Crime against women in Indian cities is on an all-time high. Trashing all stereotypes about women and technology not to be spoken in the same sentence are a few products that are built to keep women safe, at most times. A caveat: While technology can help safeguard her physical existence and give her a certain amount of confidence, her heart and spirit (despite being invincible) need extra care.
SPOTNSAVE: A WRISTBAND FOR SAFETY
Spotnsave’s Bluetooth wristband lets you alert friends and family when you are in trouble. A big advantage of the wristband is that it doesn’t look like a safety device and isn’t even something anyone would consider stealing. Priced at Rs 2,300, the band ensures that one does not need to reach her phone, unlock it and then press the assigned button to alert users. It lets you activate Spotnsave’s emergency alert system without touching your phone.
SpotnSave band is allergy and waterproof, and has a Bluetooth device embedded in it, which connects it to your smartphone. All you need to do is install the Spotnsave app on your Android phone, choose up to four guardians and pair it with the wristband via Bluetooth. To activate the emergency alert, you will have to press a button on the wristband twice. The app will then send an SMS every two minutes to your guardians. Along with the alert, it also sends the user’s current coordinates on Google Maps, every two minutes. The Spotnsave app is available for Android, while the startup is currently working on apps for iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Users can download the Spotnsave for Android from the Google Play store. The wristband lasts around 16-18 hours on a single charge.
SAFE FOOTBALL
Safe football is best suited for women who may not be so familiar with technology. It is also an ideal device for the elderly. While it may not be suited to seek help from dear ones, it does alert those who are near. When in a situation where you feel unsafe — have an intruder or attacker in proximity — simply pull the key chain to activate the alarm. The high 120 db continuous beep from the alarm confuses the intruder and also alerts people around you. To stop the alarm, simply insert the keychain back into the slot. The battery included in the pack lasts for one year.
FOOLZY LIPSTICK STUN GUN
At Rs 600, this is a powerpacked value-for-money device for women who dare to give it back. The stun gun with flashlight is portable and discreet and looks like a lipstick — well a slightly bigger-sized lipstick. Under the cap of the Lipstick Stun Gun are two buttons, one for flashlight and one for the stun gun. Don’t let the glam casing fool you — it packs three million volts of charge and is powered by a built-in rechargeable battery. Measuring only five inches tall and one inch around, this unit can fit into most any purse, pocket, backpack or briefcase.
APPS TO APPLY PRONTO
Nirbhaya - Be fearless Free to download on Android smartphones, this app can be used in any type of emergency to send a single-click distress signal through call or SMS to a prespecified group or individual contact. This app can also be used to help others identify unsafe areas in your city by simply stamping them.
BSAFE You - This app allows you to set a network of family and friends with whom you can share your location. The guardian alert button in the app sends an alarm message in times of need to friends and family while GPS tracks your location and whereabouts.
Safety pin - This app is handy for women who are on the road often. This app allows you to study the “safety level” of the place you are in, or plan to visit, especially if it is a new or unknown locality. Comments, pictures and reviews collate a “safety score” for the area or locality. It becomes easier to take precautions while moving within a city or shifting to another one.
WE WERE IN in a queue. Queue is a big “no” word for the husband and the son. They will do anything — short of killing me, I hope — to avoid being in a queue. And today, the looks on their faces indicated quite plainly that just the fact that they were standing in a queue for me should have been birthday present enough.
But I was having none of it. I’d just tucked another one under the belly, somewhere below where the belt buckle lurked -- another birthday, I mean. And I had emerged from the shock of hitting the half century a harder and more focused woman, even if it had taken me till the next birthday to get there.
The husband and son had got by for many years without having to work at finding me a present. The excuses came in many forms, but the most worn one ran thus: “We don’t know what to get you. You’re so particular about what you want.” And then the hasty addition, if it were the husband: “Not that that’s such a bad thing. It’s good that you know your mind.” The son, more sure of maternal love, is seldom to be moved to such blathering.
Really, I don’t know what it is with my family. I mean, I’m not such a difficult person to give gifts to, I’m sure. Yes, I did once look askance at the six-inch-long dangling shell earrings, but, seriously, I barely have a neck, they would have looked like epaulettes on me. And what is the point of the son getting me a sari at the behest of the girlfriend of the hour, instead of the dupatta he had sensibly chosen, when the last time I wore a sari was at his nursery school interviews?
But I did enjoy that holiday in Istanbul last year, which the husband and son chose to mark my golden jubilee. How could I not, when every inch of it had been planned to cater to my idea of a perfect holiday? So, there was minimal sightseeing and lots of eating and only slightly less of drinking. Sure, walking had been scaled up, while shopping had been scaled down on the itinerary, but then, nobody can be perfect, especially men. It’s really not their fault that I came away wishing for something more tangible as a fiftieth birthday present than a clutch of mobile phone photos and two Turkish spoon rests.
It’s not as if the husband’s all that perfect in the present acceptance department. Three years in a row, he made me buy him shoes (expensive ones!) for his birthday and still lives off the story on the party circuit, finishing off with the line, “Mujhe to joote milte hai birthday par.”
What’s particularly disturbing is that the husband’s lament of my being difficult has found a chorus in many places. The Ma-inLaw has handed me so many envelopes stuffed with cash, professing the same sentiment as her son, that I seriously feel I should take pity on her and give her back the envelopes at least so that she can recycle them.
Amma also sings the same tune as her son-in-law when handing me, yes, the ubiquitous envelope of cash. Except that this envelope, thanks to Appa’s obsession with packing and all the spare time he has hanging on his hands after he has watched Saathiya three times each day, is festooned with pictures and messages from whatever scrap of paper has crossed his path.
