When the Gods caught Fire

“Jay, go and wake Tauji, it’s time for the aarti.”

“Coming Ma!”

Jay went to his uncle’s room. His uncle always slept on the folding cot, even though there was a perfectly good bed in the room. He never quite got his uncle’s logic.

“It helps with my back pains,” he said.

“Then let me remove the mattress from the bed, it will be the same.”

“But the cot is closer to the window!”

“I can move the bed wherever you want”

“Oh bacche, let’s go do the Aarti first. We can decide on the bed later.”

“Tauji is coming Maa!”, Jay shouted, then went upstairs to turn on the lights. The entire house lit in red as the Chinese lights flickered to life. He came back to the mandir. His mother was arranging all the diyas, putting the money between them, and making the swastika.

“That is the wrong swastika. You made a straight Z. It’s the opposite.”

“You correct the swastika then, I’ll go see where your Tauji and father are,” his mother said.

“They are coming! You just correct the swastika, I’ll go get Guddu.”

After around half an hour of hustling by Jay and shouting by Guddu, she finally came to the mandir. It is not easy getting kids away from crackers, especially when they have a bucket full of them left.

“Can I eat that?”

Guddu’s first words when coming to the mandir was to ask if she could eat the Milk and Jalebi prasada. Mom didn’t allow it, so she threw another of her tantrums.

“Jay! Jay!! Turn off your phone now and take Guddu from here!! And find your father and Tauji!” Mom clearly had too much to handle.

“Hey Guddu, I’ll make you a deal. You go and find Tauji, then when Mom isn’t around, I’ll let you have a piece of the prasada before the Pooja,” He offered her. It wasn’t his first time controlling his sister, and he knew how he could tempt her. Eyes sparkling with a prospect of sweets earlier than others, Guddu ran to find her father and uncle. Jay went back to his phone.

“Meena, take this photo too. Add it to the mandir,” Ramesh gave his wife a photo of the three gods, Ganesh, Lakshmi and Saraswati,  taken from a newspaper daily. He had carefully cut the sponsor’s ads in the bottom.

“But I can’t tape it to the wall, there’s no tape in the house. Besides, we already have a picture of all these three in the mandir.”

“Yes, but I spent half an hour trying to cut the ads from the bottom! Jay, come here. Keep holding it so it won’t fall on the diya,” Ramesh gave Jay the picture, carefully setting the picture between the Pooja Thaal containing the diyas, and the wall.

“But dad…”

“Shhh…. Here, See? Now the photo won’t fall if you keep this corner tucked in your shirt’s cuffs. Come on now, start the pooja Meena! Where’s that pamphlet with the different aartis?”

“Athshubhb Samvat Shri NripatiVeer Vikramaditya Rajya Samvat 2068…”

“Dad, you are reading today’s calendar date from the pamphlet! This isn’t an aarti!”

“No that’s okay. I saw punditji read the date before he starts the Pooja. Now don’t disturb me.”

“Okay, sorry.”

“…Shaka Shali Vaha Nasya 1933 Maso Tame Masya Kaartika Maasya Krishna Pakshe Amavasya Budhwar 46-50 chitra nakshatra 27-35 pal vishka yog 29-28, pal choh karan 21-48, tula arka Kaartik parvishthe 19 tadanusar Budhwar 26-10-2011”

“That is the date of last year’s diwali dad!”

“ Yeah I know… now Budhwar, no Mangalwar, what is the date today?”

“13 November 2012”

“Right… Kaartik parvishthe 19 tadanusar Mangalwar 13 november 2012. Shubh Dipawali.”

As the Aartis kept going, with his father stammering on the long Sanskrit words, his Tauji filling the diya with oil at every chance he got, Guddu sitting quietly in her mother’s lap, and his mother keeping his father motivated by reading alongside him, neither Jay nor the rest of his family understood much of the Aartis. Soon his mother grabbed a diya, put it on her palm, and started praying to each god with it. His father followed, and then did Tauji and Guddu.

“Jay, take this Diya, and there is a photo of your grandparents in the living room. Go and pray to them.”

