Around 3:30 in the afternoon, the Guru and I noticed rain falling. We'd turned on the AC earlier in the day, as the weather had turned still and muggy. We opened the doors to the west balcony and stood listening to the rain shower, and then it hit us. We heard the rain--just the rain. All of the extraneous noise that we usually heard churning in the background was absent. Even the lions and their cohort in the zoo were silent. We stayed, watched, and listened for a while. The Guru laid down for a nap, and so did I in this perfectly soporific environment. But I was unable to sleep and returned to our perch to watch and listen. Nothing. Even the 6 p.m. aerial show by the kites (birds) seems to have been cancelled for lack of interest. A few crows made their way across the tree tops, but the large bats of twilight provided the mood for the occasion. Silent, seeming to move in slow motion. It looked and sounded--in its silence--like ghost town. Where was everyone?
We found ourselves in the midst of a dusk to dawn hartal, a general strike. The LDF--Left Democratic Front--had called the strike in response to a government report about preserving the Western Ghats, the ridge of mountains that rise off of the coastal plain in Kerala The report called for some types of environmental regulation of this beautiful mountain area. Any environmental regulation in India is needed. On the other hand, small farmers in the area and those who were supporting them--including the Christian Churches that cater to about 20% of the population here--called a strike in protest, claiming that the steps recommended by the report denied them their rights and would cost them their livelihoods. Based on the corruption and outright thievery practiced on the poor here, that might prove very true--just as true as the need for environmental regulation. I don't know where the equities lie in this case.
I do know that strikes can't help an economy that needs all of the help it can get. I know that many believe--perhaps with a lot of justification--that strikes and public protest are the only avenue for gaining recognition and keeping some measure of rights here. I also know that change--even change for the long-term good, such as preserving eco-systems--proves very difficult because so many people live on the edge of economic ruin. They may not have much, it may be gone tomorrow, but it's all that they have now and they can't trust the government to help them find something better.
For the Guru and I it meant a quiet day inside. We thought it wise not to venture out even for a walk based on advice from locals. So the day proved pleasant enough, but it also reminded us of how tenuous public order can be here and difficult are the political and economic issues that this nation must address.
We found ourselves in the midst of a dusk to dawn hartal, a general strike. The LDF--Left Democratic Front--had called the strike in response to a government report about preserving the Western Ghats, the ridge of mountains that rise off of the coastal plain in Kerala The report called for some types of environmental regulation of this beautiful mountain area. Any environmental regulation in India is needed. On the other hand, small farmers in the area and those who were supporting them--including the Christian Churches that cater to about 20% of the population here--called a strike in protest, claiming that the steps recommended by the report denied them their rights and would cost them their livelihoods. Based on the corruption and outright thievery practiced on the poor here, that might prove very true--just as true as the need for environmental regulation. I don't know where the equities lie in this case.
I do know that strikes can't help an economy that needs all of the help it can get. I know that many believe--perhaps with a lot of justification--that strikes and public protest are the only avenue for gaining recognition and keeping some measure of rights here. I also know that change--even change for the long-term good, such as preserving eco-systems--proves very difficult because so many people live on the edge of economic ruin. They may not have much, it may be gone tomorrow, but it's all that they have now and they can't trust the government to help them find something better.
For the Guru and I it meant a quiet day inside. We thought it wise not to venture out even for a walk based on advice from locals. So the day proved pleasant enough, but it also reminded us of how tenuous public order can be here and difficult are the political and economic issues that this nation must address.
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