Now, Kerala in Afghanistan

Show us the money, we will face the bullets, say Keralites

By Ragesh Nair

Passengers wait at Cochin International Airport

Kochi, Nov 7 : Bombs and bullets, drone attacks, bleak mountains and general destruction are the common images of war-torn Afghanistan.

It would be the last place anyone in his right mind would look for a job. Unless he is the ubiquitous Malayali maverick who, so the joke goes, was ready to serve Neil Armstrong tea when he landed on the moon!

Jokes apart, Afghanistan is the hottest job destination for Keralites who once made a beeline for the Middle East.

According to manpower recruitment agencies, it’s the hefty pay packets that are attracting Keralites to Afghanistan where massive reconstruction is taking place after the Taliban were driven out by invading American forces.

Former president of the All Kerala Manpower Export Association, Mohammad K. Makkar, says there’s a huge demand for labourers in Afghanistan as international companies have set up shop there.

“Particularly electricians, plumbers, welding experts, mechanics, masons and carpenters are in high demand in the US companies. The camp where they stay is called US Labour Camp,” Makkar said.

The US companies prefer labourers from India, particularly Kerala, because they come very cheap compared to labourers from the US. And for Keralites, the salaries are better than those being offered in Saudi Arabia or other Middle East countries. Even though the risks are higher — the US Labour Camps are on Al-Qaeda’s radar — the pay seems to compensate.

According to Paulose K. Mathew, chairman of the Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI), labourers from Kerala are being paid a monthly salary of US$ 1500 (Rs 75,000). Labour from the US or Europe would have to be paid at least US $10,000 a month.

Iraq is another war-torn country that is luring labourers from Kerala for higher salaries than they would get elsewhere. And Libya is expected to go through a period of reconstruction now that it has got rid of Colonel Gaddafi whose last stand has destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure.

Some 50 lakh Keralites work outside India. Saudi Arabia alone employs 20 lakh Keralites. As yet it is unclear how many Keralites work in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, because they are mostly hired from the Middle East.

Emigration rules require that details of the contract, nature and location of job and details of the overseas employer be submitted to the Indian embassy, but many outsourcing agencies, particularly those in the Gulf countries, fly out poorly paid labourers to Afghanistan or Iraq on a visitor’s visa, keeping the Indian Embassy in the dark.

So, it doesn’t come as a surprise when protector of emigrants, Kochi, Mr Adolphus says he is not aware of any Malayalis working in Afghanistan.

“No person has been officially recruited from Kochi to these countries so far. We haven’t given emigration clearance to anyone. May be the workers are going on visit visa,” he said.

Such labour practices can be tricky. Labourers often sign a two-year contract without reading the fine print and land in trouble. Just two months ago, a group of Malayalis in Afghanistan complained that they had been tricked by recruitment agencies.

That will not deter those who hope for a better future for themselves and their families and will follow the money trail wherever it may lead.

Startling facts

* Afghanistan is the hottest job destination for Keralites who once made a beeline for West Asia. According to manpower recruitment agencies, it’s the hefty pay packets that are attracting Keralites to Afghanistan where massive reconstruction is taking place after the Taliban were driven out by invading American forces.

* Iraq is another war-torn country that is luring labourers from Kerala for higher salaries than they would get elsewhere. And Libya is expected to go through a period of reconstruction now that it has got rid of Colonel Gaddafi whose last stand has destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure. Some 50 lakh Keralites work outside India. Saudi Arabia alone employs 20 lakh Keralites.

$1,000 A Haircut: Most Expensive Hairdresser

Rossano Ferretti could be the world's most expensive hairdresser

 

Rossano Ferretti

In the world of costly cuts where a barber is a hairstylist, the $1,000 price tag is certainly hair raising but not unheard of. For some time now, stylists in the West have demanded, and got, anything upwards of $500 for a haircut. Names like Sally Hershberger, Fredereic Fekkai are almost as famous as the heads they tend to. Add Rossano Ferretti ahead of the pack as he set the bar high at $1,000.

