Quote of the Day
“When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character.”‐ W. Somerset Maugham
“जब आप अपने मित्रों का चयन करते हैं तो चरित्र के स्थान पर व्यक्तित्व को न चुनें।”‐ डब्ल्यू सोमरसेट मोघम
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Master the art of answering
With entrance exams scheduled to be held in July, here is a guide on how to get good marks
Monica thought she had written her exam answers well but, when the results were declared, she found she had not scored much. Heartbroken, she kept wondering what had happened. This is a common situation.
The fault lies not with students like Monica who are diligent, but with the fact that students are never taught how to answer questions in the exam. Multiple choice questions are easy to score if the student knows the correct answer, but subjective or essay-type questions pose a challenge.
In college, our seniors used to advise us to fill pages and get marks. So, all of us would write non-stop for three hours until our hands ached! It was when I became a teacher that I realised the fallacy of this advice. Hence, here are a few tried and tested tips that could help students of all disciplines write answers that fetch good grades in the exam.
Try them
Tip 1: Read the question carefully and understand and underline every key word. For example, if the question is “Describe the different functions of X”, then list the functions and describe them precisely using everyday examples. Do not describe X. The question is about its functions. Stick to the question asked and answer it completely but precisely, keeping in mind the total marks it carries.
Tip 2: In order to remember the points you wish to write, make an acronym out of the key words of the main points and note it somewhere on your answer paper. Supposing the five functions of X are to restore, develop, pump, extend, and maintain; then the different letters of the acronym ‘REMPD’ can help recall them. Should you forget a point, leave it out; but don’t try to bluff the examiner.
Tip 3: Use a good and clear handwriting while writing. There is no need to write as if you were signing a cheque or an autograph! Legible writing helps the examiner understand the points easily. Hard-pressed for time, examiners cannot spend time deciphering handwritings. They move on without giving credit.
Tip 4: Make it a habit to underline/highlight only the keywords when answering. When the points are highlighted, the examiner cannot miss them. Every examiner has hundreds of answer booklets to assess. Second, illustrate your points with relevant diagrams. Third, a web chart or a tree diagram presenting the main concepts visually before presenting the explanation will impress the examiner.
Tip5: Always revise the answers after completing the paper. Do not be in a rush to leave the hall. Proofread for mistakes. Check if you have left something unanswered. Check your roll number. Students often lose marks often out of carelessness. Repentance in hindsight is futile.
To summarise, if you read your question paper carefully, write clear and complete answers neatly and proofread them, good marks will deservedly come your way.
Viney Kirpal is a former Professor of English, IIT Bombay. vineykirpal@gmail.com
Source: The Hindu, 20/06/2020
Revolving door: On Manipur politics
A never-ending tale of defections continues to churn the political pot in Manipur
The politics in Manipur has come under fresh turmoil following the withdrawal of support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government from MLAs belonging to the National People’s Party (NPP), two independents and defections by three BJP MLAs to the Opposition. The Biren Singh-led government has probably now been reduced to a minority. The uncertainty in the numbers in the 59-member Assembly has been due to several defections in the last three years, beginning with former Minister T. Shyamkumar’s shift of allegiance from the Congress to the BJP in 2017. This enabled the BJP, with only 21 MLAs, to form the government with the support of the NPP, the four member Naga Peoples’ Front, an independent and an MLA belonging to the Trinamool Congress. The defection by Mr. Shyamkumar who went on to become a Minister in the ruling cabinet was not ruled on for disqualification for three years, before the Supreme Court intervened, stripping the Minister of his post and banned him from entering the Assembly in March 2020. Subsequently, the Speaker disqualified him. Seven more MLAs from the Congress had defected to the BJP since 2017, and the Speaker has yet to rule on their disqualifications. On Friday, only a select number of these seven, and most of whom had not gone back reportedly to the Opposition-fold were allowed by the Speaker to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections, whose results were disputed by the Congress. This might not survive a legal challenge. But the whimsical changes in loyalties have once again opened the door for the Congress to stake claim to form the government.
The shenanigans in Manipur are not unique to the State. The examples of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh most recently, and Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand earlier show the utter failure of the anti-defection law in curbing the brazen subversion of electoral mandates by legislators who get elected on the ticket of one party but do not find it inconvenient to shift to another, due to the lure of ministerial berths or financial gains. If the role of the Speaker who has the authority to decide upon defections has been utilised by ruling parties to engineer defections without inviting immediate disqualification in some cases, legislators have also adhered to the law in letter if not spirit by utilising the option of outright resignation. This begs the question whether the anti-defection law actually serves any purpose today. In the absence of any amendments to the law suitably, the only disincentive for defectors is the possibility that voters might punish them in a by-election. But as Karnataka recently showed, voters in some States have yet to discern candidacies beyond considerations of patronage and identity, emboldening parties to retain or seize power through immoral machinations.
