In search of identity.....

This blog is about Dini also known as Daisy, (human traffickers normally change the names of the victims as well as the identity which exists close to nothing), a 15 year old girl from Jharkhand who was trafficked to New Delhi for Domestic work by a Placement Agency on a false promise of working at a missionary institution. 

Incidents of this human trafficking case have been minutely described to share the process of interviews with the trafficked victim, traffickers, rescue planning, coordination and challenges faced while working with the police. 

DAY 1:

The team of rescuers after a bit of research with Dini's fathers help established contacts with Dini's employer. The house where Dini was working as a domestic worker was in Miya Wali Nagar, PaschimVihar, Delhi. 

On asking Mr. B, (Dini's employer) it was realised that she had run away from the house on 17 th of May. The owner claimed to have reported the girl missing to the closest police the day she ran away.

DAY 2:

The rescue team approached a Punjabi Bagh police station, informing them about the Placement agency.

The police staff was initially very apprehensive in sending a constable with the team to the placement agency for the mere reason that there was absolutely no complaint filed with the police in the matter of this case. They were constantly questioning as to how fist there could be a situation where the police hasn’t filed an FIR. They seemed to be quite amazed at the bizarre prospects of a police station not lodging an FIR. They seemed to believe that this case was the “head ache” of the Ranchi Police and that they had no authority to deal with the case. But after a lot of persuasion, they finally agreed to send a constable along and by default sent the head constable along.

On reaching the area, the first impression one gets wouldn’t in any ones wildest dreams suggest that there could have been such an agency being run there. In a crowded street, above a sweet shop after climbing a narrow stairway, we reached the Placement Agency. On entering the room we met Misha the Placement Agency owner. After a short round of questioning the Misha about Dini all the people inside the room were called out.

About 4/5 minor girls walked out from behind the curtains and were asked their names as well as that of their fathers. A lot of the girls were afraid to respond but eventually answered. It was revealed that all the girls were from Jharkhand. There was a boy there who claimed to be the brother of one of the girls but again when questioned was trying to divert it by saying that his sister had already mentioned all the details.The owner as well as the girls claimed that the girls were all going back to the village. But there isn’t any confirmation of that fact.

Since the team was more concerned with rescuing Mr. P's daughter, Dini, they got back t questioning Misha about her. She produced forms in which all the information about he girl was written. It included her name, age, current address and other such information. From the face of it, the agency seemed to be very well organised.

Following the information given in the form, we went to the mentioned address which was a house in Janak Puri, Delhi. Once there the lady, more worried about the consequence she will face, didn’t want to hand over the child or so much so as let us in till it was assured to her that it will be given to her in written that the girl has been handed over and that she was to face no trouble related to this case. She immediately brought out the form in which it read that the girl was 18 yrs of age. Once she realised that it wasn’t her who we wanted to deal with, we were allowed to enter the house and a girl was brought out.

Once the formalities of the written statements and handing over were completed, the girl and the father were both taken back to a safe place.

 DAY 3:

Flashback: 

We visited a Church, where Mr. P and his daughter Dini were residing. We first spoke to Dini as her father was not present at that very moment. The girl was asked few questions to get a clearer picture as to why was to that she actually ran away. She claimed that her friend, Loveleen’s bhabi, Salomi was the one who had informed Misha (the agency owner/human trafficker) about the girls and was told that the two- Dini and Loveleen want to go to Delhi to work. It was Misha who had come to take the girls to Delhi and stayed with the girls at her sister’s house. They reached Delhi on the 12^th and by the 13^th Dini, from here on was referred to as Daisy, was placed in a house in Miya Wali, Paschim Vihar.

She worked there till the 17^th after which she escaped. Her schedule there required her to wake up by 5 am and work till 9 pm. She did mention that she was scolded at times. On the 17^th she escaped and walked back to Punjabi Bagh on her own. She didn’t once stop for directions, and had observed the way when she was taken to work and knew it to the T.

Once she reached the Agency she told “Nandu”, Misha’s husband and the co-owner of the agency, that she wanted to go back home but instead he sent her to work in Janak Puri.

Dini's decision to come to Delhi was fueled mainly because she was persuaded by both Misha and Salomi. 

Dini is well versed in English and writes the language beautifully, she was a studying the the 10th grade when trafficked, She is very fond of writing and reading and wants to study further. She is now back in Jharkhand and is happily continuing with her education.

It has to be noted that in this kind of a service sector (placement agencies) there is an immense scope for Human trafficking to thrive. Many of these young girls end up working in forced labour situations where they work without wages and sometimes are also subjected to physical and sexual harassment. Till now, there is no Central Legislation governing the regulation of domestic placement agencies which protects these domestic workers.

Picture Courtesy: Facebook: Anonymous ART of Revolution's photo

You're a Thief ! - Part Two

This is an account of spending another day at the Observation Home for girls with Reshma. She herself starts telling me that she is very adamant about a lot of things. Like not wanting to go back home until her parents accept to come to visit her at the next hearing. She is happy and quite excited while she tells me about her experiences at home with her closed ones such as her mother and father. Her mother seems to be ignorant and quiet, as Reshma’s attitude with her mother at home describes. Her father seems to put pressure on her for not going out with her brother who asks her to steal things.

