Poor NGO Types

I work for social change. When I started in this field I was often the butt of my own jokes and did joke about how I was always broke. Somehow it goes with the image, but the more time I spend in India working on civil society projects relating to women's rights, the more I realize how ridiculous it is. Sure we can all conjure up the traditional image of an Indian social worker,  'Khadi ka Kurta pajama', in our minds with a cheap Jhola bag resting on his shoulder and dusty kolapurri chapals on his tired feet. In addition to being obviously poor and hungry. Well I could not disagree more with that image. Yes, I believe in working tirelessly for the needs of others. Yes I believe that we all owe it to ourselves to make sure that our fellow woman and man is well taken after. But no, I do not need to be hungry and poor to help the ones who are. I do not need to live below the poverty line in order to help people who do. Just like I don’t need to turn into a maple tree in order to save one, or a woman to work for women's rights.

I ask you this, why on earth are the people who work for the good of others forbidden from enjoying a comfortable lifestyle? No one would ever question my lifestyle if I made millions by marketing the merits of poisonous products such as Coca Cola or tobacco but the second a social worker drives a car or eats in a nice restaurant she/he is considered to be dishonest. 

Had I been a doctor or a lawyer no one would question my fancy German car, or accurate Swiss watch, fine Italian suits or lavish holidays on some luxurious island resort with a hard to pronounce name.

When I asked Dr Anand Kumar a noted sociologist the same question, he answered "Society accepts preachers who are practitioners, be it Vivekanand, Gandhi, Mother Teresa or Anna Hazare. Socially cautious entrepreneurs like Ratan Tata, Narayan Murti and Azim Prem ji are all highly respected by all strata of society. Social entrepreneurs like Sunita Narayan, Aruna Roy and Vindeshwar Pathak are all examples of women and men who have broken away from the cliché of the impoverished individual working towards social change.”

Kuber Sharma, a modern day social activist, argues that "This doesn't exist in my world. I know that this lifestyle is something I don't survive in. Hence while I am not averse to working in the grassroots and have worked in little villages all over India, as a full-time profession I prefer a cushy Delhi office. No I still don't have an air-conditioned office, but at least I can be myself here. If clothes and gadgets will dictate what I am and how I think, then let people judge me."

Devendra Kumar, a development professional and also one of the first people who told me "I want to make money through doing good" (this was about 10 years back ), when I gave him a ring for this blog post explained that "Social work in India is still considered a voluntary action and not a professional one. This is a major downer for the development sector. The salaries of the social sector need to marginally match the ones of the corporate, then only can one expect quality social activists. We need to look into the development sector as a professional one if we want to bring about large scale sustainable development."

Manish Tiwari, a political journalist, argues that "If one was to create two categories of NGO’s the ones using the funds and the ones stealing the funds, the list of thieves would be miles longer (I could not agree more). This extreme disparity has led to the critical take of society. No one as such is against social entrepreneurship, but everyone is against con artists minting money in the name of philanthropy. 

Dr. Rohit Negi, who teaches Development Studies and also the catalyst behind this blog post, explains that “The origins of this notion are in Gandhian practice. Prior to Gandhi's entry on the Indian political scene, the leadership was largely elite, and they had very little pretensions of reaching out to the masses. Gandhi's message was to live and dress like those on whose behalf one claimed to speak, which is what representation--government or non-government--is essentially about.  Even today, civil society and social workers are viewed through that same lens: they must be incorruptible and lead what the larger society considers a simple life. Because, in part, non-profit also means non-well to do. That someone who is in the development sector, broadly defined, also make good money and live a more-than-decent life attracts allegations of impropriety, and undermines his/her credibility.  For better or worse, I believe this is a fact. There are obvious merits of holding civil society to a tough standard, but then it means that anyone who wishes to be in this arena with a degree of honesty needs to choose between the work and a comfortable life.”

So what happens to me? A guy with a technical degree who believes in viable social change . Do I starve to fit into a cliché ? Or do I battle it out , changing professional norms as I progress ? Or do I give up both and jump back into the corporate sector designing micro chips and selling them to the highest bidder?  

Demand for Supply or Supply to Demand

I think in our times there is an enigmatic demand created for the product to be supplied. Yup it’s a jab at the whole Advertising industry , lets look at products like Coca-cola , Marlboro , McDonalds , Fairness creams ,  Products to make one slim. These amazing advertisements which are played and replayed through every broadcasting medium , one cannot go through a day without believing that the only way to quench ones thirst is by sipping on the cancer causing coke. That a drag of Marlboro will some how magically dissaperate us to the Grand Canyons where we will be taming wild horses . A bite of the fake bread , fake chicken , guaranteed to make on obese McDonalds burger will make our mind go ‘ Para pa pa paaaaaaaaaa , I am loving it ‘.  And all the other fairness/fitness/lookgood products which promise that we will turn into Greek Gods and Goddesses ( no idea , how they looked , but the ‘ Hot ‘ men n women of my times are always compared to them so must be right )

Honestly one could let it slide saying that these ads are not physically forcing you to buy them , YOU STILL HAVE A CHOICE , but do we ? , Does my poor brain really stand a chance against an army of psychologists/researchers/public opinion makers . I mean these guys spend their life figuring out how to trick me into wanting useless stuff

( reminds me of a scene from ‘ Fight Club ‘Like so many others, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct. Uh, yes. I'd like to order the Erica Pekkary dust ruffles.