In your world, Rs 50,000 could have fetched you an F1 premium seat last week or a laptop, three months' grocery or a sharply tailored designer suit. But in the world of affluence, it is barely a percentage of the latest de la Renta gown or a vintage bottle of French wine. Ferretti, who has styled Lady Gaga, Salma Hayek and even Princess Diana, is unapologetic about his price tag.

In India to launch his second salon at The Oberoi in Gurgaon, the first being at the Four Seasons in Mumbai, Ferretti doesn't cut hair here. He instead lends his name to L'Oreal and its premium hair-care brand Kerastase with which he's been associated for four years now. The staff at the salons is trained by the 51-year-old Ferretti himself with the salon director, Dimitri Lafiandra in this case, having worked with the Italian haircutting honcho for six years.

Today the man, a humble barber from Parma (a place he still calls home "where my wine and whisky cellars are") in Italy, runs 20 salons globally, including Milan, Paris, Madrid, New York and Los Angeles.

The Man, the Method
Buzz has it that it's 'the method' that lets Ferretti set his bar high. 'The method' is the patented haircutting technique - Metodo Rossano Ferretti - that he developed to cut hair.

How can one patent haircutting, you ask. Well, you think of a method that fits the madness, says Ferretti. Working as the stylist for Armani in his early days, he loved the way he could change people's lives through their haircut. For the record, it was he who gave supermodels Linda Evangelista her iconic bob and Christy Turlington her first bangs. The Metodo represents Ferretti's "philosophy and respect for the natural movement of hair".

"It (Metodo) respects hair, the beauty of the person and is all about the natural fall of the hair," he says. Each strand of hair has its own structure and movement: Metodo is based on this fundamental principle. When Ferretti cuts hair, he lets them dry naturally, so that the fall of the hair is wash and go.

According to him, a haircut should have more value than a suit, after all you wear it all the time. But why a haircutting technique patent, you ask again? To gain respect for the profession.

India Uncut

It's been three years since Ferretti cut the ribbon of his Mumbai salon and has been travelling to India every six months. "It's a new country every time," he exclaims. The changes he has noticed: the fascination for long hair is diminishing, there's trust in colour and there's global exposure that's shaping their choices. The haircut at the salon in Oberoi will start at Rs 2,000 for men. The maximum is Rs 6,500 for a style change for women and from a senior stylist.

It's better priced than Kim Robinson India at The Aman in New Delhi where chief stylist Rod Anker charges Rs 10,000 for a cut. The Ferretti salon in Mumbai has already developed a faithful clientele of Bollywood names, politicians and industrialists. Tanya Dubash, Lara Dutta and Jacqueline Fernandes are regulars now.

Now, the Men
Like all Ferretti salons, this salon too has a private room for one-on-one consultations. The Beverly Hills property in the US is built like an apartment with a separate entrance and parking for the celebrity client where no paparazzi can enter. But Ferretti doesn't like talking about his celebrity clients. "I can't mention one without offending the other by not talking about her," he says, maybe alluding to frail celebrity egos.

But as he insists, every woman he styles (and he only styles women except when he shaved the head of his two boys as kids) is a celebrity for him. And now the men are catching up too. "Nearly 25% of my income from Mumbai salon comes from men's styling," he says.

And worldwide too, Ferretti says men are the key drivers of growth contributing nearly 30% towards his earnings, making him wonder if he should start styling men. "This is the fastest growing segment. And once, men have been to a stylist, they will never go back to a barbershop."

Bollywood's Boldest Moments

A still from Love, Sex Aur Dhokha

Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan in Ishqiya

John Abraham and Udita Goswami in Paap

Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat in Murder

Emraan Hashmi and Udita Goswami in Zeher

Celina Jaitley and Aftab Shivdasani in Red

Emraan Hashmi and Udita Goswami in Aksar

Know About VoIP Here

Call Using Your Phone, not your Service Provider

VoIP, Voice over Internet Protocol. In layman’s terms — this is the technology that allows you to reroute voice communications over the internet.

You’ve all heard of Skype by now, I’m sure. It’s strange that VoIP is so uncommon on the platform specifically designed to make calls.

At first glance it looks counterintuitive. But think about it — it’s your cell that you’ll keep on you at all times, not your laptop. Why hasn’t the idea caught on then? VoIP has its issues — it’s more prone to noise and latency than traditional phone calls.