Jay stood up and put out his hand. Guddu placed the diya on it. Suddenly, his Tauji started shouting. Then his mother quickly moved forward, his father stopped her and took her place, trying to grab something near Jay’s feet. He looked down, and saw that the photo of the Gods taken from the newspaper had fallen on one of the diyas, catching fire.

There was no water in Mandir. Guddu quickly grabbed what seemed like a water bottle to her. Tauji quickly took it and jerked her away.

“That’s Gangajal bacche. It is pure, not to be wasted here.”

Meanwhile, his father was trying hard to put out the fire with his hands. By the time the flames stopped, Goddess Lakshmi had vanished, and God Ganesh’s belly was reduced to half. Tauji calmed down, and his mother stopped looking for water.

Jay stood stunned, not quite understanding what had happened. Tauji put a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay, let’s start the Pooja again.”

“But Bhaisahab, he is always so careless, never…”

“It’s okay Ramesh. Bacche hain. Give me the photo, I’ll bury it with the Tulsi plant. Let’s start the Pooja again.”

Tauji took the photo from Ramesh, carefully folded it, and put it in his shirt pocket. Guddu, who was silent till then, whispered in her mother’s ears, “Will I get double prasada for double Pooja?”

“Okay sweetie, you take double,” her mom replied.

“Then can I take half of my double now?” she asked innocently.

Tauji was overhearing this. He lifted Guddu in his arms, took the bowl of prasada, and fed her a spoonful.

“Don’t you worry bacche. You don’t have to sit for the second Pooja. You and your brother can play outside, while we elders do the Pooja again.”

Ramesh kept looking dumbstruck at his elder brother. Meena started arranging the diyas again. Jay went back to his phone, and Guddu to her crackers.

And the Diwali celebrations continued....

Dexter

How would the story of a serial killer (and a real close look at his modus operandi) make you feel? Disgusted? Nauseated? Enthused?

Dexter is now in its 7th season. But buried in all his kills, the only time I felt the show potent and piercingly strong was when Rita was killed. I have seen many episodes, many series, and seen them multiple times. Save the episodes of Dexter with Rita in them. Seeing them once was a drop of heaven. A salutation to the good in the world. After she died, they became a cursed memory. Every thought of her now reminds me of her final scene, of her son Harrison sitting next to her. She was sitting in the bathtub, silent and serene, may be sleeping. Harrison was crying next to her. There was blood filling the bathtub, blood spilling out of it to the floor, to Harrison. She had gone.

I was in shock for a full day. After I finally got used to the thought that Rita was dead, I could concentrate. But going to the next episode took me a whole year to accomplish.

I couldn't talk of it to anyone till today. It is still painful.
I can't watch her episodes still.

Killer Queen

Hard to believe the same person wrote the lyrics of Killer Queen, as well as Bohemian Rhapsody.
Stumps me every time!


Killer Queen Lyrics
She keeps Moet et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
'Let them eat cake' she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Kruschev and Kennedy
At anytime an invitation
You can't decline

Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice

She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, guillotine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Recommended at the price
Insatiable in appetite
Wanna try?

To avoid complications
She never kept the same address
In conversation
She spoke just like a baroness
Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minah
Then again incidentally
If you're that way inclined

Perfume came naturally from Paris
For cars she couldn't care less
Fastidious and precise

She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, guillotine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Drop of a hat she's as willing as
Playful as a pussy cat
Then momentarily out of action
Temporarily out of gas
To absolutely drive you wild, wild
She's all out to get you

She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, guillotine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?
You wanna try

