A Caste Reading of Responsible Business Conduct Debates

An entity claiming to be a ‘Responsible Business entity’ might be fulfilling the environment and other social responsibilities within the four walls of caste system- ably supported by Brahmanical ecosystem of responsible business conduct. Let us be beware of it.

Pa Ranjith’s Neeye Oli enlightens Indian Mainstream

Pa Ranjith’s Neeye Oli enlightens Indian Mainstream In November, 2021, the Madras High Court quashed a first information report (FIR) that was filed against filmmaker Pa. Ranjith for his criticism of the Chola dynasty. In May 2020, Ranjith had said, “Lands from the Thanjavur Delta regions that belonged to us were grabbed during his rule

POLITICS OF PRESERVING CULTURAL Heritage: A Transect Walk Across Power

In February 2020, I visited a village in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, India as part of a project, which aimed at making 90 female garment workers in that village aware of their rights and entitlements[i]. The project also had a mentoring centre for school-going children to build trust with the community. During the visit,

About Periyar: A study in Political Atheism

Pradeep Since 2014, Periyar, like Nehru, emerged as an ideological opposition to the governing dispensation. Until then, successive governments would ignore, if not adopt his principles and ideology. Now, the Governments actively violate the persona of Periyar, thankfully, always unsuccessfully. The mainstream tends to appropriate historical figures. However, none of the mainstream ideologies- capitalism, nationalism,

What does a Just Recovery programme entail?

Pradeep Narayanan In 2004, Tsunami devastated the island nation of Maldives. The Government of Maldives came out with a rehabilitation programme.  I am reminded of their recovery programme where fisherpersons’ habitations were facilitated to participate in the decision making on their own recovery. The process was made community-led. What the community did were two things: first,

There is a need to Unclothe Cash Transfer programmes!

A decade ago, we used a participatory mobility mapping tool to understand the challenges that Sana, a child with physical disability, faced while accessing disability pension from the local administration. To receive the pension of a couple of hundred, she had to travel with a family member on a working day; incurring expenses on travel

Decolonising Human Rights Due Diligence

Amidst pandemic, in June 2020, a supplier in the Global South dismissed 1300 workers from one of its units. The unit was manufacturing products, exclusively, for one brand located in the Global North. The supplier cited this laying off as an impact of Pandemic. A trade union called out this as an attempt by the

13 wonderful Books that I read in the year 2021

The year 2021 is the year one should try to forget. The year that I lost a few of my good friends; when I saw a many more coming out of severe illnesses; a number of authors who I liked left us forever. The books and articles of Gail and Bell Hooks would guide us

A Divine Conversation between Valmiki and Hanuman!

Valmiki, on a Sunday afternoon, descended from Garuda, and was remembering a youtube lecture, which he saw a couple of hours before. He was perplexed, but was looking forward to his meeting with Hanuman for they together were traveling to Kishkinda. Hanuman approaches Valmiki and greets him. They sat at a shop and bought some tender

An Invisible Empire that needs Visibilisation!

It is difficult to imagine that I would finish reading a book that talks about, of all things, #virus! Pranay Lal’s Invisible Empire: A Natural History of Viruses, is an amazing take on numerous ‘scientific’ myths or ‘mythical’ sciences around virus and innumerable diseases; and attempts to push debates around solutions for a number of

Politics of Fitness!

Vijay Prakash, a development worker blogger, has just uploaded the 25th video in his you tube channel, hashtag FiTBihariBoy! His videos are short; in which he does some quick exercise, wherever and with whatever he has. The video plays some random songs of the past, generally Hindi, playing in the background. Clearly, the politics is

Mainstreaming Ethics of Participatory Health Research

In an ongoing Participatory Action Research on Covid Vaccination, community participants had a number of questions, that fell in the domain of ethics. A community member, actively into action research, asked, “What if an unconvinced person vaccinates herself based on our action research process; and she suffers medical problems?” When we explained, “The success of

Participatory, Action, Research: How to make your work truly participatory

By Mesh Editorial Team “The word ‘participatory’ has been used in engagement and research to cover a wide variety of activities that involve any level of community involvement. But how should we really define participatory? Is it ok for activities that involve a very small amount of direct involvement to be called participatory?” Please read.

Transect Walk is an Approach

“Will you be able to understand Sex work beyond sex? Sex work is work.” You would not be able to hear this from a sex worker unless you are found to be capable to hear this by that sex worker. It is the journey you need to walk, from the world of morals to the

Make peace with Tears!

