My Bucket List

1. Travel to Egypt, and see the pyramids and the sphinx. I would love to go on a cruise in the Nile.

2. Go on a Euro-tour to Paris, Rome, Milan, Florence, Nice, Greece, Canary Islands, Venice, Sicilly and Swiss Alps. 

3. Have an ethnic Ethiopian meal.

4. Publish my first book before 45. That leaves me with just about 4 more years!

5. Retire by the age of 55.

6. Visit Rolla, MO, one more time.

7. Live in a nice little wooden cottage on a hill, after retirement. And, lie on a hammock all day reading books.

8. Buy a house for my parents near my own house so that I can be with them as they grow older.

9. Help my daughter grow up to be a confident, independent and happy woman.

Why do we want the things we want?

Why do we want things that we know we can't get? Or is it because we know that we can't get those things that we want them so desperately? And if, by some miracle, we get those things, will we still want them with the same passion? Maybe not, especially if the "ungettability" of the object was what had made us want it. Imagine a kid who creates a ruckus in the supermarket when he wants a toy that his parents are refusing to buy. Now, two things can happen when his parents agree to buy it. Situation 1: The kid will love the toy and cherish it forever. Situation 2: The kid will lose interest in the toy soon and start hankering after another one. One can never guess how much he will want a thing after he gets it. And, this is not limited to inanimate things alone. Think of love marriages. Why do so many of them fall apart in less than 5 years of marriage?

Anyway, I wish there were an instruction booklet that would help us decide whether we are desiring something because of its obvious unattainability or whether we genuinely want it for the rest of our lives. But, unfortunately, life does not come with an instruction booklet. So, I guess we will just have to continue desiring things believing that we want them for the rest of our lives. And, let's hope that if we do manage to get them, we will continue liking them with the same passion. However, after getting them, in case we realise that it was just a passing fancy, we will have to learn to move on to other things without trying to force ourselves to like those things. Because - let's face it - you cannot fake passion for long without being terribly unhappy. On the other hand, if we do not get the things that we desire, then how long should we wait before accepting that it's "never gonna happen" so that we can move on or do we foolishly continue to tell ourselves "never say never"? I guess we will have to cross that bridge when we come to it. And, isn't this very unpredictability that makes life so interesting? Either way, we will have to believe that what we did not get was probably not worth our time and effort. Life is way too short to be spent on regrets and what-ifs. 

Knowing one's limit

Every person on this earth has 24 hours in his day. (God has been fair that way!) What differentiates a Bill Gates from a John Doe is the quantity and quality of work that Bill does in his 24 hours. This is what I have believed in for as long as I can remember. 

I would like to think of myself as an efficient smart worker. I have observed that I am usually able to get many more things done as compared to the next person. And, maybe, that's why I have done well in life till now. However, in the last few months, for the first time in my career, I am feeling that my plate is starting to get full. Earlier, I used to finish everything before my deadlines and I used to find time to do many extra things. But, lately, my schedule has become so tight that it's almost squeaking. I am barely able to get things done on time, and am usually playing catch-up instead of being on top of things. I am afraid that very soon I will start falling behind. 

My boss often says that every person has an upper limit, and that if a person can recognise and accept that, he will never have undue expectations from himself. Have I reached my upper limit? Does this mean that I have reached my full potential? Maybe I have reached my upper limit. But, I also believe that we, human beings, have this unique ability to improve ourselves and raise our upper limits. This is what separates us from the rest of the animal and plant world.  I cannot let this become my upper limit. So, I guess I have my task cut out. Instead of constantly handling the "urgent" things, I will have to take time out to reinvent myself and the way I do things. Am I being over-confident in refusing to recognise and accept my upper limit? Only time will tell. I don't know if I have undue expectations from myself. What I do know is that I cannot and will not stop trying to raise my upper limit. I owe it to God - as a Thank You for creating me as a human being, and not any other living thing.

Your opinion of me doesn't make me a better or worse person. I stay as good or bad as I already am, irrespective of what you think about me. But, I am so very flattered that you waste so much of your time thinking about me and forming an opinion about me. 

A few weeks ago, there was this piece of news about Sonia Gandhi returning from the US after some medical check up. Why - aren't the Indian hospitals good enough for her? Why do our politicians feel the need to go abroad for medical treatment? If our medical care is not good, then they are the ones who can actually do something to improve it! It's demotivating when these politicians decide to seek medical help abroad instead of improving things in India. They can afford to go abroad on our tax money - but, where will we go?

What happened to "Unity is strength"?

I opened the newspaper this morning, and saw 2-3 news pieces about people demanding atleast 5 new states in India right from Gorkhaland to Bodoland to Saurashtra. With citizens like these, India doesn't need enemies to bring it down! In school, we were taught "United we stand, divided we fall." Now, in the face of a falling rupee, a sluggish economy and rising corruption levels, shouldn't we stand united for the country instead of ripping it apart from the inside?