This year, with my newly-hardened self having learnt to focus on what really matters in life, I hadn’t dithered when the annual present question came up. “A charm bracelet, that’s what I’d like,” I said. “And this is where you can get me one.”
And, really, it was the one thing that I wanted. And that was the only way I would get it. Ever since I first read about a bracelet onto which you can hang little charms to mark the significant moments of your life, I’d lusted for one. That would have been a good forty years ago and most of the significant moments of my life wore distinctly sepia tones now, but I still wanted a charm bracelet.
The husband looked momentarily relieved till the actuality of it struck him — he would have to do more than get greeting cards and roses and string up balloons this year! “We’ll go over the weekend,” he promised hastily, fending off the inevitable by a couple of days. What he did not take into account was the fact that my birthday falls right in the middle of silly season when the world and its sweetheart(s) are hurriedly seeking tokens of love before that fat red Cupid lurking over their shoulder gets really nasty.
That was the first queue, by the way. When we got out of the shop an hour later, the husband was crimson in the face as he staggered to the nearest coffee shop, while I, equally crimson in the face, was beaming proudly at the silver bangle that now adorned my wrist and the little amethyst (my birthstone!) charm that dangled from it, still tingling from the buzz that overtakes me (a) when we go shopping and (b) especially when we go shopping for jewellery.
Next weekend found us back at the jewellers. The son had left the safe environs of his metropolis to pay his tribute at the maternal shrine. Don’t worry, he visits for his Dad’s birthday too — I’m not fussy like that. In a hasty moment, he told me to buy whatever I wanted as a present. And I had made known my wish — another charm for my newly acquired bangle.
So there we stood in a queue that made the last one seem niggardly in comparison — after all, we were that much closer to Valentine’s Day by now. By the time we got to the counter, the two men in my life were holding their handkerchiefs to their faces, lest they swooned like the Victorian maidens of yore. The salesperson laid out a range of “Mother” charms on the velvet board. And that was only the beginning.
When we got home, the son collapsed into the rocking chair. “Can we do you Christmas presents next year?” he asked weakly, as I gave him a glass of water, the charms tinkling on my bangle.
“Why’re you complaining?” came an accusing voice from the depths of the sofa. “You did the queue thing only once. I did it twice in one week. And she had the charms all ready and decided for you. I had to stand for her trying on all the possible permutations and combinations that damn shop offered.”
This was a call to battle and the son has ever been quick to pick up the gauntlet. “Talking about presents,” he said, “Do you remember my eighteenth birthday when you and Mum went and bought yourselves those ridiculously expensive watches as presents to yourselves for having survived me?”
He’s right. We did. I told you we are a bit of a peculiar family when it comes to presents. But with the sun glinting on the charms on my bangle, it was no real hardship to tune out the sounds of the husband and son arguing it out.
The excitement ahead of this year’s Budget is like that of the last over of a T20 game, where the batting side need 20 runs and they have only one wicket in hand. The batting side in this game is the Indian government. It needs a lot of firepower to win the game, but is short of resources.
It is now well-established that the global economy is looking to be in the doldrums for the next three-four years; amidst this gloom and doom, India has the ambitious GDP (gross domestic product) growth target of 7.5-8 per cent. This, despite the new GDP calculation method, looks like a difficult task, given the way other major global economies are collapsing — China is likely to grow at 6.3 per cent, and the world GDP to grow at 3.4 per cent.
Can the government maintain even the current GDP growth rate of 7.3-7.5 per cent in the next couple of years? Do they have enough firepower to revive the economy? What can the Budget do to reignite the engines of the economy?
BUDGET FOR GROWTH
Ahead of the Budget, the government is in a dilemma — should it go for a massive infrastructure push, which many think is a must, given the low capital expenditure (capex) from private sector, or should it try to stick to the fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent in 2016-17?
In the current financial year, the government can manage to achieve its tight fiscal deficit target — thanks to a sharp fall in crude oil prices that helped the government save 42 per cent in oil imports (in dollar term) in the first nine month of the 2015-16. The government also benefitted from a 35 per cent jump in indirect tax collection due to increased excise duty on petroleum products and an increase in service tax from 12.5 per cent to 14 per cent.
But going forward, these factors may not be in favour of the government. Oil prices would not see such a sharp fall in the future, and it is unlikely that the government would increase the excise duty this year to move close to the proposed goods and services tax (GST) rate of 18 per cent, given the fact that the domestic industry is in a poor shape.
Can it then afford to set aside the fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent, and instead give a higher allocation to capital expenditure — which has for long remained below 2 per cent of the GDP? Not sticking to the fiscal deficit target has its own risk — the biggest being no immediate (sovereign) rating upgrade. But given that the need of the hour is massive infrastructure spending to give boost a sagging economy, the government must, for now, let the fiscal target slip a bit in favour of triggering growth.
This may also mean that the allocation to some of the social sectors may have to be rationalised and prioritized — agriculture and rural sector problems need urgent redressal and, therefore, the Budget must have special provisions for the two sectors. Low rural demand has been one of the major concerns of the government, and if it can — through higher allocation to programmes such as MNREGS, and so on.
TAX REFORMS
While the fate of GST remains in the hands of the politics of the land, the government can push some direct tax reforms in the Budget.
It should take the first step towards rationalising the corporate tax by reducing it by at least 2 percentage points, from 30 per cent to 28 per cent. This would pave the way for withdrawing some of the corporate tax exemptions. Indian government lost Rs 62,000 crore in 201415 due to these exemptions.