Is Coronavirus Scary? Let us reflect

Is #coronavirus scary? Not because it is Contagious or being fatal or outrageous. It became scary, When Physical Distancing resembled the untouchability that one practised with others’, basis caste; and with ‘own’, basis menstruation. When Social distancing reminded us our regular norms of othering, all in the name of ‘hygiene’ and ‘pedigree’. When hunting for

Reservation is a philosophy embedded in the annihilation of the caste system. Does the Judiciary not know this?

An edited version of this article is published at https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/why-are-we-still-asking-the-wrong-question-about-reservation-in-india-7258304/ The Supreme Court On March 19, 2021, asked, “How many generations would reservations in jobs and education continue?” Is this a difficult question to answer? The Court has to just cognise the level of representation of Bahujans in various positions and institutions that do not

Palestine

Prevent Vaccine Hesitancy Ghettoisation!

The second wave of Pandemic has hit the country in a big way. Its impact has been exponentially greater so far for a number of reasons. Firstly, unlike the first wave, when the impact of lock-down was the major cause of devastation, this time, the infection and the required treatment is causing damage to life as well

Mandela (2021): A Political satire, but a product of the current times!

Jai Bhim! Happy World Equality Day! The film, Mandela, is a satire on the Indian electoral process, set in the background of Panchayat elections in Soorankudy village. Two opposing candidates belonging to two rival castes, Vadakkoorans and Therkkoorans, mobilisemembers of their caste through various strategies including cash for votes. Tracing every villager of one’s caste affiliations, the two candidates find that they both

Economic Survey, 2020-21 lacks empathy!

The Economic Survey, 2020-21, conceitedly, states, “The increase in the size thresholds from 10 to 20 employees to be called a factory, 20 to 50 for contract worker laws to apply, and 100 to 300 for standing orders enable economies of scale and unleash growth. The drastic reductions in compliance stem from (i) 41 central

Developing Community-led Ethical Review Processes in India:Issues and Challenges

Blog post based on talk given at a webinar on 18thNovember 2020 on ‘Rethinking ethics in Participatory Research’, hosted by the Centre for Social Justice and Community Action, Durham University, UK. Available at https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/socialjustice/PradeepNarayananCommunity-ledEthics18November2020blog.docx Video recording available at https://youtu.be/RfkxZvXodRg Introduction For Participatory practitioners, mere extraction of information from communities is unethicaleven if done in a

Let Mayawati not be the Victim of “Orwellian” citizenry!

Mayawati is the only dalit Chief Minister of the country, who completed tenure of five years. It happened in her last of the four terms (1995, 1997, 2002-03 and 2007-12). Over a period of 73 years of Indian independence, at least 400 governments would have been formed across 29 states. Mayawati is one among those

The Reservation Hypocrisy: How the Affluent Class Grumbles about Quotas while Relishing Its Privileges

First published in https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/the-reservation-hypocrisy-how-the-affluent-class-grumbles-about-quotas-while-relishing-its-privileges-3280382.html Reservation as an instrument of protective discrimination has become defensive. However, subsidies and the reservation that the privileged enjoy, camouflaged as cultural norm and market principle, have now come out of the closet. In December 2020, there was an unmatched increase in the price of an LPG cylinder. In just 12

25 Books I read in the last one year

Early Indians by Tony Joseph. I read this book three times. I realised anything less than that is disservice to the way he analysed and interpreted the evidence. Early Indians take the history earlier to the Early India of Romila Thapar and I believe latter has to think rewrite it a little. Caste Matters by

The Year 2020’s Most-Spoken phrase: “There, but not there”!

Recently in a webinar, a co-panelist asked a participant to unmute and respond to a question. The participant did not respond. Perplexed, the co-panelist remarked, “She is there, but not there’. In the year 2020, I heard this phrase- there, but not there- umpteen times. Rs.500 are there, but not there. In another interview with

A Strategic Conversation, with Old Monk

It was culmination of a flagship programme of an organization. After a long day, five colleagues gathered in a place for a relaxed light evening. Four of them thought of getting drunk. They believed that drinks would craft some cheery times; and that they obviate hierarchies and differences. But you always have one culprit. The

Community Participation can be Extractive: May we be mindful?

