Spectrum

Reminiscence of life

O Thou, Lord of Lords- Cupid

Sing to me all the "Romantic" poems,

Words describing- beauty, love and lust

Teach me those specific words Adam uttered

While proposing Eve. Did he go on his Knee?

Make me listen to what Romeo and Juliet

Carelessly whispered into each-other

Walk me trough the tombs at Taj

Narrate how Love do not die with death!

Salim- Anarkali... Laila- Majnu

Dushantha- Sakunthala...Heer- Ranjha...

Devdas

Were not all of them 'injured' by your arrow?

Please... Please O lord

Make sure that

I DON'T DO THE SAME
BLOODY MISTAKE!!! Again.




Slowly but silently hundreds of farmers are ending their lives in the State, yet government is in a denial mood.

According to information availed under the Rights to information act from the State Crime Records Bureau, a wing of central Home Ministry providing data to National Crime Record Bureau, 2585 farmers have committed suicide in 2010 alone where as the figures provided by the department of law and order (Home Minister) says that 126 farmers ended their life in that year.

The state Law and Order department, in its reply to a RTI application said that 835 farmers have committed suicide from 2006 to 2010, where as the State crimes record bureau said 10,459 farmers killed themselves during the same period.

State Agriculture minister, Umesh Katti seems to be unaware of the grim situation facing farmers as 408 farmers committed suicide in his own district in-charge -
Belgaum in 2010.

Belgaum, which is known as the sugar bowl of Karnataka, ranked first with 408 farmers suicides, which is the worst in any district in Karnataka in the last decade, followed by Chitradurga (319) and Chikmagalur (261). This number is stunning as the district had not shown such a poor record in the previous years. The border dispute district had recorded 22 farmers’ suicide cases in 2009, 16 in 2008 and 17 deaths in 2007.

Year

State government’s record

(Law and order- Home Minister )

National/State Crime Record Bureau

2006

53

1720

2007

254

2135

2008

238

1737

2009

164

2282

2010

126

2585

2011

27 (Till March 31, 2011)

Not available

Of-course the state government figures showed that only 9 farmers died in 2010.

Experts and farmer leaders said that total dependency on sugarcane industry and failure of dry crops were the reasons for such a high rate of deaths in the region.

Belgaum farmers are totally dependent on the sugarcane factories, as they are the only major customers for them. With these factories neglecting or not paying the due amount in time; this has resulted in farmers taking the extreme step of ending their life,” said Kadidala Shamanna, a farmer leader.

Chitradurga is consistently maintaining its sad list record of farmer’s suicide. On an average Chitradurga has been losing 223 farmers per-year in the last decade, with highest being recorded in 2010 (319) and lowest 124 in 2001. The district does not have proper irrigation facility and has been facing severe drought for many years.

Except for Kolar and the newly formed Chickaballapur district, which recorded zero farmers’ suicide case since 2007, other districts have been seeing an increase in the farmer’s untimely deaths.

2010 not the worst

Around 2,224 farmers have committed suicide in Karnataka every year in the last decade. Year 2003 saw the worst figure; as many as 2678 farmers ended their lives, while the year 2000 saw 2630 farmer suicide cases. 2006 saw the least number of farmers (1720) committing suicide.

CM’s unfulfilled oath

B S Yeddyurappa’s who took charge as the Chief Minster with an oath in the name of farmers, has left the agriculture community high and dry. The Chief Minister, who is also the finance minister of the state, has promised many sops to the farming community has failed to arrest the deaths in his own constituency- Shimoga, as it has been recording more than 150 farmers suicide cases since 2008 (the year he took charge as Chief Minister). Last year Shimoga, which ranks fifth in the number farmers deaths, reported 175 cases.


Experts have rubbished the claim of government doing a lot for the farmers. They termed the three per-cent loan to farmers as an eye wash. “We don’t want loan wavier. All we want is scientific rates for our produce. We are ready to pay interest at industrial rates if scientific rates are given,” said Secretory General of Karnataka Rajya Raithasanga and Hasiru Sena, H S Basawarajappa. “The government policies, both state and centre, are crooked and consumer oriented. More than farmers’ governments are interested in investors. ‘’

“There are various reasons for the death of farmers in Karnataka, fertile land acquisition for the industrialization, drought or floods, failure of crops due to various reasons and the burden of loans from Banks and private money lenders all force the farmer to take the extreme step,” said H S Basawarajappa.

