Similarity between reservation and Separate state demands

Here is the population distribution in India with respect to castes:

What can we infer from the above statistics?

• The forward caste population of 'All India' is 35%. It must be noted that in India 19% of population comes under Minorities and they fall under general category. So, the General, non-minority population in India is somewhere near to 20%
• The states which are mentioned in 'green' are those states where the general population is near or less than the National average and whose total population is considerably high when compared to other states. It means that only 1/3rd of the population in those states are general. And 1/5th of population is non-minority general class.

                      
                        Many say that, this 20% of the population who are well educated, have been rich for many generations and who fall under the forward caste category have all the eligibility to get about 90% of the government jobs and college seats. And this population feels that it is only due to reservation system, they are missing great opportunities.

                        The rest of population say that .. If this 20% population makes law / controls the government, where is the social equality for rest of 80% population?

                        The answer from that 20% population would be - "We studied hard, worked hard to secure a good job and even at work, we have performed very well so we have come to this position. How can one stop us and blame the forward caste for not letting others to develop?"

                        The counter for this question by the remaining population would be - "We were deprived of opportunities to study. At work, we were not given prefernces since we did not have suitable qualification. We are oppressed for  many decades.. etc".

                        When I think about this situation I see a small similarity between reservations and separate-state demands.

Here is the reason for a demand of separate state:

                         If a state comprises of two or three regions,
                                         - one being extremely developed and
                                         - other being extremely backward,
                         it is true that people from highly developed part will dominate the latter. It must be accepted that people from backward region did not get chance to develop due to socio-economic reasons.

This problem is still active in these regions of the following states:

1. Telangana region of AP state when compared to coastal Andhra.
2. Vidarbha region and Marathwada region of Maharastra when comapred to Pune-Mumbai belt.
3. Dharwada-Hubli and other North K'taka when compared to people from M'lore-B'lore
4. The Ladhakh region when compared to Jammu.

                           So, people from a backward region always point it out that " We were deprived of opportunities to study. At work, we were not given preferences since we did not have suitable qualification. (And here, the people from other region would be given this chance if they had the qualification at that time - Eg. A super-in-tendent can never become an Officer if he did not have a graduation degree). We are oppressed for  many decades.. etc".

                            And the people from developed region say " We did not do any unlawful things in rising to higher positions. We studied hard, cleared group exams and we are here."

It is true that both the arguments are correct.

What can we imply from this?

                           The way we see a situation matters a lot. If we support a separate state, we should support the reservation system and apply the reservation system in all fields including politics, cabinet and also at work. Similarly, If we do not support a separate state, we should not support the reservation system too.

So, nothing is good or bad. Let us think laterally and stick to our opinions.

Flowering of Bamboo - Famine connection

                        Bamboos flower every year. But, most of the species flower at intervals as long as 65 or 120 years. The longest mass flowering interval known is 130 years, and is found for all the species.

                       

                         Since the time of Mahabharata, this mass flowering is believed to be followed by a famine in various regions. People in ancient India believed that whenever mass flowering happens, severe scarcity of food grains would occur in the next 2-3 years. North-eastern state's 70% of agriculture is dependent on Bamboo. And in those days, even Burma was part of India. So, if a famine occurs in this region, whole of India would be severely affected.

                         It was in 1958, when it mass-flowered in North-east. The local Mizo District Council cautioned the Assam government of an famine. However, the Assam government rejected the cautions on the grounds that it was not scientific. It will be interesting to know that a famine did occur in the region in 1961.

What is the connection between Bamboo-mass flowering and a famine?

                        When bamboo plants flower, they produce a large volume of seeds. These seeds are a source of food for many predators, especially rats. As the mass-flowering produce huge amount of seeds, rats are attracted to such an area. When they begin consuming such protein-rich seeds, they multiply rapidly. Since the supply of bamboo seeds is limited, when the supply falls down, the rats divert their attention to standing crops, rice, potatoes etc. As a result, the local farmers, who are fully dependant on agriculture are subject to famine. This problem is so severe that many hectares of crop will be destroyed in just few months.

                        When this reason was traced out, local administration started some good initiatives like introducing a reward scheme of Rs. 100 for every 100 rats that were killed etc. The farmers were supposed to produce the killed rat to claim the reward. When the most recent cycle of bamboo flowering in the region began, villagers were killing about 5 lakh rats a year. By the time the flowering peaked up, the number had risen to 2.6 million rats killed each year.

                        Then the government thought of another solution for this problem since killing the rats cannot be the only solution and it may in-turn affect the Eco-balance and the food chain. The government asked the farmers to plant the crops which cannot be eaten by the rats in the flowering period. These crops include ginger, turmeric etc.

                        Meanwhile, in other regions of India where there are no Bamboo plantations, the central government will concentrate on increasing the stocks of food. Since then, we have handled such famines properly.

Tower of Silence

                        Many of us are aware of only two methods of funerals - Cremation or Burial. But, there is another tradition in Parsi (Zoroastrian) culture known as 'Dakhma'., which means 'Tower of Silence'. Zoroastrians avoid both burial and cremation as methods of disposal of human body because they believe that the body desecrates earth in which it is buried or the fire used to immolate it. It is believed that the body contaminates everything it comes in contact with. As a part of their culture, when a person dies, no one is allowed to touch the body and the deceased will be washed with bull's urine, covered with new clean clothes and will be taken to the so called towers of silence to perform the rituals.

The Towers of Silence:

                        The towers of silence is known as Dakhma. These are tower-like structures that are built atop hills or low mountains in desert locations distant from the towns and cities. These structures are open-top and have high exposure to sunlight. The priests bring the corpses to this place, perform prayers and place the body at the top of the tower. The body will not be placed on the ground. It is believed that any direct contact with the ground is contamination. It will be placed on a stone platform and left as such to be picked by vultures, a process which only takes few hours to complete. Meanwhile, sunlight allows the body to decompose naturally. The leftover bones are later deposited in a pit at the base of the tower. No one will be allowed to enter the house for 10 days where the body rested and a lamp is left burning during this time.

 The present day problem:

                           India and Pakistan have a significant Parsi population in Mumbai and Karachi, both being fast-developing cities. In the past several decades, the population of birds in the Indian subcontinent has declined by greatly 99.9%. The few surviving birds are unable to fully consume the bodies.

                           So, Parsi communities in India are currently breeding vultures and are using solar concentrators that are large mirrors to accelerate decomposition. In many parts of the world, due to lack of Dakhmas, some have been forced to resort to burial, as the solar collectors work only in clear weather. In Mumbai, we have Dakhma at the Malabar Hill.