Published in 18 January 2019 “However, after a time, there was a realisation that there is actually ‘nothing next’ for individual participants. They gained a lot of knowledge but could not articulate or envision how to apply this knowledge. The facilitating organisation also had no ideas or plan for individual panelists. Suddenly, the set of

The National Education Policy is Yet Another Dakshina from Ekalavyas of the Indian Republic

The NEP 2020 is less an education policy, more a tool that uses the instruments of nationalism and capitalism to curate the rule of religion to substitute the rule of law, till the religion again becomes the law. Please read more at https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/the-national-education-policy-is-yet-another-dakshina-from-ekalavyas-of-the-indian-republic-3115733.html

Being in Good Company: Business and Human Rights Struggle Cannot be Apolitical

https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/being-in-good-company-business-and-human-rights-movement-cannot-be-apolitical-3074669.html Published on November 12, 2020 Exactly 100 years ago, India had its first trade union federation when the All India Trade Union Congress was formed in 1920. The power of trade unionism influenced a number of legislation in the subsequent seven decades. Nevertheless, the businesses were successful in mainstreaming a narrative of unions being

Participatory Research with Farmers: It was an Experience!

What seemed like just another day on August 20, 2015, when we met a group of 38 farmers, actually wasn’t. The aim was to understand the need for stubble burning and what could be done with organic wastes. We used a number of participatory tools to help farmers to analyse problems they face in agriculture.

Would Virtual Digital Platforms mask exclusion in Participatory Workshops?

Is accessing and participating in virtual digital platforms not privilege? One needs to have a smartphone, high speed internet besides residing in locations where mobile phone companies smell profit enough to erect mobile towers or lay down broadband cables, and constantly upgrade; and even if there is access, one also need to have the knowledge,

Uncommon Common Sense in Participatory Research

While organising participatory research, one needs to understand that there are four hierarchies that would operate: – (a) Between research and researcher, where researcher would feel uncomfortable deviating from the design which the research team would have developed; (b) Between Research and Researched, where research participants would find many of the information they have not

Are All Refugee Children Equal? Not Anymore.

Please read at #CitizenshipAmendmentAct – Are All Refugee Children Equal? Not Anymore. Written on December 20, 2019 for Leher blog. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to meet a group of children from Rohingya families. They were amongst those who were legally allowed to stay in the country as refugees, with proper

Ravana Punyathithi!

The names are being changed for cities, places, people, festivals or dishes. It is not like- ‘an old wine in new bottle’. The very act of pouring of old wine in the new bottle is nothing but a political process with a clear agenda- to decimate the earlier worldview. Often it is done in the

Pandemic of Irrational Narratives: Don’t We Need More Annadurais?

We may get the vaccine to eradicate the COVID pandemic, but what about the pandemic of irrational narratives? Pandemic of Irrational Narratives: Don’t We Need More Annadurais? Published on September 15, 2020 on Birth anniversary of c N Annadurai. Dr Simon Hercules, a 55-year old neurosurgeon, who died of COVID-19, was not allowed a dignified

Hegemonic Category of ‘Quota MP’: An Upper-class Person is Seen as ‘Talented’ while SC/ST are Stigmatised

Have you ever heard of an NRI student having died by suicide because she was harassed as a ‘quota’ student? Have you ever heard of anyone arguing about ‘merit’ while discussing the management quota? Have you ever heard of someone like a Subramanian Swamy being referred to as ‘quota’ MP? There is a socio-political category—

“This Educational Policy Is a Casteist Educational Policy” -Periyar

This was Periyar’s response to Rajaji’s Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary education policy) in 1953. He would have responded similarly to the National Education Policy 2020, which the Government adopted on 29 July 2020. The NEP was supposed to be based on the Kasturirangan Committee, which met diverse stakeholders- from academicians, educationists, teachers, professors and bureaucrats

‘Criminal’ Tribes: Haunting Voices of a 150-year-old Crime

Denotified, Semi-Nomadic and Nomadic Tribal communities are those groups in India that were listed as ‘criminal tribes’, under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, enacted by the then British Parliament. Although they were denotified, that is, unlisted between 1952 and 1959, they are probably the best examples of communities being victims of continuing intersecting inequalities.

Have We Lost Govind Pansare’s Shivaji Forever?

Govind was murdered, and so Dabholkar (who was murdered two years earlier), Kalburgi (murdered six months later) and Gouri Lankesh (murdered two years later), who were among those who promoted rationalist thoughts. The murderers of none of them have been brought to justice. Among many other things, Govind is known for his 1987 speech ‘Shivaji

Building Social Democracy, Do We Not Need More Periyars?

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is remembered for popularising Ganesh Chaturthi and making them instruments for the struggle for Swaraj, the India’s Freedom Movement. On the other hand, E.V. Ramasamy Periyar is known for having broken the idols of Ganesha. The symbolisms of ‘Ganesh Melas’’ and of “breaking Ganesha’s idols’ are often contrasted as imagery of

A Curious Case of Staging Justice? Reflecting on Mental Health Discourse as Sushant’s Death Raises Questions

The way discussions happened in social media exposed our current understanding towards suicide, mental health and the social determinants of the mental health. Please read thee article at the following link https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/a-curious-case-of-staging-justice-reflecting-on-mental-health-discourse-as-sushants-death-raises-questions-2811583.html

‘Napunsak’ as Abuse: Reflects ingrained Patriarchy and Casteism!