Source: The Hindu, 20/06/20
Economic & Political Weekly: Table of Contents
Vol. 55, Issue No. 25, 20 Jun, 2020
When fear leads to faith: The disease Gods of India
Resorting to faith in times of distress has been an inherent human reaction since the beginning of civilisation. In India worship of Goddess Hariti, Sitala, Ola Bibi has been prevalent to ward off diseases.
“I am worshipping the coronavirus as a goddess and doing daily pujas for the safety and well being of healthcare professionals, police personnel and scientists, who are toiling to discover a vaccine.” Anilan, a temple priest at Kadakkal in Kollam district of Kerala, gives the reason behind the ‘Corona devi’ idol he’s now offering daily prayers to. Faraway, in Biswanath district of northern Assam, a group of women recently assembled on the banks of a river to perform a puja to ‘Corona ma’, who they believe will destroy the virus that has killed thousands across the globe. Similar images of women offering prayers to Goddess ‘Corona mai’ have also emerged from Sindri and Bokaro in Jharkhand as well.
While these images from Kerala, Assam and Jharkhand have resulted in angry social media responses, resorting to faith in times of distress has been an inherent human reaction since the beginning of civilisation. The British polymath Bertrand Russell had in his famous lecture titled ‘Why I am not a Christian’ delivered in 1927 at London, expressed that “fear is the foundation of religion’.
“Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown, and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing—fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death.”
One of the most common religious manifestations of fear is that of the snake God. “Throughout history, humans have had an uneasy relationship with serpents. Snakes are important in many religions including the Judeo-Christian tradition, Hinduism, Egyptian and Greek mythology, and Native American religions, among others. This prominence in so many religions may be the result of humans’ fear of snakes,” writes Jonathan W. Stanley in his research paper, ‘Snakes: Objects of Religion, Fear, and Myth’. In Indian religious tradition too, snakes are worshipped in different parts of the country in different ways.
Yet another example of fear giving rise to religion is that of the multitude of war deities. While Indra and Kartikeya have been associated with war in Hinduism, Mars was the God of War in ancient Roman religion, Ogun is the God of war in several African religions.
The fear of diseases and the resultant suffering, have also given rise to several religious manifestations. The first plague in human history, also known as the Justinian Plague in the sixth century CE, was seen as an act of angry Gods. “There is no single or predictable response to epidemic disease. Nor is it correct to assume that religious responses are always apocalyptic,” writes historian Duane J. Osheim in his research paper, ‘Religion and epidemic disease’. “It might be better to recognise that religion, like gender, class, or race, is a category of analysis. The religious response to epidemic disease may best be seen as a frame, a constantly shifting frame, subtly influencing illness and human responses to it,” he adds.
One of the earliest iconographic traditions we have of a Goddess being worshipped to ward off a disease is that of Hariti. Several statues of Hariti with her brood of children have been excavated from territories ruled by the Kushana dynasty in the early centuries in the Christian era. The Kushanas had inherited the Graeco-Buddhist religion from the Indo-Greek kingdom they replaced, which explains the popularity of Hariti in Buddhist tradition.
The first smallpox outbreak in the world is known to have been in the fifth century BCE in Europe. When it first occurred in India is hard to tell, but records of Chinese visitors to India I-Tsing and Xuanzang in the sixth and seventh century CE, shows the popularity of Hariti statues across every Buddhist monastery in the subcontinent. Given that smallpox was often considered to be a disease that primarily affected children, Hariti was worshipped for the overall wellbeing of children, childbirth, fertility, as well as for warding away diseases afflicting children.
However, scholars have remarked upon the fact that Hariti was introduced into Buddhist tradition from rural and tribal folklore wherein smallpox Goddesses were worshipped from much before. Historian Sree Padma, in her work, ‘Hariti: Village origins, Buddhist elaborations, and Saivite accommodations’, notes that Goddess Hariti had folk origins in Andhra Pradesh where she was known as Goddess Erukamma. “The Goddess of smallpox and other contagious diseases who are also regarded as guardian deities are ubiquitous in Andhra. The names of these smallpox Goddesses might vary from region to region. Some of these are called Mutyalamma, Pochamma, Peddamma, Nukalamma, Ankalamma etc.,” she writes. Padma goes on to explain that “some smallpox Goddesses are deified human women who died during their pregnancies or when delivering children. Devotees believed that the spirits of these women would bring destruction and death to their children unless they are approached with proper offerings and prayers.”