Established service providers see it as a threat. International calls are much cheaper using VoIP and as internet becomes cheaper, it will only grow.

For now, remember to install a VoIP client and get a net connection to make your life easier if you need to make international calls or if you’re travelling abroad to a first world location — it’s simpler and cheaper than buying a local SIM or praying for network portability — trust me on this.

Plenty of competitors are in the market — Skype, 3CX, Vyke, Viber — take your pick.

HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rate Alarming in Nagaland

Kohima, Nov 7 : The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Nagaland stands at an alarming 78 per cent.

This means 7 to 8 people out of every 1000 people are infected with the deadly virus compared to the national average where only 3 to 4 persons out of every 1000 people.

Dr Hutoka, Medical Officer in-charge of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Centre in District Hospital of Dimapur announced this during a sensitization programme on HIV/AIDS held at Signal Angami Basti yesterday. He put the number of people detected with the disease to 12,400 in the state.

He, however, said only 7,500 people had been registered as many people were yet to come forward for treatment despite already knowing their status. He said one of the reasons why the drug administered to the patients has less effect was the late arrival of the patients.

Dr Hutoka encouraged the people to come forward for blood testing and early treatment after detection of the disease. He said 70 patients came to ART Centre Dimapur last month of whom 48 came very late.

Dr. Hutoka said there were over 3,500 people infected with the disease in Dimapur as per record and that only 1,500 were undergoing treatment.

He said 127 people had died of the disease in Dimapur since the establishment of the Anti-Retroviral Therapy Centre at the District Hospital in 2006. Of the 127 deaths, majority of them were within the age group of 25 to 49 and only few were below 4 to 5 years.

He further informed that Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) treatment was available 24 hours at the District Hospital Dimapur where any person who had been exposed to the disease could avail of the service free of cost.

In Manipur, Not Easy To Get Petrol Even For Rs 240/L

Manipur has only one-day fuel left: Govt

Imphal, Nov 7 : The Manipur government on Sunday did some tough talking, threatening that it would be left with no other options but to "use our means" to resolve the crisis arising out of the ongoing economic blockades.

"We will try to negotiate. (However, if problem persists), we have to use our means," Manipur chief minister O Ibobi Singh told journalists here.

The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) imposed economic blockades on national highways 39 and 53 on August 1 demanding the creation of Sadar Hills district. Soon after, the United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga organisation of Manipur, enforced similar blockades on the same routes protesting the government's alleged attempts to bifurcate Naga-dominated areas for creation of the new district.

Last week, the SHDDC lifted its blockade following the government's assurances to look into its demand. But the UNC seems to be in no mood to lift it. The government could not break the ice even after several rounds of talks with it.

Ibobi said if the blockades continued, government would be left with little options. "We have to clear one of the two highways for our survival…We have to face any eventualities," he said. The chief minister said his government was considering bringing in a legislation to ban bandhs and blockades. "There are Supreme Court directives in this regard.
However, at the moment, we want to try and resolve the crisis through negotiations," he said.

The chief minister admitted that the present stock of essential commodities was 'not good'. "However, we are trying to improve the situation".

The state government was using national highway 53 to escort goods-laden trucks into the state once in a week. But to add to its woes, a major bridge in Assam collapsed recently snapping road communication leading to Manipur. "I have spoken to my Assam counterpart. We hope they will do the needful at the earliest," Ibobi said.

There is a short supply of essential commodities in the state following the blockades and the prices have also spiraled like never before.

Petrol and diesel now cost Rs 180-240 and Rs 80-100 a litre in the black market. An LPG cylinder costs about Rs 1,800 to 2,000. The locals say potato now costs Rs 30-40 and onion Rs 60 a kg. An egg costs Rs 10. In fact, there is an acute shortage of essential commodities.

"We want immediate regulation of the prices," says Abdul Haque of All Manipur Students' Union.

Manipur Under Relentless Siege

By Laishram Nandalal Singh

“The failure of the Union Government to resolve ethnic disputes in the North-East has resulted in crisis after crisis.

