tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50026690769569070352024-03-05T12:16:12.757+05:30fieldnotesramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-21420795386139586512024-01-21T22:35:00.000+05:302024-01-21T22:35:41.369+05:30My friend Nazakat<p>Nazakat was my tailor in all the years I lived in Bhopal. A gaunt man, unfailingly polite and cheerful, he had his shop in Manisha Market in Shahpura. He had no assistants and did all the work himself, producing neatly tailored salwar-kameez sets. His wife sometimes accompanied him to the shop and would sit stitching on buttons or hooks if required. His customers included women in the Bharatnagar slum as well as from the middle-class Shahpura colony. He lived in a village outside Bhopal and would cycle to and from work each day. Festival times were busy and happy times, and one had to wait many days to get clothes stitched. Completed outfits would be hung neatly on hangers on a rod to a side of the store. <br /></p><p>Demonetization was the first blow. Suddenly money was tight, the number of customers dropped sharply. People lost jobs in the informal sector by the thousands. (The hotel near my house that employed eight men shut down as the owner could not pay the wages - he had to choose between paying the workers full wages or purchasing provisions with the small amount of money he could withdraw each day). Women from the slum stopped getting new clothes stitched. Only a few completed outfits would be hanging up, and festival time did not bring a rush of orders. <br /></p><p>After a couple of years, business started looking up again though it never picked up to the pre-demonetization level. Nazakat diversified into readymade garments - nighties, underwear and socks. These were in great demand and he was getting back to being cheerful again. </p><p>Then came the lockdowns during Covid, and Nazakat's business never recovered from the blow. Apart from the days the shop had to be kept locked, very few people came to purchase anything even after it reopened. Not even the underwear got sold (remember the men's underwear index?). He was also competing with cheap, synthetic ready-made clothes that are mass-produced and were now freely available. I rarely had to wait for my clothes to be stitched. <br /></p><p></p><p>By 2021, Nazakat was not earning enough to pay the rent of his shop, and had decided to give it up and to move back to his village. Several days he had only one customer the whole day - someone who would make a small purchase He was no longer cheerful. He was desperate to finish selling the stock already purchased and ended up selling it cheap to someone so that he could recover at least a part of the money. He left for his village and I missed seeing him at his sewing machine in his shop. Soon after, my husband and I moved to Bangalore. </p><p>I kept sending material to him through people going to Bhopal and he would send the tailored clothes back. <br /></p><p>I met him last August in Bhopal - and was shocked at his appearance. He was even more gaunt than before, and was breathless. He said he could no longer cycle and could walk only a little bit before becoming breathless. I was not sure whether it was his heart or his lungs that was the source of the problem. He needed work, he said, and I gave him several sets of clothes to be stitched. (When they were returned, I could make out that Nazakat was not well: the cut was not as precise as before, the stitching a bit eccentric). <br /></p><p>It turned out that he had had tuberculosis that had destroyed large parts of his lungs. He had what is known as COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. And that had led to heart failure. A bronchodilator helped him to some extent but not much. He was also severely malnourished. Had the loss of earnings worsened his illness and his COPD? Had he and his family been eating enough to stay well-nourished? <br /></p><p>We kept in touch over the phone, and I would call him every few weeks. Sometimes he would say he was doing ok, with no breathlessness, sometimes he would say he had no appetite. I urged him to eat eggs every day and meat whenever he could afford it. He refused my offer of monetary help, saying his son was earning now. But how well he earned, and whether they were eating well, I could not say. He would always thank me for enquiring about his health. <i>"Aapka aur mera ek vishesh hi rishta hai" </i>he told me in his weak voice. You and I have a special relationship. <br /></p><p>Last month when I called him there was no answer. A week later, the cellphone service said the number was no longer in use. </p><p>This evening I got a phone call from Bhopal telling me that Nazakat had passed away last month. </p><p>I mourn the loss of a friend, a gentleman. What really killed him, though? <br /></p><p><br /></p>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-43451000613403211452024-01-16T10:11:00.000+05:302024-01-16T10:11:52.026+05:30Winter hazards <p>On a field visit last week I was called to see a woman who had fever and swollen legs. No other information was available and so I went to see her. <br /></p><p>Deep in the Achanakmar forest, Dharmin Baiga lives in Dabripara, a part of Bindawal village. She
lives with her husband, son and daughter-in-law. A small square of land
to grow crops, a cow, a few possessions, and a two roomed, mud plastered hut is what
they own collectively. Among the Baigas they are among the better-off ones. <br /></p><p>When the cold increased this year, they
did what they always do- sleep around a fire inside the house. Last
week, Dharmin's husband found an extra big log to put in the fire so
that he need not wake up in the middle of the night to put on another
log. But their room is very small, and one end of the log extended
under the cot that Dharmin slept on. During the night the log burnt
along its length, including the part under the cot. The cot was
made of nylon tapes that caught fire, burnt the blanket on top and
burnt Dharmin's legs. Luckily she was not injured more severely. </p><p>They
applied some herbal preparation on the burns, and thought no more about
it. However, in four days, both legs were swollen and the burn wounds
oozed pus. Dharmin had fever and severe pain. </p><p>When I saw her she was sitting in front of her hut in the sun, in obvious pain. She had badly infected burn wounds with cellulitis. She did not say a word about herself and I spoke to the husband about the need to get her to hospital. He was reluctant at first - the crops needed tending, the cow had to be looked after. The son did not help them much, he said. But he agreed to come to hospital in our vehicle. </p><p>Dharmin is undergoing treatment now and I am happy to say she is recovering. Sadly, hers is not an isolated case. Burn wounds in winter are a common feature seen in forest, rural and poor communities. Where warm clothing is insufficient or the hut lets in cold air, sleeping around a fire in winter is the norm rather than the exception. It is a hazard of poverty. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img aria-label="Photo - Portrait - Jan 11, 2024, 11:33:04 AM" class="BiCYpc" data-iml="21588" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWlyYzzhuq-I26xXAmCG2Z0TVLhbXlnrE2ixtXV3snZWhyphenhyphenU6q_qmlWb84tybkJ4AYJF0_o8y5lCYK1BtQ5buWl1xmCfT6E9J0L1nuk-_zUr0E_ThZ_Nvmun4numbxMQhw-hGrB4Z-V-U7/w281-h400/?authuser=0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px) rotate(0deg);" width="281" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dharmin outside her house in Dabripara<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /> <br /><p></p><p><br /><br /></p><p></p>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-41243621702415372032022-09-05T09:38:00.000+05:302022-09-05T09:38:34.712+05:30Thoughts on drinking tomato soup<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">To my friend who sent over tomato soup yesterday when she heard I had a bad cold. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The tomato soup was tasty and thick,<br />Just what you need when you are sick. <br />And as I drank it nice and hot, <br />I sat back in my chair and thought<br />Of bonds that go back 40 years;<br />Of friends and foes and dreams and fears;<br />Of our women's hostel days-<br />Of chai and rasam, our joys and tears;<br />Of co-op, common-room, hostel days;<br />and our sometimes errant ways; <br />Of Ma Idiks, mess thambis, appam & stew - <br />See what tomato soup can do?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and a post - script:</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;">And now this is no idle boast- <br />I'm well and having tea and toast.</span><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-87559480273921586482022-08-10T23:35:00.000+05:302022-08-10T23:35:11.359+05:30Pathalgaon, 1992<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Pathalgaon in March. Home is a small room attached
to St Anne’s Convent, half a kilometer off the main road. It has place in it
for a small string cot, a table and a bookshelf. A small bathroom cum toilet is
attached. We have learnt to live with the minimum number of possessions, as
there is no space for more, but we managed to keep our books. This is the only
place we could find after leaving the hospital, which allowed us also to
continue our work with RAHA. Dawn, and the drawing up of water from the well
nearby, for washing, cooking and bathing. It is only March and already the
water level is too low for it to be pumped out. Things will be much worse in
summer. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A bath, a quick breakfast of upma and we hurry
away to work. Ravi and I walk three kilometres down the road towards Ambikapur,
to Asha Deep where RAHA has its training centre. It is 7.30 in the morning and
the sun is already hot on our backs. Today we begin training a new batch of
village health promotors (VHPs).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">RAHA is a co-ordinating centre for over 80
dispensaries and health centres of Raigarh and Surguja districts of Madhya
Pradesh. We work with RAHA as resource persons and at present we are training
health workers as well as holding refresher trainings for them. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We meet the VHPs, thirty in all, including twelve
women. All but one of the women have a toddler with them, and this woman has
two young children with her. They will be living at Asha Deep for the next ten
days, and group of us will be training them. They will then return after six months
for the second training camp. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Introductions take up part of the morning. All of
them are Oraon, though fortunately they speak Hindi too. The women have made
time to come away from home: the older children will take care of the home and
the fowls. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I take the first session in a large hall where we
sit in circle on the floor. I tell them the story of Lakshmi, a young unmarried
girl who dies of tetanus after a thorn prick. Her parents are too poor to take
her to a good hospital. We then discuss all the possible reasons for her death.
Everyone participates animatedly, and people recount their own experience of
finding health care too expensive; of having to go into debt for treatment; of
difficulty in finding transportation to reach a health care facility when
someone falls sick. They recount how their own children are unimmunized because
the Government health worker is so irregular in her visits. They compare
conditions in towns and in their own villages. And finally conclude that the
cause of ill health and death is much more than only a “disease”. That social,
economic and political factors play a vital role in health too. I am glad they
arrive at these conclusions: they are beginning to see that as health workers,
they will be involved in much more than just “treating” patients. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We break for lunch. It is past noon and very warm.
The toddlers have all already been either breastfed or taken out and given a
meal. The hot rice, daal and potatoes makes us sweat even more in the heat. We
take a two hour break as the trainees use this time to bathe and wash in a
stream nearby. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Back for the afternoon session, which Ravi and I
conduct jointly. The trainees sit in two circles and each is provided with a
paper and pencil. They are asked to draw the picture of a man or a woman and to
label the body parts. Laughter and protests that they cannot draw. Giggles from
the women. Meanwhile, one toddler has chewed up his mother’s sheet of paper and
she is provided with another one. With some encouragement, all of them concentrate
on their drawing. We are doing this so that we have an idea how each of them
views the human body and its organs before we teach them body anatomy. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After they finish, a volunteer comes and draws the
outline of the body on the blackboard. Each trainee then comes up and marks one
body part. There is unanimity in the opinion that all body parts - heart,
lungs, liver, stomach, uterus and intestines lie in the midline inside the
body. Some body parts are not represented at all. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We stop at this juncture for the day. Ravi and I
have to go back and prepare the next day’s anatomy lesson based on their perceptions
and what they already know. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The walk back home is pleasanter than the one in
the morning. It is 5.30 pm and the sun has set, but daylight lingers on. Back
home to a cup of tea, then to relax for a while, then to draw water, prepare
the evening meal of chapatis and daal, trying to finish before the inevitable
power failure at 6.30 pm. As it gets darker, the mosquitoes buzz around and
bite viciously. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I can hear the children singing their evening
prayers at the large wooden cross outside our window. These 30 girls live in a
hostel attached to the convent and attend school in Pathalgaon. Their ages
range from 6 to 12. My interaction with them has been limited to greetings and
smiles when we meet occasionally. Fortunately they are healthy and do not
require medical intervention often. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The power goes off at 6.30 pm and I light the two
kerosene lamps in the room. Tomorrow’s lesson is to be prepared, a letter to be
written. After these are done, we go out and sit at the base of the cross in
the cool breeze of the evening – the mosquitoes are not as bad here. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The village is very quiet, and the stars in the
sky are numerous and I feel I can reach out and touch them. We are cut off from
the outside world – no newspapers and what we do get are a few days old. If we
are still awake when the power is restored and if the voltage is good enough,
we may be able to listen to the radio. I realize I am exhausted. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Am I wasting my time? I wonder. Was three years of
hard work for an MD in community medicine meant to prepare me for this life?