The minimum alternate tax (MAT) — a tax levied on book profits of usually zero or very low-tax companies — remains a sore in the eye of corporates, who believe there is no point paying a high MAT of 18.5 per cent, when the effective tax rate for many companies are as low as 20 per cent. While some industry bodies such as the Assocham and CII have called for removal of MAT, there are others who feel the rate should be brought down from 18.5 per cent, to 10-15 per cent. The removal of MAT looks unlikely, but the government can certainly reduce the rate to at least 15 per cent.
The unprecedented drop in commodity prices globally has shaken the domestic miners and steel manufacturers. The government must be under enormous pressure from such companies to levy higher import duty on cheaper imports to protect their (domestic manufacturers) interest. The government would do well to stir itself clear of such moves of protectionism.
Last year in September, the government set up a panel to propose changes in the provisions of Income Tax Act so as to make its language less ambivalent so as to reduce tax litigations and improve ease of doing business. The panel has given its first set of recommendations. The government must use the Budget to announce that it is going to implement the recommendations of the panel. This would send a positive signal to the business community and go on to establish that the government means business.
The Budget should also try to implement the recommendations of Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC). The recommendations, if implemented, can have far-reaching impact on the way tax authorities work in the country. Indian tax authorities have earned not-so-pleasant sobriquet of tax extortionists, and the TARC recommendations, if implemented, are set to change this perception.
RELIEF TO COMMON MAN
On the personal taxation front, the government last year made several announcements including increasing the basic exemption limit, Section 80C and 80D limits. However, this year also it should make some more announcements to give relief to the common man. Remember, they are the people who drive consumption growth.
The government can further increase the basic exemption limit from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for all classes of tax payers. It should also increase the deduction limit on home loan interest payment from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh a year.
The government should also take the initiative to link the highest personal tax rate with that of corporate tax rate. So, if the government decides to cut the corporate tax rate to 28 per cent, it should also bring down the highest personal tax rate to 28 per cent. This would be a big sentiment booster.
Now, it is to be seen if the government has enough elbowroom to push infrastructure spending and also manage to keep the fiscal deficit going out of hands. The government sure has a difficult task ahead, and curtains on how it manages to handle this situation would be lifted with the Budget.
The world I live in is only my reflection. I can’t change the reflection to make it (the world) appear beautiful. I will have to change myself to change the reflection.
Everything around you is energy. If you understand this, you can create anything by manipulating this energy. Even your thoughts are nothing but powerful waves of psychic energy, and thus, you can create anything in your life with your thoughts, provided they are fuelled with your deepest desires and focused intentions.
The great physicist Albert Einstein said, “Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”
Let me share with you my experience to back this theory. It was 1992, and I had just started my career, working in a garment factory. Like any other young man of my age, I dreamed of a successful life. One day, my general manager sent me on an assignment to Noida to visit a factory in Surajpur. Back then, Noida was not a developed area as it is now. I got on my motorbike and drove down towards Surajpur, crossing vast stretches of barren lands. All of a sudden, something caught my attention and I slowed down as I crossed a large property, a little off the main road. I still don’t know what made me stop. The minute I saw a huge factory there, I felt a strong urge to own it. So strong was the urge that it left me surprised. After that day, I started thinking and visualising the factory every single waking moment of my life. At the same time, I also knew that even if I saved my whole life’s earnings, I would not be able to afford it; but that did not deter me from dreaming about it. I was somehow convinced that it would come to me. This obsession continued for about a year and gradually I forgot about it.
Few years later, I fell in love with a lovely woman and after three years of courtship, we decided to get married. A few days prior to the wedding, my father-in-law called me to his office and said he wanted to gift me something. I was absolutely dumbfounded when we drove into the same factory and he told me that this was his gift for me – the very same factory I had dreamt of owning!
It was much later in my life that I realised how the clarity and focus of intention and the intensity of my desire had imbedded deep in my subconscious mind. It may have appeared to me I had forgotten about it, but it was such a deep one that it got manifested into reality. The universe had made it happen for me. I had created my own reality. Warning: Don’t misunderstand me here and start thinking of owning what belongs to someone else.
Inspirational speakers and authors Jerry and Esther Hicks have beautifully summarised the essence of manifestation and deliberate creation thus: “If you have the ability to imagine it, or even to think about it, this Universe has the ability and the resources to deliver it fully unto you, for this universe is like a well-stocked kitchen with every ingredient imaginable at your disposal.”
The first step in manifesting or deliberate creation is to know what you really want. We need to clarify our goals and set out an intention. Setting an intention is like placing an order to the universe. It is similar to going to a restaurant and ordering from the menu card. We often think that we know what we want, but when we delve deeper, we find we are confused about our goals and desires. To help you in this process, I recommend you ask yourself what you want and write down the details. Then, ask yourself why you want them. Once you sort that out, you can be assured of your real goals and desires. Once you set a clear intention, the process of manifesting gets rolling.
We all are aware of the Law of Attraction that says that what we focus on gets delivered to us. This law is true for both positive and negative things. At times, when we worry about a particular situation and have negative thoughts, it comes true in reality. But one might ask, can we attract our desires merely by holding positive thoughts? Yes, although there is another law, besides the Law of Attraction, which comes into play to effectively manifest our desires and co-create our lives of our dreams. This is the Law of Vibration; it is the power behind manifesting our desires. It is in applying the Law of Vibration that most of us fail and are unable to manifest.
The Law of Vibration states that everything in the universe, tangible or intangible, comprises of pure energy that resonates at a particular vibration. These vibrations will set up resonance with whatever possesses the identical frequency. In other words, your thoughts are inseparably connected to the rest of the universe.
Therefore, in order to be deliberate creators, it is important to consciously choose your thoughts and increase your vibrations. By increasing your vibrations, you are paving the way for the alignment process to deliver your desires.