Debates and Indian Elections

You have to give in to the American system sometimes, even though the calls to despise it are overwhelming. This time, it was the Presidential Debate in Denver, where Mitt Romney and Barack Obama fought over their own disparate views about the same goals and in Obama's words, how the difference of budget choices demonstrates differences in personalities. Critics of both, Obama and Romney, as well as the moderator, Jim Lehrer, are now judging their performances and pointing out the fallacies in their models, in their claims, and their allegations. Surprisingly, the whole time all I could think about was how different this point to point and factual representation of views was from the platitudes of abstract statements that our own politicians make when they stand up for elections. Everytime elections come up, auto rickshaws fitted with megaphones that should have been obsolete by now, makes round of residential colonies announcing that the Government has promoted Gunda-Raj, and all their policies are aimed at securing profits for big industries and their own commissions  if they are the opposition, or how the government has benefitted the poor, and made the middle class grow, and provided new industries and jobs, if they are the government. One would think such claims would be bolstered by facts in the many rallies the candidates have. Instead, the candidates focus on personal vendettas besides reiterating these claims again. A modicum of facts are presented, and much like the show with the chair presented by Clint Eastwood at the Republican National Convention, almost everything is aimed at entertaining crowd at the expense of the opponent. Humor is surely a good thing when addressing people but a trifle overview of your own plans would always be welcome along with it. In the few times that debates were actually held by news channels, the candidates sent their representatives instead of themselves, and the direct personal allegations again obviate the needs of facts. The best and perhaps the only informative "discussion" happens when the candidates are interviewed separately by news channels. Though we get a small look at the respective policies, these interviews are neither impartial, nor structured to allow for a fair review of the options presented before us. If Obama would be contesting in India, he would spend the entire debate on foreign policy, while Romney would spend it entirely on the present economy. I don't think I have ever seen equal weights given to Sonia Gandhi's views on development as well as her views on the secular credentials of Narendra Modi. Similar is the case for Modi, he would repeat again and again the 'Amul' model that was in place and succeeding even before him, but not comment on the recent conviction of his party members in sedition case. The fact that the only source of information on these candidates is these personal interviews, choosing one among them is far more difficult than I had hoped for. Each candidate here claims to be the better choice, but all we are presented with as evidence are bits to sniff.

I have been over the voting age for three years now, but this could be the first time I get to vote, come 2013. I wouldn't want my vote to go just on these obscured facts presented by the candidates. We have a system in place, that has been running for far too long. We also have a system that seems a better alternative. Is it so hard to make a choice?

The video of the Obama-Romney debate is shared. See for yourself, how stark the contrast between the two different approaches at campaigning are!

Innocence of Muslims

A friend of mine, fretting over the maelstrom of news in media over the violent protests in Islamic nations, as well as our secular state of India, came to my room and started his tirade on the irascible temperament of Muslims, and the rationale of violent protests when their Quran proscribes it. I only had to point to his own affections towards his girlfriend that fueled a cataclysm of emotions whenever any derogatory or lascivious comment is made against her. How then could he expect a silent response from every member of a massive community whose entire faith has been mocked? It seems that placated his anger, but I don't expect his doubts have permanently subsided. Though put in abeyance for now, with the continuing surge of anti-Muslim articles in the media, it is definitely laying the groundwork for revisiting Islamophobia, in India and the world.

It seems it all started with the Channel 4's airing of the documentary, "Islam: The Untold Story"(ITUS). Protests were made, both online and in rallies, but this academic work was soon forgotten, as a new video, "Innocence of Muslims" (IOM) surfaced with scenes that intentionally deride the Prophet and Islam. In ITUS, the narrator expresses his doubts over the morality of his endeavors  Over and over he asserts that his conclusions are meant to be taken as an outsider's account and analysis of the Muslim history, and not of doctor prescribing a remedy. But with the ITUS being the harbinger of dissents, and the rapid dissemination of IOM, to an outsider like my friend who hasn't seen either of the movies and is only following the current affairs, the credentials of ITUS seem admixed with the derogations of IO, and thus the misgivings of the latter seem well founded. These aspersions seem so legitimate to him that he wouldn't heed a logical reasoning even if it danced around him naked. And I am afraid he might not be the only one!