Did my prepare me for this sense of loneliness I sometimes feel? How do I
reconcile Chi-square tests and Poisson distribution and systems analysis with
hauling water from a well and teaching village workers about scabies and
malaria; and with coping with life in a village in rural MP? I know one day it
will all fall in place….</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Reflections are interrupted by dinner and more
preparation and we go to sleep at 11.30 pm, still by lamplight. The mosquitoes
are worse now and as I crawl into bed under the mosquito net and stretch myself
out, I realise I am looking forward to another day. </span></p>
<p></p>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-85910610695796967482022-07-02T11:12:00.000+05:302022-07-02T11:12:58.534+05:30<p>Ganiyari, June 2022</p><p>I returned to this part of Chhattisgarh after a nine-year gap. Having worked in the community programme of Jan Swasthya Sahyog for five years, my husband Ravi and I had moved back to Bhopal where I worked freelance. Last year I returned as a consultant / mentor to the community programme, spending a week here each month, and another few days from Bhopal (and now from Bangalore) for tasks that can be done offline. </p><p>When I am here I try to visit the villages as often as I can, supporting the field staff and reviewing their work. When I first returned after the long gap, it was with a sense of homecoming, though the campus of the base hospital at Ganiyari was unrecognizable due to so much construction: most of the empty spaces that made it so attractive were gone, covered with buildings: a larger lab, a larger inpatient ward, more outpatient buildings, a very large nurses' hostel, etc. And many more people on campus. The patient load seemed to have increased too, though there are more surgical patients than other cases, I understand. </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowl2IJ1MX1Vt6ygowaNePeiVMfRLEl3J5F180O8VsYTAmd3PnbxmaCSK4G3aMiDAKzdEC0MOcwYnDyFsSX9rPYoH6AYEpBHEz7juP0DaKCN8ScKRtu6bRs-caLkUzLedU3V3V1Uk8XFjuoOxZsf7eh5fQu-pU7Ru082Jq8d7IGTMHjs74Z9iLE5RYzw/s4624/20201214_080707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3468" data-original-width="4624" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowl2IJ1MX1Vt6ygowaNePeiVMfRLEl3J5F180O8VsYTAmd3PnbxmaCSK4G3aMiDAKzdEC0MOcwYnDyFsSX9rPYoH6AYEpBHEz7juP0DaKCN8ScKRtu6bRs-caLkUzLedU3V3V1Uk8XFjuoOxZsf7eh5fQu-pU7Ru082Jq8d7IGTMHjs74Z9iLE5RYzw/w389-h292/20201214_080707.jpg" width="389" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Patients waiting outside the gates of the JSS base clinic, Ganiyar</i>i</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p></p><p><br />The subcentres in the field have expanded too, especially the ones at Bahmni and Shivterai. The one is Semariya was falling apart and I am happy to say it is now being reconstructed almost from scratch, hopefully with more space. This centre is used a lot, with many more pregnant women and outpatients compared to the other two. Bahmni, where the clinic used to be overwhelmed with patients each Tuesday, has far fewer patients than before - attributed partly to the fact that the Government health centres in Surhi and Lormi (from where many patients would come to the clinic) are functioning better than before. That was good to hear. <br /></p><p>The villages do not seem to have changed substantially compared to a decade ago. A few villages have some more pucca houses, some have individual standposts for water at each house. But apart from that, the roads between the villages are as bad as ever, the poverty seems the same, especially in the Baiga villages. The forest department is as refractory as ever about building a culvert across the Maniyari so we continue to wade across the river in the rainy season. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipx_27SIcCUMQLyW4_9e2OVU0rmyAzwGpGslbrfNS8Ora83fwxNiIzho5kFn85oPmmfSG_0jLSptHeIIT-FXJkNhBZTGCleXmVr0esWtryEXZARpOrRLlWn9N47PW_KkRVG73wgVpFEkruBmgPhwcPG_ZhSGxZV6tGd2btlmEMKjrRX30KzprT5mmz7g/s3692/20220610_134313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2136" data-original-width="3692" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipx_27SIcCUMQLyW4_9e2OVU0rmyAzwGpGslbrfNS8Ora83fwxNiIzho5kFn85oPmmfSG_0jLSptHeIIT-FXJkNhBZTGCleXmVr0esWtryEXZARpOrRLlWn9N47PW_KkRVG73wgVpFEkruBmgPhwcPG_ZhSGxZV6tGd2btlmEMKjrRX30KzprT5mmz7g/s320/20220610_134313.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Women of Rajak village, waiting for a village meeting</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </p><p>There is more migration to more distant places - Tamil Nadu, Bombay, Delhi. And after the lockdown, many among those who have gone back have gone on a motorcyle. Their experience in 2019 has been a bitter one and they do not want a face a situation where they have to walk back from their place of work to their village in Chhattisgarh. <br /></p><p><br /></p>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-50864919895920818442021-10-01T18:46:00.000+05:302021-10-01T18:46:37.603+05:30Elephants at Luchki ghat <p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">July 1987</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Luchki ghat lies to the east of Ambikapur, the
headquarters of Surguja district. The ghat road is 7 km long, winding between
two high hills, and is the main route out from Ambikapur to the east.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ghat has many scattered hamlets, and one
small reservoir. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I first heard about the elephants in early July
when I was on my way to a health worker training camp at Tongo-Ghagra which lay
beyond the ghat. We had to take a 38 km detour over bad roads and were told the
reason – the tribals has blocked the ghat road with a tree in protest against
the Collector’s inaction regarding a herd <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of wild elephants which had been menacing
them for a week. The elephants had come there from further east – from around
Jashpurnagar. They had smashed huts and destroyed crops and the authorities had
not done anything about it so far. The tribals wanted permission to kill the
elephants if necessary. It was a herd of seven – five adults and two calves.
Subsequently the Collector had visited the area and had persuaded the villagers
not to kill them – he would make arrangements to capture them. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, a week later, our hospital (Holy Cross
Hospital, Ambikapur) had been requested to assist in delivering health care to
the affected villagers, and a nurse and I went out to Luchki ghat. The hill to
the north of the road had been fenced off with high voltage wire, and there
were prominent signs put up urging people not to touch the wire, and not to
attempt to graze cattle inside the fencing or to try and pick mushrooms on the
hill. The plan was to isolate the elephants on that hill and then get tame
elephants to help capture them. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We drove to Rai, and then walked four km to one of
the affected hamlets. It rained all the while, and the nurse and I were wet by
the time we reached it. A group of people had gathered near the primary school
building as they had heard that we would be there. Several old people whose
houses had been destroyed completely were housed in the school building – they
had established themselves in separate groups under those areas of the roof
that did not leak. Rain water which came in was being collected in what vessels
they had in an attempt to keep the room dry, but it obviously had not done much
good. William, a village elder, took me around the hamlet. It had a desolate
look about it with no people around, the only sound being that of rain. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We went to William’s house which was a short way
up the hillside and had been the first to be attacked by the elephant ten days
ago. There was a large hole in the back wall where an elephant had smashed
through and a corresponding hole in the front wall where it had exited. The
corn crop had been trampled and destroyed, and the ragi that had been planted
had been destroyed too. William and his family had rushed out in panic when
they had heard the elephants approaching, and along with the rest of the
villagers, had raced down to the reservoir and waded out into neck-deep water.
They stood there all night, praying that the elephants would not follow them
there. Parents carried little children on their shoulders all night as they
stood there, and the incessant rain made matters worse. Fortunately the
elephants (after having had their fill of corn) had retreated into the forest
at dawn. From that night on, the men took turns to stay up at night, beating
drums and making enough noise to keep them away. So now the menfolk were an
exhausted lot. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What had the municipality done? They had been
given money as compensation, William told me, to rebuild their huts, but now
the mud was too wet to build with, and the families had spent a lot of the
money buying seeds to plant their crops again. They families were out in open,
most of them having rigged up a sheet of plastic between the trees and
sheltering there. Till the rains let up in September and the sun was strong
enough to dry the mud, they would be unable to build their homes. The elderly
from among the families had been put in the school building. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Most of the people had fever, and several children
had pneumonia. Malaria was rampant as usual. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I spoke to the primary school teacher and asked –
didn’t the presence of the villagers living in the school building disturbed
the routine of the children? Not at all, he replied – I have only five children
attending this school. Seeing my surprise he explained. This school had upto 50
children coming here before the reservoir was built. After that, many families
had to relocate. They could not move up here as this hill was already occupied
by people, so they have moved away, I am not sure where they have gone. Only
the families left on the upper slopes send their children here. And as there
are so few children in this school, why should the Government spend money in
maintaining this school building? The verandah is alright, so I teach there.
The people inside do not disturb me not at all. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That was the first of many visits to Luchki ghat
that season. The huts have been rebuilt now. The elephants have all been
captured, except for one female elephant who when trying to escape, ran into
the fence and got electrocuted to death. I am not sure where the elephants were
escorted to and whether they returned in later years.</span></p>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-86627501783372021192021-07-16T12:16:00.000+05:302021-07-16T12:16:15.377+05:30Jaising Baiga of Tilaidabra <p>I met Jaising Baiga of Tilaidabra village in Chhattisgarh on a hot, humid afternoon earlier this week. I had gone to his house to see his daughter Jyothi, who the health worker in the village described as "kamzor", or weak.<br /></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0iXI6Fwkt_ch7kdd8faHev_RcF0PtD5H2p8C1h_i_NpLcMC8zBzfI_HSqXYkW3bgr7HooD-gTX1ocO3AwdnvwMIQhZZy88fWSaCvsSXWxa7g6e8LqM1XKs0lq3DM3_J6KXhOG5uPZICZ/s2048/IMG_20210713_125027115.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Jaisingh Baiga with his wife and daughter in their hut" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0iXI6Fwkt_ch7kdd8faHev_RcF0PtD5H2p8C1h_i_NpLcMC8zBzfI_HSqXYkW3bgr7HooD-gTX1ocO3AwdnvwMIQhZZy88fWSaCvsSXWxa7g6e8LqM1XKs0lq3DM3_J6KXhOG5uPZICZ/w240-h320/IMG_20210713_125027115.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Jaising Baiga and his family in their hut<br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Jaising works in Pratapgarh in a brick factory and had just returned after seven months of work there. He was asleep under a thick blanket when we reached his hut, but his wife insisted on waking him up. I asked him about his job. He works in a brick factory there for 12 hours each day, he said, cleaning out the ash from the kilns after the bricks are baked. The bricks themselves are made by labourers from Bihar. For his labours he earns Rs.9000 per month, and he supplements this with headloading for trucks, which earns him an additional Rs. 3000. He spends Rs. 2200 on food for himself, he said. So does he send the rest home, I asked him. He said he was paying off the advance given by the contractor to the family when taking him to Pratapgarh, as well as the interest. So he has now returned only with a small amount of money. No, he did not have to return during the lockdown in 2020 as it is a very large brick factory and work continued even during the lockdown.<br /></p><p>Two other Baiga men from his village also work there. </p><p>Their mud and tile hut is falling to pieces, some of the tiles on the roof missing in one corner. In another corner the broken tiles had let in the rain resulting in the corner being washed away and leaving two walls in danger of collapsing any moment. He will be here for four months now during the agricultural season before returning to Pratapgarh later in the year, he said. <br /></p><p>Jaising is extremely thin, as is his wife Meena who works as an
agricultural labourer in Tilaidabra and nearby villages. And their
daughter Jyothi is severely underweight for her age. <br /></p><p>The <i>Anganwadi</i> building in the village is dilapidated and a hazard to enter, and the anganwadi worker lives far away and comes to the village once a month to distribute the month's allocation of dry rations to the children enrolled at the centre. </p><p>I had gone to enquire about the young child, to visit the family, to ask about her diet and health, and to advise the mother if necessary, on what she needed to do to improve the child's nutritional status. </p><p>After meeting the family and talking to Jaising, I left without offering any solutions. I found I lacked the courage to do so. </p><p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNXpAAk-ScKWY_ouuaB9My09SD1Q0iZ2pRVp9cE4xhYxWxT-EotCq82MNTzNcrjg4664IBp2r48obBcI3-cWXGFisasgA8uVQcy_MafEjsdiKmPphVZjSSGaC5Yv7utzTyNMGhm0P48GE/s2048/IMG_20210713_121630756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNXpAAk-ScKWY_ouuaB9My09SD1Q0iZ2pRVp9cE4xhYxWxT-EotCq82MNTzNcrjg4664IBp2r48obBcI3-cWXGFisasgA8uVQcy_MafEjsdiKmPphVZjSSGaC5Yv7utzTyNMGhm0P48GE/w320-h240/IMG_20210713_121630756.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>View of Tilaidabra with Anganwadi centre in the foreground<br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOh0vJK2UjAQdp71HCKUnMiUGGfOPhzrddl84u7TeyOdBQ4DwePw2gT9BtKWAHe6J5Ag3j43AcpxHd0xeXpYaoU55cYm20fFxbkQE59YlfGw0JcKeDR8mqH6YgLiyXIBKQVI24Om2RY-p/s2048/Anganwadi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1570" data-original-width="2048" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOh0vJK2UjAQdp71HCKUnMiUGGfOPhzrddl84u7TeyOdBQ4DwePw2gT9BtKWAHe6J5Ag3j43AcpxHd0xeXpYaoU55cYm20fFxbkQE59YlfGw0JcKeDR8mqH6YgLiyXIBKQVI24Om2RY-p/w320-h245/Anganwadi.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Tilaidabra Anganwadi centre. </i></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><br /><p><br /></p>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-85308477910974359852021-07-05T16:22:00.001+05:302021-07-15T23:01:44.591+05:30Ambikapur, 1987<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond", serif; line-height: 115%;">It was the transistor radio that kept me sane
that year. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond", serif; line-height: 115%;">It was 1987. I was fresh out of internship, and
had opted to work in a hospital in a remote area for a year, before thinking of
specialization. I had a room in an empty ward of the Holy Cross Hospital,
Ambikapur in Madhya Pradesh. During the day, the crowded outpatients kept me
busy, and before that the morning rounds that had to be conducted in the wards
to check on patients. On duty nights too I would remain busy in the evenings as
well as sometimes through the night. The Sisters were welcoming and gracious,
and glad of an extra hand to help. I ate in a small room off the kitchen –
delicious home-made food, mostly rice, daal, and vegetables. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond", serif; line-height: 115%;">It was in the evenings that I got lonely, missing
my colleagues at Vellore, and my family. The sisters would retreat to their convent,
and the other doctors to their families and homes in Ambikapur, and I would be
left to my own devices. Except on the days I was on call, I would speak to no
one from 6 in the evening till about 9 the next morning, and at 23, it drove me
crazy. Those were the days before email and internet and cellphones and the STD
booth for long distance calls was nearly 2 km away from the hospital on the
edge of town. I did not have access to a library for reading material. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond", serif; line-height: 115%;">I paid the handsome sum of Rs. 700.00 for a
Philips transistor radio from my first salary, and it brought the room alive.
