Swati's Blog

Comparing HDI Values India Today has published a graphic comparison of selected indicators during UPA regime and NDA regime. According to the graphic describing performance of Human Development Index for India during the two regimes, the NDA regime has registered better HDI value than UPA regime. Graphic has taken a ten-year average of India’s HDI score from 2004 to 2014, this is 0.566182, comparative average for the NDA during 2014-2022 is 0.631667. It is curious, that India Today used average of the indexed values to compare performance of the index over a period, instead of comparing the actual HDI values.  Choice of taking simple average of the HDI values during UPA and NDA years, churns out numbers such that on the human development front, NDA 2014-22, appears to have performed better than the UPA 2004-14. Comparision of Index numbers over time Should one take a simple average of the index numbers to compare the performance of this index over a period? One should not, the aver...

 India is celebrating its 75 years of freedom from the British rule under the title, “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. Freedom, from the imperialist rule and establishing a system of democratic self-governance is indeed an important achievement in the history of modern India. But as we know it, Indians got freedom but along with it, came the partition of India, which was a decision of the British rule. As if a person lost its limbs, India lost its parts on the right as well as on the left, as the freedom dawned on us at the midnight, on August 15th 1947. By June 1946 it was clear that partition of India is unavoidable. Lord Mountbatten announced a plan, the Mountbatten Plan, which was accepted by the Indian nationalist movement as well as the Muslim League. Radcliffe commission drew the boundaries of the two nations. Respective governments of the newly born two nations, which were, effectively three different parts of India under British rule, were left to deal with issues related to pa...

Dear friends,  #mahadsatyagrah March 20, 1927 Dr. Ambedkar led people to visit a public tank and those people were able to drink water from that public tank. Before that they were denied access to water from this tank and many such in the country, on the basis of they being born into specific castes.    Today marks the 95th anniversary of this day which brought a revolutionary change. It was the first public attempt to overthrow the caste system. And claim access to the public good, (water, in this case), as a right. Are we doing enough now today? After 1961, in Maharashtra there was a movement led by socialists, "ek have ek panvatha", i.e., one village one well / source of water. As a result many villages got a properly constructed well financed by the state government of Maharashtra.  It helped all those who did not own a well, to be able to get access to water as a right. Irrespective of their caste or religion or gender. An act fully supportive of that historic ...

In times of chaos Full of noises And voices that scream Tales of injustices Carelessly crushing Every bug that roams free There is a gaze Which fails not to belittle Everything that can be seen Capturing all details In dark times, digging graves Bringing evils to justice, in silence.   -        -  Swati March 12, 2022 15.57  

End of the 21st year of the 21st century I weep and mourn and rant helplessly The year seemed a dark lane in history Is it the beginning of bombastic bigotry? Many a new words it gave Covidiots assembled in concave Ganges water full of floating graves Lives of many could not be saved Grief of COVID orphaned bitterly engraved The year saw ghastly revival Deprivations and injustices prevailed Settling the hegemonic norms Every harmonic ethos curtailed Sad seems the story so far Of the 21st year of this 21st century Island of dissent for freedom to inhale Our farmers gave a reason to be brave In weeping, grieving, depressed, enslaves Ray of resistance, of endurance pervade Scary times to condemn those who degrade Clash of values being the theme unveiled Bygone is the year 2021 At the juncture of past and present Standing 2022 what it may exhale? May the injustices not be bailed. - Swati December 30, 2021