'India's Shame' - Notes by Nitya Druve

Following is the presentation notes on Perspective IV Semester lesson 'India's Shame an essay by Annie Zaidi. The presentation was made for II year JPEng class by Nitya Druve in December 2008.

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INDIA’S SHAME

Annie Zaidi

Notes by Nitya Druve, II JPEng

‘India’s Shame’ is an investigative article by Frontline reporter Annie Zaidi about manual scavenging. It reveals the hardships faced by scavengers, the measures taken to improve their situation and just how ‘effective’ the government has been in dealing with the issue of manual scavenging.

To gain some perspective on this lesson, we must first familiarize ourselves with certain terms:

MANUAL SCAVENGING-is the manual removal of excreta from public and private dry (non-flush) latrines.

• Manual scavengers may also be engaged in underground sewage work, disposal of dead animals or cleaning faeces from the railway systems.
• The practice of manual scavenging started in Europe in 1214, when the first public toilets appeared.
• It was introduced during British rule in India in the late 19^th century, when municipalities were organized.
• It still exists in parts of India and is performed almost exclusively by Dalits (95% of scavengers are Dalits).
• 33% of the population uses dry latrines and another 33% do not have toilets in their houses leaving them to defecate in open spaces.

THE EMPLOYMENT OF MANUAL SCAVENGERS AND CONSTRUCTION OF DRY LATRINES (PROHIBITION) ACT 1993-entails punishment of up to 1 year imprisonment or a fine of Rs.2000 or both, for the employment and /or construction of dry latrines.

· All the Union Territories and States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal have adopted this Act.

· In its 15 years of existence, there has not been a single prosecution, despite the fact that an estimated13 lakh people continue to manually remove excreta.

SAFAI KARAMCHARI ANDOLAN (SKA) – is an Andhra Pradesh based group dedicated to the cause of manual scavengers.

• It was started in 1986
• It is headed by Bezwada Wilson (who belongs to a backward community himself) and S.R. Sankaran, an IAS officer.
• It conducts surveys, files petitions, works with scavengers, creates and spreads awareness about the plight of manual scavengers.

Let’s start with the lesson:

Ø ‘SHAMEFUL’, ‘DEGRADING’ and ‘DISGUSTING’ are just some of the words the writer uses to describe manual scavenging. It is a practice which de-humanizes not only the scavenger but the person employing him/her.

Ø Some States (like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland) refuse to even acknowledge the existence of manual scavengers despite evidence to the contrary.

Ø When such is the attitude of the government, the problem becomes difficult to solve as there is no acknowledgement of the problem in the first place.

Capital Falsehood

It comes as a shock that a city as forward and prosperous as Delhi has manual scavengers but the fact remains that they do exist and in a pitiable condition at that: Take the accounts of Meena (Pg.281, 3^rd para) and Sharada (Pg.282, 2^nd and 3rd para).

Moving from Delhi to Gujarat, an emerging industrial State, about which Ratan Tata once said, “If you are not in Gujarat, you’re stupid.” It is one of the most vibrant States where progress is quick but even it is not free from the menace of manual scavenging. There exists in Gujarat, according to the Navsarjan Trust, 55,000 scavengers.

Though Haryana has declared itself ‘scavenger-free’, we come across Bhagwati (Pg.283, 2nd para) and Bala (Pg.283, 3rd para).Punjab, where the Green Revolution took place is the last place one would expect to find manual scavenging. From denying the existence of manual scavengers, Punjab has acknowledged the presence of 500 odd scavengers---- a grossly underestimated number.

The Railways are the biggest culprits. The construction of the railway tracks using ‘sleepers’ (wooden planks) creates an uneven surface. Therefore when excreta is dropped by the open discharge system of passenger bogies, it cannot be washed away instead it must be cleaned manually.

It is ironic that a department of the government is not only violating but is the biggest violator of the Act. The Railways claim that there is a lack of money or that “various technologies shall be tried out.” Neither have they set a deadline for themselves nor have they taken any action. None of the Railway Ministers so far have allocated funds in the Railway Budget to implement the Act.

Challenges Ahead

Ø Section 17(2) of the Act stipulates that no prosecution for any offence under the Act shall be instituted except by or with the previous sanction of the executive authority. In many cases the executive authority is the violator of the Act and it makes no sense to make its sanction mandatory for prosecution.

Ø The government set up the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis and the National Safai Karamchari Financing and Development, both of which failed to produce the desired result.

Ø The National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers (Pg.283, 5th para) too failed because of a misappropriation of funds to the tune of 600 crores.

Ø Sanitation is a State subject and the Centre can do little about it.

