June 2007 Edition
Beginning in Kolkata lines are being drawn to keep out
big retail chains
Rita and Umesh Anand
Kolkata/New Delhi
LALLAN Nandy, 33, sells bedcovers and sheets on the pavement at Gariahat, in south Kolkata. But that is not the life that he thinks he deserves. He has dreams and wants to go to Singapore, where he believes he will get self-respect and make money. “I want to do something big,” he says. “Time is running out.” Lallan is particularly worried that huge investments being pumped into retailing by Indian and international companies could wipe out 10 years of effort that he has put into building his small business. It would leave him nowhere because he does not have an education. Retail chains would be able to source their products more widely and sell them cheap in inviting shop environments.
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Severine Fumoux
New Delhi
TREES are the first casualty of the Commonwealth Games which will be held in Delhi in 2010. Roads, flyovers and buildings need to be made so trees are being hacked and killed. Not many shed a tear. It's the price of development most Delhiites say with a shrug. Now an activist group has come together to fight for trees. Consisting of citizens, environmentalists and NGOs, the group calls itself Trees for Delhi. “Delhi has become a city of land use,” says Ravi Agarwal, director of Toxics Link and the architect of the campaign. “Here it is a matter of allocating land for trees. The problem is that land needs to have some commercial use and that leaves no room for the tree.”
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Vandana Shiva
NANDIGRAM, a little known corner of Bengal, near the mouth of the Ganges river suddenly entered the nation's consciousness in early 2007. The fertile land of Nandigram had been identified as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for a chemical hub to be run by the Salim Group. The Salim group is named after its founder Liem Sior Liong, alias Sordono Salim. In 1965, when Suharto overthrew Saekarno, Salim emerged as a crony who helped build Suharto's $16 billion assets. In the 80's and 90's during Indonesia's oil boom, Salim set up the Bank of Central Asia. He set up noodle, flour and bread businesses, Indomobil Sukses International to make cars, and Indo cement Tunggal Prakasa to make cement. Altogether, he held 500 companies in Indonesia. This is the group that was trying to grab the land of farmers in Nandigram.
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Susheela Nair
Kumbalangi
LOCATED in the backwaters of Kochi is Kumbalangi, an idyllic model tourist village in Kerala. Still untouched by hordes of tourists, this coastal hamlet takes pride in its lush paddy fields, mangrove forests and serene stretch of backwaters. Here the distant vanchipattu (boatman's song) echoes across the gentle hush of waves. Wispy Chinese fishing nets cast a web across the shoreline. You will be charmed by the simplicity of this friendly village of farmers, fishermen, toddy-tappers, coir spinners and boatmen. They will entertain you with their cuisine and folklore. Kumbalangi provides a fascinating glimpse into the livelihood of villagers and their age-old, magnificent culture. Tourists can take a stroll in lush paddy fields, toil with the farmers and picnic at the mangroves. They can set sail on a boat cruise, or stay adrift in a kettuvallom (traditional rice boat used as houseboat) on the backwaters. Services of boatmen are available but you can also venture out alone on country boats. Kalagramam, an artist's village on four acres of land, displays traditional fishing equipment and handicrafts of the region.
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Vidya Viswanathan
New Delhi
DIAL 1298 from any phone in Mumbai and Ziqitza will track one of its nearest ambulances through the Global Positioning System (GPS) for you. A yellow air-conditioned ambulance with a broad green and yellow chequered band fitted with all emergency medical equipment will arrive and take you to any city hospital. If you are caught in traffic, you or the person who is ill will be taken care of by a trained doctor in the ambulance. Ziqitza, an NGO, runs 24 such ambulances and in three years it plans to take the number to 70. Acumen Fund, the organisation which was started to fund social entrepreneurs, has invested in the project recently.
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Amit Sengupta
Gwangju (Republic of Korea)
INDIA is in the eyes of Gwangju this year. All over this beautiful and ancient city there are huge banners and posters and the national flag of South Korea fluttering in the breeze. In the midst of this display, there is one face which strikes a chord in India, that of Irom Sharmila, he stoic 'satyagrahi' from Manipur, on peaceful fast for seven years, protesting against the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA),1958. Sharmila has been awarded the prestigious Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, 2007, by the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Gwangju, for her magnificent and incredible struggle in the troubled state of Manipur. She has become an icon of Gandhian democracy in Gwangju and South Korea, a staunch protestor of human rights violations and the tyranny of the state. It's a double celebration for India. Another Indian has also been chosen for this prestigious prize: young Lenin Raghuvanshi who works with the poorest ofthe poor in Uttar Pradesh, especially in the districts of Benaras, Mirzapur and Sonebhadra.