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No Indians allowed. Only foreigners
I and couple of my friends undertook a trip to
After twenty minutes on ECR we reached a stretch of highway running adjacent to the sea shore lined with shacks and cottages. We stopped our car and walked down to sandy beach to book our stay at the popular Aurovile Waves resort. Also, it had been nine long hours since our last meal and we were very hungry. We were told that the cottages at the Waves were fully occupied and maybe we could try our luck at Muthu‘s resort which was adjacent to it. With hungry stomachs, we prodded our way under the afternoon sun towards Muthu’s in the direction given to us by the lady who was at the Waves.
In front of us was a stretch of beach filled mainly with foreigners. And there was a rope running from the road towards the waters separating that part of the beach from the stretch of the coast opposite the Aurovile Waves. It seemed like some sort of demarcation and there was a board with a message written in Tamil. None of us knew Tamil and we walked towards the other side of the rope. At that moment we heard whistles from a nearby shack. There were two men in Security uniform and a hefty man who resembled like some of the bouncers in Bangalore Pubs. All the three men were Indians. They made signs which indicated us to keep away from this stretch of Beach. Confused, we decided to walk up to them and find out what was the issue.
"What is the problem?"
"You can’t come to this part of the beach"
"Why?(Still confused)"
"No Indians allowed here. Only Foreigners".
"What!(Shocked)." "But we want to look for accommodation here."
"No accommodation."
"(Still recovering from the shock)Okay. But we are very hungry and have travelled a long way from
"No lunch served here. Only Snack Bar."
"Okay, fine. We will have snacks then."
"Don’t enter from here. Come from the back entrance facing towards the road."
"Why? we’ll enter from here"
"No, you can’t! Enter from the other side."
At this point, we felt humiliated and walked out of that place. It was shocking to receive such a treatment in
This definitely was the worst, but not the first time I had experienced racial discrimination. In the past, I had faced a similar issue in
It is hurting to know that such incidents are happening in some of the most famous holiday destinations of our country. It is understandable that foreign tourists constitute a Major income for the people involved in hospitality business in these places. But should that translate to contempt for your countrymen?
I only hope that the sign board with a message written in Tamil on that sandy beach off the ECR did not translate to "Indians and dogs not allowed". Such a sign are memories from the pre-Indian independence era and let it remain so. Touch wood!
When the monks came marching
Forty eight years ago, on the10th of March in the year1959, Tibetans rose up to protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet and to re-assert their demand for complete independence. Millions of Tibetans since then have lost their lives in this struggle, and also thousands of them lose their lives every year as they attempt to cross borders to enter India and Nepal to escape from the Human rights abuses they are being subjected to by the army. Events that unfolded after that 10th of March led to His Holiness Dalai Lama leaving Tibet and coming to India with large number of Tibetan refugees. Since then the Tibetans have found a home in India and other countries. But their quest to return to their homeland and feel safe still remains unfulfilled.
Every year, 10th of March is observed as the Tibetan National Uprising Day. This year it was the 48th anniversary of this day. In Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka state in India, mass public demonstrations and rallies were planned on March 9th and 10th to observe this day. The photographs in this story document the events and happenings which occurred during these two days. As a prelude to this, around 150 monks who were mainly from the monasteries of Bylakuppe (located in Karnataka state) staged a week long ‘Peace march’ which began on 3rd of March at Mysore and culminated on 9th of March in Bangalore city.
Day 1: 9th march, 2007
The monks arrived in large numbers to the city. After a brief break, they began a rally from Chicklalbagh to Mahatama Gandhi statue.
They came from differents parts of India, where they have found a home to stay as long as their struggle lasts.
They marched on telling the people of the city about what they had been doing for a week: Walking on searching for peace.
The principle of ‘ahimsa‘ or Non-violence is the core of their movement. This was evident for a stranger to their struggle, as it could be seen by the posters which depict the two apostles for peace from this sub-continent region.
The Tibetan flags were all over the place: flying high, on the shoulders, people draped in them.
All the while they recited ‘Janchup Semchok‘, a Tibetan prayer for peace where they request the people who have no kindness in their hearts to fill it with kindness and for people who have it, to spread it all over the world.
And as they sang, they dreamed of the day they could return to their homeland.
The women leaders came out and read out the intentions of this march undertaken by these monks, their demands and the sufferings of their countrymen, to the people of Bangalore city
They continued to read repeatedly and tirelessly the message of the monks in English and Kannada languages.
Also, their message to the world was clear. It is high time United Nations intervened seriously to resolve the issue.