All religious groups in an effort to protect and spread their faith engender radical cliques. Be it the Crusaders or Zealots of old, the Khalistan militia in the 1970-80s or the recent Kandhamal riots by Hindu hardliners. With the large followings of some religions, it becomes imperative that some of its members would take the violent path to sustain themselves. The importance and media glare given to the Islamic faction of this extremist collage has started to serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy, with more protests being fueled and by the causal existing ones. Endorsing such violence in any religion is disparaging the beliefs of humanity, and thus no religion does that. But it has to be understood that the Muslim anger, even if aggravated and incommensurate, is not entirely misplaced. The death of the US Ambassador in the juvenile democracy of Libya is the work of an opportunistic terrorist group. But to portray it as a generic Muslim reaction is preposterous. Just as the US filmmaker has taken shelter under the broad definition of freedom of speech in the US Constitution, the protests against the movie should also be covered in the same category. Over the years with the continuous depiction of the violent protests of Muslim hardliners, such a response has become synonymous with any outburst of anger from the community. The media can help allay this pain, but it doesn't. When news of protests comes from every Islamic nation, the Muslim organisations in India also jump on the bandwagon to encash the sad affair. And these violent protests, no more than a mere political stunt, are mislabeled as encompassing a wider public belief. My friend came to me seeing such a protest in Srinagar take a violent turn. When I said it was called by Hurriyat chairman Syed Geelani, he refused to acknowledge the connection. To him a political agenda is a derivative of populist motives. To me such misgivings are partly the reason why religious fanatics even with their sad opinions are able to sustain their lives in the public glare, because people like my friend don't understand that these high religious and political leaders are alone in their tirades.

The recent turn of events has been regrettable. This obtrusive destruction of property and the loss of lives is certainly against the canons of humanity. But to perceive and blame the whole Muslim community, just because they protest is unfortunate. The real culprits are the opportunists who strive to disrupt normal life and foment masses for their own personal gains. Such people are not Muslims, not religious at all. But when media portrays them as such, it only helps to elevate the situation. As a complete outsider, it all seems much like how the fictitious time-travelers live in the same timeline they help create.

We have to stop these generalizations  these misappropriating events to the entire community. I believe in the innocence of humanity, no matter what is being portrayed!

Notepad Doodle

Artistic people doodle. Indolent people like me, type on notepads!

I have a tendency to watch two to three movies in a single day. Not because they fulfill 'some void' but because it is hard to let go of the inertia once you have been sitting on your ass for three hours and picturing a virtual world. But by the time I reach the third movie, I tend to get restless. This was my attempt at developing my endurance.

I open a small, minuscule window of notepad on the corner of the video, and start typing the dialogues in it. This is I suppose one such day, when I watched Hugo, The boy in the stripped pyajamas, and some F.R.I.E.N.D.S episodes continuously. Normally I don't save the texts, but this, I did :D.