The folk Goddess was later incorporated into Buddhist tradition where she was revered for protection of children and fertility. Archaeological evidence shows that images of Hariti appeared during the period of Mahayana Buddhism between 150 BCE and 100 CE, and spread beyond the Indian subcontinent to be part of the Buddhist cultural world in central, east and south-east Asia.
Belgian priest and scholar of Buddhism Entienne Lamotte, in his 1988 book ‘History of Indian Buddhism’, notes that “she is still invoked in Nepal as the Goddess curing smallpox, and the monks are expected to ensure her daily nourishment”. He goes on to elaborate that images of Hariti are widespread, the most famous one being at a site in Peshawar. “She carries a standing child in her hand and two others on her shoulders; the plinth is engraved with an inscription, from the year 179 (or 139) of an unknown era, begging the Goddess to take smallpox away into the sky,” he notes.
Sitala: The cooling Goddess of Smallpox
By the 19th century, British physicians in India ranked smallpox among the most prevalent and destructive of all epidemic diseases. Historian David Arnold in his book, ‘Colonising the body: State medicine and epidemic diseases in nineteenth century India’ notes that “Smallpox accounted for several million deaths in the late nineteenth century alone, amounting on average to more than one hundred thousand fatal cases a year.”
Believed to be an incarnation of the Hindu Goddess Durga, Sitala, or simply ‘mata’ (mother), was widely worshipped in the 19th century in Bengal and North India, as one who can cure smallpox. Anthropologist, Ralph W. Nicholas in his research paper, ‘The Goddess Śītalā and Epidemic Smallpox in Bengal’ observes that “there is no evidence of the Goddess of Smallpox before the tenth to twelfth centuries, and she appears to have attained her present special significance as goddess of the village in southwestern Bengal abruptly in the eighteenth century”.
Despite the fact that there were several other Goddesses of smallpox in 18th-19th century Indian folklore, Sitala seems to have enjoyed a special position. What is interesting is that while she was revered as a Goddess, Smallpox was believed to be a manifestation of her personality. “The burning fever and pustules that marked her entry into the body demanded ritual rather than therapeutic responses. To some Hindus, recourse to any form of prophylaxis or treatment was impious, likely to provoke the Goddess and further imperil the child in whose body she currently resided,” writes Arnold.
Sitala, meaning the ‘cool one’, was to be pacified with cooling substances such as curd, plantains, cold rice, and sweets. “Similarly, when an attack of smallpox occurred, cooling drinks were offered to the patients as the abode of the Goddess, and his or her feverish body was washed with cold water or soothed with the wetted leaves of the neem (or margosa), Shitala’s favourite tree,” explains Arnold.
It is fascinating to note that despite smallpox being eradicated from India in the 1970s, Sitala continues to hold a place of reverence in large parts of the country.
Ola chandi/bibi: The Cholera Goddess
Yet another deadly epidemic of 19th century India was Cholera. Even though references to Cholera occurs in ancient medical works of Hindus, Arabs, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans from the fourth century BCE, the disease acquired a whole new status in the nineteenth century, when a total of five Cholera pandemics claimed the lives of millions across the world.
Consequently, the ritualisation of Cholera is believed to have started after the pandemic of 1817. “Only in deltaic Bengal, is there known to have been worship of a specific Cholera deity, called Ola Bibi by Muslims, and Olai-Chandi by Hindus,” writes Arnod. He adds that “before 1817 the Goddess enjoyed far less popular devotion than Sitala, but she was thereafter extensively propitiated during the season when cholera was most prevalent.”
Reports by European missionaries mentioned in Arnold’s book suggests that reverence for the Goddess often manifested itself in young girls dressing up as Ola Bibi/ Chandi to receive her worship. Apart from Bengal, she is also worshipped in Rajasthan as the deity who saves her devotees from cholera, Few other deities invoked by the fear of diseases include Ghentu-debata, the God of skin diseases, and Raktabati, the Goddess of blood infections.
While resorting to religion has been a natural human response to fear, scientific intervention has started obliterating the same. As Russell noted in his lecture: “Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look round for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in.”
Further reading:
Religion and epidemic disease by Duane J. Osheim
History of Indian Buddhism by Etienne Lamotte
Colonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in Nineteenth-Century India by David Arnold
The Goddess Śītalā and Epidemic Smallpox in Bengal by Ralph W. Nicholasjaundice, diarrhea, and other stomach related diseases.