Ø It is not a ‘vote issue’ therefore is not of much importance to the government or the public.

Ø Health concerns: Majority of the scavengers fall prey to anaemia, diarrhea and vomiting. Quite a few suffer from skin and respiratory diseases. Continued exposure to septic tanks and open gutters makes them more vulnerable to malaria, dengue and so on.

Ø Manual scavenging also takes a toll on their psychological well-being----they feel helpless, have a lowered sense of self-worth and are unhappy with their profession. Thus it is not surprising to note that a huge number of manual scavengers suffer from alcoholism.

At the end of the article, the only solution indicated to end scavenging is the destruction of all existing dry latrines. It is not as simple as that. The commissions or organizations set by the government should be given more power to take appropriate action. Apart from putting pressure on the State governments to take action and training scavengers in alternate professions, what can be done is

The MEG (Minimum Employment Guarantee) scheme can be introduced, whereby a person is guaranteed 10 months employment in a year.

A twin-pit latrine system can be introduced. It consists of a simple toilet, which empties into a composting pit. When the sewage has composted, it is used as fertilizer, removing the need for manual collection and disposal.

The government should convert all existing dry latrines into low-cost flush latrines.

It should be noted that the above mentioned are a means to an end and not the end itself.

Gender and Culture Session

The second session of the Gender and Culture Course will happen as scheduled at 2 pm tomorrow in the same venue.

God's Grandeur-Notes

1. Sparknotes
2. Video
3. Article
4. Analysis
5. Essay
6. Essay2
7. Essay3

International Conference on Generative Linguistics

International Conference on Generative Linguistics
At EFL University, Hyderabad

February 25-27, 2009

For more details click here

IV Semester General English 'Perspectives' Material by II yrJPEng Students

Business and Society

1. Rocking Horse Winner: DH Lawrence
2. The Rhetoric of Advertising: Stuart Hirschberg
3. Writing a Curriculum Vitae : Wislawa Szymborska
4. You will be Hearing from us Shortly: U A Fanthrope
5. Once Upon a Time: Gabriel Okara
6. Bankers are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer: Ogden Nash

Politics

1. Politics and the English Language : George Orwell
2. The Politics of Failure : SV Srinivas
3. Toba Tek Singh : Saadat Hasan Manto
4. India's Shame : Annie Zaidi

Note: The idea of making all the posts on different lessons available in one post was given by Roshan from I yr JPEng. Thank you Roshan.

'Politics and the English Language' - Notes by Shwetha

Following is the presentation notes on Perspective IV Semester lesson 'Politics and the English Language' an essay by George Orwell. The presentation was made for II year JPEng class by Shwetha D in December.

The presentation ppt is also available in a pdf format. Please click here for the file.

A Prayer For My Daughter-Notes

1. Elite Classics
2. Good Reviews
3. Analysis
4. Important Word Meanings
5. Yeat's political identity
6. E-Notes

this is all that i could find on the internet.please add more if u chance upon extra information.

Hard Times - Class notes

Date-10th January 2009
Novel being discussed-Hard Times
Author-Charles Dickens

1.History of Charles Dickens- He was a 19th century Victorian author. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens
2. Hard Times has been read as a criticism of three ideas
a) Education
b)Industrialization
c)Utilitarianism

3. The situation depicted in the novel show the conditions prevalent in England during the industrialization period. There was poverty, crimes, sickness,pollution etc
E.g.: the town Coketown is probably a pun on the word 'Choke'.

4.The three books in Hard Times are named with agrarian names-Sowing, reaping and garnering

5. The idea of utilitarianism was proposed by Jeremy Bentham and penned by James Mill. Charles Dickens had understood the practice of utilitarianism and had projected it well in his novel but had misunderstood the concept as initially proposed. He hadn't read Mill

6.British finances that were generated from colonization of countries such as India were the financial sources behind Industrialization.

7.Britain was colonized twice, first by the Romans and then by the Normans (French)
8.Utilitarianism- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism
9.Industrialization- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrialisation
10.Hard Times on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Times
11. Hard Times on bookrags-http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-hardt/
12.Hard Times on sparknotes-http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hardtimes/
13. Hard Times support material in Gradesaver

Referance:-

Pinto,Anil.Class Lecture.Hard Times.Dickens,Charles.Christ University,Bangalore,India. 10 Jan 2009

Certificate Course in Gender and Culture

Those who are signing up for the course please send an email to sujaya@cscs.res.in saying that you are enrolling for the Gender and Culture course

The fee for application form is Rs 50. Please give the money to Naresh Rao. He will get the form. The course fee is Rs 1000. Which also you may hand over to Naresh.