From being a large bare hospital room, it became a place where there was music,
news and conversation. I listened to the All India Radio (English and Hindi and
even the Sanskrit news bulletin to try and remember my elementary school
Sanskrit), to the BBC, to the Voice of America, as well as broadcasts in a few
languages I did not understand. Vividh Bharti and the Srilanka Broadcasting
Corporation were my favourite stations for songs, and Vividh Bharti had some
lovely instrumental and vocal classical music as well. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond", serif; line-height: 115%;">My interest in surgery was encouraged by the
Medical Superintendent who was a plastic surgeon herself, but like most
surgeons in rural India, conducted surgeries of all kinds. Under her guidance
and I soon learnt to do minor procedures by myself and to assist in the more
major ones like intestinal and gastric perforations, or in Caesarean sections.
What a thrill it gave me to see a patient who had been admitted in pain recover
fully; or a mother and baby recovering well after the C-Section. The
well-planned and sychronised, orderly world inside the operation theatre also
appealed to me. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond", serif; line-height: 115%;">But outside the operation theatre I was plunged
into the chaotic, untidy, real world. The emergency cases (and almost all who
came outside regular hours were emergencies) were all critically ill – an
unconscious child with tuberculous meningitis (the coverings of the brain), a
pregnant woman with malaria and jaundice, a comatose man with severe malaria, a
pregnant woman with eclampsia (seizures due to high blood pressure in
pregnancy) – the list went on. These were terribly poor patients, who had been
brought several kilometers on a cot to the nearest main road before being
brought here in a bus or more often in a jeep that had charged them exorbitant
rates. It was obvious in their thin and wasted bodies- both of the patients and
their relatives; the tattered clothes they wore; the patient, almost fatalistic
attitude with which they waited for care. Many of these patients died within
hours of admission in spite of our best efforts, while others would have a long
and slow recovery. Malaria and tuberculosis were the most serious and
frightening problems I saw, in all their various forms and degrees of severity.
I felt helpless and often lost – how could so many patients just come to the
hospital and then die? Could it not be stopped? Why did someone not diagnose it
earlier, or why did they wait till their illness became so severe? <span> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond", serif; line-height: 115%;">All these questions led me, at the end of my year
there, to apply for my post-graduate studies in Community Medicine at my alma
mater in Vellore. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span>ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-73164291123286070312020-05-25T15:20:00.001+05:302020-05-26T13:11:20.252+05:30Mubarakpur by-pass, Bhopal. Lockdown Day 53.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A lot has been written about the lockdown in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic, and I skip reading many such articles now. A surfeit of medical, non-medical and epidemiological articles in the papers, on email, and on WhatsApp makes me sick of the virus and the disease. The fear of the virus has been overtaken by the guilt, the worry, the helplessness of seeing lakhs of our fellow citizens - men, women, children, elderly , handicapped - trying to reach home any way they can. I am in awe of their endurance and determination, even as I am ashamed that we have brought them to this - forcing them to walk, cycle, hitch a dangerous ride - at the height of a scorching Indian summer, just because we as a nation did not care enough to plan better or to execute a plan to get them home in dignity. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I learn from a friend about an organization in Bhopal that is helping citizens walking home on the highway outside the city. The <a href="http://jamaateislamihind.org/eng/" target="_blank">Jamaat-e-Islami Hind</a> in Bhopal has been active since the day following the lockdown (over 60 days now), feeding people who have lost jobs and their means of earning a livelihood. These include daily wage labourers, rag-pickers, the disabled, among others. At present they cook and distribute over 10,000 meals a day. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The city is under a strict lockdown. My colleague and I have lockdown passes for work among the slums in Bhopal. We go one afternoon to observe the work being done by the Jamaat volunteers at the Mubarakpur bypass and to see whether and how we can help. We reach the highway at 4.30 pm . The worst of the heat of the day has passed, but it is still extremely hot and oppressive, like being in an oven. The hot air stings my eyes and dries my lips in no time. The highway has no trees left after six-laning, and a few thorny shrubs on the roadside offer patchy shade, if any. The Jamaat volunteers have put up a small <i>shamiana</i> on the roadside,and food and water is spread out on tables under it. As it is the month of Ramzan, all the volunteers are observing <i>roza</i>, and do not consume even water during the day. Frankly, this level of discipline amazes me: to not drink water through the day in this scorching heat and to continue to work, requires a level of will-power and faith that I am afraid I do not have. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have taken a few first aid kits with me to the highway: bags with ORS packets, dressing materials, Band-Aid strips, paracetamol tablets for fever, a bar of soap, and a bottle of Savlon. My colleague has brought along packets of biscuits. We wait in the scorching sun, feeling self-conscious. We look like who we are - privileged enough to live through a prolonged lockdown (it is day 53) without a problem; to be able to hire a taxi to take us from our homes to this highway. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A steady procession of trucks (large and small), small pickup vans, autorickshaws, motorcyles, all go by. Today the traffic is mostly from Gujarat, though there are quite a few vehicles from Maharashtra too. Each is packed beyond capacity by workers returning home, sometimes with families. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As the vehicles stop at the Jamaat stall, the volunteers on the ground rush to them with packets of food, biscuits, and sachets of water. Throwing up sachets to reach men sitting on the roof of the truck above the driver's cabin; or in the truck (the driver would rarely allow the passengers to alight) has been honed to a fine art by the volunteers. Since there have been many people on foot whose slippers had broken or had worn out, a sack of new footwear in all sizes is also available for those who needed a replacement pair. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I go up to the driver of any vehicle that stops, and hand over the first aid kit, explaining what each item in it was for. In all cases, they listen attentively and store the kit carefully, and I sincerely hope they will not need to use it. One has heard of so many road accidents and deaths of the returning workers. In most such accidents, my little kit will be of very limited use. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I soon run out of the kits I have taken with me, and spend the rest of the time talking to some of the people who I meet. Most of the vehicles from Gujarat are from Surat, and I feel a kinship with them, recognising many of the places they work in: Ved Road, Anjani, Diamond Nagar.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Komal Prasad and other textile workers from Surat head to Allahahabad</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This mini-truckload of textile industry workers - weavers, embroidery workers, textile market workers, are headed from Surat to Allahabad (nobody calls it Prayagraj). Komal Prasad who is seated is older than the others, spends his day folding sarees in the textile market and says he will not return to Surat. Eighteen years there is enough, he feels. The rest of the men say they will return as soon as work resumes. Komal modifies his statement - well, maybe next year, he says, but certainly not this year. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">None of them has been paid since March - not even for the 24 days before the lockdown on March 25th. Their names appeared on the list of train passengers four times but each time they were told it was a mistake - they are convinced the tickets were sold to someone else at a higher price. They themselves have paid Rs. 1500 each to an agent to get a ticket. Now 48 of them have each paid Rs. 3500 for standing (and occasionally sitting) in this mini-truck for the journey home. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I tell them about <a href="http://www.aajeevika.org/" target="_blank">Aajeevika Bureau</a>, the organization that works with migrant labour and provides legal support in issues like non-payment of wages, or compensation for injuries; and about their office at Katargam Darwaza </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in Surat</span></span>. Komal and two of his friends note down the number of the office and of the co-ordinator there. When they return they may visit the office to ask about how to get their pending wages, and any other problems they may have. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Nallasopara to Sultanpur by road. The Jamaat stall in the background </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These two friends set off on a motorcycle from Bombay to Sultanpur. The person in the helmet works at wiring buildings in Nallasopara, and informs me they will return to Bombay once things "settle down". They have been on the road since the previous evening. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">More textile mill workers from Surat's Diamond Nagar head to UP.</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile, several other trucks passed by from Gujarat, like this one. These textile workers live in Diamond Nagar in Surat, and are headed to Allahabad. 60 of them have paid Rs. 3100 each to travel in this truck.The day after they left, fellow workers in Diamond Nagar protested about wanting to go home, resulting in a police <i>lathi</i>-charge in which a worker from Odisha died. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anand, walking from Kalyan to Damoh. </span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anand looks remarkably cheerful for someone walking with his family from Kalyan to Damoh district in Madhya Pradesh. When I saw him he was barefoot as his slippers had broken on the way. Perhaps his cheerful look is because he has got a brand new pair from the the Jamaat stall. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Jamaat is very well organized here - tables with water sachets that have been chilled with ice; fresh food brought in every few hours, with spiced puris and pickle packets provided for dinner as well. The young volunteers are tireless, and the stall runs day and night. Sometimes there is a treat - someone in the city donates bananas or cucumbers and so these are distributed as well. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The heat grows more oppressive as the sky grows overcast. I perspire freely and take a drink of warm water from my water bottle. It does not quench my thirst. A sudden heavy shower begins just as this truck from Surat arrives. The passengers try to shelter under a tarpaulin sheet while also collecting water and food. Everyone collects as much water as they can. </span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dytiZhAFZ4T-mXpWY3FE42GULfZx3oLXVkkZUn1lCMK39CQn8M7ejKtN2d21KJHhv9AVnACyrA5za4znDwshA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These images are repeated many times - autos from Gujarat, as well as a truck
full of workers from Gujarat that comes through the checkpost at the
Mubarakpur bypass. Almost all are going to UP and Bihar. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Chandra Bhan (in yellow gamcha) and his friend head from Ahmedabad to UP.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Chandra Bhan and his friend are both diamond polishers who work in Ahmedabad, now heading home to UP on their motorcycle. We will return, said both, when things are more settled, and we know what is going to happen. Things are very uncertain at present. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Muskaan and Rubina with their father Kamal Hassan. </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As it gets dark, I meet Kamal Hassan and his two daughters - Muskaan and her older sister Rubina, all headed from Kalyan to Gorakhpur on their motorcycle. He says he is very fortunate that he has his own means of transport. His wife died some years ago, he tells me. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am relieved to find only two families still going home on foot in the time I am there. Apparently the previous week, the majority of people were walking home. Now they are in their autorickshaws (from Surat and Bombay), motorcycles, small pickup vans, trucks. What is better - to risk your life standing in a crowded truck, baking in the sun for three days, with a likelihood of fatal accidents, or to embark on what should be considered a death walk in the summer heat, dodging police checkposts, uncertain of where you will find water and food? Why am I even asking myself these questions? A person will take the best option he or she has. Lucky enough to have family who can send across money to buy standing room on a truck? - it is quicker. Too poor to do so? - you walk. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The past few weeks find me distracted. How can I help more directly, in addition to monetary support to organizations that are providing food and drink to the people migrating home? How has the lockdown affected them - physically, emotionally, mentally, and how can I make amends? My big regret from today is that I did not take down any of their mobile numbers, so I cannot find out whether or not they reached their homes safely. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The
biggest migration since partition, is what some have called it - this
movement of our workforce, of the drivers of our cities, heading back to
their villages. </span></span></span></span><br />
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-67960215867145057132019-12-05T00:58:00.001+05:302019-12-05T11:09:24.564+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I sit here past midnight, waiting for the reassuring sounds of the CPAP machine as my father breathes with it. There is a gradual slowing of the breathing and then a frightening silence that lasts 10, 15, 25, nearly 40 seconds till he takes the next breath. A few rapid breaths, then a slowing, and there it is the long pause again. Initially I used to run to his bedside to wait anxiously each time he stopped till he resumed breathing, but now I expect it.<br />
