Hercule Poirot v/s Miss Marple

I have always been an Agatha Christie fan....her books are easy 'whodunnit' reads, have good plots, need a fair amount of brain tapping, and generally have one of the two sleuths who always solve the mystery - Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

But the dilemma that I have always faced was which one of the sleuths did I like more. To tell you the truth, both Poirot and Miss Marple as individuals are not very likeable. Poirot was a self-proclaimed genius who did not have an ounce of humility in him.....at times he was quite suffocatingly smug (Why are brilliant detectives such egoists, I wonder, Holmes was another example). Even when you know that his smugness is justified after a brilliant bit of sleuthing, you might find his manner pretty irritating!

When it comes to Miss Marple, one can guess why Agatha Christie created her.......Miss Marple's cases are what we call: "Tea-cozy books". They are lighter reads, intriguing enough to spend a nice sunny evening in the garden with a cup or two of tea!! And best of all Miss Marple in appearance was nobody's idea of a detective.......in her own words, she looked like a "dotty old maid"! And so, creating a sleuth like that, Christie could get away with putting her upto tasks in the plot which nobody would suspect her of. She was often underestimated by people which served her purpose very well. However, personally, I did find her to be a dotty old maid!!

What would have been very intriguing and amusing too, was that if Christie could have put both Poirot and Marple together in a book working on the same case..........my belief is that Christie knew that would have been a catastrophe. Both would have been at logger-heads and might have come to some mud-slinging about the other's way of sleuthing (given both their 'I will solve it my way' manner). But, that would have been fun for the readers. Christie did say, "Poirot, the complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady."

But then again, it might be so that Agatha Christie did not put them together because her prejudice in favor of Hercule Poirot as the detective par excellence might have become a bit evident; at least till a point, after which she herself had confessed that she started finding him 'insufferable'. She has written 33 of her novels and numerous short stories with Poirot as the main protagonist as compared to 12 novels and 20 short stories with Miss Marple. Christie herself claimed to have bee fond of Miss Marple, mainly because of the association that can be made between the two - both being English, middle-aged women, living alone, with a penchant for detective books.

But, in truth she wrote more books with Poirot in it; made him the more flamboyant of the two; gave him more visibility with tougher and high-profile cases to crack. One can easily discern the difference in plots between a Poirot and a Marple case......Christie always puts in more difficult clues, more twisted links and multiple number of suspects for Poirot, making him tease his brains more. With Miss Marple she is more conservative and usually gives her cases centering around a quaint English village. She favored Poirot as her discovery........but she did realize that she had created a monster that she has to live with.

Poirot also proved to be more popular than Marple among her readers. He is the only fictional character to have been given an obituary in 'The New York Times' after Poirot's last book, "Curtain" was published....not even Sherlock Holmes got such a treatment !!

Nevertheless, if left to me I would not call either of them my favorite person. Its not the sleuths that matter much, but the actual 'whodunnit' plots, the victims, suspects, murderers and their motives that keeps the pages turning. And when I actually think about it, many of my favorite Agatha Christies do not feature any of the two protagonists - They Came to Baghdad, Witness for the Prosecution, The Mysterious Mr. Quinn, The Man in the Brown Suit, The Endless Night - had none of the two! So, all the kudos goes to Agatha Christie for her ingenuous mystery plotting, and giving us a genre of detective fiction that had more to do with the nature and manner of the crime, rather who solved it.

Jhanda Case

In a remote village the sarpanch was of a forward caste, and the upa-sarpanch was a SC/ST candidate. On the Independence Day, the sarpanch did not arrive in time for the flag hoisting function. So the upa-sarpanch hoisted the flag. After some time the sarpanch came and got irritated and questioned the upa-sarpanch: “Who asked you to hoist the flag, when I am here and I am just a bit late?” Saying this, the sarpanch pulled out the flag and threw it outside. People who saw this disregard for the national symbol went to the police station and complained regarding sarpanch’s action, and the matter was taken up at the SP level. They filed the case under the charge of dishonoring the national flag and emblem.

They were prosecuted. After cross examination etc, the judgment was to be delivered. At that stage the sarpanch went to the upa-sarpanch and the SC/ST people, begged them to withdraw the case and agree to compromise. The man was convicted. This sentence was unique. The sarpanch was released on Probation of Offenders Act under section 4 under the supervision of DPO.