This is best exemplified by the ‘economic blockades’ imposed on Manipur and its hapless people. The moment one blockade ends, another begins as any promise made by the Government to one group leaves the other demanding for more. Meanwhile, the people suffer severe hardship and shortages ”

The economic blockade imposed by Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee has been lifted following a written assurance from the Government of Manipur that its demands will be fulfilled at the earliest. Normalcy, however, remains elusive as the United Naga Council and All Naga Students Association of Manipur have announced the intensification of the ongoing blockade which began in mid-August. Balancing the demands of these two organisations is what the Government of Manipur wanted to achieve but it did failed. The question now is: How is the Government going to engage with the anti-Sadar hills district groups while at the same time restoring peace in an ethnically fragile situation in Manipur? It is now clear that the Sadar Hills will become a full-fledged revenue district but only after the District Reorganisation Committee submits its report to the State Government.

The economic blockade on the two national highways — NH-52 and NH-37 — that link the North-Eastern State with the rest of the country has been a routine affair for long. In every instance of blockade on either of the highways or both, the organisation that imposes it holds 27 lakh people to ransom. Last year it was imposed by Naga outfits as a move against the autonomous district council election. This time it had been a twin blockade imposed by two groups — one demanding a Sadar Hills district and the other opposed to the demand. While the Manipur Government sits on the vexed issue wondering which road to take during the course of the 92-day ordeal, a sizeable section of the impoverished masses is on the verge of starvation. Unfortunately, New Delhi has remained a mute spectator to the severe hardship due to the twin blockades.

The other serious fallout of the blockade is the growing insecurity among the truck owners and drivers. The recent decision of Transporters and Drivers Council to cease all activities of assisting transportation of goods is another blow to the beleaguered State Government and the people reeling under the ‘artificial famine’. The council has embarked on the agitation after the State Government failed to decide on the compensation for trucks damaged during the blockade.

A quick look at the history of Sadar Hills will be of relevance here to understand the stakes. The Selected Area Development Administrative Region Hills is the region overlooking and encircling the Imphal valley. The Sadar subdivision was created for administrative convenience during the British rule in 1933 with its headquarters at Kangpokpi. With the signing of the ‘Merger Agreement’ with India on September 21, 1949 by Maharajah Bodhachandra Singh, Manipur became a ‘Part-C State’ of the Indian Union. In 1969 Manipur was divided into five districts: Central (Imphal), North (Karong), South (Churachandpur), East (Ukhrul) and West (Tamenglong). To fulfill the aspirations of the hill people the Government of India enacted the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971. Section 3 of the Act divides the hill areas into six Autonomous District Councils or Hills Districts that includes the Sadar Hills.

The movement for upgradation of the Sadar Hills area of Senapati district into a full-fledged revenue district began in the early seventies. The present agitation is a cumulative effect of frustration and disaffection of the people in Sadar Hills with the Government in the last four decades. According to Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee, the delay in granting district status to Sadar Hills has denied them opportunities for all-round development. In the memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister of Manipur on July 26, SHDDC leaders estimated that an amount of Rupees 38,000 crore have been lost as revenue in the 40 years of delay in upgrading Sadar Hills to a revenue district. They lamented that such large amounts of money could have been spent on socio-economic developments in the Sadar Hills.

The demand for the creation of Sadar Hills district first came from the Kuki Chiefs’ Zonal Council in its meeting held on September 3, 1970. The leaders of Kuki Chiefs’ Zonal Council met then Home Minister KC Pant in July 1971 and placed their demand for a separate district comprising Sadar Hills. The Nayal Commission in 1974 not only recommended the creation of Sadar Hills as a full-fledged district, but also suggested the inclusion of some adjoining areas of Senapati and Ukhrul for administrative convenience and development. However, all these demands, talks and recommendations failed to produce any fruitful result.

Sadar Hills District Demand Committee was formed in 1974 to spearhead the agitation for a full-fledged revenue district status for the Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council, consisting of Saikul, Kangpokpi and Saitu subdivisions. Several State ministries attempted to declare Sadar Hills as a revenue district. In 1982, Rishang Keishing’s Congress government brought an ordinance before the Governor to declare Sadar Hills as a district. It was signed by the Governor but the ordinance was withdrawn due to opposition from the then Manipur Naga Council.