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This is called Cheyne Stokes breathing and is often present in patients with advanced cardiac failure, among other conditions. It is also associated with a greater risk of sudden cardiac death. Being a physician I know this, and it does not help me deal with it. He is on a cocktail of medicines.<br />
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In the silence of the night I hear the ticking of the clocks in the house. The train that goes by. A dog that barks. The silence of no drills and machinery that surround us during the day. And I hear his breathing.<br />
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My father is six months short of being 90 years old. He is diabetic and hypertensive, has had a cardiac bypass, and is on a pacemaker. I know his heart is very tired. I know he cannot live eternally, but - I cannot bear the thought of him not being around.<br />
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But when I see him as he was today - feet and abdomen swollen, his face puffy, him breathless with the least exertion, my heart goes out to him. I do not want him to suffer like this.<br />
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He continues, even now, to take care of himself as much as he can: using the toilet, bathing, shaving, etc are all done independently, though slowly as he has to pause frequently to catch is breath. How I wish I could breathe for him.<br />
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On days he feels better he reads the news on his iPad, watches news on TV and watches one TV serial that he enjoys. He watches TV on mute as his hearing is very poor and he dislikes using his hearing aid.<br />
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I am watching my father wind down. </div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-78035026875825168932018-08-16T10:11:00.000+05:302018-08-16T10:32:16.414+05:30Answers, anyone? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Shehzad drives an auto-rickshaw in Bhopal and has a daughter in school. Last year all the children were asked to open a bank account through the school, which he did by providing them the necessary documents. A sum of Rs. 400 per year is to be transferred by the Government into each student's SBI account for purchase of school uniforms. The money was transferred and the full amount immediately deducted by the bank as penalty for not maintaining a minimum balance required for a metropolitan bank branch. In spite of repeated requests by Shehzad that he does not have the money to keep two bank accounts running (one his own and one joint with his daughter), and that he had not asked for the second account, the money has not been refunded.<br />
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Sheila works as a domestic help and lived in Bhopal till last year when she moved with her husband to Bairagarh when her slum was demolished as part of the city's replanning. Her son has joined a school there and the teacher wanted a bank account opened in her son's name through the school. Now the boy's identity documents are all from Bhopal - birth certificate and Aadhar card. So are hers and her husband's. They own no ration card. The teacher refuses to open the account saying a bank account cannot be opened till they show proof of living in that locality, ie in Bairagarh. As the family is squatting on some land near a forested area, they have no address there. Sheila said she does not need her son to have an account and will do without the Rs. 400 assistance annually, but the teacher will not hear of it - every child <i>must</i> have the account she insists. And Sheila says she is helpless as the son was born and the Aadhar card made when they were in Bhopal. Things are at this stand-off now.<br />
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Meanwhile Chintamani in Hyderabad is unable to get her granchildren into a Government school as they do not have an Aadhar card and the school refuses admission without one. Her son is an alcoholic, not bothered about the family, the daughter-in- law and she work from dawn to dusk as domestics to keep the house going. Meanwhile the grandchildren, 5 and 6, are out of school. I thought no services or facilities were to be denied for want of an Aadhar card till the Supreme Court gives its decision, but the Government school authorities think otherwise. Or am I mistaken?<br />
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Anyone with any answers for these parents, please write in. <br />
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-62951003907168163022018-07-29T13:00:00.000+05:302020-04-29T13:18:57.382+05:30Two men<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patients attending the clinic yesterday at the 90 foot road in L ward of Bombay came with a variety of complaints. One woman probably had malaria and looked sick. A man with hypertension and heart disease; one with chemical dermatitis due to working with paint; several with skin infections. All of them looked tired and were thin, most wore clothes blackened by the grease and dirt at their workplace, most had calloused hands and grimy fingernails. But Vishal (name changed) looked unlike the others. Fresh-faced, very young, clean, he had come to Bombay from Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh 2 months ago after his 12th standard examinations to join his brother in the Kajupada slum, to earn Rs.7000 a month for working 12 hours a day and sometimes longer.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I asked him why he left his studies and came here, and also why for such a low wage. He looked at me in silence for a few seconds, and then said his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and needed weekly injections (chemotherapy, perhaps), each of which cost them Rs. 10,000. There was, simply put, no Government facility nearby where they could access free cancer treatment, so they had to travel over 300 km to the Kamala Nehru Trust Hospital in Allahabad for treatment. There was no money, so Vishal had to stop thinking of applying for college, and travel to Bombay to earn what he could to pay for the treatment, along with his brother. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The cancer is disseminated, he told me - his mother had not told anyone about it till the festering wound became too much to conceal. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I explained as gently as I could that for someone to survive disseminated breast cancer is not easy. And told him that whatever happens, he must try and go back to studying as soon as he can. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wonder if he will ever be able to. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Last night, traveling home from the airport in Bhopal, I asked the driver, a young man, where he was from. He had come to Bhopal three months ago from Ashoknagar where he had been with a travel agency for three years. The owner had eleven cars. When I asked why the move, he said he had had a quarrel with the owner. I did not ask anything more, but then Sushil (name changed) told me what had happened. He had not been paid for two months, he said and when he had asked for his wages, the owner had laughed and said he did not need the money urgently as he was not married. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I kept begging him for two months, said Sushil - I had my rent to pay, I had to eat, I was supporting my family. When he did not pay me for the third month, I was very angry . When I was driving him somewhere, I stopped the car, pulled him out, and hit him. I hit him with a stone on his head, then with a stick on his back, then I ran away. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How is the owner now? I asked after a few minutes. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He got up and drove himself home, and lodged a police complaint. I had to go to Ashoknagar two days ago to appear in court. I explained to the judge what had happened, and the judge said I should have lodged a complaint, not beaten the owner. The next hearing is six weeks from now. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I told him the same thing- that beating up someone is not the answer, that next time he loses his temper he may kill someone and that will land him in jail. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sushil told me he is from Rewa district, his father was a contract labourer for the railways and died suddenly of a heart attack some years ago. He is the oldest and has to provide for the family. From his wage of Rs. 10,000 a month in Rewa he had to support his mother and siblings. When he was not paid, he had to beg the owner of the rented room where he stayed, not to throw him out. He felt ashamed to do this, as well as for the fact that he was not able to send money home. He himself ate once in three days, and survived on cups of tea in between. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now in Bhopal he earns Rs. 12,000 a month as a driver, and has taken a one-bedroom flat on rent in a <i>multi </i>(Government built multi-storied houses). The multis have a parking space where he and 12 other drivers keep their cars at night and the colony has a security guard arrangement, so the cars are safe. He is delighted with the running water and electricity, though he has to spend Rs. 2500 on rent each month. His home is open to anyone who comes to Bhopal from Rewa for Government work or looking for a job. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Why should they spend money on staying at a hotel when they can ill-afford it? he asked. I can help them this way. At present he has a family of four from Rewa staying in his flat - The woman has a preterm baby (7 months) and they have come to Bhopal for the child's treatment. They need to be here for at least 2 weeks, and I have given them the key to my flat - they can come and go as they please, and cook their own food. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Would you judge this young man? </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-6757230258765568922018-02-24T22:58:00.001+05:302018-02-24T22:58:57.704+05:30A tale of two migrants in Surat <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ramesh Kumar (name changed) is 19, and from Panna district in Madhya Pradesh. His high school certificate states he is Ramesh Kumar Lodhi. Two years ago, after passing his 12th standard examination, he came to Surat and found work in a factory that makes <i>razais</i> with synthetic fibre. He works one of the machines that produces the fibre, which is then sucked away through a pipe and taken to where the <i>razais</i> are made. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiQ4ETmQQDoya7pKbdkLLO8eIu1wdo8IosufIxAL8uo1FFNWU6n3aAs2aRFhZ4kTLgZqloaZlBA4h1uTxfMMQncpkWBS5M_XgK_2Nr9g-TKOB-h4969ZLiglXj4SbOBUKDRoZ8vmJjEku3/s1600/IMG_20180221_110726558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiQ4ETmQQDoya7pKbdkLLO8eIu1wdo8IosufIxAL8uo1FFNWU6n3aAs2aRFhZ4kTLgZqloaZlBA4h1uTxfMMQncpkWBS5M_XgK_2Nr9g-TKOB-h4969ZLiglXj4SbOBUKDRoZ8vmJjEku3/s400/IMG_20180221_110726558.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fibre produced by the machine is sucked into the pipe seen at bottom right. </td></tr>
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On 20th December last year, he was trying to clear out the mouth of the pipe that was clogged with fibre, when his right hand was caught in the machine, as a result of which he has lost all fingers of that hand. The owner refused to pay him any compensation for his injury. I met him two days ago, when he told me he had gone to the Civil Hospital in Surat for a disability certificate but was denied it as his Aadhaar card says he is Ramesh Kumar but does not state his caste. This, despite his Aadhaar card being made in Surat. Ramesh already has an Aadhaar card in in his hometown in Panna district, but like many migrants, he has another one in the city where he works, as otherwise he has no access to any service, including a job, a bank account, or a local SIM card for his phone. (So much for the unique ID of Aadhaar!). Here, though, in spite of having a local Aadhaar card, he was denied the certificate as it did not carry his caste name. When I met him and his father - both are severely underweight - they were still in shock at the turn his life has taken.( The Medical Superintendent agreed to issue a certificate, but only after the Aadhaar card can be validated against another ID proof). <br />
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Like Ramesh Kumar, Subhash Gouda (name changed) was also a migrant,though he had moved to this city ten years ago from Ganjam district in Odisha, working in one of the many powerlooms here, producing synthetic textiles. Working twelve hour shifts with no days off, living in crowded conditions, on a poor diet, he was one of the many thousands drawn by the need for a livelihood. He developed tuberculosis and had begun treatment in Odisha, but found it impossible to continue medication here - was it paperwork? was it the time needed to access services? - after working the night shift for 12 hours in deafening noise, most workers sleep the whole day and wake up only in the late evening when the Government hospitals are shut for the day. Those in the day shift start work at 7 am and come out of the loom sheds only at 7 pm - again with no time to go to the hospital. his wife told us that he wanted to get better and each time he was home (once a year), he would start treatment, but it would stop once he when to Surat. As expected, he got sicker and sicker and yesterday developed sudden breathlessness. He was rushed to the hospital where he died within the hour, and was cremated soon after. He was 28 years old.<br />
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I saw a photograph of him laid out on a stretcher after his death. A young pale face with straight hair falling over his forehead. I wondered how many thousands and hundreds of thousands like him live and suffer and die, far away from home and family. And thought of his wife and children in Odisha who will never see him again. </div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-6653815154600431562017-01-25T14:02:00.000+05:302017-01-25T14:02:05.167+05:30The nowhere people of Sewage Basti<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Along a narrow strip of land between the sewage treatment plant and a canal of the Sabarmati river on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, Google earth shows some shadows for about 2 kilometres. If you get to this place on foot, you find it is actually sand dunes, with about a thousand migrants living there for 9 months in the year. They are tribals from Dahod district in Gujarat and from Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh and working as construction workers on daily wages. This settlement is called Sewage <i>basti</i>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SWBpIFgdriPGbhtR82keO2T9XaAMJ9_op6eAuAK3ZJuRejJRj3K4pG5R9FHFqlecfadzjQ_-sm8BrJPOOebPdy9k_in7n1s4LDns1oDIwP749fYewaViWovP2_dYOj88izUee33v821n/s1600/Screenshot+2017-01-25+12.13.14+%25283%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SWBpIFgdriPGbhtR82keO2T9XaAMJ9_op6eAuAK3ZJuRejJRj3K4pG5R9FHFqlecfadzjQ_-sm8BrJPOOebPdy9k_in7n1s4LDns1oDIwP749fYewaViWovP2_dYOj88izUee33v821n/s640/Screenshot+2017-01-25+12.13.14+%25283%2529.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sewage basti, ringed in red, on the sand strip between the sewage treatment plant and the canal. Sabarmati river seen in bottom half where the froth of water foam from the plant enters. </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td></tr>