How do I feel safe in Delhi?

While I was waiting for an auto, 3 boys, who appeared to be half my age, started calling out things such as "oye chilli chicken", "hindi chini bhai bhai", etc. When they did not stop even after my glaring at them, I walked to a police van standing a few meters away. 
Me: bhaisaab, yeh ladke badtamizi kar rahe hain. (Officer, these guys are bothering me.)
Policeman (looking up from his mobile and sounding irritated): do minute ka chain nahi milta. Aap ladies log raat ko akele kyon ghumte ho? (Why do you ladies roam around alone in the night?)
Me: raat? abhi to sirf 8 baj rahe hain. (Night? It's just 8pm!)
He reluctantly got out of the van and chased the boys away uttering some innovative expletives. He then looked at me and said , "ab khush?" (Happy now??)
Khush (happy)?? Well.. not really!

I don't need you to like me. I don't need you to love me. I only need you to respect me enough to tell me that you don't like me.

Do not take my bad days as a sign of my weakness. Those are the days when I am fighting the hardest to keep smiling.

Death is my one true love, our union inevitable.
Life is my fling - its embrace passionate, but only till it lasts.

Emotional Atyachar!

If you are called "emotional", what do you make of it? When someone calls us emotional, our first reaction is to either defend it or to get offended. In fact, in professional life, someone being called "emotional" is definitely not taken as a compliment. Why is there such a stigma attached to the word "emotional"? Why is it automatically viewed as a weakness?

Can there be a positive connotation when someone is called emotional? I guess not. For instance, when I perceive someone as "an emotional person" in the workplace, I tend to handle him with kid-gloves. If I ever have to give him negative feedback, I rehearse a couple of times, use politically correct adjectives and  sugar-coat the feedback. After all, I don't want him to make a scene, you see! Why do we assume that an emotional person will not be objective? On the other hand, if we perceive someone as "passionate" about his work, he quickly becomes our blue-eyed boy! How can someone be passionate about something if he is not emotionally attached to it? I mean, I am extremely attached to my work; so, I am passionate about my work and that's why I am so damn good at it. However, in our corporate world, we seem to want "passionate" people but not "emotional" ones! How can you take out emotions from a person and still expect him to be passionate? We are certainly a difficult lot to please!

Maybe through years of handling people and seeing others handle people, most managers like me start associating emotions with sensitivity and lack of objectivity. We wrongly associate a calm and composed personality with objectivity and efficiency. And, very often, we are proved wrong. However, these perceptions and assumptions are so deeply ingrained in our psyche that we are not able to alter them.

Maybe our conditioning since childhood is responsible for this. As children, we see our calm and somewhat distant fathers handling the finances of the family and taking the major decisions of the household. On the other hand, we see our mothers deeply involved with us, often crying when they see us in pain, but we don't see them making the important decisions. These early memories probably shape our future perceptions of personalities. Are these perceptions accurate? Definitely not. When we grow up and come into our own, we start realizing the emotional fragility of our fathers and the inner strength of our mothers. But, it's usually too late - by then, we grow too rigid in our beliefs and assumptions. 

My dear "adversaries", I cannot control how you perceive me or how you feel about me. But, fortunately, I can decide what to feel about you.

I refuse to hit you. I refuse to hate you. I refuse to call you anything but "my friend with whom I disagree".

I cannot hate you because I don't even know you. Because if I knew you and you me, we would be friends. 

But I am not here to win a popularity contest. I am here to live my life in peace with a clean conscience. I want to be happy; so, I am happy. I promise myself peace of mind. I deserve it. And, so do you. 

Let not thoughts of vengeance and violence rob you of your peace and happiness.  When you wish me ill-luck and despair, I don't feel it. When you wish me ruin and destruction, I don't feel it. When you wish me pain and unhappiness, I don't feel it. You do not touch me with your bitter and hateful thoughts; you scar your own soul. Why would you do that to yourself?

My bucket list

1. Travel to Egypt, and see the pyramids and the sphinx. I would love to go on a cruise in the Nile.

2. Go on a Euro-tour to Paris, Rome, Milan, Florence, Nice, Greece, Canary Islands, Venice, Sicilly and Swiss Alps. That's quite a list! I wonder if I will ever have enough money to go on this tour...

3. Have an ethnic Ethiopian meal.

4. Learn to prepare classic Italian cuisine.

5. Learn to wear a sari properly without anyone's assistance!

6. Be an organ donor.

7. Retire by the age of 45 :)

8. Live in a nice little wooden cottage on a hill, after retirement. And, lie on a hammock all day reading books.

9. Buy a car for my parents.

Of Chikoos and Potatoes

Nov/Dec 1997 - My friend, Sonal, and I were loitering in Dharampeth, Nagpur.

