Life of bar-dancers!

 

Came across a truly revealing article and thought of sharing some excerpts from the same with you all. The article by Varsha Kale, the president, Bharatiya Bargirls Union, brings out the true picture on life of these girls… The idea behind the whole act of banning the dance bars is indeed very noble. But, is that helping anyone? Or is making matters worse for these people? What surprises me is the fact that govt only plans to (or rather has) ban the dance bars… There are no plans for rehabiliation of the 75,000 bar-girls! This, after snatching away their only source of livelihood!

What is interesting to note here, is that, a lot of these “bar-girls” do not even indulge in body-trade or prostitution. A whole lot of them work as waitresses, singers or dancers!

No Gender-based Violence, Please!

November 25 is International Day for Elimination of Violence against women. This day is observed to mark the public awareness about the issue by UN agencies and NGOs worldwide.

Here is a UN initiative against International violence: A web site for A Life Free from Violence: It’s our right. Sadly no national organization from India is listed on organizations page in this web site. 😦

UN has also started an International campaign called 16 days of activism against gender violence from November 25 to December 10.

According to UN definition of violence against women, it not only includes physical, psychological, sexual abuse in the family, child sexual abuse (CSA) of female children, dowry deaths, rape, sexual harassment but also physical, psychological, sexual violence perpetrated or condoned by a state. Acts of violence against women also include forced sterilization and forced abortion, coercive/forced use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal.

You might have guess which of the violence is on my mind. One that is overlooked or perpetrated by state. Recently a news spread like fire on each new site and also on blogosphere: Saudi court punishes a gang rape victim with 200 lashes!

Dharavi to be re-furbished!?

It is tough to some times believe that Dharavi is a slum, considering the kind of publicity it receives. Not to mention, even wiki has a page devoted to Asia’s largest slum!

Dharavi has all that a typical slum has – unending stretch of narrow, dirty lanes… open sewers, no access to direct water supply, cramped huts and all kinds of garbage strewn all over… Its difficult to fathom considering the fact that until the late 19th century, this area of Mumbai was mangrove swamp inhabited by Koli fishermen.

Not many know, that Dharavi has large number of small scale industries that produce embroidered garments, export quality leather goods, pottery and plastic. Most of these products are made in tiny manufacturing units spread across the slum and are sold in domestic as well as international markets. The annual turnover of business here is estimated to be more than $650m (£350m) a year – Now thats quite something… But, the deplorable conditions in which the people there live, is, to say the least, inhuman!

An Interview with Lt. Col. Rajesh Yadav: Consumer Court Case Winner

Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is most unused Act in India. Indians are hardly aware of their rights as a consumer. Very few of us, who fight for their consumer rights, are commendable. Because more than their small victories they set a precedent that others can follow. Sometimes, their cases lead to a landmark court judgment that benefit entire society at large.

Lt. Col. Rajesh Yadav is one such crusader, an Army man, who despite his busy schedule fought a case against ICICI bank for unfairly billing him on a debit card that he never received.

Lt. Col. Rajesh shared his experiences with ICICI, consumer court, lawyers and more in a candid interview. This interview is an eye opener for all the bank consumers.

Read his complete interview here.

Child Abuse Prevention Day

Today is child abuse prevention day!

According to a World Health Organization study, one in every four girls and one in every seven boys are victims of sexual abuse. Scary, isn’t it? But there is more.

Hail Our Ragpickers, Save Them!

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle are 3 Rs for energy conservation and environment. After emphasizing so much on reducing, reusing, and recycling in my last few posts at Visceral Observations, I decided to take a stock of recycling scenario in India. I am shocked!

US and UK have active recycling centers, where consumers come and dump their waste. Electronic waste like LCDs and even tetrapacks are being recycled in other countries! But India has no awareness like that.

In India, recycling is taken care of by people, whom we more than often, relegate to lowest hierarchy of humanity. Yes, all our recycling is done mostly by ragpickers and kabaris! Most ragpickers are young, little above the age to be called kids. Thousands of them pick through garbages in your city. As they sift through garbage unprotected, they absorb toxins from the garbage. They are hunched for hours, which gives them several back and cervical problems at early age.

Delhi alone generates over 7000 MT waste daily. There are a range of materials that are picked up by these ragpickers: plastics, paper, glass, and metals. Studies estimate that these informal labour forces saves the three Municipalities a minimum of Rs. 6 lakhs daily.

Say NO to crackers!

This diwali lets celebrate a smoke-free diwali. Lets say NO to crackers.

Pic source: http://tribuneindia.com

Ref: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20041111/pun.jpg

Fight Breast Cancer!

October was Breast Cancer Awareness month. Pink ribbon is the International symbol of breast cancer prevention.

Breast cancer is the second most prominent cancer that assails Indian women. Urban Indian women are said to be more susceptible to breast cancer than rural women. A woman with family history of breast cancer is 15% more susceptible to the disease.

We have 8 years to save the planet!

In a shocking revelation, Al Gore’s docu-presentation called An inconvenient truth stated that “We have only 8 years to save the planet Earth”. Such are the disastrous effects of Global Warming.

Now, coming to the most important part of this post. What is it that we can do? The documentary states:

My favorite points, the ones with more relevance in India have been highlighted in red.

• Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl).
  CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the U.S. made the switch, we’d reduce carbon dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds! You can purchase CFLs online from the Energy Federation.

Click here to read how changing each incandescent bulb to cfl bulb will make difference in India. It reduces power consumption by 60% in Delhi alone.

• Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer.
  Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has more tips for saving energy on heating and cooling.
• Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner.
  Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.