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When a small group of us visited the settlement at 10 am on a chilly morning last week, several people are returning, walking along the sand dunes after having failed to find work that day. A metro line is coming up on the other side of the canal, and some find work there; others have to go further to a <i>naka</i>, or crossroads and auction the only asset they own: their physical strength. They are adults, teenagers, youth in their twenties, younger children, babies in arms. They sit on the dunes, warming themselves in the sun. <br />
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We meet a group of people in what passes for a street on the sand. This community from Jhabua lives here for nine months in the year, and gets no services. No one visits them here, so our visit generates interest. They are faceless citizens of India here: no services reach them, and not even the police visit to demand their <i>hafta</i> as they do in so many other places. The women get no care during pregnancy: when they are 8 months pregnant they stop working and go back to their village in Madhya Pradesh to deliver their babies. Depending on how long they remain there, their babies may receive two doses of vaccines, or more, or less. The women themselves are unimmunized. The children are all illiterate, having never been to school. Some among the youth have studied up to Standard 5 before they began this life as migrants. With no official identity here, they cannot apply for any benefits at all. During the three months they return home, there is no work for them, they say - perhaps some work as agricultural labourers if they are lucky.<br />
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On the days they get work, everyone leaves for the worksite - the older children look after the younger ones, and those a little older help in construction work. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2znkIqvh7Js-Cn4Emb1r3nwkiSQBM_dZa1c4thC9ChOElv_UCeozxMun1GujYWpx0zyzih2WoOGBQtwPuFq-Loy4ucaXSfuZUNUJAoglHXQKMwP62l4zQk2bZ-amumuj2ibW1gU96x7U/s1600/WP_20170118_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2znkIqvh7Js-Cn4Emb1r3nwkiSQBM_dZa1c4thC9ChOElv_UCeozxMun1GujYWpx0zyzih2WoOGBQtwPuFq-Loy4ucaXSfuZUNUJAoglHXQKMwP62l4zQk2bZ-amumuj2ibW1gU96x7U/s640/WP_20170118_005.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Some of the Sewage basti migrants from Jhabua who could not get work that day</i>. <i>Behind the group is a house under construction. </i></td></tr>
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Their homes are flimsy, made of branches of the babool that grows there, bent semicircular and embedded in the sand, covered with sheets of polythene. If sufficient polythene cannot be obtained, a thin blanket is used as a substitute.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9aLnaaduLQRuoq72uFe6eBXi3Hncybw5VjAUEsD9UKLoQAJzko5jl0m-zt5kVtm_SjVgBwqZeDEgxQ45N0obU4iqvkBXledOlDxiU6DSavSkpqIvr297M4gC46oRcwWMDINYygimAPpx/s1600/WP_20170118_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9aLnaaduLQRuoq72uFe6eBXi3Hncybw5VjAUEsD9UKLoQAJzko5jl0m-zt5kVtm_SjVgBwqZeDEgxQ45N0obU4iqvkBXledOlDxiU6DSavSkpqIvr297M4gC46oRcwWMDINYygimAPpx/s640/WP_20170118_004.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Homes at the Sewage basti, made of tree branches, thorny twigs, polythene bags and sheets, and sometimes a blanket. </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>View of Sewage basti from the road. The crane in the background is where work is going on for the metro rail line. </i></td></tr>
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Sewage <i>basti</i> is a community of nowhere people, literally living in a world of their own, and invisible to anyone else. <br />
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-75430197072074817062016-12-21T11:31:00.000+05:302016-12-23T22:58:16.679+05:30Weekend at Karangabahla. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I spent last weekend at the CHF run hostel at Karangabahla in Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh. I was visiting it after a gap of over two years, and there were several visible changes. This hostel is run by nuns of the Convent of the Holy Family (originally from Kerala), seven kilometres outside Pathalgaon on the Jashpur road.My husband Ravi and I had gone primarily to visit Priti and Muskaan, who have been there nearly five years now.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJevJBpp54sKQ1KlmdjZZcyZCYozBSvbA869zBmknK7iMy5o1nptVLDPzyqgBEe_YtBmmKZMrxjt9RhqNM6m5ED8MdQg1ush2H0sviqRKv1ejFNaQWcZ0rFsixfpfo1WvMAm-6xpdjteEF/s1600/IMG_0871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJevJBpp54sKQ1KlmdjZZcyZCYozBSvbA869zBmknK7iMy5o1nptVLDPzyqgBEe_YtBmmKZMrxjt9RhqNM6m5ED8MdQg1ush2H0sviqRKv1ejFNaQWcZ0rFsixfpfo1WvMAm-6xpdjteEF/s320/IMG_0871.jpg" width="240" /></a></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Priti and Muskaan with their father Dev Kumar in January 2011</i></td></tr>
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For those unfamiliar with the two girls, I wrote first about them in late 2010 <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2010/12/keeping-priti-and-muskaan-safe.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2010/12/still-on-move.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The story of their finally reaching Karangabahla in early 2011 is <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2011/01/at-ganiyari.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2011/01/karangabahla.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2011/01/priti-and-muskaan.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2011/01/hostel-at-karangabahla.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The first picture of them in their new school uniform is <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2011/04/sisters-with-sisters.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://ramani-fieldnotes.blogspot.in/2013/05/priti-and-muskaan.html" target="_blank">this</a> is the second picture I have, taken in 2013.<br />
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Karangabahla is a small village with perhaps 50 households, and the hostel is set off the road. The convent has a garden around it where vegetables are grown when water is available - these are used in the kitchen for the boarders.<br />
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The hostel that housed 42 girls three years ago has expanded to 78 boarders now, stretching the Sisters' resources for space, as well as funds for feeding and housing them. The nuns, being sensitive to the needs of underprivileged families in the community found it hard to refuse admission to girls who have been orphaned and whose guardians say they are unable to care for them; for younger siblings of older girls already in the hostel; for very poor families who are unable to pay the boarding and lodging costs fully or partially each year. Now they cannot take in any more - depending on the number of senior girls who finish and leave the hostel, they will be able to take in that many girls only. <br />
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In order to accommodate the additional student strength, the nuns have
been allotted funds by their house to build an extension over the study
room and kitchen which will have two rooms, and a toilet complex. Construction is under way, and funds will need to be
found for furniture. An enclosed covered space has already been made for the girls to sleep in during the summer and to hang out their clothes. A portion of this has been enclosed fully to store blankets and mattresses in the summer months.<br />
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Thanks to generous contributions from friends and well-wishers, the boarders all have mattresses and blankets for use in winter; a new set of kitchen utensils; a small solar panel that provides solar lighting when they do their homework at night (The entire area, like large parts of rural India, has extensive power-cuts and even if the power does not fail, the voltage is often too low to read by); a generator to pump up water when the power fails or the voltage is poor; and a new toilet block. The studies of seventy of the girls are supported by others - fifty-nine from grants, and eleven from individual donations. None of the girls know who is supporting their studies and boarding, nor are the donors allowed direct, individual interaction with the student they support. Personally I think this is an excellent policy that the nuns follow. <br />
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The nuns lead simple lives, five of them live in the convent which is an extension of the hostel. They are careful to see that benefits to the hostel are not utilized by them. This small community has five nuns - one in charge of the hostel, two
at the school, one for the dispensary and one in charge. The sisters who
teach, as well as Sr Chaitanya (the oldest, and one who is now in
charge of the hostel) supervise the homework of the children each
evening. The older ones (Standards 6, 7, 8) study mostly on their own,
but the younger ones need more supervision and help.<br />
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The school within the same compound is run by Diocesan priests and has upto 800 children - a mix of Yadav and Oraon children attend classes Kg to standard 8. After the 8th standard, the girls from the hostel will have to move to one of several hostels in larger towns around.<br />
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Priti and Muskaan have settled in well - probably the first time in their lives they have felt secure and been certain where their next meal is coming from. Their father calls every week from Bombay (at least, that is where we think he is). Their mother used to call them too, before she died (according to their father Dev Kumar) of a snake bite two years ago. However, they long to see their father, who has never once visited them in the five years they have been here. They watch with envy when other girls are visited by their parents, or their birthdays are celebrated with the family visiting and often bringing a small cake. No one comes to visit them, nor do they have any place to go to during the holidays. (They are from a place called Akaltara in Janjgir-Champa district of Chhattisgarh. Attempts to contact family there when the girls first joined here were met with a firm refusal to take the responsibility for two girls).<br />
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During the holidays, five other girls stay behind with Priti and Muskaan - one girl from Madhya Pradesh who is the fifth girl in the family and whom her family has virtually abandoned here; and four other girls who are orphans and whose guardians express their inability to take care of them during the holidays. They eat along with the Sisters at these times. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Muskaan and Priti outside their hostel, December 2016.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>For the older girls, the dormitory is also their study</i>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Younger girls complete their homework in the study room.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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Parents pay for the hostel and the school, though some are able to make only partial payments. Funds for food supplies are allotted partially by their order, some are donated by a few merchants in Pathalgaon, and donations (in cash or kind) are gratefully accepted. There are four new boarders for whom financial support is sought. <br />
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The hostel is a place humming with activity when the children are back from school, and in the early mornings. They have three meals a day, have a set schedule that includes prayer, supervised study time (morning and evening), time set aside for working in the vegetable garden, for play, and for washing and bathing. Occasional picnics are organized by the Sisters to a nearby place.The children seem happy there, and in good health, and all are at the top of their class in studies.<br />
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The hostel kitchen serves lunch to 80 additional day students, both boys and girls, who are too poor to bring their own lunch. Almost of all them arrive hungry to school, sometimes after a walk of 8 or 9 kilometres. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxXgOOOzuAFFoux3q3fDx-baeTlzOYGK6MNeGEYT8glSscboi2V92QtX-N2z7VgkmVNfobmdxg2tQaTOcBgFQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Action song by the younger girls. </i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>On receiving their writing kit</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Construction of extension wing under way.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Enclosed covered verandah for sleeping and for drying clothes.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The hostel students along with the Sisters, on the terrace of the hostel, December 2016. </i></td></tr>
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The nuns welcome any kind of support to the hostel, financial or in kind - a small gift of money this winter got them all thick sweaters; the gift of a writing kit (pencil case, erase, sharpener, pencil and a box of crayons) had the students delighted. The hostel needs funds for various things - ongoing need of purchasing food supplies (the grant from their parent institution is never quite enough) and scholarship support for four more girls (needs to be ongoing for the duration of their studies in school), and benches and chairs for the study room for the senior girls in the hostel, among other things. Over the next two years, the sisters are looking at installing a solar water heating system for the hostel and convent (at present the children bathe in cold water, even in the cold of winter), as well as solar cookers for the hostel kitchen. Establishing a small library of appropriate reading material in English and Hindi is also needed. Costs are still to be worked out. </div>
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At Christmas time each year, the Sisters organize a party in the hostel for all the children with a special treat. Last year it was scarves for the girls. This year they will get a tiny jar of Vaseline each for their chapped lips. Whatever the nuns can afford to spare from their budget that year determines the gift. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Playing with balloons during the Christmas party, 2015. </i></td></tr>
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At the end of a year that had little to cheer about, the visit to Karangabahla raised our spirits immeasurably. It is an ongoing tale of hope, of giving poor families the opportunity of a safe space to educate their girls; of empowering these girls and young women for a better future. In this tiny corner of Chhattisgarh, the nuns are quietly doing a remarkable job.</div>