The response from the state government acknowledged all the above reasons as existent.

I first saw him at the Freedom Park, Bangalore. It was the day one of Anna Hazare’ fast unto death’ at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to press for his demand for passing of the Lokpal bill by Parliament.

He was a typical college student, may be he was studying for his bachelors degree, a fiery youngster with ambition in his eyes and a desire in his heart to do something for the country.

In a loud voice, he, along with his friends, was shouting slogans in support of Anna’s anti- corruption movement —Anna tum aage bado hum tumare sath hai… (Anna we are with you in this fight).The customized T-shit with words ‘corruption is the cancer of society’ added more meaning to his revolt.

On day two and three the boy came back again to the freedom park that had by now transformed into a hub for the supporters of Anna’s movement. People from all over Bangalore were pouring in and atmosphere was charged.

This time he and his friends were filled with more enthusiasm than on first day.

They were proudly adorning white T-shirts which had imprints ‘I am Anna’ with a caricature of the ‘second Gandhi’ on the back. They sat with the group and raised the slogans against the corrupt politicians. He had bunked his classes for the cause.

On the fourth day of the protest, in a hurry to take part in the movement, the boy along with his two friends rode on a single Honda Activa and that too without a helmet on. And as expected of the Bangalore traffic police, they where stopped by the cops and asked to pay fine.

Triple riding and riding without helmet is a punishable offence in our state and our hero was guilty of both. But what transpired next was both shocking and disappointing for instead of paying a fine for his mistake, he paid Rs 50 bribe to the cop after a long… long bargain.

By evening the news had spread that Anna won the battle and was to break his fast the next day. The three inspired youngsters dutifully turned up for celebrations at the Park. Next day when sweets were distributed to all, our young crusader swallowed them and raised his voice to say “Anna tum aage bado hum tumare sath hai…”


I am still thinking for a better headline for the story published last week in my Newspaper. ‘Born human, died as divine’ was an ‘ok’ kind of headline, but it did not completely satisfy me. I wanted something better… something that could explain the story completely. The story deserved a better headline.

It all started when I met this man called Suresh, a teacher at the Government School for specially-abled children at Banashankari, Bangalore. I was there to cover Chief Minister Inaugurating a cultural event. It was raining heavily and needless to say that the CM gave a slip to the event and I had ‘nothing’ to write!

Standing in the corridor I was watching the dying rain. The school front yard had almost one feet high water. The Sun was struggling to make his way out of those Orange colored clouds- a small rainbow, not in seven colors, bowed towards earth.

“I had inhaled the fragrance of soil during a rainy day earlier…. But never had I seen a rainbow like this,” said a man standing next to me. (To be frank that rainbow was not that great). Smile- was my expression to him. “Was rain always like this, sir?” was his next question to me.

“I have seen more violent and heavy rains than this,” was my reply. “Which desert are you from?” was my question to him.

The man with all his modesty replied, “I am a Bangalorean. Born and brought up here, sir.”
“Then how come you have not seen rain? “

“I used to hear rain… only now can I see it. I was born blind… now I can see,” he replied.
I wanted to ask sorry. But it wasn’t my mistake that he was blind. So I did not ask.

“Oh, so you were operated recently” I asked him. And he replied “Yes. God gave me both his eyes, sir.”

I smiled at his answer.

”A human turned into God in my life sir, he is more than God… God does blunder but that ‘Human God’ undid that blunder,” he went on explaining knowing that I was not hearing to his atheist talk. Finally he took his valet out and pressed a passport size photo to both his eyes term by term for 3 times. “Sir God. My God—Vinodh,” he exclaimed and showed me the photo.

A youth in his mid twenties-- an innocent face, a visible scar above his right eye, a dark large mole on his nose, mustaches yet to be born. He looked like a recent college pass-out. “He donated all his organs sir,” He said profoundly.

A kind of respect rose in me for Vinodh-- at such a young age he had the great thought of donating organs.

I gave my visiting card to Suresh and took his number. “I wish to do a story on him later,” I told him.

While explaining the story of Vinodh to our health reporter, she told me that- the person who is receiving the organs and the person who is donating the organs can not know each other unless and until money transaction has taken place. There is every chance of him (Suresh) purchasing the organs, she explained.

She had a point- Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK) set up by the government to promote cadaver organ transplant, chief told me over the phone that the donor and receiver are not known to each other if it is transmitted legally via the organization. “Only the age and sex of the donor are revealed to receiver, nothing else.”