The next step in manifesting is aligning with your desires and trusting that what you desire have already manifested.
Everything before being manifesting in the physical reality, manifests in the etheric realm first. Our physical reality is an echo of what happens in the etheric realm. So when you act in this manner, you release the resistance and by releasing the resistance, a space is created for the universe to deliver the goodies.
Here are some steps to become a powerful manifestor and deliberate creator:
Happy Manifesting!
Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh, the Indian hockey team goalkeeper also known as the Wall of Indian goalpost, or shot-stopper, has come a long way from the track-and-field sports of Kerala, to the Astroturf of world hockey fields. In the recent past, India’s two biggest achievements — the Asian Games gold in 2014, followed by a bronze at Hockey World League (2015) have come, courtesy Sreejesh. He has proved his mettle at many crucial moments on several occasions. He is the emerging star of Indian hockey. A simple, down-to-earth but determined man who wants to bring back the lost glory of Indian hockey.
He is a consistent performer. It was a one-man show against defending champions Netherlands in the penalty shoot-out in a thrilling bronze medal play-off match of the Hockey World League (HWL) Final 2015, which helped India to break its 34-year-old jinx of medal drought in a major international tournament and brought India the medal. Earlier in 2014, India beat Pakistan 4-2 in the penalty shoot-out to clinch the men’s hockey gold at the Asian Games after 16 years, which ensured the Indian hockey team a berth at the 2016 Rio Olympics. With the superb performance of Sreejesh, India managed to beat Pakistan in the final of Asian games after 44 years. Currently, he is the vice-captain of the Uttar Pradesh Wizards team, in Hockey India League (HIL).
Struggling days
Sreejesh comes from an agricultural family and had no sports background before taking to hockey. His father Raveendran, a farmer, struggled a lot to fund Sreejesh's sports ambitions initially. “When I started playing hockey it was my dream to excel in the sport. My family went through a tough time to fund my sports ambitions. Even I had to struggle to find a sponsor. A goalkeeper kit cost more than Rs 50,000 at that time. I used to feel so bad when I saw others coming with the latest equipment. However, things changed once I started getting sponsors, but the bitter memories cannot be wiped out easily,” he says.
But he never wanted to play hockey as a kid, by his own admission. “I wanted to be an athlete — just like so many others in Kerala,” says Shreejesh. As a kid, he started training as a sprinter but was just not fast enough. Then he moved to long jump, and then volleyball, before his coach at GV Raja Sports School in Trivandrum, told him to try goalkeeping for the school team. “I was studying in class VIII. His advice changed my fate and today with the grace of god, I am able to bring some glory to the nation and my family. Now people consider me one of the best goalkeepers in the country and among the top ones in the world,” he says, with visible pride.
Shreejesh also confesses he wanted to be the centre of attraction in his professional career. “I avoided playing at a position that demanded a lot of running but deep in my heart, I wanted to be the centre of attraction, and goalkeeping was the only position that gave me both satisfaction and considerable attention,” he says, clarifying how forwards have to depend on the passes from midfielders; even drag-flickers have to depend on the pusher and stopper. “I was told since my junior days that goalkeeping is the only area where you can put up a oneman show. So I gave it my hundred per cent, and more.”
The way of success
Sreejesh was selected for junior national team in 2004, in a match against Australia in Perth. Later in 2006, he made his debut in the senior national team at South Asian Games in Colombo. In 2008, India won the Junior Asia Cup, and he was awarded the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
During the junior Indian team in the Test series against Australia at Perth (2006), Shreejesh made a tremendous impact in the closelyfought series. He also got to play in the tournaments in Pakistan and Malaysia since then there was no looking back for this goalie.
His progress has been steady and his performances consistent. He played for the country in the SAF Games where they lost to Pakistan, then in the juniour tours to Poland for the Challenge Trophy where they finished winners, to Germany and the Indoor Asian Games in Macau. He could not make his permanent seat in the national team as senior players such as Adrian DSouza and Bharat Chhetri were part of the then national team. Later in 2011, he got an entry in the national team and since then he has been the backbone of the Indian hockey team.
Disappointments, heartbreaks
Earlier during the 2013 HIL, Sreejesh was disillusioned and disheartened upon reading skipper Sardar Singh’s comments on the poor form of goalkeepers. The inaugural HIL was nothing short of a disaster for him. Ahead of the World League (2013), Sardar was frank enough to admit that goalkeeping was an area that concerned him the most. Naturally, Sreejesh, who had earned praise from a certain section of the fraternity, for a few good performances in the HIL, felt demotivated.
He even wanted to hang his boots, he confesses. “Losing a match against Pakistan alwayshurts; we lost a match against Pakistan because I could not perform well. I was shattered and disheartened and wanted to give up, but my teammates, coaches and supporting staff stood beside me and reiterated that winning and losing is a part of the game,” says Sreejesh, adding how he doesn’t let negativity to affect him anymore.
Making of a star
Shreejesh has put up his desired one-man show performance not once, but on many occasions. He played a crucial role in India’s two biggest achievements in the recent past -- the Asian Games gold in 2014, followed by bronze at HWL in 2015. The ever-humble champion plays down the accomplishment, however. “We have good bench strength at the moment and the rotation within the squad is an important reason that has been transforming the approach of Indian hockey; we are hungry for glory.”
“We have a good and positive competition within our team. There is a bunch of 25 players amongst us, out of which 16 will be selected for the Rio Olympics. Moreover, we have enough replacements for each member in the team in case of any member is injured. The depth in the core group has been an important reason which is why we are doing well.”
