Apathy at its best

amidst the many responses that I received for my last post on the Lalgarh situation, there was one which stood out. Sent by Turjo Sen, a senior media professional, personally on my mail, he recounted a poignant and heart-wrenching story about the pathetic situation of tribals in India...and I couldn't help but share it with all of you. So here it is in Turjo's words...

"I remember a story narrated by one of the Indian archers. The Government had once initiated a scheme to conduct an archery camp for talented tribals from this region. After showing prodigious talent and hitting bulls eye repeatedly, one of the boys refused to aim at the targets and instead started targetting the birds on the trees. He said it was no fun aiming at lifeless targets and preferred the birds since it would atleast ensure a good meal after the practice session. The youngster along with most tribals from the region soon left the camp because they were more interested in aiming at rats and water snakes at the camp, their normal diet for a long time.

So one thing for sure, there are precious little done by the politicians and their ilk in this region

There are no schools, hospitals in these regions so its a bit unfair for us to slam them for causing a law and order crisis. The problem is that they are misguided by their leaders who see them as easy fodder to further their own ambitions.

It was such a pathetic sight watching the campaign trail of Pranab Mukherjee in his constituency of Jangipur. Hundreds of kids without a stitch of cloth were running after his cavalcade. And he was the Home Minister and i do not see the script changing much, now that he is the Finance Minister.

But then politician bashing has been a favourite pasttime for us for far too long. I think we on the whole are a generation of very inert people. We salivate at Shiney Ahuja's story, a tiff between Dhoni and Yuvraj is a national disaster, Salman-Katrina spat is a calamity of bigger magnitude than drought in Vidharba. So as a nation, a lalgarh crisis is just a par for the course." - Turjo Sen, producer and journalist at Ten Sports.

How green was my valley...

As Operation Lalgarh rages on, and village after village ravaged by Maoist rebels, my mind is filled with a cavalcade of images - of a region swathed in sal forests, eucalyptus trees; exotic hills, colourful chou dances and simple tribal folk - a landscape unique in it's topography, vibrant in its cultural quotient and varied in its sociological demographics. Today, it's different – the resounding sounds of bullets have replaced the sweet rhythms of its rare musical instruments and melodious tribal tunes – the road to peace seems like a distant dream now…