I further asked her about her activities at home which mainly focused on her daily routine. She tells me that she could go anywhere without any apprehensions at home. I asked her about her likes and dislikes. So, she happily tells me that she once saw a dream that she’s at a place where it is snowing heavily and is really cold but beautiful! She told her father the next day about it and he tells her that soon he’ll take her there. This happened when she was very young, maybe, 4-5 years old. But she doesn’t tell me where she went exactly. She visited Bulandshar with her brother Riyaz when she was quite young. When asked about how did he travel without having any money in hand. She says that he borrows money from friends for all his travels. While all this happened with her, she says that her mother has been unaware of her brother taking her along with him to various places.

She also shares about not getting a hair shampoo from the authorities to wash her hair and requests if I would be able to get one for her the next time I come to see her. I did not promise her instead told her that I’ll try, as counsellors were not supposed to give gifts or food to children in the observation home.

While leaving, I gave her an exercise to remember – it was to memorize the weekdays by writing them on a piece of paper. I did this intentionally because she kept telling me that she doesn’t feel like studying. But she readily agreed to learn the lesson and talk about it the next time I visited her. She asked me if she’ll get to go home soon and if she doesn’t.... she doesn’t care about what would happen! I asked her to again try and think about staying at the home or a hostel (to involve her positively) and she could inculcate some creative hobbies for sometime, just in case her parents do not accept her.

As I bid her goodbye she asked me if I could visit her more often.....I smiled back at her and gave her a hug.

Photo Courtesy: 'Vivid' by vmbui

You're a Thief ! - Part One

Back in the summer of 2009, I was appointed as a Counsellor by the Juvenile Justice Board on the request of a prominent child rights Advocate and an ex-colleague now, to rebound the lives of 4 very young girls held for petty offences under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2000. After meeting the officials at a Government Observation Home where the four girls were staying, I submitted my first observation report to the Principal Magistrate regarding all my observations during the visit.As a result of this, I was appointed as the Counsellor for all Children in Conflict with Law at the Observation Home for Girls through a new order passed by the Principal Magistrate.

As a fresher in this satisfying yet very challenging job of counselling these children I was not aware of the new awakening. I had to feel a connection with the young girl before things were to change. I was told by my colleague rather well to take care of what emotions I see coming from young Reshma (name changed). She was very intelligent, beautiful, mysterious, bold and to my amazement done it all at the age of 13. 

One of the youngest girls amongst the responsibility of the other 4. Reshma was residing at the OHG (Observation Home for Girls). Her antecedent in delinquency dated back to the occasion a couple of months back when her elder brother took her along with another cousin to show his in-laws house, but mid-way decided to change the plan and instead took them along to attend a wedding of some stranger.

Reshma was completely oblivious to the change of plan. She was, however, explained in advance about getting a bag from inside a room where the marriage ceremony was taking place. She was asked by her brother and cousin to act as if she was one of the family members from the bride’s side. She, then, at an appropriate time was asked to take the luggage carrying the valuables along with her and leave the place immediately. Her brother and cousin then took away some of the valuables from the bag after breaking the lock. Some of the cash and jewellery was given to Reshma to be kept at their home in a safe place.

Thereafter, as the incident unfolded itself the police was informed by the robbed family about the theft and the pictures of Reshma were matched and recognized from the wedding day by some complainants. She was

then apprehended, whereupon she told the police that she was directed by her brother to commit the whole act. Surprising me with each of her expressions and conversation skills, Reshma came across as a very quiet and introvert girl but I knew her personality would soon change with time. And she would definitely be different the next time I visit her........

Picture Courtesy: Maggie Cipriano, Madhu Gopalan

The NGO Diary: Miracles Happen!

When you wish for something it most likely comes true - in forms small or big. You can be assured that there is a real connect with that one person out there. I had only wished to work with my present organisation while working at 'the Titanic' (My previous organisation - that's what I call it now). No matter how bad the experiences might have been, I still appreciate the Titanic for the opportunities given!

Talking about Miracles - I experience many as I live each day. Miracles just happen without giving a hint.At the verge of calling it quits since the day I joined, this feeling had overpowered a belief of taking experiences that were only good not bad. Well, as a matter of fact, there was nothing bad!

 The Titanic has people joining in as soon as they leave and it goes on and on and on..... I was ridiculed to my gut during an encounter I had with a senior at work on the first day. While it is normal to be welcomed in a new organization with a great hint of positivity and motivation. You want to be the least surprised with first day shocks. Now that I recall all the instances it only gives me a good loud burst of laughter and great memories of experiences taken. 

I say 'miracles happen' - my resignation at the Titanic was a miracle in itself that brought me out of that sinking feeling. The next moment my fellowship application at a U.S. top notch organisation had hit the block. Next miracle - I did fairly well in the selection rounds came into the Finalist category. 

And it continues.....

There is so much happening around us that we forget counting those MIRACLES. The smallest one that ever happened is sure to turn into a big one someday!

The NGO Diary: Children of the rainbow.....