was one big machine i couldnt be an extra part i have to be here for some reason and that means you have to be here for some reason too. get back i'll bring tabard tomorrow night at 7 are you sure about it not really but i think its the only way to fix him thank you so much if he is who has been winding the clocks if he us deceased then who has been winding the clocks this was sir come in come in isabelle please dont the be mad mama we found out who papa george is i will immediately he hasnt  please let me express to you the profound debt of honour i am so pleased you remember my husbands films with such fondness but he is so fragile i was another person would you like to meet her again that's not possible they are gone one of george's films but we did have fun madame melies we painted it by hand frame by frame  mama its you ues beautifule she stull is is that it is very hard to make this world a better place i can still  well they are different ralph you promise how was i to know he could see from our window there was one of them in our kitchen fed upp you say the same playing with who rachel how sitting around being miserable wont make things any happier one thing is for sure sitting around being miserable wont make things any explorings like what come back in now and we'll think of somethings i even miss school i've arranegd a tutor so we're not going to school school's coming here on an old bicycle i gather genocide it's a bird without a infatuation good morning well you can ask an old one spare tyre he's vey you're only 12 a swing that does sound exciting here now move take this boy there's some tyres in there well little man what are you waiting for some tyres in there bruno why fdo you wear pyajamas outhouse swing are you hurt sir where's my mum she's out when's she back but i ight bleed to death no you won't it's only a small cut it's not that bad there all better what's your name pavel now you'ce got to i think she's going to see for herself it isn't you're not a doctor now you peel potatoes i practised you couldn't have been much good then how do you know that farm nice is it nice what i fell pavel here he carried me in and put a bandage on it go to your room thank you but pavel said that i its not fair i'm not swapping i think more recent i read bruno have you been reading newspapers adventure books  mainly this is why i am here to help time to start learning about facts time to learn about the real things and this should be good start. yay die die explore die die what kind of a farm is that it is a farm is it not why are you wearing pyajamas hello how old are you i am exploring what are you doing we're building a new hut but we fight a lot i can be on my own shmuel that's your name no one's called shmuel i live in the house back there have you got any food on you are you hungry how old are you eight me too its not here me it's just my number then what happens it was nice to meet you bruno its not fair me being stuck here football it will be in one of your cupboards my dear cellar for your football have you looked in the cellar can i have a chocolate a piece yes damn mum rachel i've seen all your dolls it's not right to play with silly toys while people are risking there lives for the fatherland. my people's destiny is my destiny it's my pleasure the termination of the lecture is for the tutor to decide not the pupil i'm going to the town for an hour do you want to come can i ask you something they took all our clothes away i do quite but not the sort that takes people's clothes away he's a watchmaker it's like pavel he used to be a doctor but gave all up to peel potatoes i saw the chimneys my ma says its old i can't can i because of this are you not allowed out why what have you done i'm a jew i think i should go now will you be here tomorrow i'll try little present sweetheart thank you mummy have you seen bruno outside on the swing i think yes thursday is perfect did you smell that horrible smell from the chimneys father she is ill yes i can hear yes we look forward to it is grandma did you smell it dad that horrid smell look what gretel hey thats not fair ralf this tutor you well do we know what he's teaching them gretel's become all sorts the jew corrupt everywhere his influence was corruptive the jew if it were there is such thing as a nice jew is there i think the aim of the jew is to be the ruler of the humanity thousands of germans would be no it's none sachel i'm going out to the swing to to read i told a lie i've just got adventure books go on off you go then now maria there's two extra for supper tonight commodore's father is coming too here what's the matter don't throw it back it's dangerous do you not like playing just not we just all have numbers shmuel ell me how the number game works bruno what are you doing my ball went over i was just getting it back they smell the worlst when they burn don't they but surely you would understand elsa i was sworn to secrecy i took an oath upon my life you believe in this too you want this country that isn't war the fatherland we all desire you included cannot be achieved grandpa's here we'll be there in a moment who told you about this how's grandma she's under weather i hthink perhaps next time when she's she has been talking about this visit for weeks but he won't read any adventure books the work your father is doing here is history in the making well he was a professor of literature at the university he left the country some time ago about four years ago where did he go you father the professor of literature i believe it was just when we were were he tubucular i'm afraid i really don't know you would have to ask him unless of course he had disagreements presumely if that was the case you cretin jew ralf what did you expect him to do the jew deserved it you dont still think it's a farm do you about the farm it's a camp for the they're evil they're the enemy Herr listz has been telling us Dad's not incharge He's making the country great again. evil enemy vermin they're not really people at all. What are you doing here they wanted some tiny fingers to clean all these we're not supposed to be friends we're supposed to be enemies you want some what's your dad like you've never thought he wasn't and you're are you eating have you been stealing food he gave it to me no sir what little man do you know this jew i've never seen him before in my life come away he was helping himself do you know this jew genocide when we come back we will have a little chat about rats who steal you are now organised sport is not the only thing on offer occasional music other recreations include almost all activities a worker can wish for  is available inside the camp goodbye little man i dont understand and it looked so nice i saw i dont know why i did it been coming here for days but you weren't here i'm really sorry for what i did we are still friends aren't we where's kurt thse days i've not seen him which was his duty towards his mother when will pavel be back never stupid it's father they've been bombed grandma's dead kotler neither do i i dont want you to go away again you can't behave like this i can't if i cannot control my own family even your own mother couldn't love you are you happy here yes very and you gretel i do miss home you must miss those friends of yours not anymore really i suppose the real question somewhere safe all of us i must stay and complete my work here she just feels right now you need to be somewhere else this is not the appropriate place to be spending you childhoodit is time for you to move awayis everything alright he went on a different workduty with some of the men and he hasn't come back mum says this is no place for children yes wou will you i wish i could help find your dad look i could come over to your side if you just thousands of them i want to help find your dad dont forget the pyajamas your dad's not here bruno it's my last chance go on then bruno it wsn't easy to get away did you forget the sandwich would i let you down here how do i look right lets get going bruno thats enough lets go and find your dad come on master bruno can we go to the cafe maybe i should go home what about papa yeah we'll check our hut first come on papa we go on marches sometimes bruno he must have been outside somewhere ma'am move quickly get up you must which means our weekly capabilities would be almost tripled wait here come on move move join the queue come on you bruno's missing go on bruno bruno we're just waiting in here untill the rain stops no it's just a shower herr kommandent open the gates move move good morning father how is she a bit of a bloddy nose first william london and now come in please sit have a seat would you care for a cup is there sugar yes yes somewhere here i put in the thank you father we all love the what would be the point of a secular song which boy frosty the snowman has people would realise a lot like christmas donald miller the boy acted strangely when he returned from class how did he act strangely he laid his head on the desk and or this is what you wanna discuss the boy's well being is my responsibility did he say something i had a talk with the boy he is twelve years old this is not about my tone and you're controlling the expression tell me what happened in the rectory forcing her to marry bobby is gonna make that happen and bobby is going to be there the whole time how much easier you have made this for her you are my favourite guy in the  whole world and i want him to have his uncle