Succeeding Governments also made efforts to upgrade Sadar Hills into a revenue district, but without success. The election of new SHDDC leaders in June 2011 marked the revival of the movement. The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee has been renamed as Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee, and it now spearheads the present agitation.

The State Government has almost fallen in line under pressure from SHDDC and initiated steps for fulfilling the decades-old demand. It constituted a Committee for Reorganisation of Administrative and Police District Boundaries to study the formation of a new district and issued a notification on public hearing on September 15. However, the Nagas of Manipur, who have been opposing the Sadar Hill demand since it was first raised, launched a counter-agitation against the State Government’s move. The Nagas of Manipur claimed that they were the original settlers or the indigenous people while the Kukis who comprise the majority in Sadar Hills Areas as late settlers. To mount pressure on the State Government, the United Naga Council announced an economic blockade on the two national highways on August 21 of this year to counter the demands of the SHDDC. They reiterated that no Sadar Hills District could be created as a full-fledged revenue district in the absence of UNC representatives. The Nagas claimed Tamenglong, Senapati, Chandel and Ukhrul as their ancestral land based on folktales and oral traditions. They cited documents of British colonial gazetteers, reports and surveys to justify their claim.

However, the Kukis negated the claim saying that neither the Nagas nor Kukis had written historical records as they didn’t have a script of their own. In the absence of written history the claims on such myths are more of a speculation.” The Nagas in the Sadar Hills region staged a sit-in protest and held demonstrations and protest rallies against the formation of Sadar Hills district. They even vowed to shed blood for the cause of their land, saying the Nagas would not compromise over their land. In a letter to Union Minister for Home Affairs Minister P Chidambaram on September 14, the UNC argued that every Naga village and tribe has its own distinct territorial boundary and jurisdiction. The Nagas, the letter mentioned, had all along been fighting against the arbitrary bifurcation and division of “our land without our knowledge and consent”. UNC warned that the Manipur Government would be responsible for any untoward incident arising out of this issue.

Meanwhile, another perspective was revealed when the United Committee Manipur demanded that the district boundaries be appropriately surveyed and demarcated for the purpose of administrative conveniences and that the exercise should not pander to sectarian assertions on the basis of parochial ethnic and religious affinities.

According to reports, more than 10 Government offices were burnt and about the same number of vehicles torched during this agitation. Three women were also killed when a vehicle under attack hit them. Not a single police personnel or member of the central forces could be seen along the highway’s strike zone during the crisis. Blocking a highway is akin to violating the rights of people. The indifferent attitude of the Union Government on the frequent economic blockades on the two National Highways in Manipur will further enhance the disillusionment of the people in Manipur in particular and the North-East in general. Instead of giving lip service, the Union Home Minister could have been more proactive. No one is now sure whether the blockade that was recently called off by SHDDC will be the last from their side. In the same vein, none of us is convinced if the Naga group’s unfinished economic blockade is going to end soon. One thing is for sure: The impact of the blockades leading to the rise in prices of essential commodities will linger for a long time.

While blockades come and go in Manipur, the worrying divide among the two communities will not easily fade. The question now is: Who is responsible for all these losses, sufferings and trauma? An indifferent Union Government, an incapable State Government or the sectarian leaders? Perhaps all of them.

 Laishram Nandalal Singh

Remembering Bhupen Hazarika: Singer, Composer, Family Friend

By S. Mitra Kalita

Author S. Mitra Kalita with Bhupen Hazarika (center) and her elder brother Sanjib Kalita.

Growing up in the U.S., when I said I was from Assam, inevitably the most frequent response was, “Where’s that?”

But every now and then, I’d hear: “Like Bhupen Hazarika?”

The legendary singer, composer and director from the northeastern state died Saturday at the age of 86. When my mom told me, I was flooded with memories of his music playing on Sunday mornings as she fried lucees, during long car rides to family friends’ homes, as I learned to awkwardly dance and sing at Indian functions. Suddenly, as it must have been for so many fans, especially those of us with Assamese roots, the soundtrack of my life flashed before me.