The NGO Diary: Health Care and Victims of Human Trafficking

Health Care and Victims of Human Trafficking


I recently came across a petition asking people if they recognized a victim of trafficking? To that I would say, NO, we cannot recognize a victim of trafficking so easily unless and until there are circumstances which seem geographically, psychologically and emotionally disagreeable to a common individual.
But all too often, most human trafficking victims pass through the health care system unnoticed and unaided. Many medical professionals haven’t been trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of human trafficking and abuse. Ideally, doctors and nurses should know to be wary of controlling companions (traffickers, abductors/suitors) — and suspicious when patients do not speak for themselves or do not have control over their own identification documents. Other signs include marks of physical abuse, fearfulness, depression, and extreme submission.
In India, human trafficking victims – for example troubled young girls working as domestic workers, labourers, nannies would be seen going to local gynecologists on their own or forcibly taken by the controllers to get an abortion done. At this point of time, the doctor or the health practitioner is somewhat doubtful but not in full confidence of handling the situation well. Many a times there have been girls who were trafficked for work to a metropolitan city and they had to return back to their village/hometown to give birth. In this process, they get socially excluded, harassed and doubly vulnerable again to more such instances.
I want to draw your attention to the some “Visible Indicators of Trafficking in Person” given by the website – www.humantrafficking.org

Visible Indicators May Include:
* Heavy security at the commercial establishment including barred windows, locked doors, isolated location, electronic surveillance. Women are never seen leaving the premises unless escorted.
* Victims live at the same premises as the brothel or work site or are driven between quarters and “work” by a guard. For labor trafficking, victims are often prohibited from leaving the work site, which may look like a guarded compound from the outside.
* Victims are kept under surveillance when taken to a doctor, hospital or clinic for treatment; trafficker may act as a translator.
* High foot traffic especially for brothels where there may be trafficked women indicated often by a stream of men arriving and leaving the premises.
Trafficking victims are generally kept in bondage through a combination of fear, intimidation, abuse, and psychological controls. While each victim will have a different experience, they share common threads that may signify a life of indentured servitude. Trafficking victims live a life marked by abuse, betrayal of their basic human rights, and control under their trafficker. The following indicators in and of themselves may not be enough to meet the legal standard for trafficking, but they indicate that a victim is controlled by someone else and, accordingly, the situation should be further investigated.

Understand the profile of a trafficked person
What Is the Profile of a Trafficking Victim? Most trafficking victims will not readily volunteer information about their status because of fear and abuse they have suffered at the hands of their trafficker. They may also be reluctant to come forward with information from despair, discouragement, and a sense that there are no viable options to escape their situation. Even if pressed, they may not identify themselves as someone held in bondage for fear of retribution to themselves or family members. However, there are indicators that often point to a person held in a slavery condition. They include:
1. Health Characteristics of a Trafficked Person:
Trafficked individuals may be treated as disposable possessions without much attention given to their mental or physical health. Accordingly, some of the health problems that may be evident in a victim include:
* Malnutrition, dehydration or poor personal hygiene
* Sexually transmitted diseases
* Signs of rape or sexual abuse
* Bruising, broken bones, or other signs of untreated medical problems
* Critical illnesses including diabetes, cancer or heart disease
* Post-traumatic stress or psychological disorders
2. Other Important Signs:
In addition to some of the obvious physical and mental indicators of trafficking, there are other signs that an individual is being controlled by someone else. Red flags should go up for police or aid workers who notice any of the following during an intake. The individual:
* Does not hold his/her own identity or travel documents
* Suffers from verbal or psychological abuse designed to intimidate, degrade and frighten the individual
* Has a trafficker or pimp who controls all the money, victim will have very little or no pocket money
Questions to ask if you suspect you are in the presence of a trafficking victim
Screening Questions
1. Is the person free to leave the work site?
2. Is the person physically, sexually or psychologically abused?
3. Does the person have a passport or valid I.D. card and is he/she in possession of such documents?
4. What is the pay and conditions of employment?
5. Does the person live at home or at/near the work site?
6. How did the individual arrive to this destination if the suspected victim is a foreign national?
7. Has the person or a family member of this person been threatened?
8. Does the person fear that something bad will happen to him or her, or to a family member, if he/she leaves the job?
Anyone can report suspected trafficking cases to the responsible local authorities/NGO’s etc. If the victim is under 18, professionals who work in law enforcement, health care, social care, mental health, and education are mandated to report such cases. Through a grass-roots community-wide effort and public awareness campaign, more professionals on the front line can readily identify the trafficking victim and have him/her treated accordingly.

Contributed by Karuna Dayal in the Health Care Intelligence Forum
(The author is with Multiple Action Research Group in New Delhi and has extensive experience of dealing with trafficked victims during her association at Human Rights Law Network)

SAY NO!

By: Karuna Dayal

This Blog is part of the Men Say No Blogathon, encouraging men to take up action against the violence faced by women.
More entries to the Blogathon can be read at www.mustbol.in/blogathon. Join further conversation on facebook.com/delhiyouth & twitter.com/mustbol

I walk alone each day -
even when you’re by my side.

Fighting this
Not once…not twice,
But, over and over again, while they look at me with those eyes….

