Society

This Child Rights Week, Citizen Matters brings to you voices from three young community leaders. This is the second story of the series. I am Shimon Patole, living in the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) colony of Lallubhai Compound. Many areas of our community are unsafe from the point of view of children. This was also evident in the community mapping of safe and unsafe spaces done by the children themselves in 2018. Hence our children’s collective, the Bal Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan, which works at the community level, has been working to make our area safe over the last 5 years…

10 years ago, Meenakshi Kumaran, a resident of Madurai, got married in a grand ceremony. Her parents not only bore the cost of the wedding but also gifted her 100 sovereigns ( 1 sovereign = 8 grams) of jewellery. That was only about 1/10th of the property of her father, though. Today, Meenakshi is penniless. Her extravagant and alcoholic husband who recently died had long sold off her jewels. After her father passed away a few years ago, her brother took over his property and refuses to give Meenakshi her legitimate share. And on her part, having grown up in a…

This Child Rights Week, Citizen Matters brings to you voices from three young community leaders. This is the first of the series. My name is Pravin. I am 16 years old and I live in Sai Shraddha area of Ambujwadi slum. I am a child leader of the children’s collective Bal Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan.  I personally feel that our current system (the government and the officials) are not doing enough for the children. There is a limited budget and initiatives to support children and provide them with basic resources and rights. Children are ignored by everybody. It is important that…

Happy Deepavali! ‘Times have changed. Today's generation has changed a lot. Our times were so good. Values have eroded…’ Such complaints are made by every generation. Even Aristotle is said to have complained about the next generation! Our children are already complaining about how times have changed so much since they were children. Even those who struggled during their childhood have memories to cherish from their childhood.   ‘Why do you always talk of the past and become nostalgic about every aspect?’ ask my siblings and friends. Honestly, I am just enjoying the posts on Bangalore - Photos from a Bygone…

Representational image: Alastair/Wikimedia Commons: CC-BY-SA-2.0 On August 11, a mob gathered around Pulakeshinagar Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s house in Kaval Byrasandra, protesting an allegedly derogatory post on the Prophet Muhammed by his nephew. The mob soon turned violent, leading to clashes with the police that resulted in the imposition of curfew. The police reportedly used tear gas shells and opened fire, killing three people, only after which order was restored late at night. While some have characterised this riot as an organised event, some others said it was a spontaneous reaction to a provocation. No definitive account of…

The numbers have finally begun to come down. Just as residents of Chennai had assumed that the daily COVID-19 figures would forever hover around the high 900s or low 1000s, the virus has shown signs of relenting. The statistics have taken a turn for the better, with the city registering around 750 numbers each day. The number of containment zones is less than 20. All of these are something to rejoice about. Unfortunately for us, many in the city have begun to assume that the pandemic belongs to the past. That this is a very foolish notion will be made…

With the festival of Dasara (or Navratri) just over last week, households like ours have been carefully packing away our statues and dolls till next year. While the Bengalis in Mumbai are immersed in Durga Puja and the Gujaratis in Garba and Dandiya, the South Indians get busy with Bommai Kolu, a festive dolls display that is the focal point of the 10-day long festival. Kolu (or Golu) is a tradition that is passed on, from one generation to the next. No matter which city in the world they move to, the Kolu moves with them. Most of those who…

The Adivasi Community of Mumbai's Sanjay Gandhi National Park are being asked to vacate their homes from the forest which they have resided in for generations. This video tries to showcase their survival, the adversities they are facing and how it’s going to affect the livelihood of these communities when they are forced to relocate. The Adivasis live in areas that are beneficial to them and they are highly dependent on the forests for their survival. Relocation will prove to be a huge tragedy in terms of finding new ways to survive. Not to mention, it will end their cultural…

ஒருங்கிணைந்த குழந்தை வளர்ச்சித் திட்டத்தின் கீழ் செயல்பட்டு வரும் அங்கன்வாடி மையங்கள் நமது கவனத்தை அவ்வளவாக கவராமல் இருந்திருக்கலாம். ஆனால், தற்போது கொரோனா தொற்று காரணமாக அவை மூடப்பட்டிருக்கும் வேளையில் தான் அவற்றின் இருப்பும் சேவையும் எவ்வளவு மகத்தானது என்பதை நம்மால் உணர முடிகிறது. இம்மையங்கள் அதன் சுற்றுப்புறத்தில் வசிக்கும் குழந்தைகளின் ஆரம்பக்கல்விக்கான ஒரு அஸ்திவாரத்தை இடுவது மட்டுமின்றி அவர்களுக்கு ஊட்டச்சத்து மற்றும் உணவளிப்பதோடு மற்றும் அடிப்படை மருத்துவ தேவைகளையும் அளிக்கும் மையங்களாக செயல்பட்டு வந்துள்ளன.‘ அத்துடன் ஒரு குழந்தைகள் காப்பகமாகவும் அப்பகுதி வாழ் மக்களுக்கு அளப்பரிய சேவை செய்து வந்துள்ளன என்பது கூடுதல் அம்சமாகும். இப்பகுதியில் வாழும் குழந்தைகளுக்கான தடுப்பூசி மற்றும் போலியோ சொட்டு மருந்திற்கான முகாம்களும் இந்த மையங்களில் நடைபெறும்.  இவ்வாறாக, அதன் சுற்றுப்புறங்களில் வாழும் மக்களுக்கு அவர்தம் வாழ்க்கையின் ஒரு ஒன்றிணைந்த அங்கமாகவே மாறிவிட்ட அங்கன்வாடிகள் அடைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த காலகட்டம் எத்தகைய ஒரு விளைவினை ஏற்படுத்தியது என்பது குறித்து…

The Art and Culture of the Warli communities are slowly getting lost. Today, not many indigenous communities have been following their traditional art and culture as they are slowly getting urbanized and trying to find a livelihood outside the jungle and forest areas. Through my videos, I want to show their Culture and Art forms that have been slowly fading and how their art needs a space of its own to be displayed to not only the residents of Mumbai but also to people travelling to Mumbai to see the majestic Culture of its original inhabitants. https://youtu.be/s2wt08Bqqzo