Me:: Nagpur is so different from Assam.
Sonal:: Like what?
Me:: Everything is different - people, language, food.... even smaller things - for example, in Assam, you can find potatoes in vegetable shops, and not in fruit shops.
Sonal:: Even in Nagpur, you find potatoes in veg shops, not in fruit stalls.
Me:: (pointing at 'potatoes' being sold at a fruit shop):: no.. you are wrong.. look at those potatoes that the fruit seller is selling.

Sonal:: (rolling in laughter):: Those are chikoos, you idiot!
Me:: What is that??
Sonal:: Chal tere ko chikoo khilate hain! Let's buy some chikoos.

Every time I eat chikoos, I remember this episode.

It's so easy to be biased and to feel hurt at perceived racist slights when one's knowledge is imperfect. Maybe, often, we interpret someone's 'chikoo' to be a 'potato', and let this misinterpretation fester our relationships and belief system. If only we go more by facts than by our interpretations, the world will be a better place.

We are such emotional fools!

Sequence of events:

1. Some Bodos and some illegal Bangladeshi settlers clashed in Assam over land ownership issues, and quite a few people of both the groups die.

2. Some Muslims in distant Allahabad were convinced by their priest that the above event had a religious angle. So, the mob protested against the above event by vandalizing a statue of Lord Mahavir Jain, the founder of the Jainism religion.

Not able to establish the logical connection between these 2 events? Well, you are not alone! But, then again, to most Indians, especially to mobs, logic does not come as easily as emotion. This is really very surprising, given the fact that India ranks as one of the top 3 countries in the world when it comes to producing doctors, engineers and scientists. But, obviously, inspite of having bright minds, our logic gets clouded with emotion in no time and with little persuasion. And, it's no wonder that people with ulterior motives (read politicians) have time and again taken advantage of this very weakness of ours and have often turned us against one another. In fact, even advertising companies have spotted this weakness in us and have started encouraging us to " Be Dillogical" !!

Guiding principles of my life...

It was in 1999. I was in the 2nd year of my college. One of the girls in our batch had a birthday coming and a few of us decided to visit the nearby Archies Gallery to look for a gift. A poster with the following message caught my eye - in fact, it was more like a jolt. I bought the poster for myself and I had it on the wall of my hostel room for the remaining years of my college life. Every day, I read the message and every day, I felt awed. This poster was one of the few of my college things that I carried with me to grad school in the US. It was there that I realised that it was not just an Archies poster. I came to know of the Paradoxical Commandments. I read about them in detail. I also found Mother Teresa's "Final Analysis" version of these commandments. I guess, by then, without even my realizing, these had become the guiding principles of my life.

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Mother Teresa's version::

Development - at what cost?

This is something that I have been meaning to write for quite some time. This incident occurred in October 2011 when I was in Assam for my kid brother's wedding. I had recently fractured my foot and it was still in a cast. So, throughout the whole wedding stuff, I was either confined to my room or to a chair - with my leg up. What this meant was that I was pretty much left to entertain myself on my own. So, I would often strike up conversations with anyone who would be sitting near me.

One day, I started talking to this tiny old widow who turned out to be my parents' neighbor. Actually, my parents moved into this neighborhood only in 2006. So, I don't know the neighbors well. Anyway, this old lady turned out to be quite talkative. She started telling me how the village road is being widened by the government. I was aware of this. Recently, a new government medical college was started in our village and after this college became operational, the state government had plans to widen the narrow village road. So, the people residing on  both sides of the existing road were about to lose 6-10 feet of land. My parents were also losing about 8 feet of the front garden. Of course, the government was compensating the people with the existing government land rates. I was aware of all this, and when the old lady was narrating these, I was paying her only about half my attention, and that too, out of mere courtesy. But that changed abruptly when the lady started wiping tears from her wrinkled eyes with her withered hands. Now, she had my undivided attention.

She said, "We have a very small piece of land. We have a small paan shop on the road and a hut behind it, and a small vegetable garden so that we do not have to buy vegetables. When the road widens, we will lose our entire piece of land. The government will pay us about Rs.20000. But that is the current official rate of land. The market rate is 10 times of that. At Rs. 20,000, where will we buy another piece of land? How does Rs. 20000 compensate for the continuous monthly income of the paan shop that we will lose? How does Rs. 20000 compensate for the vegetable garden which has been feeding generations of my family?"

I did not have words to comfort her. What was just 8 feet of land to me was an entire family's whole livelihood and sustenance. Yes, the medical college is a good step towards development/progress of the entire state. Yes, the wider road will be good for the overall development of the village. But, do these have to happen at the cost of a poor  helpless old widow's livelihood? 63 years ago, we "solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC". But somewhere between then and now, we seem to have lost focus on the "socialist" part.

Let's Vote Against Corruption

Have you ever thought - Why is it that no one goes to jail despite so much evidence of corruption in public domain? In order to create an effective deterrence against corruption, “India Against Corruption” has drafted Jan Lokpal Bill and Jan Lokayukta Bill, which if enacted would ensure that corrupt people go to jail within two years of complaint and their ill gotten wealth is confiscated.

