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| Samaja Saptahika 25 Feb-3 March 2017 |
Tuesday 28 February 2017
Monday 27 February 2017
Friday 17 February 2017
Column | Window Seat
Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee
Engaging Persons with Disability
As per Census 2011 there are 2,68,10,557 persons
(1,49,86,202 male, 1,18,24,355 female) with disability in the country. The number
was little over 21 million as per 2001
Census. This is equivalent to little over 2 per cent of the population.
Among the types of disabilities on which data has been
collected, disability In seeing at 48.5% emerges as the top category. Others in
sequence are: In movement (27.9%), Mental (10.3%), In speech (7.5%), and In
hearing (5.8%).
Though there are people with
disabilities who have excelled in their chosen field, generally in India
persons with disability are considered to be a burden on the family and on the
society. This needs to be changed.
The society and the State must support this process of empowerment of
the persons with disability.
This could be done in two ways. I call it push and pull effort.
The society should create an enabling environment for the persons with
disability. For long they have been treated either with contempt or with
extreme sympathy. Between the two extreme forms of attitudes- the disabled -
has lost its identity as a person. Therefore the first thing that a society
should provide is an enabling environment. This could be in the form of a
changed attitude towards the disabled, or in the form of providing facilities
for smooth movement, access to workplaces, design of disabled-friendly
buildings and public facilities. This I call the ‘push’ factor.
The ‘pull’ factor relate to providing them with opportunities to realise
their potential. Reservation in job is one such way. The government sector has
such reservation in place. The private sector should be encouraged to provide
some such facilities or access points.
Spring
As winter turns to spring, new leaves sprout on
leafless trees. The barren and desolate looking tree suddenly looks green. And
in a matter of days, the colour of the green changes from light to deep. Like a
frail little girl turning into a full bosomed gorgeous woman – it changes and
how!
It happens
every year and every year it amazes me. Every new sprouting leaf is a harbinger
of new life, symbolising the continuity of life.
Photo: Ashok Panda
All about Booze
India
is an amazing country, for many reasons. One of the reasons is the way we treat
booze. In some states of the country, it is summarily banned. It some states it
flows like water. Though it finds mention in ancient scriptures (some of which
say that even Gods used to take it with pleasure), booze is generally despised
in conservative society. But interestingly, in private a large section of
people enjoy it. Whether this shows the hypocrisy of the society or this is how
a society should negotiate something which taken in large quantity can do
public harm- is a debatable point.
All
those who want to know more about booze, read about it in the cover story of
National Geographic Magazine, Feb 2017 issue. I am amazed to know that it has
been around for the last 9000 years, that is roughly 7000 thousand years BC.
And it is there in practically all the countries of the world.
Tailpiece
Ek motor
cycle me husband wife and do bachhe
Six
seater auto me 14 Sawari
Ten
seater jeep me 25 log
Firty two
seater bus me 152 log
Sevety
nine ke train ke dibbe me 300 log
And
Ek rocket
par 104 satellite
Achambha
duniya ke liye ho sakta hai, hamare liye to roj ka baat hai.
Salute
ISRO
Mera
Bharat Mahan.
(Recreated from a Social Media post)
19.2.17
***
Mrinal
Chatterjee, a journalist-turned- media academician works and lives in
Dhenkanal, Odisha. He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
Thursday 16 February 2017
Wednesday 15 February 2017
Tuesday 14 February 2017
Thursday 9 February 2017
Saturday 4 February 2017
Column | Window Seat
Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee
Water as a teacher
As winter recedes and spring descends, the upper Himalayan region
witnesses birth scores of streams. The thick slate of snow begins to melt and
scores of thin streams spring to life and begin their downward journey.
The journey of water as it
flows upon the earth can be a mirror of our own paths through life. Water
begins its residence on earth as it falls from the sky or melts from ice and
streams down a mountain into a tributary or stream. In the same way, we come
into the world and begin our lives on earth. Like a river that flows within the
confines of its banks, we are born with certain defining characteristics
that govern our identity. We are born in a specific time and place, within a specific
family, and with certain gifts and challenges. Within these parameters, we move
through life, encountering many twists, turns, and obstacles along the way just
as a river flows.
Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world
with grace, ease, determination, and humility. When a river breaks at a
waterfall, it gains energy and moves on, as we encounter our own waterfalls, we
may fall hard but we always keep moving on. Water can inspire us to not become
rigid with fear or cling to what’s familiar. Water is brave and does not waste
time clinging to its past, but flows onward without looking back. At the same
time, when there is a hole to be filled, water does not run away from it in
fear of the dark; instead, water humbly and bravely fills the empty space. In
the same way, we can face the dark moments of our life rather than run away
from them.
Eventually, a river will
empty into the sea. Water does not hold back from joining with a larger body,
nor does it fear a loss of identity or control. It gracefully and humbly
tumbles into the vastness by contributing its energy and merging without
resistance. Each time we move beyond our individual egos to become part of
something bigger, we can try our best to follow the lead of the river.
(with inputs from an email forward)
(with inputs from an email forward)
Mass Media (ganamadhyama) and People's Media (janamadhyama')
Recently
I took part in a stimulating discussion (on the occasion of First Satya
Mohapatra Memorial Lecture) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on the plural character of
media.
Writer
and Human right activist Guru Mohanty attempted to differentiate between 'janamadhyama'
(people's media) and ganamadhyama (mass media) and tried to drive home the
point that with market forces playing increasingly dominant role, mass media is
moving away from the mass and cosying up to a particular affluent section of
the mass.
Bidu
Bhusan Dash, who teaches cultural studies in Pune University focused on how
mass media mainstreams dominant culture often at the expense of other cultures,
especially of the subaltern.
I tried to elaborate on how and why mass media will always go for the larger scale, and thus try to mainstream dominant culture; although it would always provide a platform for other voices. Therefore people's voice (read subaltern media or alternative media) is important for preservation of the different facets and hues of culture, especially in a country like India, which has such wide diversity. And there will always be a space for that.
I tried to elaborate on how and why mass media will always go for the larger scale, and thus try to mainstream dominant culture; although it would always provide a platform for other voices. Therefore people's voice (read subaltern media or alternative media) is important for preservation of the different facets and hues of culture, especially in a country like India, which has such wide diversity. And there will always be a space for that.
Saraswati Puja
Saraswati
is the Goddess of learning, especially of fine arts and aesthetics. She is
worshipped in almost all schools and colleges in Odisha, West Bengal and other
states of Eastern India.
This
is one puja we were eagerly looking forward as school kids as there used to be
feast in school with puri, aloo dum or cabbage curry, tomato chutney and
bundia. The smell of puri being fried in giant kadei was enough to whet our
appetite and we used to eat like, well, mini-rakhyas.
Ma used to tell me not to eat berries (kul or
koli) before Saraswati Puja, as she said it could impede our learning system.
And I used to wait for this day, so that I can eat sour sweet berries to my
heart's content after the puja was over.
It used to be the day when girls of local
Girls High School used to visit our school, dressed like fairies (other days in
school uniform all of them looked alike) and we could get an opportunity to
talk to them without attracting teacher's stern attention.
It used to be the day, when I was looking
forward to get up early in the morning.
Some day... those days.
Tailpiece: Difference between Fine and Tax
-
What
is a Fine?
-
Fine
is a tax for doing wrong
-
And
what is tax?
-
Tax
is a fine for doing right.
***
6.2.17
Mrinal Chatterjee, a journalist
turned media academician lives in Dhenkanal, a small Dist. HQ town in Central
Odisha. He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
Friday 3 February 2017
New Book: Chasing his Father's Dreams: Inside story of Odisha's longest serving CM
 |
Biswajit Mohanty, noted RTI activist and environmentalist has recently published this book. It is a critique on the present BJD Govt. rule in Odisha. |
Thursday 2 February 2017
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