The Tibetan leaders in the city later honored the monks who undertook the week long march, by presenting them white shawls.
The Tibetan youth who came to show their support for the monks joined them in their prayer for peace.
Day 2: 10th March, 2007
They came from all walks of life.
The message was loud and clear as they marched shouting slogans with painted faces,flags and banners
A Passionate Moment. Emotions were running high.
Even the mothers were out on the streets to remind the world of a fateful day in history.
Everyone had a message to send across… The young….
…And the old. Some of then as old as the movement.. and some, even older.
With blessings of His Holiness behind them, they marched on.
Some decided to spread the message through the ‘sounds of silence’…
The youth were kept motivated by their leaders. Some of them relied on words..
Some, by just their very presence: Lhakpa Tsering La, youth leader who attempted self-immolation in the year 2006 when the Chinese premier visited India.
Even the bruises echoed their message.
Moment of silence as a mark of respect for all those who have sacrificed their lives for the movement.
They sang the national anthems of both their mother land and as well of their adopted home,India….
They listened to what the leaders had to say.
With utmost seriousness
Once again, another March 10th passed by. Another walk, Another petition, Another protest, another year…. When will the issue be resolved?
‘Rangzen’ (independence) is what he wants. But the ‘holiness’ asks for true autonomy. But, will he get any of those?
Do they really mean it..
The Karnataka flag is seen hoisted at the entrance of one of the popular wholesale malls of Bangalore during the recent protests over the judgement given by the Tribunal for Cauvery river water sharing issue.
This was a common site in front of big commercial complexes, supermarkets, malls,multiplexes IT and BPO company office buildings in Bangalore during the recent days.
I wonder what exactly does it signify.
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Does this mean that they love karnataka? If so, why don’t they display the flag through out the year? And why hoist it only at the gates and entrances of the buildings, and not at a dignified flag post set up exclusively for it?
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Or does it mean that these big guns care for local issues and are actualy showing their support for the cause?
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Or does it mean that this is an act of appeasing the protestors and mobs by the upper middle class( and above) which is least bothered about the issues concerning the localities?
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Talking about doing it out of fear: Does it mean we the citizens of a famous cosmopolitan city are nothing but vandals and rioters who love destroying public property in the name of burning issues? And people are forced to act according to our whims and fancies to avoid facing our wrath?
Something is terribly wrong here.
Whatever the industry it maybe, but when it sets up its operations in Bangalore it must invest on two important things for its security apart from hiring security professionals. That is they have to buy the Karnataka flag and Rajkumar posters. Every time a protest breaks out in the city these are the only two things which can save a building from getting ransacked by mobs.
Note: Actually, looking at recent turn of events in the city there seems to be emerging another security device apart from these two vital symbols. It is a new poster: A poster of Saddam Hussein!
Irfan
Date: November 4th,2006.
Place:Russel Market, Bangalore
I thought child labour was banned in my country. But poverty I guess forces children to work.
Irfan, works along with his friend and another lady who runs this service of cleaning prawns for customers after they have struck a deal with one of the sellers in Russel market.
Initially, Irfan ran away when I tried to photograph him. Somebody played a joke on him be telling him that I would give his photograph to the police and that scared him. Later, he walked up to me and asked me why am I giving his pictures to the cops?Upon hearing the truth from me he realised he was a victim of a practical joke. After a hearty laugh he went back to business as usual.
Janapada Jathre 2007: A Festival of folk dance
Saturday evening and a free concert at a hillock; what a combo it was for connoisseurs of folk music and dance! This was the atmosphere I was treated to when I arrived at Lal Bagh.
This year’s Janapada Jathre, the festival of folk music and dance was held at the base of the Lal Bagh rock on February 10th. The theme for this year revolved around the contribution of women to Performing folk arts. Hence this year’s event was called as "Mahila Janapada Jathre" and it was no surprise that most of the participants were women.
It was delightful to see such a big turn out of city dwelling audience to a folk festival. A large number of foreign tourists too were present and were seen swaying to the sounds of this land.
The festival kicked off by a performance by artists from Coorg. They performed a dance which they traditionally do as a ritual in worshipping river Cauvery. This was followed by numerous performances ranging from Kolaata to acrobatic performances by a group of Eunuch artists from North Karnataka. The ever popular "Moodal Kunigal kere" was performed by group of school children. It was nice to see the involvement of the audience. Their constant cheering, singing in chorus, and synchronous clapping to the beats of the music gave encouragement to these artists who usually do not get this exposure.
Below are some moments from the evening which have been captured in images by me. Click on each image to view it in larger size.
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