A mandatory direction was given that on the next 15th August and 26th January, the upa sarpanch will hoist the flag; this sarpanch will attend that function and salute the flag in the presence of the upa sarpanch; the upa sarpanch was to submit the photos of the function to the court; and the district officer was to attend the function and submit his report independently to the court.

Justice prevails.....!

An interview with an HIV+

"People living with HIV and AIDS need more nutrition, particularly if one is taking ARVs (Anti Retro Viral) as it leads to induced hunger. However, most HIV+ people are unemployed, partly due to social stigma and partly because they are too weak to work. They are physically not even strong enough to do a part time job. This leaves them without any means or support mechanism to feed themselves and take proper nutrition.

Therefore, the interlinkages between HIV and food rights need to be established. A positive person cannot afford to go without proper food as nutrition supplements and vitamins along with ARVs keep him alive. Food security is the key to his survival. There are some common symptoms among the HIV+. They tend to lose weight over a short period of time, or get tired very fast. In such cases, proper nutrition and good food are the only way to keep up their stamina.

But, in spite of the common problem, different people have different needs. There may be some who just need medication; some may be strong enough to work; and some of them just want food. It is necessary to identify the unique needs. Speaking strictly in the Sri Lankan context, Sri Lankans are very proud and will never plead for food. So, these are situations when activists and the government have to do the thinking for them. For this, one needs much research and advocacy on the grounds.

APN+ (Asian Positive People’s Network) tries to understand the unique needs of the positive people. It is an organization comprising of positive people. Negative people are also welcome, but it is a reality that very few negative people understand what a positive person’s requirements are. Only by being positive can one tell whether another HIV+ person is suffering from dementia or TB. They are not put under treatment unless absolutely necessary. Only an HIV+ will know the importance of food in increasing blood count. Lots of research is needed to know what is suitable. Only with research amidst HIV+ persons was it realized that groundnuts pounded with milk or soya could provide some relief.

That is why it is needed that more positive people are visible and join the network to share experiences, raise awareness on the ground, and make it possible for others like them to get access to their specific needs to fight the disease.”

- An interview with Aruna Jagath Hewapathirane;
Aruna is a Sri Lankan who is living with AIDS for half a decade now.
He is an active member of APN+,
struggling for the rights and better treatment of people with HIV+/AIDS

Freed Kamaiya Society, Nepal

Kamaiya, a worst form of bonded labor system, was prevalent in five Tarai districts of the Mid and the Far Western developmental region of Nepal - namely Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur - before July 17, 2000. The Tharu population, one of the indigenous peoples of Nepal, is densely settled in these areas. Kamaiya (bonded labor) was an age old practice of the Tharu people within their community.

All the Kamaiyas were slaves in Nepal till 2000. They could be bought or sold in order to payback the loan taken by them. There were nearly 30,000 households comprising 0.15 million population of Kamaiya in Nepal. Of them, 98% kamaiyas belong to the Tharu community. Initially, the term ‘Kamaiya’, was used for a hardworking family member. Later it turned into a kind of slave system.

In this practice, an agricultural laborer agrees with a landlord to live as a kamaiya in his house in return for getting some paddy (3-5 quintal) on yearly basis. He agrees to it due to the loan (sauki) that he has taken or is already over him. He lives in his Bukura (shed) built near the house of landlord. The kamaiya becomes bonded to work there throughout the year or more, unless he pays back the sauki. His family members also work for the landlord for free. The children of kamaiya work there as Gaibhar-bhaisabhar (cattle herder).

The Kamaiya often has to take additional loan from the landlord for the expenses of his family that adds on to the sauki. If he gets absent even for a day due to illness, then the amount equivalent to the wages of one day gets added to the sauki. In this way the sauki keeps increasing year by year and the kamaiya is not able to pay for it. Some families even stay as kamaiyas from generation to generation. They have to work for the sauki that their forefathers had taken from the landlord, which they have to pay for by living as kamaiyas in the landlord’s farm.

In the Maghi festival (a festival of the Tharu people which is celebrated from the second week of January to the second week of February), the kamaiya selling and buying takes place. During this month, a landlord can exchange or buy a kamaiya from another landlord by paying the loan taken by the kamaiya.

The Kamaiya system was finally abolished by the Government of Nepal on July 17, 2000 due to the movement of Kamaiyas, NGOs, Human Rights Organizations with the support of some political parties. More than 18,000 Kamaiya families were emancipated from the declaration in the first phase (2000-01), and 9,600 in the second phase (2003-04) under the Kamaiya Prohibition Act - 2058 (2001).