Teasing, tearing, ripping, raping eyes…..
and I turn to you, to see some respite.
But sadly it’s a dream,
you’re not with me.

I walk alone amidst the crowd, in the lanes of life
Brushed against, jostled and grabbed, its not a fleeting moment but everyday strife

I SAY NO…..

With rage I scream to let the scavengers know
that we are more than one to SAY NO!
Fighting tears of fears, veils of shame
With a steely will and a steadfast frame


WHAT MAKES ME THINK……

Is this storm within,
Every time I face it! I shake it!
to wake up again,
to take a stand ALONE.

Still hoping that someday you will come this way…..
Embolden my action, not let me be an easy prey
Standing together to SAY NO!

Days pass and I wait to see there is some change
You come together with me to fight back and SAY NO!
To see the scavengers go!


Picture Courtesy: Spirits_of_December_by_KatjaFaith

The NGO Diary: All for love! (part two)

The process of investigating about a trafficked victim's location in a red light area becomes a smooth task if you're well connected with the local police and have some other handy contacts who work in the brothel area. The procedure became much easier since we had a well known lady police officer to help us raid into the correct brothel.

All this while, the mother of the missing young girl was crying continuously. It was really moving for me to understand that simple gestures such as holding a mothers' hand, wiping off their tears and assuring them that their daughter will be found would strengthen the bond between us and make her feel somewhat relieved.

In the next one hour we managed our way inside a brothel in the local red light area. It was difficult to recognise the girl amongst the many heavily painted young faces all set for the evening. After some heated and aggressive conversations bent down upon the brothel madams, ofcourse with the support of the police led to the release of the girl.

Finally, she came out with one of the madams who was time and again whispering something into her ears. Probably something nasty! which she ignored in the happiness to feel the freedom outside the four dark walls. Her family and the young man were happy too to see her.

Picture Courtesy:"She's Standing All Alone"by ElifKarakoc (Deviantart)

I promised her that we will come back to meet her soon and this time at her native place. Exactly, after one month, I was back in West Bengal to do a follow up of this case and went to meet Chandni and her family. A surprise was in store for me...when I saw the same young man standing close to here a Chadini too was wearing the 'mangal sutra'(A mangalsutra is a piece of jewelry worn by women that symbolizes hindu marriage.) and sporting the bright streak of 'sindoor' (sindoor (vermilion) is traditionally applied at the beginning or completely along the parting-line of a woman’s forehead.) There was sudden rush down my spine to see the young couple together. With a slight suprised expression on face and heart filled with happiness I hugged Chandni. This was the best case follow up I had during my experience......

I am writing this to reaffirm your belief in the fact of life that there is no language, no bondage of time or any other barrier in your act to help someone. All you need to do is to cross those limits you've created in life and go a step ahead to help someone in need. All you need is to have some love for change!

The NGO Diary: All for love! (part one)

Picture Courtesy: "Painted Bindi" by Gaby Barnuevo

Some time back I met a family from West Bengal, they were visiting my organisations' office to seek help in finding their daughter who was trafficked to the red light area in Delhi. The parents were really heart-broken and could barely comprehend a word in hindi just as little I could understand Bengali. Along with this family came two men both hailing from West Bengal, one of whom was a young man willing to help us with the exact address of the brothel and verify the recent picture of the missing girl.

As I investigated into the connection this young man had with the girl, it seemed like a Bollywood movie in front of my eyes. The young man had been visiting this girl in the brothel for sometime and took a picture of her on his mobile one day. Later, he went back to Bengal to the girl's village to meet her parents and initiated to find there daughter. It was definitely love an endless love between the two that made him come back to help her.

The NGO Diary -Memories of Nagaland!

Picture Courtesy: Karuna

I was in Nagaland in 2010 with my colleagues Keya and Sanjai ji from HRLN. It was one of the best trips I've made through my work travels towards the North East of India. Nagaland is a state in the far north-eastern part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Myanmar to the east and Manipur to the south. The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur.




After successfully conducting our training on the first day we headed off to see the local market in Dimapur. To my surprise it had everything on sale on this earth. :)

Right from a baby owl to silk worms, dog puppies, fish, prawns, pork, beef, exotic birds to being more vegan - exotic vegetables to the world famous 'raja' chillies!



Picture Courtesy: Karuna
In the picture: Sanjai Sharma and Keya Advani

My best trip ever and more to come.....

The NGO Diary - "Freedom is not free"

"Freedom is not free"....living in an independent land costs a lot more than this whole life ahead of us. The other day I was reading about a recent murder of a 21 year old Radhika Talwar, The attacker managed to escape in the crowd, police said.

The motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained, though police suspect it to be a case of a love-affair gone wrong.

Freedom is definitely not free with the recent spate of rape cases, murders, assaults, stalking, harassing and you name it all that is cornering women and girls in Delhi and across India. A 9 year old girl was raped this week by a daily wage earner. In another incident a five-year-old girl was raped, beaten up and dumped in a shrubby area in southwest Delhi.