Operator: Please hold. If I saw something clever like a little coffee table in the shape of a yin-yang,

I had to have it.

The Klipske personal office unit, the Hovetrekke home exer-bike, or theJohannshamn sofa with the Strinne green stripe pattern. Even the Rizlampa wire lamps of environmentally friendly unbleached paper. I'd flip through catalogs and wonder: What kind of dining set defines me as a person?

I had it all.

Even the glass dishes with tiny bubbles and imperfections. Proof that they were crafted by the honest, simple, hard-working indigenous peoples of...

Operator: Please hold.

Narrator: Wherever. I was holding. We used to read pornography. Now it was the Horchow collection. )

Yes I love movies , so what’s my problem with the whole aspect of created demand , through sensationalizing a feeling , commodification of our natural instincts , basic needs , of normality itself.

Smiles need the empowerment of ‘ Colgate ‘, moments have to be saved in memory with the help of ‘ Kodak ‘ ( sadly they went bank corrupt , wonder what happens to my moments now ) , Love is forever ONLY if its sealed with a ‘ Diamond ‘ , Hell they wont even let me kiss if I am not chewing on a ‘ Wrigleys ‘ , My son needs to drink ‘ Horlicks ‘ , and my daughter need to be a ‘ Complan Girl ‘ because then she will turn into a Badminton star like Sania Mirza.

I think I made my point . 

Old is NOT always Gold

28 years on this planet, have been working for the past 10 years, in various fields. Have made a few shifts from hardly paid student jobs, to over paid corporate jobs, and finally to the social sector (let’s not even get into the salary bit of it ) .

When I started working at 17 as a COBOL software developer for a firm which made Income tax calculating software for the ‘rich’ in south Germany. Everyone was highly impressed by the fact that a young Indian boy is helping them out. (For scandal sake I’ll say I was the reason for ‘ Inder statt kinder’ debate which led to MR Jürgen Rüttgers gaining some media mileage )

Now the journey has been amazing since then, and age was always on my side, and the older/wiser/grey hair or totally bald men, did not take me as a threat. Rather I was the rookie they were very happy to give ‘ Gyaan ‘ to. With all honesty I must say I really used to listen in back in the day.

Lately specially when it comes to plan’s of future, methodology to address the youth, what appeals to a nation with the majority of its citizens below the age of 45. I get tsunami’s of arguments always starting with the same tone of “What do you know about this? Back in our day…….” Before I lose my cool, I think to my self, well it’s apparently NOT back in your day, and for sure the ideas applied then were probably NOT good enough.

Now the social sector, like the intelligentsia, has ensure that it is a closed club. Both these club have a code language they speak in, which no body in the ‘real’ world understands. Well here is a BIG middle finger to both these clubs and every one in them, Your knowledge and ideas and work does not matter if it is not known/understood by the common person.

Putting it simply no one gives a fuck about what you did ‘back in the day ‘as its not about you ! & your club ! it’s about how a simple common person steps in for social change , to spread knowledge , in himself , in his environment ,Before global and local , it HAS to be personal .

But then again I have been around for 28 years, whereas you clowns have seen the planet go round for a longer period. Although it’s the quality of time which matter and not quantity !!!          

गंगा ढाबा पे बैठ कर , ६१५ की ओर देखते हुए

गंगा ढाबा पे बैठ कर , ६१५ की ओर देखते हुए .....

चाय अभी आधी ही पी थी , कोई पुराना , आप का ज़िक्र कर गया ,
आप का नाम क्या सूना , हम तोह किसी और ही समय मैं समां गये

आप तीसरे स्टॉप पर मुस्कुराते हुए बस मैं चढ़ती थी ,
हम नज़रे गिरा लेते थे , साला दिल मैं अंग्रेजी गाना सुनाई देता था ,
दिन मन्नो wonderful हो जाता था ,

एक वो दिन है , और आज का दिन है ,
आशिकी मैं भी मिलावट , बेचारी भावनाओ मैं भी बनावट
कुछ रह गया , तोह अपने गंगा ढाबा की चाय

गंगा ढाबा पे बैठ कर , ६१५ की ओर देखते हुए .....
कभी आइयेगा , अप्प को चाय ज़रूर पिलाएँगे

उस सूर्योदय की ओर चलता हूँ

वो संगीत जो निडर हो ,
वो आशा जो बंदिश ना जाने ,
भावना जिसकी हम परिभाषा ना खोजे ,
जब कर्म आशिकी बन जाये ,
उस सूर्योदय की ओर चलता हूँ

हर दिन अनन्त  , हर सोच मैं सच
रास्ते खुद बनाने की क्षमता
गलत राहों से लौट जाने का सहस
जब सुकून और जूनून दोनों ही साथ रहे 
उस सूर्योदय की ओर चलता हूँ

Time to speak up , Man.........

