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It would be an\u00a0 understatement to say that there are worries and more worries as intolerance and the aftermath holds sway\u2026Yes, I\u00a0 sit apprehensive and\u00a0 worried and\u00a0 forlorn, wondering\u00a0 what\u2019s in store\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m shaken after seeing the video of an eight\u00a0 year old boy sitting on the roadside, holding the\u00a0 body of his 2 year baby brother, whilst\u00a0 his father Poojaram Jatav goes looking for an affordable vehicle which could carry the dead child to their \u00a0home in the Ambah tehsil in Madhya Pradesh\u2019s\u00a0 Morena.<\/p>\n Some sad and shocking backgrounders. Foremost, the child was anaemic and unwell and so the father decided to get him to the district hospital in Morena but he was declared dead during the treatment. And when the father wanted an ambulance to get home with the body, the hospital simply refused and the father couldn\u2019t afford to hire any of the private ambulances. It\u2019s then he went looking for a vehicle, leaving the body with the older brother who was found sitting with the body on the roadside, for hours\u2026To compound the tragedy for the family, the mother of these children was not around; she had left for her parent\u2019s\u00a0 home three months back and Poojaram Jatav was said to be looking after the children (four of them) singlehandedly.<\/p>\n What happens to the future survival of the three remaining children and also Jatav\u2019s own well-being when the family is apparently very poor and disadvantaged? What happens to the survival of thousands of such families and children who cannot afford to get the basic food and medical care? Who is responsible for the famished-hopeless-anaemic existence of a large percentage of our fellow citizens? Who is answerable? Who is accountable? Who all of the political and administrative who\u2019s who, who ought be questioned for the sheer plight and misery and sorrow of our people?<\/p>\n Today economic slowdown and very apparent signs of recession are writ large. The blatant rights violations are also right here.\u00a0 We have never been so very violent and abusive in our approach\u2026where onslaughts seems to be the order of the day.<\/p>\n It would be an\u00a0 understatement to say that there are worries and more worries as intolerance and the aftermath holds sway\u2026Yes, I\u00a0 sit apprehensive and\u00a0 worried and\u00a0 forlorn, wondering\u00a0 what\u2019s in store\u2026what\u2019s\u00a0 next\u2026what lies ahead\u2026how dark would the shades of gloom get, when only disappointments and disillusionment hold out.<\/p>\n Tebetan refugees in Valley look up to Dalai Lama<\/strong><\/p>\n As His Holiness Dalai Lama celebrated his 87th birthday on 6 July, one was reminded of the Tibetan refugees living in the Srinagar city. For these Tibetan refugees, their leader is the Dalai Lama. Nobody else matters to them.<\/p>\n The Tibetan refugees are perhaps the smallest minority group in the Kashmir Valley. Several years back, what had taken me by complete surprise was to see this well-planned basti<\/em> of Tibetan refugees living in the heart of Srinagar\u2014close to the Makhdoom Sahib dargah. On a rainy afternoon, when I was walking around the area to take closer look at how they lived, I\u2019d asked a couple of Tibetan boys if they could direct me to their families. What I got in return were angry looks from them. Undeterred, I continued walking in the rain and slush, down a row of houses, and stopped near a group of young Tibetan men. They stopped chatting almost immediately. Spewing aggression, they\u2019d said, \u201cWe are not interested in talking to anyone. We are not concerned about any crisis here\u2026 Muslims we are, but we have our own schools, masjid, shops\u2026 we keep to ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No door opened to me in this Tibetan colony. Yet, I was reluctant to give up and went to the basti<\/em> again and yet again. Each time I was greeted with the same sort of rebuffs and hostile looks. Even when I suggested that I would treat them to momos and special tea at one of \u2018their\u2019 restaurants, they had responded with a firm no. Perhaps, they were wary of strangers or of the security bandobast<\/em> around. On each of my visits, I had spotted armed security men standing atop the Hari Parbat hill, their guns pointing at the basti<\/em>.