The rapists usually go scot free. Some men are definitely not to be left open on Delhi streets it seems! Be it a illiterate labourer, a goverment 'officer' (sarkari babu) travelling in your bus/metro/train (who is always found staring at young women and girls and starts to scratch his groin incidently!!!), your bus driver, bus conductor etc.... The crime capital is raising its voices BUT with no supportive rape law no other supportive tools of law! So when will we get the freedom from this injustice.

Picture Courtesy:deviantart

Where is the freedom?? Could you tell??

The NGO Diary - "A place of sacrifice"

My first NGO official visit took me to the second oldest city of India - 'Allahabad'. As per the wikipedia Allahabad is one of the fastest growing cities of India. It is located in North of India in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the four sites of the mass Hindu pilgrimage Kumbh Mela, the others being Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. It has a position of importance in Hindu scriptures for it is situated at Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges and Yamuna, and the ancient Sarasvati River.


Picture Courtesy: deviantart: Supergrass1975

There is more to be shared with you beyond the historical importance of this city. When I was being interviewed for my current NGO job, one of the questions I was asked was 'if I could travel alone in the trains (whichever class, whatever time etc. etc.)'? The very question as a budding social development 'adventurist' gave me a high. I had recently renounced my fresh corporate experience to do what I really liked! and my third day at the NGO took me to Allahabad to organise a workshop on Human Trafficking. To fill you up with the connection between Uttar Pradesh -> Allahabad -> Human Trafficking -> History?

Uttar Pradesh in North India shares the longest international boundary with Nepal, the porous border along this stretch, which has 14 legal entry points and numerous un-manned routes, is an open field for human traffickers. Traffickers often hide victims in the stream of legal migration, following the same roads and travelling on the same trains and buses as legal migrants. Their victims are innocent women and girls who are lured in the name of love and/or opportunities.

Here comes the holy land of 'Varanasi' - you might be wondering why am I freakingly connecting all the anciently beautiful places together. Well, most holy places here hold within dark stories of servitude and exploitation of women.

Varanasi is called 'Benaras' in hindi. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, dating back thousands of years and contemporaneous with the Sumer civilisation. The city is also called Kasi, "the luminous" in the Rigveda.It is often also referred to as "city of temples and learning."

In the picture: Gita Devi, a 77-year-old widow from Kathmandu, was wed in an arranged marriage at age 5; her husband died one month later.

Like most traditional Hindus of her generation, she never remarried.

Young widows are still being brought in by sex traffickers and sold into prostitution. The "sevadasi" system, in which the 'service' done to rich and powerful pilgrims is seen as an act of piety, is still prevalent. Sexual exploitation still exists at the bhajanashrams.

In September 2001, a high-level meeting of the National Human Rights Commission, representatives of the Department of Women and Child Development, Human Resource Development Ministry, and Governments of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal was held. At this meeting, Justice JS Verma said:

It is unfortunate that nothing substantial seems to have happened to elevate the status of women who hence come to Vrindavan despite the philanthropic attitude of the people in the country to help others. The need of the hour is to take concrete steps to stop the flow of women to Vrindavan and simultaneously carry out rehabilitation programmes whereby the overall plight of these women can be improved.

The NHRC, it was decided, would be the facilitating agency that would take these concrete steps, coordinating efforts of the government and NGOs. Justice Sujata V Manohar, NHRC member who visited Vrindavan to study the plight of widows, stated that facilities such as free and clean accommodation, financial assistance and proper healthcare should be provided to these destitute women. She suggested that a fund be set up for their dignified cremation, distribution of pension, establishment of self-help groups for income-generation, provision of LPG connections for group cooking, ration cards, group housing scheme and suitable security measures.

Whether these "concrete steps" will make any difference at all to the widows of Vrindavan remains to be seen.

An earlier study, commissioned in 1992 by the National Commission for Women and conducted by Deepali Bhanot, corroborates that "the flesh trade flourishes in Vrindavan and Mathura in the full knowledge of the police, administration, holy men and politicians." Amongst the several widows interviewed, Chapla Desi, 27, is quoted as saying,"All men lust after our bodies". [Quoted from http://forums.ratedesi.com/showthread.php?t=232920]

I wish to share more of my experiences in the upcoming posts of 'The NGO Diary'. See you soon :)

The NGO Diary - An Introduction

I've always wanted to write about my experiences till now. I plan to sub head my upcoming posts as 'The NGO Diary'.

To introduce, I work with one of the premier Socio-Legal Organisations in India, having 28 offices across India. We boast to have filed the best Public Interest Litigation on Human Rights across the country's State High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. I am proud to be one of the daring and upfront personnel's from our team.

I joined them 2 and a half years ago and to my mind not a single day has been wasted to ignore and learn from the best of the experiences or on the hand the perspicacity of the NGO world/sector. It has made me even more humble, observant and stronger. There have been various strange, funny, happy, sluggish, 'hard-working', smart, mesmerising group of people. From the first day of my joining the organisation I stepped into knowing a whole new world of a stimulated and empowered team of super courageous individuals. At the same time, my first introduction to a colleague who told me "how political this place was..." left me wonder the next few day to come.

I do understand now, what it takes to work in the Social development sector. Life is not so easy for many as it is for some. The gap between the two and their dedication is truly inspiring!!

The Indian Railway ride!