However, after declaration of their freedom, the movement leading the alliance became dysfunctional due to the competition of NGOs in taking credit and conflict on budget use/misuse during the movement. The conflict within the alliance and its dysfunction made the rehabilitation movement very weak. Suffering from the conflict among the NGOs, the freed Kamaiyas came to the decision of forming their own organization to continue the rehabilitation movement.

Freed Kamaiya Society (FKS) was established in Jan 22, 2002 by merging three Kamaiya organizations - Kamaiya Liberation Struggle Committee, Kamaiya Jagaran Committee and Progressive Kamaiya Society. FKS has been fighting for the rights and rehabilitation of the freed Kamaiyas. All the freed Kamaiyas have been organized within and around FKS. It tries to pressurize the state to follow and obey the international law against slavery. It also carries out advocacy for the participation of freed Kamaiyas in decision making through participating in various social and economic activities.

The fight of FKS is for effective and systematic rehabilitation of Kamaiyas to ensure their basic rights such as land, shelter, drinking water facility, employment, income generation for livelihood and education of their children as committed by the Government of Nepal.

Food and Livelihood Security in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region covers 10% (5,093 square miles) of the whole area of Bangladesh. It is completely different in physical features, agricultural practices and soil conditions from rest of the country. The three hill districts Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban comprised the CHT. Culturally diverse 11 indigenous communities of mongoloid races namely, Chakma, Marma, Khiyang, Chak, Tripura, Pangkhua, Khumi, Mro, Tanchangya, Bawm, Lusai of mongoloid races alongside non-indigenous population, mainly Bengalis, inhabit the CHT.

Following more than two decades of politically motivated armed conflict, peace agreement was signed in 1997, which is still under implementation. The region, therefore, continues to be characterized by chronic insecurity and instability with a large number of IDPs in need of resettlement.

The IPs of CHT suffer from chronic and transitory food insecurity. Instability in food price, production, inadequate cultivable land, household’s low income, inadequate & poor transportation facility, and socio-political situation causes food insecurity in the region. Almost 30% of households in CHT have to take loan for meeting up their food consumption, i.e., more than double the percentage of the rest of Bangladesh. The brief root causes of food insecurity in CHT are -:

Kaptai Dam: Since 1958-1960, about 100,000 indigenous people have been displaced due to Kaptai Dam built by the Pakistan government. 1,036 Square Kilometers of agricultural land were submerged by its water. 40% of the submerged land were cultivable land. This led to the displacement of many IPs from CHT, depriving them of any means of livelihood and food security.

Political instability: The political instability in CHT region has led to the IPs’ discrimination, food insecurity and threat to their survival. The people of CHT have been fighting the Bangladeshi Government for their rights demanding autonomy for the CHT (retention of the CHT Regulation 1900), and recognition of their traditional tribal rights related to land in CHT.

Conflict between Traditional and Constitutional land rights: As per the IP’s traditional administration and 1900 manual of CHT, the IPs do not need any written ownership of their land. As per the 1900 manual of CHT, land ownership is to be managed and distributed by the Circle Chiefs’ administrative system. But, the system has been interrupted by the constitutional land laws. From 1978-1983, during the illegal rehabilitation of Bengali settlers in CHT, the IP’s land rights have been ignored and caused communal conflict, displacement and land loss, which later raised extreme poverty and food insecurity among the IPs.

Rehabilitation of indigenous refugees and racial discrimination: Among the IPs, only the refugees who returned from India are given free ration. The Bangladesh government and the Indigenous Refugee Welfare Association (IRWA) signed two agreements in 1994 and in 1997 to facilitate the return of the indigenous refugees. The government had agreed to provide free rations to the returnee refugees. But, the government’s policy has been discriminatory. While it provides about 60 kg rice per indigenous refugee family each month, a plain settler family is given 85 kg rice for the same period. The Bengali settlers have been receiving the said quantity of rice from the very beginning of their rehabilitation in CHT. But the government often threatens to cut the rations of the indigenous refugees. In July 2003, the Prime Minister’s Office directed the Ministry of CHT Affairs to suspend rice rations to 65000 indigenous refugees, but to provide free rations to illegal Bengali settler families in different cluster villages in CHT. However, due to protest from the indigenous refugees, it was withdrawn.

