BT Brinjal- protest, fast and walk

Jan 30th was a big day for anti GM protest(ors) all over India..That being gandhi's death anniv, there were lotsa protests (sathyagraha way) planned all over..
many of you would have received mails from me regarding our action plan in TN/Chennai
(sample here )
Vandana Shiva, actor Revathi and Carnatic singer Vijay Siva joined us and walked all the way from Marina beach to Gandhi statue. Many students, ladies and activists joined. Surprisingly there was lotsa media coverage..
Street play was also performed..
the coup was Mr.Kalyanam - Gandhiji's last personal secretary was brought at the culminating point and asked to read the pledge! This man was amazing and am told- now in his 80s this man still gets up at 4am and cleans the road in which he lives. just to state that doing something nice for the society in a small way is better than talking and remembering gandhi once (or twice) a year!

coming back to the protest
you can also see more photos in the coming days at SFA.

Meanwhile if you care, try and do all you can to stop GM foods entering our diet in any form.

for more on GM here at this blog, see here. Pl scroll down to see all earlier posts.

Piyush Arrested!

remember Piyush?
He is arrested for sedition!!!!
for trying to go on a peaceful cycle rally from salem to chennai via sivagangai.

This was to highlight the pathetic condition of the tribals who are being hunted by the govts (state & central) in the name of operation Green hunt.
whats their interest you ask?
The Tatas, vedantas, Jindals etc need the mineral rich forests which is the tribals' home! so this special hunt on the tribals..Govt needs to help these rich become richer right? development you see!
Piyush who visited Chattisgarh recently was witness to so many afflicted tribals (due to displacement, rape and happy-trigger-hunters).

Piyush felt bad that most of us in TamilNadu were not aware of all this and so wanted to spread the message about the atrocities committed on the tribals up there- in a peaceful manner..
But it was stopped even before he started and has been charged with sedition, a non- bailable law.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Write polite letters to the Commissioner of Police, Salem, after you have had a chance to read the contents of the pamphlet, expressing your outrage at considering pamphleteering a seditious act, and inviting him to restore your confidence that Tamilnadu still operates within the democratic framework set out by the Constitution.

2. Get people (including known names) from your city to sign a statement defending free speech, and have it faxed to the Commissioner of Police.

3. Get people who can write to write in blogs, opinion pieces in media.

Letters may be sent to:
Commissioner of Police
Salem City
Phone/Fax: +91 (0)427 2410217
mail to :spsalem@dataone.in,spsalem@yahoo.co.in

Model Message: "We are alarmed at the charge of sedition framed against Piyush Sethia for distributing pamphlets announcing the launch of a peaceful, non-violent public opinion mobilisation via a cycle rally to highlight and protest against the Government's atrocities against Adivasis in Chattisgarh. We are concerned about your office's clampdown on constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech and expression on a day when the Republic is being celebrated. Kindly withdraw the charges, and honourably discharge Mr. Sethia."

124A. 1[ Sedition.-- Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, 2[ the Government established by law in 3[ India], a 4[ shall be punished with 5[ imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine. Explanation 1.- The expression" disaffection" includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. Explanation 2.- Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section. Explanation 3.- Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.]

lost mobile phone

very bad..i lost my mobile phone in a crazy way, while driving thru the forest road of hogenekal to denkanikottai:-(
so please note that for next few days am out of reach on mobile phone!

the matter is not about how I lost it but of the perils later..
if your service provider is BSNL, you had it..
for all you BSNL users, if you were pissed by them as a service provider, you had it if you want their help at times of distress like this.
Its next to impossible to get a cust care person online and after hours of persisting, if some one comes up, he would say he/she is from prepaid if you are a post paid customer and vice versa..oh man! after some 10 such nonsense conversations and blowing your top, you may come across the right section but they will only be as helpless and demand some tiger's milk(puli paal) or such like to start the procedure..

But, you know what? this bloody affair has subsided the loss of my phone..how good, eh? for someone who has lost something for the first time and that too my right hand- a phone..hmm, still am sad..
let me see if I can be persistent enough and get the same number. (number portability- where art thou?)

farm visits

yeah, am travelling..
after a long time and its pondy, Trichy, Kallakurichi, Atthur, Salem, Darmapuri, Hosur Bangalore. Visiting many farms enroute..
so bear with sparse blogging here, but wait for more stories..
off i go*brrrr*

Half a day in the jail!

How sensational!
Yeah I spent half a day with prison officials and in the Puzhal prison..but don’t let ur imaginations fly..
It was to try and engage the prisoners in to agriculture..obviously organic farming!
See this and you know its not easy to handle prisoners..we cant ape the west in everything and then learn things the hard way..The prisons here (some of them)are modernized and the facilities and food too have been improved so much that most prisoners when they get back home find their homes very wanting..so they want to come back:-) comical as this looks, this is a serious issue the prisons have as stated by a top official there that day.
Hmm..so every one have their share of problems..
I was summoned by sevalaya Murali when he heard about the prison authorities wanting some plans to keep the prisoners engaged. Murali visits all prisons across TN and gives talks on Gandhi, Vivekananda and Bharathiar. I have been privy to many anecdotes from him about serious prisoners (like bomb making haneefa and likes) that if they were taught these when young they would not have gone this route..hmm, late but still, hopes..

So we took help of this man! Nammalvar is a walking organic encyclopedia…so I shud rate myself really lucky to go on this exploration trip..we shall now motivate the prisoners to cultivate their own food organically and change that whole place green and nice..what more we are already talking of what to do with the excess produce..hey they all jumped at me saying restore shud grab them..oh how I wish!
But the fact is they are serious..let us see how much we can put that in a paper, show them as a do-able report..Yes, all these govt projects will need more papers than deed:-( though not my cuppa, need to do that..any of u who can write flowery project report send me personal mail and you can help this whole thingy..

Jyothi basu- plain truth

oh mee god!
I have been wishing someone shud rip this man- Basu a thoroughbred aristocrat and bourgeois_in_disguise!
am glad that Kanchan Gupta does that in (our Cho's) style..
see here!
But i would have loved more light on his choicest whiskies at the state's cost or his son's capitalist forays and their wealth that can compete with our own MK family!
He was the pioneer in scientific rigging of elections in India. How else can one hold that record of 'longest elected communist govt'?
one more major miss in that article IMHO is Basu's record as the politician with highest severance package. or was it the highest retirement package?

Gopi manjuri

Guess that?
That’s gobi Manchurian! That’s what was written on a big board outside a take away in Blore outskirts..chop that manchurian race with spelling and miming their cuisine;-)
But such is the fun of traveling by bus thru far outskirts in any town..
This was when I traveled by bus from kengeri to BTM via uttarahalli..
Oh that’s a nostalgic route for me.. one and half decades back that was my route to go to Mysore road from south of blore..that too with Royal Enfield Bullet, my first girl friend! That used to be a lush route with so much greenery and less buildings.. today its inverse..more concrete than green..still a better scene than coming thru the regular route.
As I am devouring my nostalgic memories, I hear some interesting dialogues from my back…(again buses are fun to eavesdrop)
1: Hey, see this..so many new houses..
2: no use man.none will buy solar heaters, useless houses..
1: see there, that’s one telugu person’s house..i installed..
2: so many houses, I thought we shud go there..why u say they wont buy?
(aha! Some sales/service guys..i cudnt stop smiling..then they drag on about their market, problems etc)
so as I go back to old memories and the scene now another bright name board attracts my attention..
it says ‘Drink & drive’..
whattt? I glance back to see it’s a fruit juice shop:-)
so much for the fun derived from bus trips..and its ecofriendly too…