Picture Courtesy: Thomas Becker

Railways were introduced to India in 1853, and by the time of India's independence in 1947 they had grown to forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit—Indian Railways—to form one of the largest networks in the world. Accommodation classes range from general through first class AC. Trains have been classified according to speed and area of operation. All trains are officially identified by a five-digit code.

But today, I want to share with you my memorable experiences while working on various assignments through HRLN. I prefer travelling by train mostly for some work assignments. My travels across different states of India have been the most adventurous, amazingly colorful and completely unforgettable. I have captured many moments in my varied mobile camera's (good, bad and ugly ;)) when travelling by the train. Along with all the crucial timelines and duties I've had the best time to see the countryside of India via the Indian Railways!

What made my travels by rail so outstanding are that I never missed the opportunities to interact with people who came from various Indian States, who spoke different languages and filled me up with all the historical/cultural knowledge bank I always wanted know. The journeys all together have given me the time observe children on the railway platforms.

What you saw in the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire', comes quite fleetingly in front of your eyes while waiting to catch a train at the railway platform.


Picture Courtesy: Karuna Dayal. (Taken from a Sony Ericsson Cybershot phone)

The Indian Railways experience has given much more to me and that is the ability to grasp as much as I can in this small life and leaving a million of smiles behind.....

No ice breaker....this one!

Delhi rains are great when it comes to beating the heat after some various sunny, scorching, sweaty, shaggy afternoons. Yesterday was no different, it brought heavy showers all around washing away the layers of dry, rough and dusty sheets of adulterated air.

Just one thing that kept at it was the water logging that might not sway all the hopes that the best and the worst builders and contractors are still planning for the re-arrangements of Delhi roads and pavements for Commonwealth games coming up so sooner! To add to it is the already dug up pathways with piles of mud and soil from the deep down earth clogging all the ways from where the rain water could find their way.

Nevertheless, our dear managers for the games keep at it. Putting patches of soil, charcoal and the like to keep it momentarily away from some surprises shoving their way up again!

Till then....

The NGO Diary: Activism Vs. Food

Picture Courtesy: deviant art

When you are working with an NGO, everything seems to either be perfectly correct or going completely wrong.While we mostly work for a living there are many who who work to enjoy food at the expense of  "Global Food Losses and Food Waste", a study released by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)Food waste is "more a problem in industrialised countries, most often caused by both retailers and consumers throwing perfectly edible foodstuffs into the trash" ..... At (one of my previous organisations) the 'Titanic' every morning I saw some of my colleagues starting their day with street food and slurping it away happily. In Delhi, 'street food', the best of its kind is 'katchori', 'jalebi', 'chaat', 'pakore', 'gol guppas' and people usually don't get bored with this uber category of foods available.

It has also brought to light a very significant importance and direct co-existence of food as the biggest motivational factor.

I have noticed my good observation skills have kept me interested in knowing more about a lot things including people.This month, while there have been humongous task lists to finish by the deadline, all I see around me is food piling up! Social workers eating food and doing nothing and the others fighting for the right to food for poor and getting nothing. While working for human rights causes is a serious affair, I have been shocked enough to overcome the vaporous feeling with which some people work in this industry. Eating food is what keeps them going!

“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it… and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied…and it is all one.” 

— M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

An Icebreaker .....Part II

It all started when I was in college and through a dear friend got familiar with Yahoo Chat, MSN Chat and the like. There had been several other social networking sites which I got hooked onto during those tender years. The websites ranged from Orkut to Hi5 to Friendster to Wayn (Where are you?) to MySpace and then came Facebook.

It isn't easy to digest it when you have reached a certain level of seniority in your profession and have had different priorities but many people like to live two or more than two lives on the internet everyday! Especially, when it is counted under the aegis of social networking (an internet identity).

There are many more aspects and facets of how many of us do not recognize the harmful punchbags that hit back many on this 'web of net'.

Are there any experiences that you might want to share here, keeping the story behind alive......

An Ice-breaker....

Picture Courtesy: www.deviantart.com

-"Hey but tell me something before you log out...do you have a camera on your system??"

"Ummmm.....Yes, I do :-)..." Why do you ask?

-Well...its better to know each other personally!! You can put it on the next time we chat...

Hmmm...i'll see if no one's around :@

-Ah!...now don't be a piggy boy...its normal.

Oh..k !! whatever suits you..we can chat with the camera on, when no one's around!

I'll try...

-Oh...c'mon!!

See you..:-)

An ice breaking conversation between a cyber criminal and the victim is what I am focusing on today. It just came as a thought on which I want to build up here. Talking specifically about millions of children(who are a social networking site addict or a chat addict) who fall prey to Pedophiles on the internet.

There are numerous ways in which a cyber criminal would lure his/her victims. It is often seen that they are usually people who know you through your parents or have hit a conversation with you in a chat room. Tampering with a teenager's tender world of curiosity is simple child's play!

To be continued...

DOG RESCUE APPEAL

The Rescue Mission Secretariat at +6012 378 3730 (Janet) or +6012 320 8090 (Zalina)
The Sec's E-mail is dogrescue.pk@gmail.com (see updates page for info)

Fellow bloggers, you can also help by embedding this appeal poster on your blog and linking to http://www.mycen.com.my/rescue

You can follow the progress of the rescue via the updates here.