Before he hung the phone he said- illegal organ transplantation is common in rural side. “For money those buggers do anything.”

Anger sprout in me like a volcano against Suresh. I decided to make a story against him and also drag the doctor who did the operation. I wanted to prove that there are many cases of organ purchasing in the city by the rich, which is against the law.

It was just 9 in the morning, never in my profession life had I woke-up at that ‘early hour’, but that day I was there at the Special school waiting for Suresh. He came along with four blind students- one held his hand and rest like in the train-game chained to the next, each had a white and red stick with a dark Karunanidhi specs on eyes.

Namaste sir, he said very politely, but did not receive any response from me.
Unchained himself from the train he came near me. “How are you sir? So you have decided to do a story on my god? ”he asked.

“Who was the doctor who operated you? How much money did you pay the doctor for that illegal operation?” were my angry questions to him.

He was taken aback- stunned. Stood there like an unmoving object. “What are you talking? Sir, mind your words. Your words are hurting someone,” he said with an anger tone. A tone that I had never heard before. Not even by officials whom I have grilled or ‘interrogated’ while getting information.

“Sir you are undermining a gentleman’s generosity,” he said with tears of anger flooding out. For few minutes both stood silent. I felt as if I jumped the gun.

Explaining him the procedure of Organ donation I asked him, then how come you know the donor and even have his photo.

Sir come let us go to his house, we shall talk to his parents; they will explain you the entire story.
It was a mansion; need less to say a corerpati lived there happily. With God’s grace we kept ourselves out of the sharp teeth of the two foreign bred dogs’, while we entered the house. The servant recognized Suresh and asked us to sit on the couches.

A fat lady, dressed in a simple saree came to us, and asked, “Ha, Suresh beta how are you?”
For next two minutes it was: how do you do, what do you do and where do you do kind of questions between Suresh and that lady. Finally the time came and Suresh introduced me to the lady and said she is Vinodh’s mother. And he introduced me to her as a Journalist, writing an article on her son’s organ donation.

Rap came her answer- why on my son beta. Do on the concept that he believed. “What was that?” I asked her.

“To ask the receiver to donate his organs,” she replied

My expression was—WHAT?

“Yes, its simple- my son donated his four organs when he died, we went to the three receivers and asked them to donate their organs when they are gone. All of them agreed. As a next step we asked them to do the same thing as we did- go and talk to the receivers and ask them to donate. Like this we will have enough organs for the sufferers,” she said. “My son was inspired by his favorite actor Chiranjeevi’s movie- Stalin. ‘Chiru’ in that movie asks three people who he helped to help three more people and keep the chain of this help to continue. ”

The concept struck me hard.

Next I asked her, why her son wanted to donate his organs. She smiled and answered. “He loved his father very much. At no point of time he was ready to lose his father. My husband’s both kidneys had failed and he was surviving on dialysis. We tried hard to get a compatible kidney for him, but could not. Every time we went to the Doctor, he told us that if had we a suitable kidney we would have saved your father.”

“With a disappointed heart he used to come home and cry. Three days before he died, he came to me and said, Ma when I die donate all the organs to needy and ask them to donate and let this cycle continue, then there will be no shortage of organs and people like my father may never die like this.”

Were there tears in her eyes? Difficult to say as her voice was stable and the flow of her narration was un-stammered. It was only the edge of her saree that went to her eyes occasionally that made me feel that she was in pain.

I did not want to ask her how her son died, but without that the story would be incomplete. “How did he die? I asked her with a soft voice.

“We have a construction office. While he was at a construction site of a building he slipped and fell on the bricks from fourth floor, he was rushed to the hospital but the blood loss was too much and we could not save him. He was declared brain dead.” (A brain dead patient can donate most of his organs like - heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, lungs and all tissues.)

“Look at the irony of life; we saved his father but at the cost of Vinodh’s death!” then we decided that his LAST DESIRE should come true. We donated his eyes to Suresh, a teacher for specially able children and asked him to spread the message of benefits of organ donation. Similarly we have given his bone marrow to a woman, heart to an aged man. His corpse was given to RV Medical College for study purpose.

Even today I feel that my son is still alive, with us in every step.

She had no tears in her eyes now. Her voice was upbeat and proud… I, who was called materialistic hearted guy by friends’, had moist eyes.

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Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Has not excavated fully. There are half baked feelings, desires and ambitions. But a heart to complete and compel.

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