Read the Jan Lokpal Bill draft: http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/doc/civil_society_s_lokpal_bil.pdf
and the Jan Lokayukta Bill draft: http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/doc/Lokayukta_Bill_ver_1.5.pdf

These bills have been drafted by a group of concerned citizens including Arvind Kejriwal, who was responsible for the existence of the RTI act.

Vote against corruption:
Commit your vote against corruption in next elections. Parties and politicians create vote banks on religious and caste lines. Let us all create a vote bank against corruption. Individually our vote has little value, but if lakhs of people pledge their votes against corruption, it will force politicians to enact this law.

Are you willing to take the following pledge?

"I solemnly pledge that I would not vote for that party which does not pass Jan Lokpal or Lokayukta Bill drafted by Citizens wherever it is in power- either at center or at state level."

Click here to commit your vote: http://voteforindia.org/home/register

I would also request you to spread the word among your friends. Thank you.

In this war against corruption, united, we will stand.

Debate on whether the 100 plus Mega-Dams should be built in Northeast India or not

Recently, I had sent out an email to various mailing lists of Assamese community outside Assam. In my email, I had requested the community to sign an online petition against the Government's decision to build mega-dams in Northeast. The resulting email exchanges have been VERY interesting. Please read on...

Me:

The Government of India has proposed the construction of over 100 mega dams in the seismologically & geologically sensitive Northeast region of India - and that too AGAINST the advice of a Govt. appointed Expert committee!! In June 2010, a scientific committee jointly established by the Assam Government and National hydro-Power Corporation presented their report on their study of the downstream impacts of the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Mega Dam Project. Excerpt from the report submitted by this expert committee: “…The selected site for the mega dam of the present dimension was not appropriate in such a geologically and seismologically sensitive location…Therefore, it is recommended not to construct the mega dam in the present site…”.Studies show that the power requirement can be met by ecologically safer and environment-friendly smaller dams as well. So, why build mega dams and cause unthinkable damage when the power requirement can be met by making safe smaller dams?  

We are starting a petition campaign against the construction of these mega dams. A physical signature is already gaining momentum in Assam and the adjacent states. We are also aiming to garner 100000 signatures through an online petition. Please help our cause by signing this online petition - http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/megadamsneindia Also, please forward it all your friends and acquaintances.

Mr.X:

Your concern is appreciated. But is it possible to change the focus. 

You may be aware that construction engineering technology has evolved like anything over the years. That has enables the companies to build road tunnel even under the sea or ocean.So why not allow to build a dam to generate more electricity so that ASSAM can prosper.

If you really want to challenge why not challenge the DESIGN of dam so that it can resist earthquack of even 8 in Richter scale, construction material used etc, rather than hindering the GROWTH of ASSAM.

You do appreciate the fact the Communist Country like China has also changed their perspective toward Capitalist Economy. Why not we the POOR people of ASSAM....

Mr. Y: I really second Mr. X !!!

We should not be hindrance to the growth of ASSAM. If a robust construction and design can built a 8+ Richter earthquake withstanding dam, it will not only be an engineering marvel, pride of Assam/North-East and a symbol of progress in the region.

Me: Hi Mr. X,

I think you misunderstood me. I am myself an engineer and a firm believer in technology. Development will not be possible without the use of technology.

We are NOT saying, "Do not build dams in NE." We are saying, "Do not build mega-dams (big dams) in Northeast since these will lead to irrepairable damage to the people and ecology with no possible rehabilitation. The same power requirement can be met by making more number of small dams which are safe and eco-friendly. So, make small dams, not mega-dams."

Also, earthquakes is just one of the problems associated with mega-dams. By the way, the water released by the mega-dams of China have already started causing flash floods in various regions in Assam.

I hope I have been able to address your query.

Cheers!

Mr. Z: Very good comments, Mr. X. People in Assam  and the Northeast should realize that Bhakra Dam and Nangal Barrage have provided cheap electricity and irrigation water to the farmers of Punjab over the last half century. That is why Punjab has prosperred while the NE is as backward as ever. Japan and California are located in highly seismic zones. But high, low, medium height dams have been built in these places to provide benifits of clean renewable electricity for industry and people, flood control benifits and cheap water for irrigation over the last century. How many dam failures have you heard of in California and Japan? Isn't Bhakra, one of the tallest dams in the world, not located in a seismic zone?

Our mind set will have to change if we are to improve our lot.

Could you define what a mega dam is? Building flood control dams do not cause flood if a proper 'rule curve of operation of the reservoir' is developed considering downstream channel capacity to avoid flooding. 

Mr. A:

How on earth will the Lower Subansiri dam mitigate flooding? I will be very interested in learning HOW exactly this Lower Subansiri dam is expected to mitigate flooding and how it will contribute to Assam's "PROGRESS/DEVELOPMENT" ?

Is it a project for NE's development? Or is it really a ploy for India to rip off the region's resources, while leaving the population at risk?