We are aware it is a monumental task and appreciate all forms of support, assistance, suggestions, encouragement and your prayers.

Thank you.

Remember......

"The winner takes it all, the loser standing small"

MOST URGENT HELP NEEDED!

Does anyone know NGOs helping Indian Navy officers kept hostages by Somalian Sea Pirates??


My dear friends family have lost their son - Please Help!

Children for MONEY!

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
-- Mother Teresa

Children are for sale all around the world majorily from Asia! Would this get goose bumps on your impenetrable skin?

Money for Kids! or Kids for Money!

By kids, I mean children who are under the age of 18 trully speaking. Here is success story of a 16 yr old girl - "Cam Girl". I just read about her on the internet and could believe the story with my eyes wide shut.

Like most 16-year-olds, Renee's world is in her bedroom. She hangs out here with her friends, and spends hours on her computer.

But Renee isn't just sending e-mails or surfing the web aimlessly. She's running a highly profitable Internet business from here, one she says has earned her as much as $2,000 a month.
But what's she's doing in her bedroom would make a lot of mothers blush. Renee is a “Cam Girl”-- just one of hundreds of young girls who compete for attention on the Web by putting webcam photos and videos of themselves online.

Her site gets thousands of visitors every day. But it isn't free: For four days it's $5.95; for a month it's $15.95; for six months it's $59.95.

What do you get for your money?

There’s chat, information about how she does her hair and where she shops, and Renee’s daily journal. Renee has also posted more than 500 photos on the site. Some of them are sweet, some are strange, many are provocative. There is no nudity, however. Renee's mother Barbara claims she is mystified by Renee's virtual success, saying she has “no idea” why the site is so popular. “I hope it's her writing skills,” she says.

Like Renee, we have many teens working their way out to earn money like this with consent! I will talk later in my posts about the CHILDREN ON SALE WITHOUT CONSENT!

Its not just about 'Sushi' and 'High Heels'.....

There's more beyond, what looks so bright and happy around me. I recently went for an official assignment. We went to an upper class residential area in Delhi. Right behind the upper class private residences was an extremely harrowing experience we were about to go through.

On the other side of the road was the bling and all that attached with it that you can think of and on our side was darkness of a huge amalgamation of poor masses from uncountable regions across India and its borders most expected! In a week of rainy depressing weather and the rising inflation nothing was more worse than this sight we saw. A mob of poor workers and inhabitants across the street with fear in their eyes, standing around a dead man's body lying inside the police van...

Somehow, that day I was prepared to take, whatever came my way. This was a conclusion to a sudden outrage among two drunken men..."that's what a man told us". "What are are you doing here?"..."These accidents keep happening here..day and night"... was the look and conversation among the policemen I overheard and sensed.

I still want to go back to that place and know more about the people who live among us in our civil society !

VANDE MATARAM !!

In Devanagari script
वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्यश्यामलां मातरम् |
शुभ्र ज्योत्स्ना पुलकित यामिनीम्
फुल्ल कुसुमित द्रुमदलशोभिनीम्,
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीम्
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ||


Devanagari transliteration
vande mātaram
sujalāṃ suphalāṃ malayajaśītalām
śasya śyāmalāṃ mātaram
śubhra jyotsnā pulakita yāminīm
phulla kusumita drumadalaśobhinīm
suhāsinīṃ sumadhura bhāṣiṇīm
sukhadāṃ varadāṃ mātaram

Translation

My obeisance to Mother India!
With flowing beneficial waters
Filled with choicest fruits
With Sandal scented winds
Green with the harvest
O mother! My obeisance to you!
Ecstatic moonlit nights
The plants blooming with flowers
Sweet speaker of sweet languages
Fount of blessings,
Mother, I salute you!

What about HUMAN EXTINCTION ??

Well, I gave it some serious thought and came to a conclusion that we thank God for everything he has given to us, also what we want from him for our future and the respective generations to come. We curse him when we do not get what we wanted....the way we wanted it to be!

What if we never faced the extinction of wildlife, plants and the environment as a whole and worried day and night about the "Human Extinction". Would that make us a little better-off than the hue and cry we make for a living today?

The Revolutionary India many moons back....

Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna is a poem in Hindi/Urdu written by Bismil Azimabadi (Hindi: बिसमिल अज़ीमाबादी) and popularized by the Indian revolutionary Ram Prasad Bismil, who was involved in the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India.