Source: Indian Express, 22/06/2020
Don’t discriminate against non-resident migrants | Opinion
Create a legal regime that allows them to access safety, shelter and welfare services on equal terms as residents
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi recently announced that India must become Atmanirbhar (self-reliant). One aspect of this could be that India will remove barriers within its internal markets to truly become a single market. It will remove the hurdles to efficiency improvements and become more competitive. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a step in this direction. Recent decisions to remove hurdles in inter-state agricultural trade are also similar. For agricultural and industrial products, as well as capital, India is increasingly becoming a single market. The creation of a barrier-free domestic market is also an intent reflected in Article 301 of the Constitution.
However, there is one market where frictions are being added rather than reduced. This is the labour market. For different reasons, leaders from out-migration and in-migration states have made statements suggesting that there may be more impediments to the inter-state migration of workers. Some states have announced preferential treatment for workers from within the state. Others have spoken of instituting an approval system before allowing their workers to move to other states, in the backdrop of how they were treated.
There are compelling reasons for internal migration in India.
First, India has much higher economic differences across states than comparable countries — with the per capita income of the richest large state (Haryana) being more than six times that of the poorest state (Bihar). The wage gap between states is as high as 100% for regular workers and 250% for casual workers. It is, therefore, no wonder that workers from the poorer states migrate to richer states for work. As of now, the best option for many poor people looking to escape poverty is to leave the states they live in, because of economic opportunities in richer states. This movement is difficult since the cost of living is also higher in richer states. However, millions still migrate and brave squalid conditions in in-migration states because they need livelihoods.
Second, some of the poorer states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have younger and larger populations, with many more workers than work opportunities. While these states must develop their economies, in the short-term, migration is an essential component of development for them.
Third, India’s growth has been largely services-led. For most services, the availability of physical labour is essential. For services such as cooking, driving, hairdressing and security, there is a need for workers to be physically present to provide the service.
While beneficial for migrants, migration also has negative implications. Migration can put downward pressure on wages in richer states, with the increase in the supply of workers. This creates an incentive for regional and local leaders to generate anti-migrant sentiments, and to promote policies that favour local workers. This dynamic is not very different from the one seen in international migration — after a point, a political economy develops to oppose migration.
Throughout India’s history, states have enacted laws and measures that are discriminatory vis-à-vis non-resident migrants. Many state laws discourage or prevent non-residents from applying for government jobs or other professions that require government licensing (auto, taxi licences), or deny them the benefits of educational reservations. Other laws, prevalent in some states of the Northeast, regulate the entry of non-residents within the state. Yet another category of laws prevents non-residents from owning property (such as in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and others). The Union government has recently announced “One Nation One Ration Card” because non-resident migrants are currently ineligible for many state welfare schemes.
Even though Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution guarantees free movement and residence, states have enacted “reasonable restrictions” to disfavour non-resident migrants. Article 16 outlaws discrimination in employment on the grounds of residence, but the criteria for determining reservations is usually linked to local demographic characteristics. The courts have also largely upheld positive discrimination in employment and education that nonetheless discriminates against non-residents. They have upheld not just residency as a ground for eligibility for jobs and educational seats, but also the charging of differential capitation fees based on residency. In doing so, courts have generally privileged the equality interests in the Constitution at the cost of free movement and residence.
While such measures ostensibly serve to protect local constituents, they inhibit migration and thus the law of comparative advantage from operating to the benefit of in-migration states. Bengaluru could not have become a hub for information technology if it had imposed restrictions on the movement of skilled professional migrants who eventually settled in the city. Contrary to nativist sentiments, Karnataka’s population has been a net beneficiary of this in-migration because of the increased contribution of Bengaluru to Karnataka’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) besides the value of diversity.
This benefit is not limited to skilled or high-end services. To the extent that Bengaluru’s economy powers Karnataka’s growth, a migrant hairdresser working in Bangalore is also important for the state’s economy. This was evident recently when the Karnataka government wanted to prevent migrants from leaving for their home states because of their importance to the construction industry. It is, therefore, time to seriously re-examine the legal framework that inhibits the movement of migrants across the country, and prevents them from accessing safety, shelter and welfare services on equal terms as residents.
KP Krishnan is a retired bureaucrat and Anirudh Burman is an associate fellow, Carnegie India
The article is co-authored with Suyash Rai, a fellow at Carnegie India, New Delhi
Source: Hindustan Times, 22/06/2020
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