Shreejesh remains stoic about the praise, too. “I have made some good saves, and so everyone is praising me at the moment. If I miss a couple of goals, people will be quick to criticize as well. I try not to give too much importance to such thoughts. I always hold my nerves on crucial moments on the field. I just stick to my basic instinct whenever I feel tensed during a match. Also practice makes you perfect. My coaches work hard with me, which helps me hone my skills.”
Commenting on the overall structure of the hockey players and support team, Shreejesh says the sport is also getting good support from the federation, and the Indian team is playing regularly with the world's best teams, which has provided it with good exposure. “Also, the Indian Hockey League has done a good job. Our youngsters are sharing the dressing room with the world’s top players. Now we are equivalent in terms of fitness and stamina with top hockey teams such as Australia and Holland, says the hockey star, adding how a lot needs to done at the same time. “If that is done, I firmly believe we can win a medal in Rio Olympics.”
Although the appointment of Archana Ramsundaram as the Director General of the Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) has received rave notices in the print and electronic media, there is truly nothing extraordinarily unique about her selection. The belief that because it is for first time a lady officer has been entrusted with such an important assignment, does not originate from the laid down selection criteria. As a senior officer from Indian Police Service, she was entitled to it.
But our problem is with the selection criteria and the claim of an Indian Police Service (IPS) member as a routine. The key to the syndrome is the level of the bonding between the leader and his followers. Let us examine this relationship in India’s police and paramilitary forces. At the apex, all police and other paramilitary organisations in India work under the leadership of officers of the IPS, drawn from a central cadre. Except for the state police forces, where this IPS officer commences his career for a very brief period as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) and briskly moves upward to become a Superintendent of Police, in the other paramilitary police organisations, the entity of the IPS officer is not seen at a rank below the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). There also, he comes without field experience.
In case of Archana Ramsundaram, she has never served in the SSB and as far as one has read, neither in any other paramilitary organisation. She starts with a handicap, unless the objective is to use her services as a non-playing captain.
The questions is, is this lady, who is a senior officer from the police background, adequately trained and experienced enough to head a crucial organisation such as the SSB, whose roles are vastly different from law and order? This is not a case for equality, but suitability. Why did we not expose her in paramilitary roles either in her career and develop her potential? She should have given the opportunity to physically lead a body of combatant policemen into a collective group exercise such as that of a counter terrorist strike force, or a counter insurgent force.
With such a void in her grooming, how does she gear up and prepare for the rising phenomenon of terrorist strikes or, in the same vein, deal with the armed conflict being waged by the Maoists and insurgents, where teams of Commandant rank or even junior officer-led forces are fighting a fourth-generation war? A war, which is asymmetrical, is characterized by the actions of small groups of people, and where small highly-maneuverable and flexible forces dominate, trying to overwhelm the security forces internally and psychologically. Should their guidance come from a chair-bound boss calling the shots without never having encountered or even trained for such a scenario in the past?
The current SSB, after all, is the derivative of an erstwhile Special Service Bureau, also recognised with the acronym SSB, which in its new avatar became an independent border guarding force by virtue of the Sashastra Seema Bal Act, 2007.
It is a truthful view that the SSB never had to abdicate its role, in spirit and style, from what it was assigned to, when set up in early 1963 in the wake of the war with China in 1962. Its primary task then was to prepare the capabilities of the populace in the border areas for resistance through a continuous process of motivation, training, development, and welfare programmes in its activities in India’s north-east. The other equally important task was to inculcate feelings of national belonging among the people in the border areas. The force has left a legacy of “tradition of bonding and brotherhood” and that, in fact, helped it in adapting the force to its newly-assigned role to promote sense of security among the people living in the border areas; prevent trans-border crimes; unauthorised entries entry or exit from the territory of India; and prevent smuggling and other illegal activities.
Both Nepal and Bhutan, on whose borders the SSB is positioned, are characteristically built on the lines of “kingdoms”, despite political changes having swept them from their moorings. The structures of the regimes continue to work on traditional lines. Always under economic stresses, these frontline states look up to India for succour and support, both at individual and state levels. There is an inherent incapacity in their systems to guard against activities of criminal organizations, several of whom are systemically and deeply involved in human trafficking, gun running and, of course, smuggling of counterfeit currency and drugs. The border guards of the SSB are now required to contend with these threats as a way of life, whilst they have to keep their ears to the ground for new emerging schemes of the criminal. The SSB has been nominated as the “leading intelligence agency”
The organisation had its difficult periods during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal and in tracing its tentacles within the armed Naxal groups in India. The Bhutan border, although currently peaceful, had to be guarded against the Bodo rebels seeking shelter and base. What still remains a challenge for the vigilant SSB guards are the likely re-emergence of Maoist activity in these countries and the instinctive intent of these groups to seek allies within their Indian counterparts waging a relentless war on the Indian state.
And that would be inevitable because irregular wars, low-intensity conflict or even acts of terrorism leave a lasting legacy in the form of arms, explosives and, most important of all, a violent culture. It affects generations of men, women and children. The warlords and their combatant following languish in the society. There arms and the destruction material remains with them and are mostly parted for money. This process seriously impinges on development and the security of people and has to be watched for.
The tasks are complex and varied and to strengthen their hands, the government of India has conferred comprehensive powers to the SSB personnel for autonomous operations within a belt of 15 km in the states of Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh straddling the IndoNepal and Indo-Bhutan borders.
Over and above this, the government at the Centre regularly employs the SSB during counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the anti-naxal operations in Jharkhand and Bihar.
Eligible Jat boys from Haryana travel 3,000 km across the country to find themselves a bride. With increasingly fewer girls in Haryana, they are seeking brides from as far away as Kerala as the only way to change their single status.