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-6951328903273550372016-09-23T23:08:00.002+05:302016-09-23T23:08:58.639+05:30East and West - a slice of Odisha in Gujarat <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Surat is a bustling, prosperous city, known for its diamond cutting and polishing industry, as well as for the largest production of man-made fibre in India. It has one of the largest wholesale textile markets in the country, and has thousands of powerloom units for production of cotton and synthetic textiles.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Surat the textile city, by night.</i></td></tr>
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Last Sunday, I was given a glimpse into a part of what makes this city the capital of India's textile industry.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raju's Dance Academy in Meena Nagar</td></tr>
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Meena Nagar is one the areas where powerloom mills abound. Its busy streets and narrow lanes are all bustling with activity - with no women to be seen. This is one of the hubs of migrant workers from Odisha - an estimated 700,000 of them in the textile sector alone.<br />
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Raju (name changed), who shows us around, wears jeans and a full-sleeved T-shirt. He is thin and wiry, with bright eyes and a cheerful smile. He is also from Odisha, and proudly points out his shop on the first floor of a larger building. This is the Realy Dance Academy which he runs and says is doing well. (It teaches hip-hop, Bollywood, Canterbury, Kathak, Break, Step-up, Fri Style, Sambalpuri, Classical, Pop and Bebop). He moved to this after he saved up some money working on the looms. He was fortunate not to have family members needing support and is one of the very few who could move out of working on the looms at a young age. He is most probably a second generation migrant in his family - many migrants have brought their families here and settled down, creating a mini Odisha, complete with Oriya schools and cinema theatres showing Oriya films. <br />
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We first go to see the "mess" where the loom workers live - one is through a narrow dark , damp corridor, up three flights of crumbling, sometimes slippery, narrow stairs with no railing to hold on to. At each landing is a smelly toilet overflowing with water (and perhaps worse), which sometimes drips onto the landing below. The smell is overpowering and nauseating.<br />
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On the third floor we enter the kitchen where enormous quantities of rice and daal are being cooked. I see no signs of any vegetables other than potatoes and onions. The mess in charge is here, who manages the kitchen as well as the facilities for the migrants - water and electricity and the rent. The building is rented by him from the owner. He charges Rs. 2200 per month from each man for stay, and for the meals. The floor above the kitchen is where the workers live - over a hundred of them in a room barely 100x40 feet in dimensions. There are no windows to this room. Clothes lines criss-cross across the room, sagging beneath the weight of wet and dry clothes. Along the wall are tin trunks and rexine bags holding the belongings of the men who live there. Several are fast asleep, but about a dozen gather around us to talk. They have just completed a 12 hour shift in the looms, and have had a bath. They will now eat and sleep for most of their shift off. For entertainment they watch movies loaded onto their cellphones in nearby shops for a small fee. <br />
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They are all from Ganjam district in south Odisha, and are surprised and pleased to know that I know the language, and that I have lived in Ganjam for four years.They range from 18 to about 45 and have worked here from five to twenty five years and more. They say the work is tough - 12 hour shifts with no days off; no sick leave or leave to go home to Odisha. They go at their own cost once or twice a year, not earning when they are away. Each month they send some money home through small shops that facilitate money transfer through banks. These shops charge a steep Rs. 25 per Rs. 1000 that they need to send home, but it is convenient for the workers to hand over money to these entrepreneurs. The banks are reluctant to keep transacting small amounts of cash each month from the worker to their account in Odisha. Besides, most are asleep during banking hours.Still, the pay here is better than what they would earn at home. A novice is paid around Rs. 8000.00 per month after he has spent some months learning the job (when he is not paid at all, but usually a senior family member who is already working on the looms looks after him). More experienced workers earn upwards of Rs. 15000.00 per month. I listen in silence, wondering how we as a country can be utterly indifferent to how workers in our factories work and live and eat and earn.<br />
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There are many such messes in this part of the city.<br />
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Raju next takes me to see some of the looms. We go into the next street, into a series of three and four storeyed buildings which are crumbling and have not seen a coat of paint in years. The path in between the buildings is littered with knots of synthetic fibres that have been discarded after the weaving process is done. There is a steady clack-clack-clack sound emanating from the buildings, which only gets louder as we draw closer. Visiting one of the powerlooms takes a fair amount of negotiation with the supervisor who checks with the owner that he has been informed of our visit. Finally we are allowed in.<br />
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The noise inside is deafening and throbs through you, as well as through the floors and walls of the building. The building seems to be vibrating too, and I wonder whether it will collapse on our heads - it seems decrepit enough. On the floor are a row of powerlooms, each with a red light glowing as the machine works and the shuttle races back and forth across the loom between the frames. When the thread breaks, the light goes off and `the machine stops. The worker then has to restore the thread and start the machine again. Each worker monitors twelve looms. We can barely hear ourselves speak as the noise of the looms drowns out all sound - indeed, all thought as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thread being wound onto the spindles for weaving. </i></td></tr>
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The floor above has rows of machines which wind the thread from large reels onto the spindles that will then be used in the looms.<br />
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I tried to discreetly record a few seconds of the sound inside the loom - a bad recording with my low-end cellphone, trying to keep my clothes from getting caught in the machinery. To get an idea of what it is like, play this sound clip on the maximum volume your device will allow. The sound is much, much louder than this.<br />
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Twenty minutes inside the powerloom shed and we came out with our ears ringing and a temporary deafness. What does it do to people standing there for twelve hours every day, day after day, week after week, month after month without a break? Noise induced hearing loss for sure; stress due to the long hours and the high level or noise (Powerlooms typically generate 90-100 db of noise, whereas city traffic noise level is about 85db, and ordinary speech is 55 db). Every 10 db increase means a doubling in loudness. At the noise levels in powerlooms, and working for twelve hours at a stretch, hearing loss is guaranteed. Additionally, noise induced stress as well as inability to concentrate are well known.<br />
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All the powerloom sheds have officially less than ten employees, thus keeping them out of the purview of the Factories Act where certain rights and privileges of the worker are guaranteed by law. Most of these workers are in the informal sector, vulnerable to exploitation by the employer.<br />
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Power looms like these are also now struggling to keep up with the competition provided by more efficient water jet looms and newer designs of looms. Hence the lack of investment in upkeep (apart from the minimum to keep the machines running), and the reduction in the workforce (where earlier one worker tended to four machines, now each worker looks after twelve looms), in an effort to cut costs.<br />
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I left Raju at his Academy after visiting three powerloom sheds and two messes, marveling the hope and joy in youngsters who have enrolled in his dance academy, even living in this environment of displacement across the country for hard work, poor living conditions, and even poorer wages. I feel angry and depressed too.<br />
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Driving back to the hotel, the glittery buildings and the flyovers of Surat are not so impressive any more. <br />
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-3497399673107339102016-05-01T13:34:00.001+05:302016-05-01T17:43:59.598+05:30Uttarakhand diary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Forest fires between Ramgarh Malla and Bhimtal</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Smoke rises from fires near</i><br />
<i>Sitla</i><br />
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The mountains are on fire. Literally. I was in Nainital district for a week, and smoke haze lay thick in the air. Driving up from baking hot Kathgodam last Saturday afternoon, the driver Dinesh tells me the Gaula river running past the town has been dry for some weeks now, and each year there is less and less water in it. Our destination is a village called Khansyu in Okhalkanda block in Nainital district. The normal route is past Bhimtal, but Dinesh seeks an alternative, longer route as the Bhimtal road is blocked, and there are many fires along the Bhimtal road.<br />
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I try to ease my nausea induced by the numerous hair-pin bends by lying down in the rear seat of the taxi, but it not helped by the acrid smell of wood smoke. In some places the smoke smells of pine. We drive past tree trunks charred and still burning.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The dry river bed of Gaula river near Khansyu</i></td></tr>
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Khansyu is in a valley in Okhalkanda block. The Gaula river flows at the base of the valley, and is completely dry. This is the river that supplies water to Kathgodam. Nain Singh, the local co-ordinator of the project I am visiting, tells me that in the six years that he has been here, this is the first time it has run dry.<br />
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The place is beautiful, layers and layers of mountains all around. That evening, though, I see a fire creeping up the hill opposite. I cannot see other fires, but I know they are there. The next morning, the valley is full of a smoke haze.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A fire creeps up the hill near Khansyu</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Smoke haze in the valley at dawn.</i></td></tr>
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The reason for the fires are discussed locally - was it the locals who tried to burn the grass? Was it the dry winter with no rain at all? Is it the pine forests that help to spread this fire far and wide? Some blame the pine (an import by the British) for it all, saying it depletes ground water, does not allow other trees to grow, and that it is highly flammable.<br />
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There is a terrible water shortage in Khansyu and the villages around, and indeed all over Nainital district. Water is guarded jealously, and having your water tank emptied in the night is not unusual. During the week I was there, water was supplied twice. <br />
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Driving back to Kathgodam on Friday, we cross large tracks of
mountainside that have already burnt out - blackened tree trunks (some still smoking), an
eerie silence with no bird calls, no crickets chirping, and an overall
bleakness. Would the earth look like this after a nuclear holocaust, I wonder - such total desolation?<br />
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Closer to Bhimtaal we see and hear fires again, and just a few
kilometers before Kathgodam I spot large areas of mountainside that have been sheared clear of trees and dirt. Landslides during the monsoons last
year, Dinesh tells me. They stand out as ugly white streaks many metres wide, against the brown and green of the mountainside, ending in a pile of boulders at the bottom of the valley.<br />
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The mountains are achingly beautiful, but how long can we preserve them that way? <br />
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<i><span style="color: black;">5 pm: Just received the sad news that Nain Singh's landlord died on Saturday, trying to save people of his village when the fire threatened to engulf their homes. He sustained 80% burns and was taken to the hospital in Haldwani, but could not be saved.</span></i></div>
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-15290338530335095622016-04-07T23:35:00.003+05:302016-04-07T23:35:40.365+05:30Where do we go from here? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bicky, 9 and his sister Vaishali, 6, are children of a gardener who
works for our landlady downstairs, as well as for several other house
owners in this relatively better off part of Bhopal. They are both first
generation learners, their parents having moved to the city to give
their children a better education than they could get in their village. You can see them last year, elated with their new uniforms and ready for the new school. (They moved schools to one in the neighbourhood, when their parents moved to live in this area).</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSFOucc3w0CzE8wuE6AahcantI-KpOngPxm8jgNUjjgMxfVH0XYbPRmWaXqflSt3UivDfvtWqHcUkpl51uFQaxN-iT32VqZ60PgC6yYynNSlA_MSrtGr-83hQ-7F68yAR43Bxw5chT_k_/s1600/WP_20150709_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSFOucc3w0CzE8wuE6AahcantI-KpOngPxm8jgNUjjgMxfVH0XYbPRmWaXqflSt3UivDfvtWqHcUkpl51uFQaxN-iT32VqZ60PgC6yYynNSlA_MSrtGr-83hQ-7F68yAR43Bxw5chT_k_/s320/WP_20150709_001.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Vaishali and Bicky, 2015</i></span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bicky
is in Standard 3, and is in a Hindi medium private school. He is not
able to read simple words in Hindi, nor construct a sentence. His
English textbooks have been selected by the school, and have words far
beyond his comprehension, telling stories that he cannot relate to.