Surely it will enrich a few political power-brokers in Arunachal. But WHAT are these dam builders doing, or proposing to do about the massive erosion form road building,  forest clearing , township building, thousands of imported worker housing construction and subsequent exacerbation of silting of the waterways downstream, that have been the primary cause of increasing flooding at the Brahmaputra valley? 

And finally, will the power generated by this dam be available to Assam free or even at discounted rates, or will it be sold to the highest bidders, by GoI ?

Smarajit Ojah:

For all my friends who have commented that Building Large Dams would bring about prosperity for Assam, here are a few eye-openers:

1. Assam's share of the total generated electricity would be only 4 to 6 %, which is not at all enough for supporting the 'economic growth rate' required for bringing Assam;s BPL Population above the Poverty Line.

2. Exactly who would be the end-users of the electricity? Would the government undertake that they would provide free electricity and lighting equipments at a subsidised rates for the poor of Assam? Rather, I am sure,that most of the electricity would be used to light up the many upcoming malls and unsistainably-growing urban 'pockets' of Assam

3. Established studies show us that the total electricty lost during transmission due to the pood distribution system is nearly 40%. It would be winderful if the Government instead, concentrate on plugging this transimission loss. THIS WOULD, IN ITSELF, BE ENOUGH TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY TO NEARLY 70% OF THE POOR AGRICULTURAL FARMERS OF THE STATE.

4. The Bhakra Nangal Dam is located in a completely different geological unit. Any large dam would not stand a chance against the huge problem of sediment load carrying capacity of the Brahmaputra River System, including the Subansiri River.

5. What exactly prompted the Centre to opt for Large Dams is a BIG MYSTREY. Instead, if the people of Assam and Northeast in general, wish for development in a sustainable way, we must opt for micro and mini dams, and such dams will be more than sufficient to address the LOCAL ELECTRICITY NEEDS of the rural poor as well as have enough 'left-over' to support the development of the urban centres. So where is the need of opting for large dams, ignoring so much risks?

6. It is not a question of development, rather a struggle for existence for millions of Assamese communities from the already 'DAM-INDUCED FLOOD AFFECTED REGIONS' of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Nagaon and Morigaon. WHO ARE WE TO SNATCH AWAY THEIR RIGHTS TO LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD AND TALK OF OUR DEVELOPMENT? Have we bothered of visiting those places and look at the enormous destruction, sorrow and poverty that Large Dams can create?

7. Even if we agree that modern engineering Technology may make it possible to build large dams over the seismically active area of Northeast India, yet, who can predict that earthquakes with intensity of more than 8 on the richter scale wont strike the region? How many of our 'experts' ever predicted that tsunamis would ever affect the Indian Coast? Yet, tsunamis did strike, and wiped away so many lives.

8. Finally, for ensuring energy security, our so called expert engineers MUST INNOVATE AND BUILD NEW TECHNOLOGIES for meeting the Energy Demands through Alternative Means and not BECOME 'IMMITATORS' AND COPY THE "SO-CALLED' SUCCESS OF LARGE DAMS IN OTHER PARTS OF INDIA. North East India is an entirely different entity, a world in itself, and can never be compared to any other geographic region of India or the World. 

So let us instead, conserve our strength, our diversity, and not destroy it and bring death and destruction on ourselves and our brothers.

Peace,
Smarajit Ojah

Ankur Bora:

Aryama  in the petition is emphasizing the adverse environmental impact of these dams. They are building not a single dam but hundreds of them. In fact it is reported that Arunchal Pradesh is in a “dam mania” The impact on the downstream places like Dhemaji , Gogamukh is going to be devastating. The population of these places has a right to ask for a proper study. The petition is not about the economic development ( or non –development )  , it’s about the environmental issues to promote inclusive and participative development.

Manash:

Here is the copy of the Expert Committee report cited in the petition:

http://nealliance.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/observations-and-recommendations-dwnstrm-study-lower-subansiri-hep2.pdf

Smarajit:

Ankur Bora has pointed out a very important fact here. The Ministry of Environment and Forest has highlighted the environmental impacts of the Large Dams on the frigile biodiversity of Northeast India. No comprehensive EIA was done before the construction was started, and whatever little was done, it has now been revealed to be a big LIE, a complete copy-paste job from other EIA reports. So the MoEF was quite right to question the NHPC in this regard and the MoED now must halt further construction activities until a comprehensive downstream impact assessment of all the functioning, under-construction and proposed dams is not complete. Until then, none of us here are expert enough tho comment on the possible environmental impacts of the dams. What we want is the Central and State Government to complete the Cummilative Downstream Impact Assesment Study in an unbiased and comprehensive way at the earliest.

Mr. Z:

It is one thing to have EIS done with regard to any engineering project. It is another thing to keep on harping and opposing any and all development projects related to resources we have in the NE. I had reviewed a number of reports written by experts, domestic and foreign, and commissions over the last 5 decades on development of the Brahmaputra. They all conclude, more or less, the same conclusions. A time comes when people will have to work and not just oppose anything and everything. We have learnt the art of protest but not work and responsibilty. I am absolutely sure one more EIS study will not satify the people who oppose development.