The girls have not vanished overnight. Decades of sex determination tests and female foeticide that has acquired genocide proportions are finally catching up with states in India.
This is only the tip of the demographic and social problems confronting India in the coming years. Skewed sex ratios have moved beyond the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. With news of increasing number of female foetuses being aborted from Orissa to Bangalore there is ample evidence to suggest that the next census will reveal a further fall in child sex ratios throughout the country.
The decline in child sex ratio in India is evident by comparing the census figures. In 1991, the figure was 947 girls to 1000 boys. Ten years later it had fallen to 927 girls for 1000 boys.
Since 1991, 80 per cent of districts in India have recorded a declining sex ratio with the state of Punjab being the worst.
States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have recorded a more than 50 point decline in the child sex ratio in this period.
Despite these horrific numbers, foetal sex determination and sex selective abortion by unethical medical professionals has today grown into a Rs. 1,000 crore industry (US$ 244 million). Social discrimination against women, already entrenched in Indian society, has been spurred on by technological developments that today allow mobile sex selection clinics to drive into almost any village or neighbourhood unchecked.
The Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi’s views that to ensure more girls are born in the country, every pregnant woman should undergo ultrasonography to determine the sex of the foetus and be monitored until the baby is born, is counterproductive.
We feel that the knowledge regarding the sex of the foetus being female by the family members, who are son-oriented, will result in pressurising the women, who hardly have any decision-making power, to undergo backstreet illegal and unsafe abortions. This will further increase the already high maternal mortality and morbidity due to unsafe abortions. It is a far-fetched notion that we have a mechanism in place for tracking each pregnant woman until delivery, even with the involvement of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and considerable incentives to all concerned. Even though there is an improvement, we still have not achieved universal institutional deliveries, as century-old practices cannot be wiped out overnight.
How would pregnant women be taken to ultrasound clinics? Who will bear the burden of additional cost of the test, travel, incidentals, compensation for loss of work and so on, especially for women from low socio-economic backgrounds? And most important, would this not mean policing of the women? Is the minister suggesting we scrap the PC PNDT Act 1994, wherein sex determination of an unborn foetus in-utero is illegal? Why not modify the Act to take away the harassment of the medical fraternity?
Female foeticide is a deep cultural problem in our country for which several positive reinforcements are required. There have been positive changes. “Beti bachao beti padhao” campaign is working. Girls are beginning to be valued. Our girls, by positive contribution, will prove they are not only equal, but better than the boys. Let us not regress in our policies.
The author is president of Parivar Seva Sanstha (PSS), a national-level NGO actively working on reproductive health issues, including safe and legal abortions since 1978.
DR DILRAJ GANDHI//Disclosing gender on pre-natal ultrasound is something that the doctors’ fraternity has been asking for, for the past couple of years. Female foeticide is a social malady in which there are three stakeholders — the gynaecologist, who aborts; the radiologist, who helps in sex selection; and the society, which gets the tests done. But why is it that the onus is only on the radiologists? Just because they are soft targets? Ultimately, it is a scourge of the society and the solution has to be inclusive.
The law has been in force since the past 20 years or so, but has not worked so far. The skewed sex ratio is evidence enough. Innovative thinking is needed to find a solution. Throttling a technology and the radiologist is not a good solution.
There are black sheep in every community, including doctors, and as long as the society demands, they will thrive. The spirit of the pre-natal diagnostic technique (PNDT) law is well meaning, but it has become draconian in its implementation, with every district in the country having its own interpretation. The implementation is flawed and more emphasis is now placed on record keeping, where errors are common and prosecution easy. Courts keep asking the government and NGOs the number of doctors prosecuted and they have to show results. Thus, it is the law-abiding radiologists who have to bear the brunt and practice under the constant fear of having their clinic and machine sealed. In the current scenario, a law abiding doctor spends equal time and energy or employs separate staff to maintain the record of each patient, which includes a copy of the Aadhar card, the gynaecologist’s prescription and also a compulsory form “F” signed by both the doctor and the patient. Not only is the radiologist supposed to keep a monthly record of this, but he has to also send one to the appropriate authority (AA), in this case the district magistrate.
The AA is more like the income tax department, which can swoop down on the practitioner and question him on any clerical error or declaration given by the patient. Anything that even remotely points towards sex determination, which may or may not be true or a false declaration by the patient, is tantamount to unscrupulous practice or “violation of the act”. Clinics have been sealed where doctors are not found wearing a white apron or not having a name plate on the apron. There have been cases where receipts in which the consultation fee is high are automatically linked to sex determination, whereas they could have been for any other special test performed in the clinic. The doctor ends up paying a heavy price, having his machine and clinic sealed.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhihad, earlier in February, suggested that sex determination test should be made compulsory to track women pregnant with a girl child as a measure to check female foeticide. She was of the opinion that the woman should be told whether she is carrying a boy or girl child. “It should be registered to be able to check whether they have given the birth or not," said the minister.
PNDT Act 1994 provides for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception, and for regulation of prenatal diagnostic techniques for the purposes of detecting genetic abnormalities or metabolic disorders or chromosomal abnormalities or certain congenital malformations or sexlinked disorders and for the prevention of their misuse for sex determination leading to female foeticide; and, for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Act was amended in 2003 to Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act) to improve the regulation of the technology used in sex selection.
Doctors and diagnostic providers can be penalized for conducting sex determination test. The idea being that if the parents do not know whether the foetus is male or female, they are unlikely to go in for an abortion. This is to help bring down female foeticide.
Both can be unsealed only by a court of law. So, it is all or none. The black sheep walk away scot-free because they do not keep any records and so there is nothing to show or “get caught” as evidence, while the law abiding radiologist is deprived of his livelihood.