I was also lucky to have known Bhupen Uncle, as I called him, in a personal capacity. He met my father during a visit to the U.S. in the late 1970s, and as often happens in immigrant groups, they forged a friendship over my banker father’s ability to help with money transfers. Anyone who knew the singer’s background and my father’s was not surprised they became fast and close friends. Both were born in Sadiya, a rural and remote pocket of the already-remote northeast. Both attended Benares Hindu University, although more than a decade apart. Both loved to read, watch foreign films and listen to music from everywhere, to discuss politics and the state of the world. Back then, both liked to drink.

And so during the U.S. legs of Bhupen Hazarika’s frequent tours in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, our house, first in Long Island, later in New Jersey, became the dumping ground for his suitcases, lyric books, harmonium, plaques and gamochas. Ours became the phone number people were given as they tried to book him for concerts, in high-school auditoriums and temples, veterans’ halls and restaurants. At first, I was starstruck by this man whose face adorned so many of our records, now sleeping in my bed. But among Bhupen Uncle’s best traits was his ability to put people at ease. In our house, he wore a lungi. He joined my mother in the kitchen and made an amazing shrimp curry. He also loved adventure, so we would pile into our brown Oldsmobile and go on long drives of serendipity.

A lover of folk music and the Civil Rights movement, Bhupen Uncle made us take pictures of him standing on Paul Robeson Place in Princeton, N.J. He had met Robeson during study at Columbia University and throughout his life clearly drew a parallel between the political activism of Robeson’s music and his own. Bhupen Uncle loved New York City and he regaled in the throngs of fans who gathered around him during shopping trips to the Indian enclave of Jackson Heights. But he was also just as happy being anonymous and roaming his old uptown haunts or Chinatown. It was with him that I first ate Thai food, a place called Pongsri on Bayard Street that I still love and frequent. He and his partner, the director Kalpana Lajmi, took my elder brother and me to see “Dead Poets Society,” a movie that sparked a discussion about the role of teachers and of following one’s own dreams over one’s parents’. Through his eyes, I realize now I was seeing America and all its plurality and possibility anew.

Yet I didn’t know it then. My appreciation of Bhupen Hazarika, like many Assamese, was perhaps too parochial, too rooted in our common home. And perhaps knowing our needs, he pandered to that role. Translation do not do his lyrics justice, but a song like “Aami Axomiya Nohoi Dukhiya”, which means “We are Assamese, not poor,” helped us stand a little taller. He also connected with the Assamese countryside intimately, despite his fame. During a visit to his native Sadiya in the 1980s, he tracked down my grandparents and visited with them. My illiterate grandmother lectured him and an accompanying politician on all the ways Sadiya and its roads and schools remained too backward—and he was only too happy to listen, just as her own son might have. To us, he remained accessible, simple, common.

He was anything but, achieving fame in multiple languages such as Bengali and Hindi, and adopting a home in Mumbai for the last several years. This truth and transcendence unveiled itself to me as I grew older. When I traveled to Mumbai in my early 20s, we would amble down Chowpatty Beach and not a single vendor charged us for anything. My father’s scratchy records now gathering dust in the basement, I turned to different translations of Bhupen Hazarika’s songs through YouTube and other sites. I came to appreciate a song like “Bistirno Dupare,” (a version of “Old Man River”) as so much more masterful in the Bengali.

In 2007, as my daughter and I settled into watch “Chak De India” in New Delhi, suddenly a special 60^th anniversary rendition of the Indian national anthem came on—and there he was. My daughter, then almost 3, yelled out, “There’s that Assamese guy.” He was joined by fellow luminaries such as Jagjit Singh, A.R. Rahman and Lata Mangeshkar.

As a child, my interpretation of many of Bhupen Hazarika’s songs were literal: about nature, rainfall, our mighty Brahmaputra. As an adult, I hear them anew with strains and themes of revolution, suffering, longing, the search for love, the endless hunt for home. Rooted perhaps in our “remote” northeast, they remain universal.

Those of us from Assam might be forgiven for always seeing dear Bhupen Uncle, Bhupenda and Bhupen Mama as “ours,” but in death—and in the reaction trickling in from all corners this weekend—Bhupen Hazarika and his legacy clearly endure as a man and musician of the world.