While he struggles to spell "table" and "door", his English textbook
talks of the "quest" of a prince in search of the "most beautiful
princess in the world" and of the beautiful girl who knocks on his
palace door on a night of "torrential" rain. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bicky can neither spell or understand what all this is about. Yet his workbook is complete, and correctly done. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">How is this, I ask him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The teacher writes the answers on the blackboard, and we copy them down, he says. Then she marks them as correct. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">His parents send him to a tuition teacher each afternoon, paying the same amount as the the school fee each month. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Vaishali
is in Standard 1, and her parents put her in the English medium section of her brother's school,
hoping she will have an advantage over others studying in the Hindi section. She has a problem recognizing alphabets and numbers, though her
English workbooks, too, are full of words copied from the blackboard
and marked as correct answers. However, her maths skills are passable,
and she can do two digit addition (don't ask her to recognise and name
the numbers, though). She is in a class full of upper middle class
children in this neighbourhood, and is not getting the extra attention
she needs to learn. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">She, too, attends the same tuition classes her brother does, and neither seems to benefit from the tuition one bit. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">When
they come upstairs to study, I keep trying to make sure they learn
their basics, while they are under pressure to prepare for the test the
next day. I am aghast at the quality of teaching going on in their
schools, and how they and their parents are being cheated. If they
cannot be provided a proper primary education, where do they go? Who
regulates the quality of teaching in all the small neighbourhood
"private" schools that spring up like mushrooms everywhere? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Don't we owe our next generation anything? Can we honestly look these children in the eye and say we have given them a fair chance? </span></div>
<br /></div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-65061490513734552072015-12-29T16:16:00.001+05:302015-12-29T16:16:58.956+05:30An inspiring man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I find that my blogs related to health services in rural India have mostly told negative stories, of services not provided, of indifferent or hostile care providers,of difficulties in access and availability of basic services. I have met many cynical or jaded or dishonest health care providers, be it ANMs or doctors, ready to misuse the system, or just be indifferent and do the bare minimum possible. There are any number of excuses - some valid, some not - as to why they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. There have been a few very good ones of course, and the effect is immediately apparent - a motivated team, or a community that is immunized or gets the services it should. And these people keep the system going. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0li_ihpIj4SuLCfygLvM9tzDnkblJZcd_pYsFFGHsGfToYvuvVIob2Qm9_vLW5vvXK8-K6SX6lE5XvAK-InlAhYBft9W1ULIutHYfuKJE0-u3u7ORkjmog5FcNw1Toij_iTej4Be5gj2Y/s1600/WP_20151222_019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0li_ihpIj4SuLCfygLvM9tzDnkblJZcd_pYsFFGHsGfToYvuvVIob2Qm9_vLW5vvXK8-K6SX6lE5XvAK-InlAhYBft9W1ULIutHYfuKJE0-u3u7ORkjmog5FcNw1Toij_iTej4Be5gj2Y/s320/WP_20151222_019.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Dr N Saxena, Civil Surgeon, Rajgarh</i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last week I visited Rajgarh district in Madhya Pradesh. It borders Rajasthan and the district headquarters town of Rajgarh is dry and the landscape more akin to desert areas - in complete contrast to the southern part of the district that is forested. My colleague and I visited the district headquarters hospital which is housed in an ancient building. We met the Civil Surgeon Dr Niranjan Saxena who is in charge of the running of the hospital. In the hour we spent talking to him about facilities provided at the hospital, and constraints faced, I watched him process several files. These were of patients who needed more care than the hospital could provide - facilities that were often available only in private facilities, at a cost the patient could not afford. He was instructing his assistant about which scheme could be utilized for which patient, and what amount. For instance, there was one child who had come with headaches, who turned out to have a benign brain tumour. The family could not afford the treatment, and Dr Saxena recommended a grant of Rs. 1 lakh from the State Illness Assistance Fund.<br />
<br />
He informed us that he uses this fund, as well as the Chief Minister's Scheme for health assistance, in addition to the Deendayal programme for financial assistance in health care. He is a surgeon by profession, and carries out all kinds of surgeries - general and orthopedic surgeries (including amputations where necessary); obstetric and gynaecological surgery when the obstetrician is on leave; and cancer surgery. They see about 20 cases of oral cancer each month, and 1-2 cases of breast cancer. Post-operative cancer patients are then referred for radiation or chemotherapy to higher centres that have these facilities. Day care for chemotherapy is provided at this hospital, once the regime has been prescribed by a higher centre.<br />
<br />
Not many women with cancer of the uterine cervix are seen, he said, probably because too many women have their uterus removed at an early age. A sad commentary of our times.<br />
<br />
Dr Saxena was full of energy and enthusiasm, and informed us he retires at the end of the year, when he turns 65. One would not think it, to look at him. An inspiring man and one that the health system could utilize for some more years to come. <br />
<br /></div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-73443262944159965182015-04-03T12:14:00.002+05:302015-04-03T15:17:32.897+05:30'Acche Din' in Salumber block<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEO5b5aW_LjXOyl07yUxP5SI7lrOGeQhl7O2VkU97mIcm3MnuFuNTWLTgivP-nesO-lyFXbQzSsETvHsdtreqvRpHAsELaNwShs0kHrnHOCOj-nMTxk0f3a8BBIY7kLdTcdkjy1zXD2tZ/s1600/WP_20150326_008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEO5b5aW_LjXOyl07yUxP5SI7lrOGeQhl7O2VkU97mIcm3MnuFuNTWLTgivP-nesO-lyFXbQzSsETvHsdtreqvRpHAsELaNwShs0kHrnHOCOj-nMTxk0f3a8BBIY7kLdTcdkjy1zXD2tZ/s1600/WP_20150326_008.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Palash amidst the all-pervading brown</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Salumber block of Udaipur disrtrict in Rajasthan is a study in brown. Brown hills, bare trees, brown rocks absorbing and radiating heat in the harsh sun - hardly a welcoming place at this time of the year. Bright orange Palash flowers defiantly add a splash of colour amidst all this drabness. The only greenery is are a few thorny shrubs on the roadside or the occasional palm. I have seen these same hills in the monsoon - lush green, streams flowing, fields green with crops, so I know this brown is just a passing phase. Still I put on my dark glasses for the drive from Salumber to the clinic at Ghated, half an hour away.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUVynNp5p2cR_iWPTC3mJOPOi2amL0q51dTaXWkbkBZps9T45zaXsU8EqL0lzHP5k0DvNaGSlGIyFqR0bzUabCP9PhuVqWVWBEgOix9y0KLogMMg-FN9WJvwAV2CC3I-60Xau-ART347_V/s1600/WP_20150325_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUVynNp5p2cR_iWPTC3mJOPOi2amL0q51dTaXWkbkBZps9T45zaXsU8EqL0lzHP5k0DvNaGSlGIyFqR0bzUabCP9PhuVqWVWBEgOix9y0KLogMMg-FN9WJvwAV2CC3I-60Xau-ART347_V/s1600/WP_20150325_004.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The road to Ghated </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Ghated clinic opened four months ago, and is staffed round the clock by three nurses, while a doctor visits once a week. Today I accompany the regular doctor to the clinic. Amidst a range of patients who attend, I meet and talk to Bhanwarlal who is 32, and suffering from tuberculosis. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The oldest of five children, he migrated to Ahmedabad as a teenager, working at polishing granite for nearly a decade before he fell ill and developed tuberculosis of the lymph glands and of the skin nine years ago. He tried treatment with various doctors, but did not find relief. As he got weaker, he started taking on lighter work to fund his treatment but now for the past five years he has been unable to work and has come back home. Last year he had some months of anti-TB drugs too. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvtd3FKwbXt_0LCili-hyEF-S-FhF4TcieWIltTiE7B70YaXlhZMx3XEBmjrLivD7XKXa3Z5zJwbyUhI5ITCymyzz3wIr-IZsjdWk_lRLuBmbW7vlyF1l2eXhUE2BuuWirtiINW5JqKaI/s1600/bhanwarlal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvtd3FKwbXt_0LCili-hyEF-S-FhF4TcieWIltTiE7B70YaXlhZMx3XEBmjrLivD7XKXa3Z5zJwbyUhI5ITCymyzz3wIr-IZsjdWk_lRLuBmbW7vlyF1l2eXhUE2BuuWirtiINW5JqKaI/s1600/bhanwarlal.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bhanwarlal at the Ghated clinic</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What stands out about Bhanwar are his eyes -large and distressed, they seem to look at you with hope that he can still be healed and get well. His eyes stand out because the rest of his face, like his body, is extremely wasted. At a 170 cm, he weighs a mere 41.9 kg, which gives him a body mass index (BMI) of 14.5. A normally nourished adult has a BMI of at least 18.5.<br />
<br />
The scars and wounds are disfiguring and Bhanwar comes to the clinic wrapped in a shawl in spite of the heat. He has been started on Anti-TB drugs but the chances that he has multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) are high. <br />
<br />
Two younger brothers are also in Ahmedabad as migrant workers - one
polishes stones; the other works as a headloader at construction sites.
The youngest brother is in college, and the family hopes he will get a
better paying job than a labourer does. The youngest child, a 12 year old sister,
also has swellings in the lymph glands of the neck now. <br />
--------<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmh7qr7NplA6-tg2EdjNXjLO1Max3H2aI_ztgF3uXNuiAJC7MPfdMVU6u4QU0C9TzZ1exfQav_xrd3NK9yFTibVQIsyZbBGRLzjcw9GwXpQhgxtVJ-Ieo8gAwi3yK7wKLhS_In-gPL96t/s1600/WP_20150326_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmh7qr7NplA6-tg2EdjNXjLO1Max3H2aI_ztgF3uXNuiAJC7MPfdMVU6u4QU0C9TzZ1exfQav_xrd3NK9yFTibVQIsyZbBGRLzjcw9GwXpQhgxtVJ-Ieo8gAwi3yK7wKLhS_In-gPL96t/s1600/WP_20150326_003.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The deforested Aravalli hills: one the way to Bedawal</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next day I travel to Bedawal, to another clinic. The road to Bedawal winds through more hills, now bare and revealing half-hearted efforts at reforestation. However, these cannot hide the fact that the Aravallis have been devastated over the years through unregulated cutting of trees, and, in some places, mining for granite and marble.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw54-2mKJAzjrxdP0kuWOUs_uSVWMGD8jFcJH1L8N6sdz559wh63NkDlJ9Cb9Lvc-nKeOAciPNhichkVsDFQR6tkmhqG0qZwClYcnNlcdJMXu7CCmIyvaRDcjXtA4o9aIVo65zd2lB48iO/s1600/WP_20150326_013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw54-2mKJAzjrxdP0kuWOUs_uSVWMGD8jFcJH1L8N6sdz559wh63NkDlJ9Cb9Lvc-nKeOAciPNhichkVsDFQR6tkmhqG0qZwClYcnNlcdJMXu7CCmIyvaRDcjXtA4o9aIVo65zd2lB48iO/s1600/WP_20150326_013.jpg" height="400" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rajudi, 40, Devliya village </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
40 year old Rajudi of Devliya village awaits me at the clinic, with
cough and breathlessness. Her husband died of TB and she herself was
treated six years ago with
some drugs (unsure whether correct dose or duration). She too, like
Bhanwar at Ghated, is wasted, weighing only 33.2kg at a height of 153 cm
(BMI 14.2). She is severely anaemic and on examination I find evidence
to suggest that part of her right lung has probably collapsed. It is
difficult for me to make out whether her breathlessness is due to her
anaemia or her collapsed lung. Her children too, like her husband, are
migrant workers in Ahmedabad. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5-qxOZQdv_H7Qg97ZZRxXb6JzdUkYrF-kdUhbBbBn0b8e1rs1buZdBRIgmZPYod6ciwDTUdOFuNdApzMo2RbCCO3390_d2AhiFlMUiD-dzsQnS0yZgDiGzVtrB4KnPhReeCy1pj7g46W/s1600/WP_20150326_018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5-qxOZQdv_H7Qg97ZZRxXb6JzdUkYrF-kdUhbBbBn0b8e1rs1buZdBRIgmZPYod6ciwDTUdOFuNdApzMo2RbCCO3390_d2AhiFlMUiD-dzsQnS0yZgDiGzVtrB4KnPhReeCy1pj7g46W/s1600/WP_20150326_018.jpg" height="400" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Phuski</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Phuski, 65, comes in with nausea and giddiness. She says
she is not hungry. She too is severely anaemic, with a hemoglobin of
5gm%. I ask her who she lives with, what she ate the previous day. She
tells me she lives alone, and ate one <i>roti </i>the day before. When I
ask her why did not eat more, she looks away and mumbles that she is
not hungry. I ask about her old age pension: she gets Rs. 500 per month,
she tells me, and uses it to buy spices, some jewellery....I wonder
what she is hoarding jewellery for. Again, I am not sure whether her
giddiness is due to the anaemia or her hunger. I can see she is starving
- weighing only 33 kg at a height of 153 cm, her BMI is below normal.