PS: You've got WAY free time if you managed to read this entire jargon! Get a life!!

The Great Indian Development Story

With the FDI in retail soon coming up, the allocation of coal blocks, even if stinking of misconducts and scams, already done, and the automobile industry booming, India seems set on its path to revamp its economy with plenty of reforms on its plate. But with these reforms, we almost forget the tacit compromises we make with the environment. The GDP we so desperately map today, measures productivity and inventories, but not resources.

India still relies on thermal power plants to satisfy a major portion of its power requirements. With the subsidies and externalities associated with the production of this energy, and the bureaucratic and maintenance hurdles associated with its solar equivalent, it seems coal shall remain the prime exploitable resource for the many decades. The coal reserves in India as per the latest Geological Survey of India are around 286 Billion Tonnes, of which 44 billion tonnes were allocated just in the period from 2004 to 2009 (not counting the de-allocations of coal blocks worth 6 Billion Tonnes before March 2011). With the data of pollution from these plants accrued with us, I do not even need to strain about the rapid coal resource depletion to exemplify the blotted inheritance we are leaving our future generations.

The Great Indian Growth Story runs concomitant to this depletion. As rightly put by economists, adherence to an environmentally sound policy might not augur well for our nation. Forget leaving the power generation to desuetude, with the way economy today is defined, even the prospect of de-allocation of these coal blocks has led to a decrease in the equity prices of these companies, and affected thousands of shareholders. Moreover, with the elevating energy requirements close on heels with the industrial growth, it becomes necessary to exploit the present resources to sustain the livelihood of the bottom billion, to reduce unemployment and to crawl towards the final goal of total poverty alleviation. Whether the path we tread on is apposite or the goal is achievable is a different question. Growth and resource exploitation seems central to any idea of poverty alleviation today.

The conflict thus in framing any climate policy, and the debates on the actions to be taken to mitigate the climate change risk, is how to pledge towards saving environment while uplifting those whose lives depend on the degradation of these resources. While many environmentalists advocate the radical changes in the functioning of the economy, and a primary focus on the resource utilization capabilities of the future generations, the question of whether it would be justifiable to the present one always arises. As Paul Krugman puts it, the market today does a balancing act. One can't develop without destroying the other.