Naresh email id: naresh.rao at christuniversity.in
my email id: ajpinto42 at gmail dot com
Anup's email: anup at cscs dot res dot in

The link for today's session on click here

For the link of next session on click here

Syllabus

I. Introduction:

Module 1: Gender-Culture: Introduction to the Course

Module 2: Knowledge Production / Gender as a Category of Analysis

II. Theorising the Contemporary

Module 3: Public – Private: Gender and Space

Module 4: Body, Sexuality and Identity

Module 5: Gender in Cyberspace

III. Issues of Representation

a) Modules 6, 7, and 8 will focus on Political Representation

Module 6: Contestations of the Public

Module 7: Women’s Movement’s engagement with the Law

Module 8: Reservation – Community, Identity

b) Modules 9 & 10 will focus on issues involving Aesthetic Representation

Course Instructors

Dr Anup Dhar

Dr Tejaswini Niranjana

Dr Ratheesh Radhakrishnan

Dr Rekha Pappu

Dr P Radhika

Dr Asha Achuthan

Nishant Shah

Nitya Vasudevan

Shilpa Phadke

Cerificate course in Gender and Culture

The Certificate Course in Gender and Culture begins this Saturday, 10 Jan 2009 at 2 pm to 6 pm in Room 913, II floor, Auditorium Block of the University. The course is jointly offered by Christ University and Centre for the Study of Culture and Society.

The first session this Saturday is a lecture by Tejaswini Niranjana. This session is open to all.

Those interested can contact Naresh Rao for the forms. Those who have taken other certificate courses can also take, provided the classes do not clash. The course is conducted on every satuday from 2-6 pm from Jan to March 2009.

When Cultural Studies meets 'Cultural evening' compering

Recently I was asked to compere the so called 'cultural evening' at the second day of the 7th International Whitehead Conference held at our university. Reluctantly though, I accepted it. But I could not bring myself to repeat the cliche'd and problematic ways in which the 'traditional' and dances have been talked about. My exposure the cultural studies had radically changed my received notions of culture. Hence, I set out to create a script, informed by developments in cultural studies in India.

Although there were nine dances, the script does not use words like folk, classical, ancient and instead tries to be matter of fact by drawing upon contemporary research on these forms. For the programme I evolved the title 'showcasing India through the performative traditions and practes'. Although, retrospectively I see one or two slips, on the whole it comes across to me as a unique attempt. I wish the readers will carry this experiment ahead.

Of course, I am grateful to my co-compere but for whose open mindedness and unconditional support the script would not have been realized.

Please click here for the compereing script

7th International Whitehead Conference Book Fair at Christ University

As part of the 7^th International Whitehead Conference, Christ University, and Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram are organizing a book fair from January 5 to 9, 2008 in DVK auditorium in Christ University premises. Over 5000 titles covering social sciences, humanities from reputed publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Sage, Routledge, Viva, Orient Blackswan Marg, Motilal Banarasidass, Asian Trading Corporation, are on display. A discount of 15% is available on all purchases. All are welcome to visit the book fair.

A handicraft exhibition is also organized as part of the conference.

The conference is being organized by the PG Department of Philosophy, Christ University and the Faculty of Philosophy, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram. The conference is bringing together scholars, working on the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician, scientist, and philosopher.

A number of scholars from over 100 universities and 20 countries like Belgium, USA, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Korea, and Japan are attending the 7^th IWC 2009.

For further infomraiotn on the conference, visit www.whitehead-bangalore.in

Happy New Year 2009

I wish all the readers, visitors, commentators, and coauthors of this blog, because of whom this sacred space exists, a happy and fulfilling New Year 2009.

anil

National Conference on Religion: Function and Dysfunctions

St. Aloysius College Mangalore and Mangalore Sociology Association are organizing a national level conference on Religion: Function and Dysfunctions in the month February.

Papers are being invited by members of Mangalore Sociology Association, Sociologists and the public on the main theme or any of the sub-themes. The sub-themes are: Religion and Social Mobility, Conversion and Social Mobility, Constitution and Conversion, Dysfunctions of Communal Violence, Hinduism as a way of life, Islam and Peace and Christian Humanism.

Those who wish to present the papers are requested to send an abstract of 300 to 400 words to the Organizing secretary so as to reach him before January 20. Selected papers will be published in a book.

To send the abstract and for further queries one is expected to contact the Organizing Secretary, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore- 575003, Mobile: 9945413289, E-Mail: richardpais123@gmail.com.

