C'da, >*** I was surprised to see you staying away from the philosophical >discourse on this matter Ram. But if I remember correctly you used >to be a card-carrying member of the 'Assamese-are-the-Lazy-Bums' >club. But glad you are not an active one at the moment.
You remember wrong.I think all these posts going back and forth has you completely confused :-) You may had read too much into whatever I have written, but I do not label people as being lazy or ortherwise, and that too a card carrying member? I have my own pet theories about this. But one question does bother me. Why is that only the Assamese are concerned about this label - whether they are lazy or not? I don't know of any other ethinic group which is trying to fight this label. Is it because they are more introspective, or is it because some of them feel that they have to defend it? But I have heard this for so many years,I feel its some kind of obsession. BTW: I did make a reference to this in my reply to Mridul, as to why Assamese do not take menial jobs. I think, that they do not, because there was never a need to do so before (it just wasn't worth it to pull rickshaws for the small payoffs) If it becomes expedient, that some Assamese will have pull rickshaws, they will do so. Of course, there are other reasons. --Ram On 5/24/05, Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > At 6:21 PM -0500 5/24/05, Ram Sarangapani wrote: > >C'da, > > > >>Too bad you don't know of these things, nor do all those > >> hardworking, god's-gidft-to Kharkhowadom NRAs in Assam Net like Ram, > >> Rajen etc. who are ready to brand their fellow men lazy at the > >> slightest opportunity. > > > >heh!heh!heh! I may be God's gift to Kharkhowadom (kinda like that), > >but I certainly did stay clear away from whether the Assamese are lazy > >or hardworking discussions. That discussion was/is cornered by two > >other stalwarts of Kharkhowadom. Guess who they are? :-):-) > > > >--Ram > > *** I was surprised to see you staying away from the philosophical > discourse on this matter Ram. But if I remember correctly you used > to be a card-carrying member of the 'Assamese-are-the-Lazy-Bums' > club. But glad you are not an active one at the moment. > > c-da :-) > > > > > > > > > > >On 5/24/05, Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Hi Mridul: > >> > >> Here are some answers to your questions on why you do not see too > >> many lazy Assamese growing two rice crops. This however is not all. > >> I will be pleased to answer anything that raises questions in your > >> mind. Too bad you don't know of these things, nor do all those > >> hardworking, god's-gidft-to Kharkhowadom NRAs in Assam Net like Ram, > >> Rajen etc. who are ready to brand their fellow men lazy at the > >> slightest opportunity. > >> > >> c-da > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> Status: U > >> X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 09:42:52 -0600 > >> To: Saurav Pathak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > >> Prafulla Barooah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> From: Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> Subject: Re: river interlink and AGP > >> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu > >> > >> >this was the crucial point which you tried to slip in. punjab did > >> >not lead the green revolution. you kept on insisting that punjab > >> >produced an ms, whereas assam cannot. it seems you knew it all > >> >along, and yet tried to mislead us. > >> > >> > >> PRECISELY the point! > >> > >> Not to take anything away from the accomplishments of Punjab or the > >> Punjabis, but let us look at how the path to their successes were paved. > >> Where does the Bhakra-Nangal dam fit into the picture? How did it enable > >> Punjab's green rev. > >> by providing irrigation? Where does the reliable availability of power, > >> electricity, fit into the picture? And what about fuel? How did affordable > >> fuel change the picture of farming? What are the patterns of landownership > >> enabling > >> erstwhile 'zamindars' carve out new farming empires, while the landless > >> destitutes remain invisible to the agro-economic experts? > >> > >> Milk production and nutrition are interlinked here as well. > >> > >> These are issues that are integral to understanding the needs of the rural > >> Assamese farmers. As an UN expert ( from the sounds of his assertions) > >> Barooah must have looked into these issues before he delivered his > >> verdict. > >> It will be nice to hear about these. > >> > >> > >> Why I bring these out are: > >> > >> 1: The landownership patterns in Assam are quite different from that of > >> Punjab. I don't know much anything about Punjab or N India. but am > >> familiar > >> with rural Assam's. The suibsistence farmers of Assam are required to > >> FENCE > >> off isolated plots of 'hwla', low lying rice planting areas, each season. > >> A > >> formidable task, taking a huge amount of time and effort. A 'jewra' needs > >> replacing every two years, and requires repairing every season. > >> > >> 2: Cattle ownership, a fundamental need for surviaval --> milk. And not to > >> discount dung either. During the