The PNDT Act entails that anyone who has done six months of training after MBBS can be registered as an ultrasonologist. It is these graduates who have half-baked knowledge, and who are indulging in malpractice. They keep no records and don’t issue any receipts or reports. Having got a sex determination test done here, the patient does not get a report so she goes to a lawful doctor, gets a routine ultrasound done as prescribed by the hospital or primary doctor. In case she decides to abort the foetus and it is reported, the chain of events is traced back and stops at the radiologist who has issued a report. It is taken for granted that he conducted a pre-natal test under the garb of a routine one.
No one from the general public has, until date, been implicated in getting the child aborted. The law applies equally to them, too. But the process is tedious and evidence difficult to get and prove.
The idea of a compulsory gender disclosure, however absurd it may look at first, is more likely to be effective than the law in the present state. As Maneka Gandhi had suggested, legalise pre-natal tests. Let the government gear up its own machinery and by all means punish the real offenders in the doctor community and the public at large if the pregnancy is terminated by sex selection.
Instead of targeting this set, the government should gather its act and utilise its energy in (a) promoting the girl child, bringing about a change in the mindset of society, thus obviating the need for gender bias; (b) conducting sting operations to create a fear among doctors; (c) tightening the noose around unregistered practitioners and machines , ensuring that only MD doctors are allowed to do ultrasounds; and (d) simplifying its implementation with graded penalties for minor offences and non-bailable arrest for actual offenders.
Last year, Shibani Sahni, director, strategy, marketing and partnership, DiDi, a Lucknow-based organisation working towards gender equality and women empowerment, picked up the Global Sourcing Council 3S People’s Choice United Nations Award in New York. While the award recognised the efforts of the management team of DiDi — comprising Sahni’s mother Dr Urvashi Sahni; Veena Anand, an educator; and, of course, Sahni — it was also significant in its timing. Back home, Indian media was full of reports of two Nepalese women getting rescued from the clutches of a Saudi Arabian diplomat who raped and abused them.
Unfortunately, newspaper reports and electronic channels are full of reports of women discrimination, gender inequality, abuse and violence faced by what many think of as — sadly — the weaker sex. DiDi, then, becomes a vital link in what can be done, and what should be done to alleviate these issues. The success stories are endearing — Sheela, a middle-aged woman with a history of battling physical and verbal abuse at home, is today a professional driver who is securing income for her family, including medical care for her paralysed husband (who, in the initial years of their marriage, beat up Sheela). Monica, another victim of an unhealthy marriage full of violence, abuse, stress and anxiety, is now a capable sales woman. Khushboo, an under-confident girl who got courage and support from the organisation and fought against her family’s unreasonable demands of getting her married off as a child – these are just a few stories in the world of DiDi’s that is “by women, for women”.
Several more stories of grit, passion and respect can be found at DiDi, the organisation that began its innings in 2008. To be sure, the team started DiDi because of the feedback received from several middle-aged women whose daughters studied in Prerna Girls School, also an initiative by the management team of DiDi, which started in 2003. “A lot of women told us how happy they were with their daughters doing well at our school. They wanted the same sense of empowerment for themselves and we thought of utilising their existing skill sets in a manner that they could sustain themselves, earn a livelihood, and become more confident,” says Sahni, who initially worked in the corporate sector but found herself drawn to the social service sector (“it was more soul satisfying,” she says).
Interestingly, Sahni, given her background, used all of her corporate strategies and skills to fuel and spearhead DiDi and other initiatives undertaken by the team. Anand, whom Sahni considers the backbone of the organisation, and her mother, look after the day-to-day operations of the organisation.
What makes DiDi’s work crucial is the manner in which it helps women with sustainable livelihoods. “It’s a ripple effect,” Sahni says, adding, “When we change the life of one woman, everyone gets affected positively. You could say that with each woman, each family gets empowered.” As DiDi works towards the pressing issues of women empowerment, gender equality, community mobilisation, leadership mentoring, vocational training and poverty alleviation, the strategy of its growth (the blueprint of which has been painstakingly made by the management team) is worth looking at. From providing 2,000 meals to various corporates on a daily basis, to providing 800 midday meals to government school children in Lucknow, to even supplying savoury snacks in select international markets and domestic brands such as Café Coffee Day, DiDi is proving to be a milestone in the lives of several women who were earlier tortured, brutally abused and found themselves helpless. Rescued from gender-based violence, many of these women are not only sustaining themselves, they are even going back to the same families and homes with a sense of great pride and dignity.
Sahni defines DiDi as the “universe of care”, where despite several challenges, the core management team is striving to create work ethics and training just the way any multinational company would do. “We are always training them to take work seriously, to report on time. Earlier, there was little sense of punctuality but now we find ourselves gradually ironing out the creases and challenges,” Sahni explains.
In fact, it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that the mission of spearheading DiDi has allowed not just for a movement towards gender tolerance, it has also managed to change destinies of many, and women from very poor backgrounds, for the better. Imagine a girl who was forced to leave studies midway to look after the house and siblings who went on to securing a scholarship in the US for a year-long programme and is now pursuing a business administration course, while also working at DiDi. Or imagine a story of a young girl who saw tremendous poverty but is today managing the finances at DiDi. The organisation is replete with stories of success and achievements.
