> because the designers look down on any labour that involves dirtying  
> one's
> hands; and there are anyway faceless dalits to do the job. There's no
> concept of social design in India. Which probably explains why have  
> such
> shoddy urban planning as such.
>
> While some Rs 50,000 crores is being spent on the Metro in Delhi,  
> the network
> of 5,600 km of sewers with about 1.5 lakh manholes, managed by the  
> DJB is
> pathetically designed. It needs to be yanked out, redesigned and  
> relaid. But
> no one thinks it necessary to do so. There are no pressure groups  
> for that.
> DJB will tell you it is impossible to do so. Why?
>
> Anand
> www.navayana.org
>
>
> On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 5:32 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com 
> >wrote:
>
>> Dear Anupam
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Your blessings would have been more than enough since I have no  
>> belief
>> invested in any such entity called God (or by whichever other name)
>>
>> Take care
>>
>> Kshmendra
>>
>> --- On Mon, 5/11/09, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Happy Sunday :) Library and Garbage bins
>> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Date: Monday, May 11, 2009, 4:19 PM
>>
>> thanks for clarifying kshmendra. may god bless you. the idea of a
>> temple-library is unique/
>>
>> anupam
>>
>>
>> On 5/11/09, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>  Dear Anupam
>>>
>>> I put "strip" within quotes as I was not sure whether
>> "strip" is the
>>> appropiate word for that art-form.
>>>
>>> It was not meant to be an 'attack' on you or
>> 'contradicting' you
>>>
>>> Kshmendra
>>>
>>> --- On *Sun, 5/10/09, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>*
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Happy Sunday :) Library and Garbage bins
>>> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>>> Date: Sunday, May 10, 2009, 8:06 PM
>>>
>>> thanks kshmendra but why have u attached quotes to the word strip.  
>>> i dont
>>> understand. pray tell.
>>>
>>> On 5/10/09, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  Anupam
>>>> Delightful 'strip'. Thanks
>>>>
>>>> Rakesh
>>>> Public libraries would serve an excellent purpose. The poor and
>> homeless
>>>> could find temporary refuge in them, getting shielded from the cold
>> and
>>>> protected from heat.
>>>>
>>>> Only problem in that might be along the lines of the news story
>> "US
>>> library
>>>> bans 'offensive bodily odours' from entering!"
>>>
>>>
>> http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090415/959/tod-us-library-bans-offensive-bodily-odo.html
>>>>
>>>> Wonder how 'library going elite' (for elite they would be in
>>> comparison)
>>>> would react to the poor and homeless in the 'public space' of
>> a
>>> public
>>>> library
>>>>
>>>> Kshmendra
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --- On *Sun, 5/10/09, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>*
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Happy Sunday :) Library and Garbage bins
>>>> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>>>> Date: Sunday, May 10, 2009, 5:13 PM
>>>>
>>>> Here's a little library's story.
>>>> http://www.soundofdrowning.com/lib.html
>>>>
>>>> regards anupam
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 5/10/09, Rakesh Iyer <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear Jeebesh (and all)
>>>>>
>>>>> While the heat in this list could have been tackled by means of
>> more
>>>>> personal chats and more respect of both sides' views from
>> the
>>> other
>>>>> sides, here I wish to express my views on the first issue you
>> have
>>>>> raised.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any issue, be it water, roads, health, education, or even a
>> public
>>>>> library, can be addressed. However, there are umpteen points
>>> regarding
>>>>> as to why it is not an issue. And they are numerous in our
>> system of
>>>>> democracy (or as in Gulaal they say, it's just autocracy in
>> the
>>> name
>>>>> of democracy).
>>>>>
>>>>> The first issue here is about the way our democratic system
>> works. It
>>>>> is a system which is half full and half empty, meaning that it
>> is 50%
>>>>> democratic and 50% not, if one were to quote Ramachandra Guha
>> from
>>> his
>>>>> book 'India After Gandhi'. And it certainly is. We do
>> have a
>>>> system
>>>>> which has elections and the transition of power after elections
>> is
>>>>> also smooth. However, that's it. Our system begins and ends
>> with
>>>>> elections. After that, nobody cares. We never look at things
>> beyond
>>>>> elections. Any criticism of a government takes place only with
>> the
>>>>> point of view of elections.
>>>>>
>>>>> What this means is that only those issues which are important
>> from
>>> the
>>>>> election point of view, would be addressed. But the question
>> arises,
>>>>> as to then which issues are important, if they are there at all?
>>> Here,
>>>>> our media and the grassroots are totally at crossroads. The
>> media
>>>>> feels the PM or the CM at the state level are more important
>> issues
>>>>> than say water supply, health or education. On the other hand,
>> the
>>>>> candidates realize that is not necessarily the case, and they
>>>>> concentrate on the kind of developmental works undertaken and
>> some or
>>>>> the other sops being given.
>>>>>
>>>>> And what are these developmental works actually? The issues of
>>>>> livelihood. The issues of roti, kapda and makan. And if one may
>> add
>>> to
>>>>> it, in a certain way they are related to bijli, sadak aur paani.
>>> These
>>>>> are the issues which are uppermost in the minds of the people.