The Poem (English transliteration)

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai

aye watan Karta nahin kyun doosra kuch baat-cheet
Dekhta hun main jise woh chup teri mehfil mein hai
Aye shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat main tere oopar nisaar
Ab teri himmat ka charcha ghair ki mehfil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Waqt aanay dey bata denge tujhe aye aasman
Hum abhi se kya batayen kya hamare dil mein hai
Khainch kar layee hai sab ko qatl hone ki ummeed
Aashiqon ka aaj jumghat koocha-e-qaatil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Hai liye hathiyaar dushman taak mein baitha udhar
Aur hum taiyyaar hain seena liye apna idhar
Khoon se khelenge holi gar vatan muskhil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Haath jin mein ho junoon katt te nahi talvaar se
Sar jo uth jaate hain voh jhukte nahi lalkaar se
Aur bhadkega jo shola-sa humaare dil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Hum to ghar se nikle hi the baandhkar sar pe kafan
Jaan hatheli par liye lo barh chale hain ye qadam
Zindagi to apni mehmaan maut ki mehfil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Yuun khadaa maqtal mein qaatil kah rahaa hai baar baar
Kya tamannaa-e-shahaadat bhi kisee ke dil mein hai
Dil mein tuufaanon ki toli aur nason mein inqilaab
Hosh dushman ke udaa denge humein roko na aaj
Duur reh paaye jo humse dam kahaan manzil mein hai


Wo jism bhi kya jism hai jismein na ho khoon-e-junoon
Toofaanon se kya lade jo kashti-e-saahil mein hai


Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai.
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazuay qaatil mein hai.[4]


The Poem (Devnagari version)

सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है


(ऐ वतन,) करता नहीं क्यूँ दूसरा कुछ बातचीत,
देखता हूँ मैं जिसे वो चुप तेरी महफ़िल में है
ऐ शहीद-ए-मुल्क-ओ-मिल्लत, मैं तेरे ऊपर निसार,
अब तेरी हिम्मत का चरचः ग़ैर की महफ़िल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है


वक़्त आने पर बता देंगे तुझे, ए आसमान,
हम अभी से क्या बताएँ क्या हमारे दिल में है
खेँच कर लाई है सब को क़त्ल होने की उमीद,
आशिक़ोँ का आज जमघट कूचः-ए-क़ातिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है


है लिए हथियार दुशमन ताक में बैठा उधर,
और हम तय्यार हैं सीना लिये अपना इधर.
ख़ून से खेलेंगे होली गर वतन मुश्किल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है


हाथ, जिन में हो जुनून, कटते नही तलवार से,
सर जो उठ जाते हैं वो झुकते नहीं ललकार से.
और भड़केगा जो शोलः सा हमारे दिल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है


हम तो घर से ही थे निकले बाँधकर सर पर कफ़न,
जाँ हथेली पर लिये लो बढ चले हैं ये कदम.
जिन्दगी तो अपनी मॆहमाँ मौत की महफ़िल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है


यूँ खड़ा मक़्तल में क़ातिल कह रहा है बार-बार,
क्या तमन्ना-ए-शहादत भी किसी के दिल में है?
दिल में तूफ़ानों की टोली और नसों में इन्क़िलाब,
होश दुश्मन के उड़ा देंगे हमें रोको न आज.
दूर रह पाए जो हमसे दम कहाँ मंज़िल में है,


जिस्म भी क्या जिस्म है जिसमें न हो ख़ून-ए-जुनून
क्या लढ़े तूफ़ान से जो कश्ती-ए-साहिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है

Join the league with Hands On the World Global !

Are you looking for a short term donation of time and research in an abroad program or are you looking for a career in this field? IMs. Rachael Paulson is the founder of a grassroot organization called Hands ON the World Global and am setting up a HUB school in South Africa that will soon work as the base for science and research. It started with the install of water as 700 schools in Kwa zulu Natal do not have running water. The young girls leave schools to walk miles to fetch dirty filthy water. From the install grew a sustainablilty project that is now working to plant foods to help those dying from HIV and they are putting in livestock programs.

This HUB school area will soon work as the base for exchange students and for professionals who would like to donate time while growing in experience.
The board is growing strong and they are still working on building a strong foundation of a 5 year plan.

You can contact Ms. Rachael Paulson if you would like to get more information. They are not paying employees at this time as the funds are all going into the HUB properties.

There is so much more to share and you can see photos of her work on her web site which is not yet filled with all of the information that is updated.

Links:
http://www.howglobal.org

A PLEDGE !!

Sometimes I am astonished by what nature has given to us, and we keep ruining it as days go by.

This year I have decided to share it with as many people and my family that "I will not harm the environment which includes plants, animals, water, air and other organisms".

I will discontinue using Fire Crackers from this year onwards, which we use for our pleasure and for the environment at stake. Noticed more recently that Fire Crackers have become the disastrous source of displaying a happy moment in the family for millions of people across our country and around the world for example : Marriages, A Win in the game of Cricket, Parties, Birth of a Child etc...etc. Leave aside "DIWALI" in the "Indian Context" for which Fire Crackers were actually meant to be used.

I will discontinue using Plastic bags for carrying groceries...instead if I am really a style freak till the grocers shop!!! I will accompany myself with a nice cloth bag.

I will not waste WATER. Even a drop of it...Remember...My nanny always told me not to waste it..drop by drop fills a pool of bucket! And thus, if I do not use a bucket to fill that drop, it will be wasted!

Its only a few things in life I can manage a few years down the line to make this World... a bit ...better place.

And this is for all those people out there who can make a difference !

-KD

Our own Tibet !

EDUCATION...

"Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.
George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695) English statesman and author."

Whereas....

Education … has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.
G. M. Trevelyan (1876-1962) British historian