Alas, even though this seems important, the main problem today is not development vs environment. It is skewed development vs poverty vs environment. Ramchandra Guha describes this with an ecological framework. There are three kinds of people today. The omnivores, who are the rich and the exploiters, the ecosystem people, who are the ones dependant on the local ecosystem to sustain themselves, and the ecological refugees, who are already facing the blunt of the escalated and assimilated destruction and have been displaced from their surroundings. The ecosystem people and the ecological refugees are the ones who suffer when the fisheries are over exploited, the wheat or potato is over produced, or the hurricanes and cyclones strike the coastal lands. But these still depend on the model of trickle down economy to live their life of hardship. If the present practices are continued, the future generations will suffer even more. We are facing a choice between the 2-3 billion people arriving on earth in the next 50 years, who would also contribute towards emissions while being victims of our affluence, and the poorest of poor today, who are already bearing most of the damage that the omnivores have done. One of these two has to be castigated for the other. This is the sad part. Most of us live in the illusion that a poverty alleviation program today could work while we focus on climate risk mitigation. That cannot be so. The number of poor, even though the resource exploitation and development is at full swing, has not reduced for the past five decades. While this remains a debacle of dysfunctional policies and corruption in place, even if the said resources were to be used to abate poverty, it would leave our country bare by the time we are successful.

Chandran Nair, in his book 'Consumptionomics', says the situation today is primarily the result of the rampant and leisure-born consumption mania present in India. It is the dream of the developing world, led by India and China, to match the level of affluence of its US counterparts. While the earlier imperialist economies crouched on the resources of their captured nations, the developing nations today have started to follow their footsteps. The only difference in this exploitation is that with nowhere else to go, these countries are looking inwards and destroying themselves for greed. With the omnivores in Guha's model gaining the power to frame policies; their affluence is being paid by the health, climate risk, resources and lives of the ecosystem people. This model is explained even more clearly in the "Story of Stuff", a small animation of the consumerist society developed by Anne Leonard. The resources of the locality get trashed, and the locals with no other options have to be subservient to the demands of the rich. While their resources are exploited, they suffer the burden of the externalities of what they produce, sideling their own growth. The system in place today, even though being advocated as one of development, does not help in correcting this warped distribution of growth. This argument is bolstered by the crisis being faced by the fisherman of Chilika Lake in Odisha, and documented in the movie "Chilika Bank$" by Akanksha Joshi. Chilika is a brackish water lagoon, which means it has a unique mix of salt (marine) and fresh water suitable for prawn development. The salt water comes from the opening Chilika Lake has to the Bay of Bengal. The lake which boasts of being the second largest lagoon in the world had a plethora of Prawns which sustained the fishermen in the area. But with the identification of this rich resource, and the subsequent globalisation of the economy, the lake began to be over-fished. The tourism also developed, and with this started the 'development' of the region. The forest cover was substantially affected. The sand eroded, and silt starting flowing and got deposited on the shore of the Chilika. Its mouth to the Bay of Bengal was choked. A new man-made mouth was created, which imbalanced the salinity required for Prawn development. The fisheries of Chilika have exhausted today, and artificial cultures developed by encroaching the lake are the major source of prawns. The irony in this development story is, even though the fisheries were exploited, the fishermen didn't get the benefit of it. They are still poor, and their livelihood today is pitched against the future of Chilika and the millions she will sustain.

We have reached an impasse today over where to go from here. There are two sets of victims, the present poor and the future children, with our affluence and greed being the main culprit. With the resources of the earth limited, this present growth paradigm will itself be challenged once the resources are exhausted. On one hand we have the ephemeral resources, and on the other the proliferating population. The exploding population has put a tremendous stress on the resources. The carrying capacity of the planet is far past. Moreover, whatever development trickles down to the poor, is always engulfed by the growing families to support. It is an inverse relation between how  much we exploit and how many we have to support. This rapidly growing population is what prompted China to follow its 'one child policy'. One may question the morality of the step, but with the omnivores of Guha still bent on increasing the affluence, it seems far suited to reduce both the future perpetrators and victims than to question values or principles. The only way we can hope to sustain the environment, and still uplift the masses is to control both our population and the affluence. Unless such an attempt is made, any development even if democratic and reaching the poor will remain inconsequential.

We do have to choose between the present and the future, but we can try to mitigate the damage that has been done and can be done.