>> One
>>>>> must understand that with the kind of society we are, a caste
>> and
>>>>> religion-biased society, where Brahmins wouldn't eat with
>> Muslims
>>> or
>>>>> Dalits, where now even the OBC's live separately from them
>> and
>>> where
>>>>> inter-caste marriages are even now abhorred, at least in rural
>> areas,
>>>>> the kind of politicians who would emerge would also concentrate
>> only
>>>>> on giving doles to their supporters or caste/religion members as
>> cash
>>>>> or some kind of incentive.
>>>>>
>>>>> With the competition between people of different castes and
>> religions
>>>>> for such govt. doles and rewards like jobs, rather than them
>> fighting
>>>>> together for a common cause (long back this happened under
>>> Gandhi's
>>>>> movements), and with the kind of society we are (where people
>> revel
>>> in
>>>>> having contacts with the powerful and the rich rather than
>> following
>>>>> rules), all want a common minimum level of existence, from where
>>>>> education is excluded.
>>>>>
>>>>> Also, no political party has been imaginative enough to put
>> health
>>> and
>>>>> education as basic issues in their campaigns and trying to
>> corner the
>>>>> incumbent governments either during elections or during other
>> times
>>>>> through mass based movements. Neither have non-political
>>> organizations
>>>>> played a successful role in this part during such times to
>> ensure
>>> that
>>>>> such issues are addressed, which does not mean that they
>> haven't
>>>>> tried; it simply means they haven't tried enough or the
>> results
>>> are
>>>>> not enough.
>>>>>
>>>>> People in general also have little patience to understand the
>>>>> complexity of issues. That is why we have experts to understand
>> them.
>>>>> But one must remember that things should also be made palatable
>> to
>>> the
>>>>> electorate to back you. In this case, Manmohan Singh is a huge
>>>>> failure, precisely because he has never contested an election
>>> himself.
>>>>> And Advani may have an advantage here mainly because he has won
>> a Lok
>>>>> Sabha election before this at least, so he could understand
>> possibly
>>>>> how to make an issue and its solution palatable to the public.
>> (This
>>>>> is a possibility, not necessarily the actuality).
>>>>>
>>>>> The second issue we have forgotten is in our society who is
>> doing
>>>>> what. The poor don't have the power to actually undertake
>>> movements on
>>>>> their own and fight a battle which can yield results. I
>> don't
>>> mean to
>>>>> say that the poor can't undertake movements. The poor in
>> many
>>> states
>>>>> may have actually done so, but one must remember that in
>> today's
>>>>> times, when our politicians are image-conscious, things which
>> are not
>>>>> popular are not going to make much headway. Therefore, one must
>>>>> realize that unless such things are popular or in the mainstream
>>>>> media, it is very difficult to get the point across.
>>>>>
>>>>> Moreover, the poor are more concerned with their livelihoods,
>> which
>>> is
>>>>> the most important issue for them. Things like library are
>> non-issues
>>>>> from their point of view.
>>>>>
>>>>> The rich on the other hand do have the power, so also the middle
>>>>> class. The media is also on this side. However, we have tended
>> to
>>>>> concentrate more on issues which are not going to help the poor
>> at
>>>>> all. Forget that, we have not even concentrated on issues which
>> can
>>>>> help the society at large. Even in the voting campaigns, people
>> are
>>>>> being encouraged to vote. But the moot point remains this: if
>> all the
>>>>> candidates are corrupt, what is the point of voting, even if for
>> the
>>>>> least corrupt candidate? After all, corruption be it of Re. 1 or
>>> lakhs
>>>>> can and should not be tolerated. If terrorism is not tolerated,
>> how
>>>>> come corruption is tolerated?
>>>>>
>>>>> Similarly, Hindutva seems also to be an issue going by some
>> great
>>>>> Rediff articles and views expressed on them. Malls and removal
>> of
>>>>> slums are issues, even though people don't try to understand
>> at
>>> all
>>>>> the situational changes which can take place by having malls at
>>>>> certain places, or even the problems in slums and how they can
>> be
>>>>> corrected without removing them. And of course, we have some
>> other
>>>>> nonsense things to talk about.
>>>>>
>>>>> Conclusion:
>>>>>
>>>>> The library is a public good, and ultimately the library will
>> benefit
>>>>> the public. The problem is that the rich don't want to fight
>> for
>>> it as
>>>>> they think it's useless to involve themselves in such fights
>>> which are
>>>>> unprofitable (or non-money yielding). The poor don't fight
>> for it
>>> as
>>>>> they have more important issues to look at. The media
>> doesn't
>>> take it
>>>>> up as it's not a 'TRP-giving' news to be looked at,
>> or it
>>> is
>>>> too
>>>>> serious. And our politicians being image-conscious, believe that
>>>>> these are not the things which will fetch them votes.
>>>>>
>>>>> So the library is a non-starter in our cities.
>>>>>
>>>>> And so, we don't have spaces in public to debate with on a
>>> personal
>>>>> level by and large.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards
>>>>>
>>>>> Rakesh
>>>>> _________________________________________
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>>>> _________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
>>> _________________________________________
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>>>
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>>
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>
>
>
>
> -- 
> www.navayana.org
>
> Navayana
> 120, Ground Floor
> Shahpur Jat
> New Delhi 110017
>
> Landline: +91-11-26494795
> Mobile: +91-9971433117
> _________________________________________
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