Worshipping the river Ganga and the Kumbh Mela

shekhar18 Comments

I received this message that I would love to share :
“We at the Jal Biradari and Tarun Bharat Sangh are organizing a very important Kumbh on 6th and 7th of September in an interior village called Khajura in the Tehsil of Sappotara in Karoli district, Rajasthan. For those water lovers who are fed up with seeing the polluting nature of normal Kumbhs, this Kumbh would be a refreshing and an unforgettable experience. Friends, we just want to make our people understand that the true meaning of Kumbh is not to destroy the rivers but to conserve them. We also want to show you how beautifully any river can be rejuvenated.
Let us understand, first of all how the tradition of gathering for Kumbh started. Once there was a king called Bagiratha who was a farmers’ leader. Those farmers faced a severe water crisis then, which made him to take a pledge of bringing down the Ganga who had been dwelling on the mountains. Along with his 60000 farmers, he worked day in and day out to realize his dream. Finally, Ganga came down to the plains. The farmers on both the side of her started practicing agriculture; their homes became prosperous and their souls were liberated……..

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Garbage recycling in Mumbai : an appeal

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Sanjeevani Bhelandi sent this in. It’s a really important issue in Mumbai, which is fast turning into an untenable city falling apart at the seams. Pleas support FORCE if you can. Sanjeevani is a beautiful singer famous in her own right and you can visit her website at www.sanjeevani.com
“Garbage is another grave urban issue strangely not being taken seriously. Mumbai garbage dumps are full. I know a remarkable lady Ms Poonam Huddar who runs an NGO called FORCE (forum for re-clycling communities and environment). She lives adjacent to the Deonar garbage dump and started this movement fed up of the daily stink. Garbage segregation is the only solution to this monsterous issue. Convert wet waste into manure through vermiculture and recycle dry one. FORCE encourages buildings to compost their wet garbage and gives employment to ragpickers. Garbage segregation at source also gives dignity to the lives of our rag pickers who otherwise have to rummage thru garbage for their livelihood. I personally put my kitchen waste like cucumber peels,methi,coriander stems etc into my pots and find my plants growing with so much vigour as they get fresh,free manure.there are no mosquitoes,no stink unlike what many people doubt. There is such poor awareness about this issue it is apalling. The open garbage bins on every corner of our roads are health hazards breeding infections,rats,mosquitoes.and in the rains clog drains. I admire the work of this simple middle class frail woman who works tirelessly to give us a cleaner Mumbai. Please lets all segregate garbage,put our kitchen veggies in our pots.we can grow our own tulsi,pudinah,kadhipatta,mirch(I do). Garbage is gold if seperated. Selling the dry waste generates income. Also rich manure is created thru composting. Dumping is not the correct way to disposing garbage. Burning causes pollution. Right way is to recycle thru segregation. Shekharji,your picture prompted me to spread word about this issue.

Can Obama deliver what he promised ? Only if the American people support his vision with passion and sacrifice

shekhar6 Comments

Sitting a thousand mles away in Mumbai I was fighting back my tears as I heard Obama speak at the acceptance of his nomination. And as the crowd cheered I wanted to get up and cheer myself at this new inspirational messiah that has come to the world. Boy ! can the world do with some leaders like Barrack Obama. A new Neslon Mandela. But can he deliver on his promise ? As he went on with his speech, I got concerned that perhaps he was promising too much, going beyond the realms of practicality. Was this going to be the same situation like Nelson Mandela, who moved not only his nation but the whole world with the New Way forward, only to find his dream faltering in South Africa as the country began to fall apart with the anger and resentment of unfulfilled expectations.
Obama can succeed. But his success will depend on the will and passion of the American people who support him. Not without the American people re-evaluating their own lives, rethinking their own expectations of being the richest and most consumptive society in the world, will Obama’s incredible vision succeed.
Obama’s vision will not succeed till the American people are willing to make the sacrifices that underly his vision. Gandhi had the impossible dream of a free India. He succeeded because he moved an entire nation to change the way they saw themselves and were willing to make the sacrifices he demanded of them.
The American people must do the same to recover the American Heritage that Obama spoke about. I hope and pray that he succeeds.

Cluster bombs, lets support a ban on them

shekhar5 Comments

I recieved this request from survivorcorps.org to publish this message, with an appeal to people to help ban cluster bombs that are killing and maiming civilians especially children even long after they have been dropped.
“If you haven’t heard, Russia has been dropping cluster bombs on innocent civilians in the Georgian republic. Cluster bombs leave behind unexploded mini-bombs which often detonate when curious children find them. Survivor Corps is one of the lead organizations in the movement to ban cluster bombs and to assist survivors of this terrible weapon. I’ve put together this social media news release which explains everything.
http://banclusterbombs.smnr.us
I would be grateful if you could blog about this very important subject, it would help many people. Please let me know if you are able to help and send me the link to your post. Thanks so much”
Dani
it also contains a really good youtube video called’ Clusterbombs : a weapon out of control’. It’s worth visiting and doing whatever we can about this. It’s quite frightening what is going on, so please do watch it.