The effects of the prevailing food insecurity leads to a number of consequences that has negative connotations. Namely, it leads to malnutrition among the mothers and child; poor health situation and decrease of physical resistance. There is also lack of awareness on food rights, and poor governance system among the GO service providers. Malnutrition is a very serious problem in CHT. Progress towards better nutrition and health requires a combination of policies and programmes to provide direct nutritional interventions to those who are malnourished, improve household food security, create a healthy environment, and increase access to basic health and social services. Special efforts are needed to deliver these interventions to the community people living in remote areas, and to adopt strategies to the unique needs of the different indigenous groups.

Amar Chitra Katha

Those were the days! I owe all my knowledge about Indian mythology, legends, epics, histories, folktales, fables, etc., mainly to my monthly subscription of 'Amar Chitra Katha' comics as a child. I picked up this habit from my grandfather.......though a children's magazine, it appealed to adult readers too. My grandfather and I would subscribe to two different schemes of the Katha so that we could swap them and end up with actually two different comics in a month!

My grandfather usually subscribed to 'Chandamama', a collection of Indian short stories, folktales and fables put together in a graphic digest form. While I subscribed to the lofty Indian epic sagas like the 'Mahabharata' in parts, or mythologies like 'Dasavatara'. You might find this a little odd.....a grandfather reading short stories and a grand-daughter reading the mega omnibuses! But, you have got to remember, I was a young impressionable child then who was undergoing her tutorials in Indian culture and heritage under the guise of these comics!!

This is what I have been driving at - the very fact that Amar Chitra Katha was a perfect blend of entertainment and education for young minds. As the name suggests, Amar Chitra Katha literally means "Eternal Pictorial tales". It had stories and sagas ranging from Ramayana to Panchatantra, Jataka Kathas, Akbar-Birbal stories, stories with morals, etc.

Unique to India, these comics illustrate historical and mythological tales from India's rich cultural heritage, and are readily available across Indian bookstores and railway station kiosks, and are quite inexpensive. I used to collect my extra supplements of the comics at the railway stations during our annual holiday trips. I was also member of a library where kids swapped their comics on a weekly basis..........and any tampering with comics was fined by confiscating the incumbents comics!

Amar Chitra Katha was the premier comics brand in India, much before the Marvel, Raj and Diamond Comics of this world took over. Children nowadays are more familiar with Nagraj, Dhruv and Chacha Chaudhary, or are not into reading comics et all with the other multimedia, animation media available. Somehow Amar Chitra Katha missed the bus and couldn't captivate the interests of present generation Indian children, or if seen from a different perspective, maybe the kids today have missed the bus....the loss is surely theirs.

MonAmi

My habit of writing my name with a capital 'M' and a capital 'A' (MonAmi) has elicited comments from people over the years..........even when I was young enough to not understand the reason myself. Over the years I kind of liked the idea of generating this initial response that has always acted as an ice-breaker, especially when I am facing an interview.

My name is a fusion of two French words - 'Mon' and 'Ami'.......'Mon' in French means 'My' and 'Ami' is used for either 'Friend' or 'Dear', i.e., my name simply means "My Friend" or "My Dear"....... an endearment in French!

I first heard the word (other than hearing it as my name) as it is meant in French, "mon ami", in Agatha Christie's books - where one of her main protagonist, Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, was given to remark to his friend as 'mon ami' whenever he made a particularly significant point. Agatha Christie fans would not have any trouble in fathoming this et all.

Though my name is French, the best part is, no French would christen his/her child 'MonAmi'.....it would be same as christening some child as 'Good Morning'! My father gave me this name, mainly because he thought that his first-born should have a different and unique name, yet have a touch of lilting music in it. He wanted it to be aristocratic too, fit for his little princess. And to him French was a much more aristocratic language than Queen's English. He chose MonAmi because he felt it. I was his very dear little daughter.

The intriguing part about my name is that when it goes with my surname, it doesn't sound so alien. My full name is MonAmi Banerjee, and I am an ethnic Indian Bengali. Many have confused my name to be of Bengali origin, mainly because the pronunciation is quite similar to a Bengali name and on top of that MonAmi has a Bengali meaning too!

In Bengali, 'Mon' means 'heart', and 'Ami' is used for 'Me/My/Mine'...... so, in Bengali too my name in a way means 'My Dear'.......but, the point to be noticed here is that both 'Mon' and 'Ami' stands for the opposite of each other in French and Bengali........the quirks of language!!