Struggling Faces

Global Hunger Index 2020 -  This year's GHI is published with the theme 'ONE DECADE TO ZERO HUNGER'  ' LINKING HEALTH AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS ' India ranks 94th out of 107 countries. India has been placed in the 'serious ' hunger situation category by the WELT HUNGER HILFE who publishes this report . In this 2 decades (2000-2020) India has fared from "Alarming" to "serious" category while scoring 27.2 points out of 100. In 2000 we got 38.9 points. More points indicate more seriousness of hunger issue.  The report mentioned "'South Asia’s child stunting rate as of 2019 was 33.2 percent, down from 51.3 percent in 2000 . India—the region’s most populous country experienced a decline in under-five mortality in this period, driven largely by decreases in deaths from birth asphyxia or trauma, neonatal infections, pneumonia, and diarrhea.  Climate Change Performance Index released by German Watch - Published annually since 2005, th...

[1 जानेवारी 1993 रोजी प्रबुद्ध भारत मध्ये प्रकाशित झालेला हा लेख आहे. संदर्भ: पुस्तक - अर्जुन  डांगळे   यांचे "दलित विद्रोह". .सुधारणेचे स्वागत आहे. हा लेख माझ्या ब्लॉगवर इंग्रजीमध्ये देखील प्रकाशित झाला आहे. या लेखामध्ये कोणत्याही धर्म, जाती, धर्म यांच्यातील द्वेषभावना वाढविण्याचा हेतू नाही. ]       6 डिसेंबर 1992 हा भारतीयांच्या जीवनात उगवलेला  दिवस विसंगतीने भरलेला होता.  कारण सहा डिसेंबर म्हणजे,  ज्यांनी या देशात समतेची सामाजिक न्यायाची लढाई दिली;  धर्माच्या नावावर उच्चवर्णीयांच्या शोषण परंपरेवर भीषण प्रहार  केले; त्या डॉक्टर बाबासाहेब आंबेडकरांचा तो छत्तिसावा महापरिनिर्वाण दिन.  त्याच दिवशी   धर्मांधतेने झपाटलेले ,  धर्मनिरपेक्ष कृत्य पायदळी तुडवून  धर्मपिसाट जमावाने हिंदुत्वाचा आणि श्रीरामाचा जयजयकार करीत  अयोध्येची बाबरी मशीद जमीनदोस्त केली आणि देश  भर हिंसाचाराचा आगडोंब उसळला.         अयोध्या मध्ये जे घडले त्याचा निषेध होणे आवश्यक आहे.  नव्हे कृतिशील प्रतिकाराच...

  [This is a translation of an article published in Prabuddha Bharat on  January 1, 1993 Reference :  Book - "Dalit Vidroh" by Arjun Dangle. Translation is done by me .Corrections are welcomed. This article is also published in Marathi on my blog. This article do not intend to promote hate and enmity between any religions, castes , faiths. ] Prabuddha Bharat Newspaper      December 6, 1992 was a day full of inconsistencies in the lives of Indians. Because December 6th was the 36th Mahaparinirvana Day of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar  who fought for equality and social justice in this country; fiercely attacked the tradition of exploitation by the upper castes in the name of religion; and established secular values in consistent with the modern era through the Constitution . On the same day, the religious fanatic mob trampled secular values , demolished the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya by cheering Hindutva and chanting Jai Shri Ram. Violence erupted across the coun...

      In India the people are very much habitual to interfere in personal affairs of others. Marriage is a social custom but also a personal affair of an individual. But in India marriage becomes a "social pressure" as soon as you are above 24 and 22 (for boys and girls resp.)  years of age . Every uncle-aunty in your colony looks after you as a marriage material and then soon " beta shadi kab kar rhe ho "becomes a typical everyday question.  In simple terms you and your family decisions about YOUR marriage are largely dictated by the society. Common caste, common religion, common gotra, uncommon surname (this is common in many parts of Maharashtra) and whatnot. This match-making list goes on filtering your choices. But when a girl/boy falls in love with a girl/boy, the moral policing by the society becomes a BIG BROTHER as said by George Orwell . This phenomena becomes complex when the couple belongs to different religions. The situation become worse when ...

Going by the book, Democracy is the system of governing for the people, by the people and of the people. Apart from this, what people know about democracy is that the elected representatives engage into the governing system to satisfy common man’s demand and  to make a harmonized society . But what will happen when the elected representatives no more represents the people’s will ? What if the people are not allowed to raise their demands? What if the the people who asks questions to the system are called as anti-national? What if the elections are rigged? What if the basic constitutional tenets are harmed by the elected representatives?  Then comes the real question of DEMOCRACY which we have taken for granted and of the constitution drafted by Dr.Ambedkar. The democracy in the minds of our constitution makers meant – a committed judiciary, press committed to profession and not to political parties, concerned and awake citizens who preserve all liberties that go to make a ...

     Going through the history from 1985 to 1970 Congress was a cadre based party valuing its workers and leaders. But the situation changed rapidly after the 1969 split when Indira Gandhi was ousted from the Congress Party by S. Nijalingappa. Then Congress (I) became a dominant party , emerged victorious thereafter and Indira Gandhi leadership turned into a “personality cult” in the span between Bangladesh Liberation war and emergency. The Congress turned deeply towards dynastic politics when Rajiv Gandhi was made PM. Old Guards Vs Young Turks :      If we will look towards Congress Party history we get that whenever there is a leadership crisis in the Congress, the party looks towards the Gandhi family and this is what happened in the 2019 CWC meeting when Sonia Gandhi was made interim president . Weren’t there other leaders from the Congress other than the Gandhis to lead the party? Yes there were leaders like Bhupesh Baghel (now Chhattisgarh CM), Captai...

       Recently I interviewed two young actors Yogesh Patil and Teertha Khaklary form rural India who got selected in National School of Drama . They were among the 20 students selected from all over India for Theater in Education Course in National School of Drama (Tripura) . I hope there journey will inspire many youngsters all over India.  Me : Welcome , Yogesh and Teertha to this discussion cum interview. I hope you will enjoy it. Me  : How is your family background Yogesh ? How did your parents reacted when you told them about your interest in acting?  Yogesh : I am from a village called Dambhurni ( Jalgaon ) in Maharashtra . My parents are in farming from years and also work as daily wagers. They expected me to get educated and do a job to help them financially. I mean this is what every parents expects from their child. But when they saw me winning prizes and appreciation for my work in acting field , they never bothered me about my decision to...