Have no EIS statement been preoared with regard to the projects at hand? If not, why not?

Smarajit:

Well, the first setp for any large-scale developmental project is the conduct of a comprehensive and unbiased EIA. Since the NHPC has not done so, and has violated the very norms as set by the government, then their intentions are bound to be questioned. And any further discussions can only be done after they perform their duty of furnishing the EIA report. NHPC cheated us all with their sham EIA report. Till they do not conduct the EIA properly, the NHPC must be instructed to halt construction. 
I would also request the skeptics to read my previous post and comment.

Mr. Z:

Nothing can be worse than what is happening to Dhemaji today. The town is being gobbled by the river by floods each and every year. I had recommended to the GOA to see that every dam built in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra is provided with some flood control storage. The cumulative impact of these dams would be reduction of the annual misery the people of Assam experience.

Every act of development has good and not so good impact on people of a society. We compromise for net positive in the decision making process. Do you think the sprawling Guwahati with the hedious concrete buildings desirable? They will be also subject to seismic forces during earthquakes. And these buildings are a live danger to people who live there. What do you do about that situation?

Mr. A:

I had seen the FAKE  EIA produced for the project. It was a pathetic piece, as you said cut and pasted from different  similar fake EIAs, sometimes citing issues that had no relation to the site.

But we all know HOW that is.

What is quite amazing is that the GoI has chosen, to, with the puppet govts. of Assam and Arunachal  as a willing accomplices , to ignore the recommendation of the panel constituted with IIT-G, GU and DU professors. It proves that the entire exercise of  preparation of EIAs , studies, reviews etc. is done merely to obtain a rubber-stamping of its own pre-conceived decisions.

Are we attempting to have two wrongs make a right?

We need to look at every issue with integrity . Indian govts' long record of making decisions first and then picking and choosing whose analyses they would accept and whose they will reject demonstrates the profound bad faith with which it operates to advance special interests in the guise of development.

Why is it that those who are in the know, don't speak out about the massive erosion and siltation, never mind the many other destructive results,  that this dam project is creating?

Me:

Hi Smarajit, thanks for this information.

Dear X, Y, Z and everyone else who is not opposed to the building of the 168 mega dams in NE,

My question to you is - When development can be obtained without causing any destruction, then why cause mindless and irrepairable destruction? All of us can guess what those in power who want these megadams built by corporates have to gain.

Mr. Z:

It appears we are seeing no end to our problems. In a democracy we elect people to set policies to help its constituents. If the GOA and its bureaucrats as well as the press are not doing their job, where do we stand with respect to interest of the country and the people of the NE. May be solution is to get involved in positive politics instead of protests after the facts. Where were the people when comments about the fake EIS were made available? What do we do now? May be press to change operation of the hydro power dam during the flood season. It i9s absolutely incumbent upon us, the press, politicians and bureaucrats to oppose construction of any dam without flood control storage which will be used to release during the low flow winter season to maintain the minimum flow required in the river downstream for ecology, water quality and maintenance of animal and plant life.

There must be some way of putting pressure in the thinking of the policy makers by the press and the people with knowledge of the river.

Me:

Well, it's nothing new. The only time when NE gets attention is when there is a bomb blast. There is absolutely no coverage in the national media about this dam issue. Most people are not aware of this issue at all - even the otherwise aware people.

Would request all of you to whatever you can to spread the word. Most people do not have the complete information. Most people are thinking that we are anti-dam, and, hence anti-development. The truth is we are NOT anti-dam- it's just mega-dams. Most people do not know the truth. I would request all of you to get as many signatures on this online petition as possible. We are running this parallelly with the physical signature collection campaign that is gaining momentum in rural Assam. What the national media is not reporting is that the police in Assam is arresting the campaigners in Assam for collecting signatures on anti-dam petition. Please see this –

 http://amarasom.glpublications.in/Details.aspx?id=2541&boxid=1099609

Mrinal Talukdar:

Yes you are true that national media is not covering Assam. But the fact remains that national media is only obsessed with Food, Follywood and Fun. They anyway do not cover core issues any more. Except Cricket, Crime and Cinema..no such issues are picked up.

Please pick up the 15th anniversary issue of Outlook, it has covered the whole issue in the entire issue with 15 write ups. There has been counterattacks and Indian Express has taken the lead going after Jairam Ramesh. When Rs 25,000 crore are at stake nothing is impossible. Realizing this, I made a 14 miunte long documentary on the whole movement to take the issue at the international level.

Smarajit:

Dear Mrinal Da,

All of us know that the 'national media' groups are pursuing their own 'not-so-hidden' objectives! Even, Times Now... So why would they care about the perinneal problems of the distant, politically insignificant northeast? It is important that the people of Assam stand up and raise their voice against the issues affecting all of us. I would request you to please upload your documentary to youtube so that we can view the same for gaining further insight into the issue of Large Dams.