“These individuals and their families needed one golden chance and we’re glad we could be at the helm of that,” explains Sahni, who confesses that while a corporate career offered her tremendous financial satisfaction, it didn’t fulfill her emotionally. “I wanted to help people and when I saw so many girls from economically and educationally weaker backgrounds, I decided to quit and focus fulltime with the help of my mother, Veena ma’am and my sister,” she says. “The energy in DiDi,” she says, “is positive, full of love and happiness, and the return on investment is amazing.” “As a person, you feel empowered that you can change lives and grow as a person yourself. The ripple effect is huge — DiDi empowers not just an individual, it impacts over 600 families,” says Sahni, who informs that DiDi will soon look at starting a manufacturing unit for low-cost sanitary napkins.
She’s right. When young, educated people take the responsibility to change one life, they impact hundreds and thousands. Motivating many of these young girls and middle-aged women has allowed Sahni to beam with pride. She, along with the team, is happy at the recognition their hard work is bringing to the organisation. Starting with just four women making chocolate biscuits, DiDi now has hundreds of women who have found their second home. “When we say we empower women, it means we allow a dialogue between them and their families. We allow them to be responsible for themselves and being aware of their own strengths. Education allows for growth and Prerna Girls School is doing just that. DiDi, on the other hand, is showing many women practical ways to sustain themselves and spearhead a movement in their own lives,” says Sahni.
With his roots in the east and his branches in the west, exploring his own identity and that of the others around him is a passion rather close to his heart. So when India-born Philadelphia-based artist Antonio A Puri says, art is his religion, you know where he is coming from.
“I am interested in comparing connections between my eastern roots and my western experiences. I embrace the possibility that we can exist in a world free from labels,” he says, matter-of-factly.
Currently the artist-in-residence at the popular Woodstock school in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, Puri has done some fascinating work in India.
His earlier shows in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Chandigarh, followed by his work in Mussoorie, all explore that everelusive theme of equality.
It all started with his experiences around the world. Thanks to his travels to 48 countries. “Do you know I found discrimination to be a living entity in 47? I was startled how something like your skin colour, which you have no control over, becomes your identity. Look at the world around us, discrimination is everywhere.” he says.
His artwork in Woodstock School, another one at a “Hawaghar”, a public seating area in Mussoorie; the DNA Helix installation shown in Ahmedabad depicting stacks in different colours (drawn from skin colours of diverse group of residents of the Dhal ni Pol area of Ahmedabad); or the many hands on display in Mumbai, all explore the theme of diversity.
What is fascinating to note is how it all began. Puri, an alumnus of Woodstock was in Ahmedabad in 2014. Though the idea had already taken birth in his mind, Puri’s chance meeting with Shastri Jayanti Panaori (the pandit to Sarabhais) sharpened his vision for The Varna Project. “Shastriji spoke of his deep knowledge of Rig Veda and shared how it was misinterpreted almost 200 years ago. The Varna system in the Rig Veda, he revealed, speaks about four castes or classes in a body and not in an entire society. It divides the body according to its work. The head is the Brahman, the hands and stomach Kshatriya, the Vaishya, and the legs, Shudra. “It was people who misinterpreted this division. The result is for all of us to see even after so many years. This disturbed me immensely and I wanted to share my opinion,” he says.
And share his opinion he did — brilliantly, drawing in many others to internalise the theme of diversity.
“Just mix burnt umber, raw sienna, titanium white and Indian red in different proportions and you are sure to get your colour”, he says with a smile so plain, you know there is more to it.
Prod further and he says, “That’s the work of an artist. You make something beautiful, draw the person into it, and then say what you have to. In my case, I want to address discrimination. I do it subtly, involving people in a way that they go into an internal journey of sorts.”
After Ahmedabad, Puri created a DNA Helix structure again, this time drawn from the skin tones of various employees in Woodstock school. The installation, however, is just one of the artworks. At the Quad in Woodstock, there is a unique mandala artwork. Look up at the ceiling and one notices hundreds of eyes. From brown to a bright blue, big to small and narrow, they are all there. “The eye of a sweeper could be next to that of the Principal or a student’s next to a teacher’s. All barriers of class are broken”, says Puri pointing to the ceiling.
The wall has beautiful designs done with the artists’ own finger prints in golden. What stand out are two figures done in colorful strips, drawn from actual shades of skin colours. For these, shares Puri, he had a large community of the school try to make a skin colour closest to their own skin colour. The various strips were then stuck on two figures, which stand out against the wall.
When Puri notices my eyes veering to the golden couple on another wall, both real with their curves, looking ethereal on a wall in the Woodstock school’s Quad building, he smiles and says, “These are the enlightened beings. How humans are supposed to be, without any prejudices, their inner glow guiding them. When we become one with the world and see everyone as equal,” shares the artist.
Thanks to the diverse crowd at Woodstock School, it provided the perfect platform for a work like this.
As an artist, it’s discrimination of all kinds that Puri wants to answer, even one related to gender. So he did an interesting experiment in public art in the hill town of Mussoorie; he used an old hawaghar as a blackboard, which saw women from different countries (thanks to the diverse crowd of tourists) come and pour their hearts out on discrimination.
“I used nine gallons of black paint to give it the blackboard feel.” He then gave oilbased markers to women to write messages on the walls. The markers are available freeof-cost to all at the nearby Cozy Corner (a wayside shop at which people stop for snacks).
The expressing is on. From Spanish to German to Marathi and Garhwali, the writings are all on the wall — literally. So if there is the beautiful Urdu script on one corner, another one has a sure hand in Punjabi and yet another in Spanish, all conveying the same thing. Women’s need for being treated equal, of not being stared at, of not being made to feel inferior.
A golden couple that the artist had replicated on a wall at the Cozy Corner, was vandalized. But that won’t stop him from creating another one. After all, passing on the message that Puri wants to, won’t be easy.
But he refuses to give up, the image of the enlightened beings guiding him surely and certainly.