Rural India Now and Then

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By Chittaranjan Mukherjee
(The above photos from left Urban and on the right Rural India)
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The five year period of NDA rule in India has been the most violent increase in Rural and Urban inequalities since independence.
The Urban elite have every reason to to feel good as they play with their new toys in the form of latest automobiles and consumer durables, and enjoy most diversified diet and reduce their resulting adipose in slimming clinics. But same neoliberal policies have benefited them. It is also observed that their fellow countrymen and women are getting enmeshed in debt and land loss. They have been struggling harder merely to survive. This is being reported by one of the professors of economics at the Center of Economics Study and Planning.

The period then, I assume that it is not to cover Ashok's nor Akbar's India. I take it my those cream days while I was young and of course under British rule when we were struggling for Independent India.

There are still 700000 villages with increase of population.The 76.72% of people people still lives in the villages. I travelled far and wide as hobby from villages of Undivided Bengal and Sandy villages near Jaisalmer of Rajasthan to Monipur very near Hyderabad, Andhrapradesh. There are no epidemics like cholera, small pox or it has decreased considerably as those deceased and calamities were normal under British Rule.

The technological progress in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai,kolkota etc may be giving feeling of proudness and make us to boast about progress. It may also give us pleasure.

However every thing is not fine. In this connection I will quote Noble prize winner Amrata Sen " We are going to the top of the Mountain within 20 years as per media but forget not we are enjoying picnic on a sleeping volcano and no one knows when lava will wipe our existence"
(Writer is a deep thinker and very much analytical in his writings.)
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THE ABOVE PHOTOS ARE PRESENTED BY NIRANJAN PARIKH REGARDING HIS PILGRIMAGE TO GANGOTRI, THE ORIGIN OF RIVER GANGES IN HIMALAYA
NARRATED BY BHARAT DESAI
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Niranjan Parikh is a member of the 'Chaubara'. He is very simple and humble person. He goes on shuttling between USA and India.

However he also goes on doing Social Activities whenever he is in India. He is connected with many service activities like helping a Cancer patients to the Human Right. He is at presently active with 'The 'Right of information campaign.

Besides that he is very fond of nature and goes on in search of truth and happiness therein. It may be one of the reasons why he goes on wondering from Himalayas to Mansarover /Kailash in Tibet. But it appears that he is a real son of nature.

He brings with him new stories and experiences as and when he returns to 'Chaubara'. I recollect that he presented his slides and experiences of Mount Kailash once and in his subsequent visit he talked about his Padyatra to Lahore for creating friendship and goodwill between India and Pakistan. He is now talking about his campaign on 'Right of information' for Indian people. In short he is in Seventy but he is still bubbling with energy of seventeen years Youth.

I give above some of the photographs which shows him wondering in Beautiful Himalayas and in other photos which reflects the nectar of nature's Beauty. Hope you will enjoy the beauty of nature which is being brought by Parikh.

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