main rice crop season, cattle have no > >> place to graze but the 'saaporis', 'grezing' reserves, or reserve > >> forests. > > > Over the decades all of these have shrunken, putting added pressures of > >> survival to the subsistence farmer. > >> > >> Now look at the demands of the hot-shot agri-experts who demand to know > >> why > >> the Assamese farmers do not attempt to grow a second crop in the winter: > > > Where do their cattle go now, with the rice paddies fenced off for the > >> second crop? A new fence, a place to take the cattle to feed, irrigation, > >> fertilizer ( without which the second crop would be a flop) not to mention > >> pesticides. Where do all these come from? After haaving to pay for all > >> that > >> what is the expected return on the excess rice crop ? > >> > >> Has Barooah priced fertilizer in rural Assam? And its availability? What > >> is > >> Indias source of phosshates(BTW India HAS little or none--bulk of it is > >> imported) . And take a wild guess WHO gets the lions share of this > >> precious,subsidized, imported nutrient? Punjab or Assam? > >> > >> > >> 3: Irrigation for dry season is dependant on shallow wells, which is just > >> becoming available. Most still cannot afford it. First cost wise, and then > >> for maintenance. Fuel cost, reliable source of electricity. Where is the > >> Bhakra dam (and funded by whom?) to subsidize the Assam farmers? > >> > >> 4: The ability to send the excess rice crop and/or farm produce to > >>the market > >> where a decent return could be obtained to justify the extra work: Where > >> are the roads,the transportation infrastructure, the cold storage > >> facilities , the fuel to run the trucks? Who is subsidizing the repair of > >> roads and bridges after every rainy season in Assam? > >> > >> > >> *** My question here is this: Are these relevant to weigh before we > >> compare > >> Punjab farmers with Assam farmers, and pass verdicts writing off the > >> latter's woes as rooted in laziness? And if we did, would it not point to > >> OUR intellectual lethargy and OUR own feeble-mindedness? > >> > >> > >> > >> cm > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> At 8:08 AM -0500 2/9/03, Saurav Pathak wrote: > >> >Prafulla Barooah said on AssamNet: > >> > > >> >+ Saurav: > >> >+ > >> >+ The pros and cons of green revolution (GR) have been extensively > >> talked > >> >+ about and researched in the media and scientific literature. I > >>believe the > >> >+ only other comment on GR you made that I didnot address was that it > >> was > >> >+ funded by rockefeller foundation. This is known and is part of the GR > >> >+ history - so there is no argument on this. > >> > > >> >this was the crucial point which you tried to slip in. punjab did > >> >not lead the green revolution. you kept on insisting that punjab > >> >produced an ms, whereas assam cannot. it seems you knew it all > >> >along, and yet tried to mislead us. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> >+ The term GR was coined by the > >> >+ media, just like the White Revolution with milk in Gujarat > >>(started by Dr. > >> >+ Kurien) - but basically it was/is increased production using > >>various means > >> >+ - science, political will, environment, and people. So I have > >>no argument > >> >+ to offer because this is not a subjective topic - but based on facts > >> of > >> >+ recent history. So one can read the wealth of material already > >> >available in > >> >+ the libraries on these topics. > >> > > >> >well, when you want to make an argument on the internet, make one. > >> >donot pass on the job to the library. there are enough material to > >> >refute your arguments too. > >> > > >> >i have already made my observations on the green revolution. it is a > >> >model that would be disastrous to assam. because of the investment > >> >it requires, and the fact that it supports and promotes big farmers. > >> >recall, assam consists mainly of susbsistence farmers. moreover, > >> >the green revolution has itself given rise to a system of corrupt > >> >distribution system. it is not in the interest of this > >> >distribution system to see assam grow self-sufficient in food. > >> > > >> >if you have an argument against this, provide one, instead of > >> >launching rhetorical angsts. > >> > > >> >i, otoh, do think the white revolution is relevant to assam. > >> >cooperatives have a better chance of success in assam, imho. a > >> >network of farming cooperatives can even address the flooding > >> >problem, at the local level, without daming the brahmaputra, but by > > > >controlling the tributaries. of course, one cannot replicate the > >> >gujarat cooperative milk marketing federation in toto in assam. > >> > > >> >-- > >> >saurav > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Assam mailing list > >> Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu > > > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam > >> > >> Mailing list FAQ: > >> http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html > >> To unsubscribe or change options: > >> http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam > >> > _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
