February 2008 Edition
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Darshan Shankar favours transition even as FRLHT is poised for big leap
Rita and Umesh Anand
Bangalore/New Delhi
SIX months ago, Darshan Shankar began a process that took his colleagues at the iconic Foundation for the Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) by surprise. He privately sounded them out on how they would react to him stepping down from the post of director. The normally placid and even-paced FRLHT campus outside Bangalore has since, in its own quiet way, been coping with this intimation of impending change.
Talented scientists, foresters, taxonomists, researchers, computer professionals and Ayurveda physicians work here on giving traditional medicine modern meaning. Most of them were drawn to FRLHT because of Darshan’s vision and they stayed for the large reserves of positive energy that the organisation thrives on. FRLHT has done more for promoting Ayurveda and other traditional health systems and bringing them within handshaking distance of western science than any other voluntary organisation in its bandwidth.
It has been instrumental in influencing national policy and has created awareness about medicinal plants and folk healers. Perhaps most significantly, FRLHT has tried to bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and the modern market for it in integrative approaches to healthcare.
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Umesh Anand
SUCCESSION is always a tricky thing to handle. The perception is that we Indians are not good at it and that we have little respect for organisational structures, shy away from accountability, get too emotional and so on and so forth. This may or may not be true about us as a people as a whole. But there is no escaping the fact that in India succession does not happen effortlessly, be it in the corporate sector or among NGOs. Organisations tend to revolve around individuals and as time passes they mirror their predilections, power equations and social networks.
Now, to be fair, it is just human to want to hang on if the going is good. But if organisations are created for bigger goals than individual ambitions, the challenge is to structure them so that the mantle passes ----- at all levels. How much can one do for a cause or a brand or a business after a point? Others are needed to bring in new energy and refresh the sense of purpose --- especially so when public money is involved.
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Civil Society News
New Delhi
THE high voltage launch of the Nano at the auto
show in Delhi prompted unprecedented public
interest in the cute personal car for a base price of
just Rs 1 lakh and the Indian engineering prowess at
Tata Motors that had made it possible.
The oohs and aahs were, however, also interspersed
by a note of caution sounded by environmentalists
and activists who worried about
what the Nano and other small cars
like it would do to air pollution levels
and congestion in cities.
The short answer to these concerns was that the Nano meets advanced emission norms and its entire production will account for only a small part of the demand for personal transport. It would also find buyers in smaller cities where public transport is virtually non- existent.
But even as the debate went on, several questions deserved better focus and clarity. Do we have too many cars on our roads? Do wehave enough road space? What is really a cheap car? Will an inexpensive Nano actually mean an explosive increase in car purchases?
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Susheela Nair
Palakkad (Kerala)
AS the train crossed the Tamil Nadu border and trudged into neighbouring Kerala, the change in scenic charm was discernible. The awesome mountains of the Sahya range which stood sentinellike guarding the region heralded a welcome to Palakkad, the gateway of Kerala. We saw swaying palmyras and vast expanses of paddy fields. Palakkad is hailed as the ‘granary of Kerala’ thanks to its endless vistas of paddy fields. As we approached our destination, we saw wide swathes of green paddy fields in valleys straddling the exotic Navara crop.
Marigold plants luxuriant with vibrant coloured flowers herald a welcome to the ancestral home of Narayanan Unny, an enterprising agriculturist, who specialises in the cultivation of the rare variety of Navara rice.This 75-year-old Navara Eco Farm is located on the banks of the picturesque Chittur river at Karukamani in Palakkad district. It claims to be the largest Navara farm in the world and the only certified organic medicinal farm.
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Civil Society News
Ahmedabad
FOR many years Vasava tribals in Ghanikut, a village in south Gujarat’s Netrang district, waited patiently for electricity. Poles and promises were made. Officials came and went. Stuck on a rocky hill, the Vasavas waited in vain. Then, in May 2007, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and Microsoft set up a computer hub, called a Community Based Technology Centre (CTLC), close by in Thava village. Salim Bhai, the technical trainer told Mohan and Ishwar Vasava that they could find out through the computerwhy they were not getting electricity. Salim also told them about the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The form was acquired and signed by 60 Vasavas. It was sent to the Gujarat Electricity Board with a copy to the district collector. Almost instantly, a nervous district executive engineer appeared saying he’d fix the problem. For the Vasavas, it was a rare moment of victory.
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Riaz Quadir
Versailles
ONE of the key elements of the democratic process is the rule of law. Without it democratic institutions cannot take root. The dismal state of civil society in Pakistan is a perfect case in point. NGOs in Pakistan in general have a disconnect with society at large because in the absence of the rule of law the feudal structure of the ruling class, irrespective of which political party or army echelon they come from, have the same elitist goals and a common stranglehold over the country.
Having said that, one can see the gradual emergence of an independent judiciary and media. Pervez Musharraf tried to take Dick the butcher’s advice to dictators:"The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers." (Henry VI, Shakespeare) and failed, but not for lack of trying. The recent show of unity among the nation’s judiciary has greatly weakened Musharraf’s position and given hope to the people.
A sizable number of middle class, educated professionals are waiting in the wings to help turn the tide. Women are fed up with being sent back to the pre- Islamic era by being used as fodder in the war between fundamentalists and the USA, and have put in place enough grassroots organisations that will bloom in no time once the rule of law has been established. True, that in the recent past,
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