What if something happens to her ? 

Should I ask her to call the cops ? 

Should I ask friends in vasant kunj to get there ?

What am I supposed to do once I get there ?

Do I go all Rambo on the rickshaw driver and beat him to death ? 

What if he is stronger or has a knife or a gun ? 

http://makedelhisafe.blogspot.com/2011/11/time-to-speak-up-man.html

A judicial system designed to fail !!

So before I share my views about the judicial system one has to know that my experience with the Law , real law , cops , robbers , courts came into existence as my jeep got stolen and found TWICE !!.

First time it was rather simple, my jeep got stolen; the cops found it caught the middle man trying to sell it off but could not get the robber. Case was simple went to court twice , got my car back on something called ‘ superdari ‘ , - basically meaning my jeep is an evidence in the crime and I can’t sell it off till the crime is solved. So as the cops would probably never catch the thief one can never sell one stolen – retrieved car. (The dude who wrote this law must have been high on some cheap locally made intoxication)

Any ways the second time around, the cops did not just retrieve my car, but caught the bad guys as well. Great and just as I was expecting a happy ending of this cops n robbers episode, the LAW jumped in. Of course the same running around for the “superdari “, but by now I am an expert of that track (in case you ever have to step into this devils circle do call, I shall sympathize).

But then there was a sequel to this : now as it was my car which was stolen , I was a witness , options provided to me are a) Tell the judge : “ I don’t want to say anything “ , b) compromise , c) be a witness and actually tell them the ‘Truth “.

The problem with having honest parents is that they teach you to speak the truth. My Dad specially is a guy known in lands far far away as someone who is an ‘Honest Man ‘. In today’s world that’s an extinct breed, (and thankfully so, as the following will explain).

So because I could not be a wimp and keep quiet, or did not think it was fine to be paid off by a bunch of robbers who stole my car. I decided I’ll be a witness. 

SO a date was provided by the court , and what a date it was , Delhi was flooded ,  a distance which in traffic takes 20 min took 2 hours. As I reached there court no 207, the Judge with a big smile told me     “O the convicts could not make it because of the Rain, so you need to come again “. Inside my head it was really like “ Lady , you on drugs , the dudes who stole my car , are NOT present ( not my FUCKING PROBLEM ) , THEY ARE IN JUDICIAL CUSTODY , GET THEM HERE , I’ll wait “, which I did convey to the judge in a language lacking the above profanity . Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand her answer was “No! “

So I humbly asked her “Well could you please tell me my exact role in all this? “

She was like “Your car got stolen “

Me: “Yes “

Judge “Well you have to say that “

Me “I am saying that “

Judge “In front of the accused “

My thoughts , this can’t be happening man, a guy who is in jail caught for stealing my car while he was loading it on a truck , has a charge sheet dating back to 1992 , it’s his RIGHT , that the witness needs to record his statement in front of him ????

Any ways before I would do something stupid, I just smiled told the judge see you soon and off I were.

Next Date no rain, no pain, simple drive, had a feeling it’s gonna be over today. BUT I WAS ABOUT TO FIND OUT I COULD NOT BE WRONGER. AS the bloody judge was on holiday!!! , why? How? In the middle of the week a HOLIDAY. There is a system in place a replacement judge, but all that he does is gives you another Date. Well I did get some work done; the dude did agree to record my statement. But gave another date, where I shall be cross examined by the convict’s lawyer.

Alright so putting all the madness in the background, leaving all my temper at home. I reached the court for the third time.  Only to find out the Judge was AGAIN on holiday, the convict had been provided bail but could not make it (probably busy stealing cars), and neither could his lawyer probably ensuring other criminals stay out of jail. So I was given another date.

In February next year , my car was stolen in June 2011 , there will be no judgment till fib 2012. That guy who has been stealing cars since 1992 , 73 on going cases , a charge sheet longer than the Nelson Mandela road , has rights protected by the FUCKING IPC , what about my right ? , what about my time? The only way to ensure the LAW protects your rights in this country is to commit a crime.

Seriously is this Justice? No wonder we are in this chaos, this legal system is designed to protect the bloody criminals. I mean I have all the support social and financial still it seems so disheartening to me. What about the majority of my country?? . Take a walk in the court complex you will know exactly what

I mean, and we talk about amendments, burn this piece of crap and a write something logical and achievable.

p.s.

Reminds me of Sunny Deol