There is nothing surprising about politicians making misogynistic and homophobic statement. I P Singh, a politician with pan political party identity is no exception. He tweeted, “Sushant was napunsak which is why he committed suicide and cowards are never forgiven by society”. This tweet was preceded by another tweet, where he made direct caste-based message,

Karunanidhi: Sun sets, but a reformer never dies

This was written on 7th August 2018 for Catch news portal. Link provided below. One cannot live for 95 years, of which more than 70 years was in active partisan politics, and yet not be disliked by most people, if not everyone. Being in active politics, one would have taken innumerable political stands and with

The Relationship of Mental Health With Social Inequity: Case of Ignorance or of Inertia or of Conspiracy?

I feel very challenged writing about mental health. I realise I have to be conscious about every word I use. Now, calling someone mental patient is not appropriate. Similarly, a person does not commit suicide, but dies of suicide. There are so many myriad terms skating between political correctness and incorrectness: – mental disorder, mental

A Calm Resilience of Karuppamma’s God

“Saniyane (Oh, Saturn), there is no stopping this rain!” It has not stopped raining for three days now. Suddenly, everyone was talking about River Vaigai. One can hear the radio announcement, with the newsreader stating in a ritualistic way, devoid of any emotions, “The water-level of the River Vaigai has reached the danger mark.” There

God, Caste and Reason: A divine conversation

Ganesh Chaturthi is a very popular festival. Pandemic has taken its toll on the celebrations. But nature has been kind. It is a beautiful morning. I am sipping Tulsi tea, standing alone in an open balcony and I have a newspaper on the other hand. The front page of the newspaper has an image of

Nepotism in an Agraharam!

This article was later published in News 18 website https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/how-bollywood-defined-nepotism-in-its-own-creative-way-post-sushants-death-3192722.html Bollywood is known for its creativity and this time it is defining nepotism in a creative way. There have been a few who have been raising the issue for a while, and there have been marked silence among few. The death of Sushant Singh Rajput

The dance of Caste and Patriarchy: Response to Aranyani Bhargav’s TedTalk

 Regarding Aranyani Bhargav’s Ted Talk, I would say, Bharatnatyam, in the form we see it today, masks three facets: practice of dedication of girl child to deity, eroticism in dance forms and its depressed caste origin. There were two movements in late 19th and early 20th century. One was reformist- which wanted to reform the

The Book, So All Is Peace, is a Protest!

BOOK REVIEW By Pradeep Delhi, despite facing the severest of the winters in two decades, is full of life. It is all set to welcome the New Year, 2020, in a brave way. Tens of thousands of young Delhites across classes, beating the winter, are marching from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar for public cause.

A lazy and mindless succumbing to the Mainstream. Kya judgemental in this!

By Pradeep Years ago, I knew a person, who had two friends – Ravi and Rita. She always used to spend time with them – talk and discuss with them on every single issue. It was very comfortable for her because everything that interested her, interested them as well. She used to discuss Marx, Gandhi,

The film, Article 15 is a tribute to those who do not wait for Superheroes!

By Pradeep Article 15 is not a Dalit film. It is not a film of the Dalit, by the Dalit or even for the Dalit. The film is meant probably for the upper middle class, who always claim that the caste-system is a matter of the past or incidents that happens very far away from

Karrupi and Kaala: Sun-rise for Dalit identity in Tamil Cinema.

Last year, Childish Gambino’s This is America was launched, which had layers of symbolisms- on racism, gun culture, police violence- reminding everyone how black body endures social and political violence. It was interesting that there were so many articles decoding these symbols and explaining the 4-minute video number, which depicted violence done to black people, while

Caste is in the Air: Kaala is actually Entire Political Science!

In the play, “Sivaji Kanda Hindu Samrajyam”, written by C N Annadurai, when Chatrapathi Shivaji was told that his being from lower caste is a problem to his coronation, he roars, “Low Caste! Who else is more eligible than me to be a king? Are these scoundrels stopping my crown or seeking their end”. In

A ‘Sanitised’ Dangal

Dangal is a story about the journey of a woman wrestler from a village in Haryana to winning Gold medal in the Commonwealth Games, with support from her father. Often AK’s film is all about his character, but there was a less of Aamir Khan in Dangal compared to his other films! It was also