Dear Mr Z,

Flood Control Storages behind Large Dams ad Flood Mitigation Measures is invariably going to be a BIG failure. I am sure that you yourself would be aware of the volume of sediment load carried by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Such a load would result in large scale sedimentation of the Storage Reservoirs. Ultimately, the retention capacity of the reserviors would go down significantly, and this will result in a significant reduction in the flood mitigation capacity of the dams. 

Further, with such huge the volume of water flowing through the Brahmaputra River System, to be succesful flood mitigation measures, the reservoirs would have to be pretty large, which is again going to be huge hazards for the seismically active northeast India.

Therefore, the experts of NHPC had proposed the construction of Run-of-the River Projects, AND THE LOWER SUBANSIRI PROJECT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A R-O-T-R PROJECT. if one goes by the blueprint as provided by the NHPC (as if they can be trusted!) And I am sure that you are well aware that ROTR Projects are hardly effective flood mitigation measures.

So much for the intentions of the Centre and State Govt to portray the large dams as flood control measures.

WELL, IF THE CENTRE IS SO MUCH INTERESTED TO CONTROL THE PERINNEAL FLOOD PROBLEM OF ASSAM, LET THEM DECLARE THE SAME AS A NATIONAL PROBLEM AND LET THE SATE GOVERNMENT REFORM THE BRAHMAPUTRA BOARD AND REDUCE THE CORRUPTION AND CONSTRUCT EFFECTIVE EMBANKMENTS. AND LET THE STATE GOVERNMENT PREVENT THE ILLEGAL SETTLERS FROM MAKING THE FLOOD PRONE CHARS AND CHAPORIS OF MORIGAON AND NAGAON THEIR HOME AND LIVELIHOOD SOURCE. The problem of floods will be taken care of automatically.

We need to ask ourselves, AT WHAT COST, DO WE NEED DEVELOPMENT? My earlier email asks some pertinent questions, to which i have not seen any answers from anyone.

Aryama ba, you summed it right in your earlier email. "When development can be obtained without causing any destruction, then why cause mindless and irrepairable destruction? All of us can guess what those in power who want these megadams built by corporates have to gain"

Peace..

Smarajit Ojah

Me:

Mr. A, I agree with you completely. 

This current issue of dams in NE is just one of several issues arising from the Unitary system of governance that we have in India. Kashmir and Red 'corridor' are, of course, some others. In a country as diverse as India, Federal system is what would have a higher chance of success. Of course, a complete system overhaul is not going to happen overnight :) So, in the short-term, I will settle for the State and Central Governments calling off the 100+ mega-dams planned in the northeast.

On Oct 25, Akhil Gogoi was given the Young Indian Leader award by CNN IBN. He used the platform well to highlight the issue of mega dams in NE. In fact, Naveen Jindal who was present at the ceremony got on stage to debate with him, and ended up saying that if anyone is able to convince him about the harmful impact of mega-dams in NE, then he promised that Jindal group will not build any mega-dam in NE. I hope Jindal keeps his word!

Mr. A:

Smarajit,

Embankment building is a terrible idea. It does NOT abate flooding. It may for a few, while leaving others vulnerable, while prolonging the destructive effects by preventing water from returning to the main channels. The  flooding in the Brahmaputra valley cannot be abated with the wave of a magic solution wand, be it dams, be it embankment building or whatever else. It requires a number of sustained, long term efforts, diligently pursued and implemented. One significant part of it is dredging the rivers to increase the water carrying capacities and accelerating the flow with straightened channels that will abate bank erosion and silt build-up. Along with that massive efforts at new source of siltation must be put in place with ruthless compliance mechanisms.

Me:

Smarajit, you will be surprised (or maybe not :)) to know that after I sent out this email, the first few replies I got asked almost the same question "What's the use of such petitions? Who will listen? (eibur kori ki laabh?)" Reminded me the responses we had got on the SAG page :):)

Anyway, we are so quick to calculate profit/loss of each thing that I am baffled why the same people are not able to do the same profit/loss calculation (pros Vs cons assessment) of big dams in northeast....

Ankur Bora:

With due regards I would like to point out that this is going out of scope of the initial petition. There are numerous agencies , various experts within and outside of GOA , GOI to discuss / recommend on the concrete building of Guwahati . I don’t think  we ( majority of us) have clues to dwell  on this subject.

Aryama and other are trying to convey the potential impact of these dams on the downstream population. I am native of Nagaon and I remember the sufferings of the villagers when NEPCO used to release the excess rain waters from the constructed dam. Thousands of people from inundated villages had to take shelters in the highland.  A single dam can cause so much havoc , here we are talking about hundreds of them. We request our netters to consider all these aspects while deciding on the petition.