<\/p>\n When I\u2019d asked the locals what they thought of these Tibetan refugees living this way, they\u2019d told me: They are Muslims but they are different from us. They live here but for them the Dalai Lama is their only leader. Even culturally they are very different\u2026 they are not like us Kashmiris.<\/p>\n That could perhaps explain why they lived huddled together in this colony, having little involvement with the local politics and politicians and people. Their main source of economic survival was embroidery, tailoring and owning eateries. I could spot many small-scale tailoring units; sitting tucked in tight spaces with embroiderers making enchanting designs on a variety of pherans<\/em> and kameez<\/em> and scarves.<\/p>\n I never got any clear answers on whether these Tibetans even travel down to Dharamshala or New Delhi to interact with other Tibetan refugees living in exile in India. They seemed to be completely engrossed and happy in their own world and relayed disgust at any sort of intrusion.<\/p>\n Remembering Nargis Dutt<\/strong><\/p>\n Last month, I was keen to write on Nargis Dutt (she was born on June 1, 1929\u00a0 in Kolkata ) but space constraints came\u00a0 in way. Never mind, now belated focus on her.<\/p>\n Quoting Khushwant Singh from his essay on her:<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNargis\u00a0 Dutt\u00a0 was\u00a0 introduced to me \u00a0through the\u00a0 then editor of\u00a0 Femina, Gulshan Ewing. I\u2019d\u00a0 seen her film\u00a0Mother India\u2026I think\u00a0when she met me,\u00a0 they\u00a0 – the\u00a0 Dutts – were\u00a0 not\u00a0 doing too well\u00a0and\u00a0she had almost retired\u00a0 from films. She\u00a0 told\u00a0 me\u00a0 that\u00a0 two of her children\u00a0 were studying\u00a0 at the\u00a0Sanawar\u00a0 School, not\u00a0 far from\u00a0 my\u00a0 home in Kasauli and with that she\u00a0 asked\u00a0 she could\u00a0 stay\u00a0 at\u00a0 my Kasauli\u00a0cottage during the Sanawar Founders\u2019\u00a0week\u00a0..With that I\u2019d quipped, \u2018Only\u00a0one condition and the\u00a0condition is that I\u00a0have your\u00a0permission to tell\u00a0 everyone that Nargis\u00a0slept in my bed!\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u00a0had\u00a0a\u00a0great sense\u00a0of humour and\u00a0laughed heartily\u00a0hearing this. And years\u00a0 later,\u00a0when we\u00a0were\u00a0both\u00a0 nominated to the Rajya\u00a0Sabha and\u00a0 given seats next to each\u00a0other and\u00a0 whenever anyone\u00a0 tried to\u00a0 introduce\u00a0 us, she would\u00a0 say\u00a0 – \u2018You\u00a0 don\u2019t have to introduce us. I have slept in his bed!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n To quote Khushwant Singh still further, \u201cOne\u00a0thing\u00a0that intrigued\u00a0me was her (Nargis\u00a0 Dutt\u2019s\u00a0) faith. Was she a\u00a0Muslim or\u00a0Hindu or both or\u00a0nothing? She wore a\u00a0bindi\u00a0on her\u00a0 forehead, married a\u00a0Brahmin, gave her children\u00a0Hindu\u00a0names\u00a0and was often seen at Swami Muktanand\u2019s\u00a0ashram at Ganeshpuri. Nevertheless she was\u00a0 buried\u00a0with\u00a0Muslim rites in a\u00a0 Muslim\u00a0graveyard with her husband reciting the fateha. <\/em>I\u00a0can\u2019t think of any\u00a0Indian\u00a0family\u00a0which\u00a0better\u00a0exemplified the\u00a0 principle of\u00a0Sarva Dharma Samabhav<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It would be an\u00a0 understatement to say that there are worries and more worries as intolerance and the aftermath holds sway\u2026Yes, I\u00a0 sit apprehensive and\u00a0 worried and\u00a0 forlorn, wondering\u00a0 what\u2019s in store\u2026 I\u2019m shaken after seeing the video of an eight\u00a0 year old boy sitting on the roadside, holding the\u00a0 body of his 2 year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,14770,2205],"tags":[3268,2749,15378],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338531,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338528\/revisions\/338531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/338530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Humra-Qureshi-nargis-3.jpg\")
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