She insists she is OK except for her giddiness.<br />
The senior health
worker tells me her oldest son takes away her pension each month as
soon as she gets it, and the neighbours feed her, depending on what they
can spare each day. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This is the context in which the AMRIT clinics function.</div>
<br /></div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-28304032682976915752014-12-30T11:32:00.001+05:302014-12-30T11:33:54.047+05:30...and the follow-up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Following my blog post below, a friend brought it to the attention of officials in the Health Department who took a serious view of the matter and ordered an inquiry. All the nurses on the evening shift that day were called, and Meera's case sheet was also reviewed.<br />
<br />
The day before the inquiry, Meera's husband received a call from a woman who said she knew they had complained, and that they should come the next day to the committee and withdraw the complaint as it was a question of possibly losing her job. Meera and her family were too scared to testify or even to stand in front of a committee to deny anything. (In fact, they had not formally complained -Meera's sister had told me about their experience as a matter of course when I asked about Meera). They did not turn up at the inquiry to identify the nurses.<br />
<br />
The nurses (as expected), all denied that they had taken any money, alleging that the family had complained since they did not see Meera as often as the family felt they should.<br />
<br />
An examination of the chart revealed no entries apart from admission details a day before the delivery, and the delivery details (over 24 hours later) about the baby weight and condition. There were no notes about her progress of labour, nor any notes about the baby and mother during the 48 hours Meera remained in hospital after the delivery. The first page does not even have the date on which she was discharged from the hospital.<br />
<br />
All the nurses on shift that day have been transferred out of the labour room and the maternity ward, pending a more formal inquiry.<br />
<br />
<br />
One of Meera's neighbours who recently delivered at the same hospital said she had heard someone had complained and there was an inquiry and nurses had been transferred. The ones now in the labour room had treated her very politely and no one asked for any money, she told Meera.<br />
<br />
A good first step, sending out a message that such actions will not be
condoned. One hopes that the quality of care and record keeping is also
pursued with equal vigour. <br />
<br /></div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-32172096111890003892014-12-07T15:25:00.000+05:302014-12-07T20:09:43.279+05:30 a hospital delivery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The young woman who helps me in the kitchen was pregnant with her second child and went to one of the Government facilities in the city here in Bhopal for the delivery. She is an undernourished woman who works much more than she should. In her first delivery she bled heavily and needed three units of blood transfused. This is her second child after a gap of seven years. Let us call her Meera. <br />
<br />
She was in hospital for three days, having had leaking of the amniotic fluid, and therefore unable to just stay at home. A doctor saw her once on the second day of her admission and told her all was well. When she was in pain and wanted to go to the labour room, the nurses repeatedly turned her away, saying they would call her when necessary. Four other women were admitted in the same room as her. Her older sister (who is also expecting her second child) stayed with her in the evenings after she finished her round of domestic work. On the second day, one of the women delivered a dead baby, which worried the remaining women. On the third day (Wednesday) Meera's pains increased in intensity and the nurses would still not examine her. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the woman in the next bed (a primi - first pregnancy - who had been admitted for eight days) went to report to the nurses that she could not feel the baby move for the past hour. The nurses scolded her and sent her back to the bed. When her husband arrived in the evening, she informed him and he went and raised a ruckus at the labour room door. At this, one of the nurses came to examine the primigravida, listened for the baby's heartbeat, and then informed her that the baby was no longer alive.<br />
<br />
Hearing this, the remaining two women in the room were taken away by their relatives to some private nursing home. Meera remained alone in her room, and when her sister arrived, told her all about this, as well as about her increasing pains. Her sister was scared now, and they did not have the means to go to a private nursing home. She went up to the labour room nurse and offered her Rs. 200, asking her to examine her sister. The nurse told her the amount was not enough. Meera's sister assured her that she would bring the rest of the money later, and the nurse told her that in that case she would also examine Meera later. The sister collected some more money and finally offered the nurse Rs. 500, after which she allowed Meera to enter the labour room. A second nurse was standing and glaring at them, so she was given Rs. 500 as well. She was warned not to tell anyone that she had given them money, or else "<b><i>acchha nahi hoga</i></b>" (it won't be good for you). The delivery then proceeded, and Meera gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Wednesday night.<br />
<br />
"That was the only expense at the hospital", Meera's sister told me yesterday when her sister was discharged -"the hospital provided good food three times a day to my sister, and all the medicines were free. Only problem is that the nurses are very rude, and to enter the labour room we had to pay the nurses Rs. 1000. I had saved it for my own expenses during delivery, but had to spend it.You can be sure I am not going there for my delivery. I don't know where I will go but not to that Government hospital." <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-84526709455428704712014-11-29T07:40:00.000+05:302014-12-02T22:33:10.064+05:30malkangiri<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
i have just returned from a short trip to malkangiri district, dipping my toe there, i guess. i went to the district headquarters for a
day, and spent the next three days in mathili. we chose mathili as part of a study since it happened to be the block with the highest
proportion of tribal population in the district.<br />
<br />
we drove through
beautiful forest, and along a river and several streams, the road being a
single road and bumpy for most of the way. once we were stopped by some
BSF jawans, complete with bullet-proof vests, automatic rifles, and
sniffer dog - and asked about where were coming from, where we were
headed, etc. but apart from that, though we met them at various places,
we were not stopped anywhere. there is a heavy presence of security
forces in the district.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLwy5Ve35A8LB41mGfqlvesIg_CN9OlnBrnP15O68dN2fHskTpHwpupX25FpGxP_7_Ez2C2Iz1DvUiicerF9N1vMbD0h1HLqn0AWfSNR4baNspC7Xdxu_9F66ywUsk_bOSxTCbg6p_Wm0/s1600/WP_20141125_002.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLwy5Ve35A8LB41mGfqlvesIg_CN9OlnBrnP15O68dN2fHskTpHwpupX25FpGxP_7_Ez2C2Iz1DvUiicerF9N1vMbD0h1HLqn0AWfSNR4baNspC7Xdxu_9F66ywUsk_bOSxTCbg6p_Wm0/s1600/WP_20141125_002.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the road. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
i went to the district headquarters for a
meeting (huge no of vacancies there in all sectors), and to mathili
block where i went to a nearby village called kosabahal, and a V4
village called puttugaon. everyone we met cautioned us to return to the main road before it turned dark, due to security reasons. our choice of village to visit was, therefore, limited by this factor too. <br />
<br />
mathili block has had 6 maternal
deaths since april this year - those are the reported ones. this is
worrying. the universal complaint even in balasore was that 102 does
not respond, that janani express was much better as it was decentralized
and the woman could reach the hospital at least. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYK-E6Ty_64JjeWNAr5DtjrzDIsI7VtiNElFQxrlegnQ5C0kFKo__qzJGtsQU4n1FXr_Ok0jUJuK-MMXfJ3bVeR5B1K5iSUhfjZAVfoNcHCpNVOctNpMndQKr-MXEzV6CcbvZMCU4P7Pb/s1600/malkangiri+031.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYK-E6Ty_64JjeWNAr5DtjrzDIsI7VtiNElFQxrlegnQ5C0kFKo__qzJGtsQU4n1FXr_Ok0jUJuK-MMXfJ3bVeR5B1K5iSUhfjZAVfoNcHCpNVOctNpMndQKr-MXEzV6CcbvZMCU4P7Pb/s1600/malkangiri+031.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The UP school at Puttugam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
puttugaon
lies in a shallow valley and
is accessible now with the construction of a bridge and a culvert, but
even so, we could only get there over a deeply rutted <i>kutchha</i> road - vehicles
will be mired in the mud in the rainy season - all the deliveries seem
to be
at home since once it is dusk the ambulance refuses to come there. even in the daytime, it often takes so long that the woman delivers before the ambulance arrives.
women in labour, or other sick patients have to be taken on a
motorcycle, or carried the 12 kilometers to the roadside.<br />
<br />
everyone
- men, women, adolescents - are all illiterate, they had no clue about
why open defecation can be a problem or what problems unclean water can cause. the men, however said open defecation is now a problem since the forest has been cut and they have to go far for it. the women understand oriya but spoke in a dialect that we could not understand. i can see where basic communication can be a real problem. most of the men spoke oriya. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5F-FVh_jgNPZUDGOMjc9UR3pt2Sk6vegWmcyc0twI5WuNeTiVWv8wWqXZHO1wIvs1bK8QJTdUbrhvyQ1L9a13_vnz8OlE7NwKIGkgnlCp5M4IN6idXKy3Wtd9TCj3czlMqD4fbVyrdeB/s1600/malkangiri+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5F-FVh_jgNPZUDGOMjc9UR3pt2Sk6vegWmcyc0twI5WuNeTiVWv8wWqXZHO1wIvs1bK8QJTdUbrhvyQ1L9a13_vnz8OlE7NwKIGkgnlCp5M4IN6idXKy3Wtd9TCj3czlMqD4fbVyrdeB/s1600/malkangiri+029.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">School student helpline number displayed prominently</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
there is a school in the village - with over a 100 children between grades 1 and 8, and three teachers. the teachers say they cannot control the students ever since they have been told they cannot strike / slap / beat the students. the students come out learning nothing - but did the beating ever result in better learning levels? but they have convinced the parents that their children's poor literacy skills is the not the their (teachers') fault. the teachers all come from far away - i am not sure how may days a month they actually turn up. and i wonder how many of them can communicate with the children in their dialect to teach them anything....<br />
<br />
the
encouraging thing here was that everyone
eats the chatua (which is the supplementary food provided by the ICDS to
young children and pregnant and lactating mothers)even if all members
in the family share it, in
contrast to balasore where no one did. and a young 22 year old ANM, who
passed out 2 years ago is living in the village. she is from malkangiri and
trained in koraput. orissa took a decision a few years ago to open nursing schools in the tribal districts and take only tribal students, in an attempt to try and overcome the problem of absenteeism - it seems to be paying off. this ANM who looks more like a high school student, has conducted several deliveries in the village. <br />
<br /></div>
ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-67635827497512433402014-09-07T18:49:00.001+05:302014-09-07T18:49:36.871+05:30In pursuit of dreams <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Migrants at Lucknow station queue up to board the unreserved coaches on the Pushpak express to Bombay. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jsZFFn6daGNwTb28qHdh7xFzKSaf_hIOwTCnxK8R5LzRtwGE2BvfRkDzbcTIsBYuo2z4qcxf24XkR7E8ccR_ty17yeCP_V6oa8pu_sc8Yv_LCNo5gN6CJxbU590RWy2FQn9N5rPL7eLJ/s1600/WP_20140905_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jsZFFn6daGNwTb28qHdh7xFzKSaf_hIOwTCnxK8R5LzRtwGE2BvfRkDzbcTIsBYuo2z4qcxf24XkR7E8ccR_ty17yeCP_V6oa8pu_sc8Yv_LCNo5gN6CJxbU590RWy2FQn9N5rPL7eLJ/s1600/WP_20140905_002.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002669076956907035.post-27699276937542516742014-08-24T21:01:00.000+05:302014-08-24T21:01:03.507+05:30Sati ki chori<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A child in Sati ki chori village, Udaipur district, Rajasthan.</div>
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ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12003200255753137550noreply@blogger.com0