‘Flow”: the Corporatization of our Planet’s fresh water resources : is the World Bank part of the conspiracy ?

shekhar17 Comments

For those of you that have not heard of Irena Salina, look out for her name. She has just made a terrifying, informative, well researched documentary on the future of fresh Water resources on our Planet. She shows how gradually all the main Water resources are being usurped by major water corporations all over the world, and how the World Bank is completely complicit. The documentary is called ‘Flow” and is about to be released at the Angelique in NY. Catch the trailer :

That is the fundamental premise to my feature Paani also. Experts world wide, who I might add, do NOT live in Water Stressed parts of the world, are imposing the argument that ” the only way to manage a dwindling resource is to get people to pay for it, so that they use it with care” Feels right in theory but what price to you do set on water ? , and whatever price you set, 85 % of the people will not be able to afford it. So we will get situations like what is already happening in these so called farm houses outside New Delhi. No farm house is complete without a swimming pool, while the adjoining farms are running dry for lack of water and the farmers are selling their lands as they cannot grow anything. For more farm houses. Houses that are thirstily sucking out the ground water for private swimming pools !
Water is the new global weapon of social and control and exploitation.

India heading towards Civil War ?

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Just as we were getting used to a rising stock market, Shopping Malls on every corner in our consumeristic cities, billions of dollars coming in from FRI’s, all on the basis that we have such a young population – just as everyone (but the poor farmers) were celebrating and the headlines were screaming about India’s economic development – came the news that the a third of the world’s poorest people live in India ! And this is just when we were getting used to the idea that a third of worlds teenagers were living in India – so they are amongst the poorest in the world. What is the truth of India ? Are we really becoming two nations – and how long before there is intense conflict, ? Civil war ? Between the new lifestyles of billionaires and millionaires observed by those who live on the streets holding the little hands of their children that have not eaten for two days.

Are free and fair elections possible in a combined Kashmir, or anywhere in India ?

shekhar51 Comments

I am tired of the voices that talk about collective self determination of the people of the both the Indian side and the Pakistani side of Kashmr, without even once looking at the consequences of such an election. As usual we are addicted to key words that stop us form thinking beyond. As if democracy is the sweet mantra for all ills of society. Democracy in all of India is a corrupted, uncomfortable form, and we know that. And it is no different in Kashmir and worse in Pakistan.
If you announce an election today in a combined Kashmir, it is the surest way to a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan as opposing forces in Pakistan, in India and within Kashmir jockey , threaten, kill and burn to ensure that the power structures comes to them.
Why are the liberal voices so bright, analytical and yet so naive ??? Or do they just choose to be impractical because they actually will never take responsibility for consequences ? Consider this …

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The Himalayan environment : like a stray dog on a rubbish dump

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DSC01985.jpg
What are we doing to our environment ? I took this picture in the Kumaon ranges in the HImalayas on the way to Mukhteshwar. I remember travelling here looking for locations for Masoom, my first movie. These were untouched places of immense beauty. This picture was shot at a point where people come to get views of the great Nanda Devi ranges. The second highest peak in the world. The ‘Langur’ that I photographed in this picture looked completely baffled by the rubbish left behind by the tourists, and then she gradually accepted her destiny started to rummage for food in the plastic and other rubbish. Like a stray dog on a rubbish dump in the city…..

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Mumbai Mirror’s completely irresponsible article on mine and Suchitra’s divorce

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I have never spoken about my divorce publicly before. It is a painful process not only for the two people involved but also for the young children. Both Suchitra and I spent nine very painful and turmoil driven years in a marriage, and though I was not in favour of a divorce because of our daughter Kaveri who was only 7 at that time, Suchitra was the one that had the courage and the resolve to confront me with legal summons while I was in London shooting Golden Age.
In any case we went through a very amicable divorce. I did not hire a lawyer and agreed to all the financial and other terms laid down by Suchitra and her lawyer. I did ask to share custody for kaveri, our daughter, but both Suchitra and her lawyer said that was not possible. The financial settlement included amongst other things, money to buy a house for Suchitra and Kaveri of equal value (as determined by Suchitra) of my sister’s house in mumbai where Kaveri and Suchitra lived in at that time.
Imagine my shock to read in the Mumbai Mirror this morning that made an accusation against me and my family of asking Suchitra and my daughter to move out of the house after one year of the settlement being made, making no mention of the divorce settlement. Nor of the fact that Suchitra was the one insisted on living separately from me.
I would like nothing better than to have my daughter live with me under my roof. But under the divorce terms Suchitra will not allow that. I have never asked Suchitra to conform a date by which she should move to her own house, though my sister, understandably, has.

Letter from Tblisi, Georgia

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Anna is still in Tblisi and is yet uncertain about her future and if the war has really ended. She has sent another letter, exploring herself as the people of Tblisi still sit on the edge.
Feeling…Indescribable
I remember that day very well. I was the happiest person. It was cold, winter day and I was walking in the park with my dad. I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but possibly I was 6 or 7. The place around was all white like a vanilla cream. It was so beautiful; the trees, bushes, benches, statues, all covered in snow. We played snowball fight, made a big, funny-looking snowman and then we found some piece of a broken sledge and I tobogganed that day a lot. I remember how many times I fell and rolled on the snowy ground. I was wearing many clothes and could hardly move. I remember that my dad and I laughed our heads off. And I remember that heat, which I felt on my reddened cheeks due to the frost.
But then everything changed. The world was not as colorful as it used to be. Rainbow colors got overshadowed with grey and black. Those were carefree days, but then…I felt completely different. I don’t know how it all started. What happened? and when it happened? Once, I was standing in front of a mirror and I felt something weird. I touched my face and my reflection in the mirror did the same. All of a sudden, I felt like a stranger. At that tiny moment I could not recognize myself. Strange, vague thoughts and questions invaded my mind. Who am I? or what am I? And why am I? ……

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