The Second Coming - Notes

1. E-Notes
2. Readers Feedback
3. Does 'The Second Coming' Realy Talk About The Iraq War?
4. Sparknotes
5. Essay1
6. Essay2
7. Authority In 'Ozymandias' And 'The Second Coming'
8. 'The Second Coming' Compared To Things Fall Apart
9. Answer.Com

Thirteenth National Workshop Perspectives on Caste and Gender in Early India

Thirteenth National Workshop

Perspectives on Caste and Gender in Early India

2 – 5 February 2009

Venue

Centre for Contemporary Theory and General Semantics, Baroda

For details click here

or visit the forum site by clicking here

National Seminar on Subaltern Encounters in Indian English Literature and Translation

St Aloysius College (Autonomous)

Mangalore, Karnataka, India

is organising a UGC Sponsored National Seminar on

Subaltern Encounters in

Indian English Literature and Translation

on

9&10 January 2009

For details of the Seminar click here

For the registration form - Click here for Pdf / Click for MSWord

Animal Farm - Notes

hey y'all...please do give in your inputs on the subject in the comments link.im sure everyone has a little bit to add..happy reading!
1. Wikipedia
2. The Literature Network
3. Background
4. Study Guide
5. Interpretations
6. E-Zine
7. Some Important Questions
8. Some Quotes
9. E-notes
10. Novel Guide
11. Background Essays-Good Read
12. Animal Farm-The Fable ,The Satire , The Allegory
13. Spark Notes
14. More Notes
15. Cummingstudy
16. Gradesaver
17. An Amazing Test To See If You Have Really Understood

PS :As usual id say concentrate on the themes and interpretations provided. look for more background information and do post the links.

14th December 2008- motif

1. What is a motif?
A: A Motif is a recurring structure, contrast, or literary device that can help to develop and inform about the text's major themes.
Source- http://www.sparknotes.com/


2. What are the motifs in the novel 'Animal Farm'?
A: Songs-Animal Farm is filled with songs, poems, and slogans, including Major's stirring “Beasts of England,” Minimus's ode to Napoleon, the sheep's chants, and Minimus's revised anthem, “Animal Farm, Animal Farm.” All of these songs serve as propaganda, one of the major conduits of social control. By making the working-class animals speak the same words at the same time, the pigs evoke an atmosphere of grandeur and nobility associated with the recited text's subject matter. The songs also erode the animals' sense of individuality and keep them focused on the tasks by which they will purportedly achieve freedom.
State Ritual-As Animal Farm shifts gears from its early revolutionary fervor to a phase of consolidation of power in the hands of the few, national rituals become an ever more common part of the farm's social life. Military awards, large parades, and new songs all proliferate as the state attempts to reinforce the loyalty of the animals. The increasing frequency of the rituals bespeaks the extent to which the working class in the novella becomes ever more reliant on the ruling class to define their group identity and values.

Source- http://www.sparknotes.com/


3. Difference between motive and motif-
A: Motive is the reason for doing something. Motif is a reoccurring theme within a novel.

Source- http://www.yahooanswers.com/

Referance:-

Pinto,Anil. Class Lecture.Animal Farm.Owell,George.Xhrist University,Bangalore,India 14 Dec 2008

13th December- Allegories in Animal Farm-presentations

Introduction-
1. Definition of Allegory
2.Why is George Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm' an allegory?
3.What is it an allegory of?
A: It is an allegory of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
Presentation summaries-
1. Siddharth Venkatasubramaniam spoke about how Squealer is an allegory of Stalin.

• Squealer was the propaganda chief for Napolean
• He tries to change the negative attitude of people towards Napolean
• His role in the novel is similar to that of the KGB in the revolution.

2. Joshi spoke about how Moses the raven is an allegory of the Russian Orthodox Church

• Moses the raven represents the Russian Orthodox church
• It is an analogy of how Stalin was against the Russian Orthodox Church
• The Soviet Government suppressed religion

Discussion that followed the presentation-

1. Possible significance of the name-

• The name is criticizing a particular class of the society. It satirizes the orthodox church and the religious group who had false consciousness
• It criticizes the niche of Christianity which potrays two types of Christ

3. Hima Mammen spoke about Mollie the horse which is a representation of the class of aristocrats to whom the political situation makes no difference

• Mollie is the pet of the human beings
• She is very feminine in her characteristics
• She is dependent and materialistic
• She gives away her freedom for small things that make a huge difference to her (ribbon)
• She is indifferent to the troubles of the farm and represents the class of society whch remained unaffected by the revolution and the political situation prevelant at that time.
• She represents the class of society that have found another world (the old order and the new order) that they cannot give up.
• Extra information discussed- 'The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian' by Nirad C. Chaudhuri talks about an Indian who cannot get over the fact that India is no more ruled by the British. A man who believes that during the British rule, there was a class, order, sophistication, discipline etc.Finally, not being able to handle it anymore, the man goes and settles down in England which is similar to the situation Mollie undergoes in Animal Farm. She runs away!
• The character of Mollie is similar to that of Marie Antoinnette in the French Revolution.