Me:

Thanks, Ankur :):)

So, coming back to the original objective of this mailstring -  if you do not like the destruction of NE, please sign our online petition. Also, please spread the word - 

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/megadamsneindia 

Mr. B

Sorry, I am not going to agree with the petition. If you need development, think for development. But this is under political issue.

There are senior experts here to comment on the Project infrastructure.
I can simply comment it out, that the shout against the DAM is nothing else, but a Political issue. 

Things are simple. You need Eletricity or not? If you need, organize seminar for a DAM without risk factor towards Earthquakes.

And if you do not need Eletricity, then you know what you are saying.

Anjan Saikia:

Yes very true, we ( majority of us, especially those who don’t live in India) don’t have clues to dwell on this subject. I am tired of seeing this thread going towards same old assamsnet style.

Those research reports made by the experts are based on scientific data. Just one simple example, they are talking about ‘silt’ and ‘siltation of waterway’, and this is a huge issue back there. And on the other hand, on this thread, someone is talking about ‘changing mind set’, someone says ‘this is political’.. Well, let’s forget about the ‘psychology of the mind’ and the politics of this dam and get into the scientific facts.

Ankur Bora:

Aryama, we need to re-focus on the  online petition. Moreover , I think , you have to prepare for a continuous and sustained effort. My suggestion is open forums like yahoo / google mail group. You will also need to involve experts on this topics. I am marking a copy to J.N. Khataniar of Guwahati and Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman of Johat who have published papers and also have experience working on the field. You can get in touch with them for input. You will also need support from media ; Mrinal Talkudar  has responded with his feedback.  

You may also consider periodic skype tele-conference among the group members.

All the best

Ankur

"Lehron se Darkar nauka par nahin hoti,
himmat karne walon ki haar nahin hoti "

You cannot take your boat across the sea

If you are afraid of the waves,

The one who tries Never fails.

Mrinal Talukdar:

We need soldiers on the ground. More are better..all front...every front....otherwise there will be nothing called "HOME" for all of us.  

If possible do somehing more than online petition and Skype conferencing. 

Now onslaught will be on the technical experts and already their datas are questioned by Expert Appraisal Committee of MOEFF and Gogoi is talking of foreign experts. Those who have technical expertise from University background, come around them and put up a fight. We need more than word of wisdom.

We have and will politically confront the issue and largely successful in moulding the opinion of the people of Assam but we need more scientific support to back up the Expert Committee Reports. 

Most of you are from science background and great individual..please help them, in whatever forum. 

Those of you live in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Scandinavian Countries and US ..why do not you (even 5-10 will be enough) come out with a few placards and protest in front of the Indian embassy for half an hour. 

This will make international headline and internationalize the issue and we will be able top draw the attention of the world media.

And then send the video footage to me , we shall handle....

Rakesh:

respected all,
i m sorry that i cant gone through more than 7 mails replied to the above subject. before going to any debate we have to determine the fire-line of Development first. however it should cover each and every class interest without any biasness. secondly, i hope we all have a fair idea about Sustainability. 

the devlopment without any sustainable future has no use. without going for much political stand towards common people of my region i just want to say that the generation of power shouldn't be over a dark future of poor section. who can vote but can't decide. i had given the same argument to Mr. Rahul Gandhi in his last visit to IIT Ghy. 

Again i clear u all that, i am not against power production or Dams but my first priority is the future of poor villagers. 

Mr. X:

Shardhaspot byoktigoan!

It is really appreciated that everyone is concern about growth. Someone like me believes in aggressive growth trend and someone feel modest is no problem. In the conversation someone is talking at micro level and someone at macro level. Moreover some view points are expressed as Socialist and others Capitalist.

Why those poor people should always be poor. They have the right to be a part of the present growth trend. We should agree upon more aggressive growth pattern where we can include those who are missing this. Growth means opportunity, opportunity comes from Industrialization and only industries can absorb those uneducated poor’s. I suppose everyone agree on the fact that Service Industry can’t give opportunity where we can address issues of those poor people. I am sure for Industrialization to happen ASSAM requires more electricity, ignoring other socioeconomic issues at the root level of ASSAM.

It should not be happen that we end up with nothing. How long we will say POOR people, let poor people also grow economically to enjoy a day without thinking for two meals. And moreover what if those POOR people were not POOR?

Mrinal Talukdar:

Assam's present need is 1000-1200 MW. In 2030 it will be around 4000 MW. The North East need should be around 10000 MW by 2030. Here we are talking of 58000-65000 MW. To run a 9-10% per cent growth engine of the nation you need power...but why at the cost of the locals. We need energy but debate is how to get sustainable energy. In comparison to Fossil Fuel, Hydel is better option but at what cost......

By the way Assam is not poor. Only the definition of poor can vary with different individuals.

Me:

Thanks, Mrinal da.

I was typing exactly the same message.

This situation is so similar to the time when British Raj was forcing farmers to grow Indigo... and, we all know, what that resulted in :)