4. Abhishek Chaudhari spoke about how Snowball is an allegory of Trotsky-

• Trotsky formed the South Russian Labur Party
• Ideas of Stalin and Trotsky were always in conflict and similarly in the novel, the ideas of Napolean and Snowball are always contradicting.
• Trotsky was sent into exile and in the novel Snowball escapes
• Extra information- In the actual revolution, Stalin sent the KGB to murder Trotsky but this detail is not mentioned in the novel. This shows that no writing can be a perfect representation of reality. It has the style, creativity, angle and ideas of the writer who moulds the characters and incidents.In writing, a real life character is moulded in such a way that it has some relation with the other characters.
• Question raised after this discussion-(a)Is there anything in the revolution that is a representation of the windmill incident?(b) Is there anything in the novel that is a representation of the South Russian Labour Party?

5. Titto spoke about Boxer and Clover-

• Represent the working class of society.
• In Animal Farm, Snowball and Benjamin can be said to represent the Intelligensia while Bozer and Clover represent the ignorant and unaware working class.
• Question raised by Alan Polson- Why was education necessary? A:- To raise awareness and to unite them for revolution.
• Mr. Pinto's question- Is working class equal to the peasants? A:- Anybody who works for a wage is part of the 'working class'.
• Generally the working class is aware of the political situation but in the novel, though Boxer and Clover are part of the working class, they are oblivious to the conditions.

6. Shalini Chandy spoke about Benjamin the donkey-

• Benjamin represents the older population of Russia.
• There is a possibility that Benjamin represents the Jewish people as he has the same intelligence as the pigs but is not a leader as one would expect a charactr of equal calibre to be.
• Benjamin neither adviced nor criticized. He represents those people who had no expectations from the revolution.
• Question raised by Alan Polson- Could Benjami be some sort of an advisor to the Czar? A:- He couldn't be because as mentioned earlier, the characterof Benjamin neither advised nor criticised.
• Point discussed with regard to the above question- Mr.Jones represents the Czar, so if Mr. Jones was dependent on Benjamin in any way, he could be considered an advisor to the Czar.
• Discussion/ Point to be verified- Why is Benjamin compared to a donkey and not any other animal? The doubt arises because a donkey is generally an animal of slavery, so why the donkey?

Referance:-

Pinto,Anil.Class discussions and presentations.Animal Farm.Owell,George.Christ University,Bangalore,India.13 Dec 2009

2nd December 2008-Defintion of story

What is a story?
-Sanyogeeta Chavan (1st FEP)

What's a story? A story in its broadest sense is anything told or recounted, more narrowly and more usually something told or recounted in the form of a casually linked set of events; account, tale, the telling of a happening or connected series of happenings, whether true or fictitious really good story has a sense of truth and resonates with some basic universal aspects of being human. It does not have to be profound, a good story should move the readers, make him/her laugh, think, and ponder over it afterwards. A story should have substance. its the skeleton of the story. A good story needs conflict and resolution. Stories are made up of people, places, and happenings. Strong stories usually have a well defined main character a he, a she, an animal, a machine or whatever that encounters some kind of conflict or trouble. It is the believable action moving the story from beginning to middle to end that keeps the audience entertained. They want to know what is going to happen. A story creates vivid images. This is the part that makes interaction so important. Stories help the reader/listener to think of his/her own stories.

Writer Edgar Allan Poe's definition of a short story-

A short story is a brief tale that can be read in one sitting. He believed that such a story could have a more powerful impact and give greater pleasure than a longer tale read at different sittings.

Referance:-

Chavan,Sanyogeetha.Classroom presentation.Defintion of a story. Christ University, Bangalore,India. 2 Dec 2008

11th November 2008 notes and discussions - II Sem FEP

Frameworks chosen- Industrialisation, Patriarchal States, and their Discontents
Novel being discussed- Animal Farm by George Orwell
Points discussed :-

1. Republic- Ideal state that Plato wants to construct
2. 15th century-Thomas More's book Utopia- contains notions of an ideal state
3. Utopias are the flipside of society.Utopias are constructed and the reverse happens.
4. 20th century- Animal Farm- an example of Dystopia.
5. Dystopias do not engage in poetic justice.
6. The concept of Poetic Justice

Referance:-

Pinto,Anil.Class Lecture.Animal Farm.Owell,George.Christ University,Bangalore,India. 11 Dec 2008