ConfluenCe
Perspectives
OCTOBER 2008
CoVeR SToRY
SOUTH ASIAN FOOD BALANCE
SHEETS - POSITIVE
But serious problem of food insecurity at household level,
says Dr.nimal Sanderatne
South Asia has turned a food
surplus region in recent decades.
This situation changed somewhat
in 2008 as a result of the increase
in food consumption consequent on
the rapid rise of per capita incomes,
especially in India. Despite the
global food crisis the overall food
availability in the region remains
reasonably satisfactory.
Yet around 500 million persons
in the region or around a third
of its population are deemed food
insecure. About 300 million people
are malnourished. Ironically, all of
these countries that have adequate
supplies of food have significant
proportions of their population that
are food insecure and malnourished.
This is the paradox that requires to
be explained.
Here I discuss the issues in
food security of the region as a
whole and in the five rice produc-
ing countries, Bangladesh, India,
nepal, Pakistan and Sri lanka. The
objectives are to discuss the extent,
nature and causes of food insecurity
in the region and the five selected
countries. It suggests the directions
that economic, social and agricul-
tural policies should take to reduce
food insecurity in them.
Concept and Definition of Food Security
A clear definition of food secu-
rity is essential for a reasoned dis-
cussion on food security in South
Asia. food security is the availabil-
ity of an adequate supply of food,
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which people can access to obtain
their food needs at prices they can
afford. These food needs have
been generally defined as the basic
requirements of food rather than the
satisfaction of all food wants. It is
generally limited to a staple or a few
commodities such as rice or rice and
wheat that provide adequate energy
for an individual.
food security is not synony-
mous with food self-sufficiency.
Many developed countries such as
england and Japan are not self-suf-
ficient in food but are food secure,
as they are able to import their
requirements of food. food security
is the capacity to obtain the required
quantum of food, by producing the
requirements or accessing them
through imports, rather than the
ability to produce all your food
needs. for instance, India produces
adequate food and is self-sufficient
in food at the national level, yet
she has serious problems of food
security at regional and household
levels.
The food balance sheets of
South Asian countries indicate that
almost all of them have a positive
balance. Yet a significant propor-
tion of their populations have inad-
equate access to food. The avail-
ability of adequate food stocks does
not necessarily ensure food security
at regional or household levels. This
is owing to people in regions or
households being unable to access
adequate food. This is the principal
and germane issue in food security
in the rice producing countries of
South Asia.
The critical issue in South Asia
is that of household food security.
Households of certain low-income
levels do not have access to ade-
quate quantities of food. This issue
is the foremost one for countries
with a large proportion of popula-
tion below the poverty line. It is a
distributional issue of fundamental
importance for South Asian coun-
tries.
In several of his seminal stud-
ies on famines, hunger and equi-
ty, Amartya Sen, has brought out
the important distinction between
adequate supplies of food globally
and nationally and the availability
of food to particular categories of
consumers. Senís central thesis
is that while the overall food sup-
ply situation has a relationship to
whether people have adequate food,
it is not solely governed by the total
food supply. The ëentitlementsí
people have to exchange for food
are just as important. People may
not have adequate food to eat in a
situation of large-scale famines, but
some people may not have adequate
food even when there is no overall
shortage of food. Senís analysis of
the Great Bengal famine, and the
ethiopian, Sahel and Bangladesh
famines, demonstrate that ìstarva-
tion is a function of entitlements and
not of food availability as suchî.
He points out that some of the
worst famines have taken place
with ìno significant decline in
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South Asian
food availability per headî
Sen asserts that socialist coun-
tries, as well as developed capitalist
countries like Britain and America,
have achieved food security through
social security arrangements and
systems of guaranteed employment
at adequate wages. Regionally and
within nations the poor distribu-
tion of incomes, or ëentitlementsí
in Senís words, may lead to large
segments of the population being
unable to purchase their nutritional
needs. This is the state of food secu-
rity in South Asia that I will anal-
yse. It is the fundamental problem
that has to be addressed by South
Asian countries.
large segments of a countryís
population may be denied their basic
requirements of food, as they do not
have a capacity to access their food
needs. Therefore social interven-
tions may be necessary to ensure
that the poorest segments of a popu-
lation receive adequate food. Such
interventions require an economic
and financial capacity on the part of
governments. Additionally there is
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a need to have an effective admin-
istrative machinery that can ensure
proper targeting. Both these factors
are constraints in effective interven-
tions to ensure food security of the
poorest sections of the population in
South Asian countries.
The united nations rights
approach to development defines
food security as a right and is of
the view that it must include a more
varied diet and that the food basket
should improve progressively with
the development of the country. In
accordance with this concept food
security is not adequacy of one or
two commodities that ensures ade-
quate energy requirements and min-
imal nutrition but one that ensures
an acceptable basket of basic com-
modities. In South Asian countries
it should include other essentials
like sugar, milk, dhal, vegetables
and perhaps some minimal quantity
of fish or meat that people in South
Asian countries consume in line
with their cultural practices. (un
2000 and fAo 1998)
Continued on page 6
2 Confluence
Editorially Speaking
Human rights act –
no hidden agenda
Sixty years after the enactment of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights why
do some people still see the Human Rights act
as not quite in the interests of this country?
The Act has been the pet grouse of many a
social activist, misguided and poorly informed
unfortunately, that it has caused much avoidable
misunderstanding. It has been perceived by
some as legislation that does more harm than
good and even as a ‘charter for terrorists and
criminals’
The Human Rights Act is nothing of the
sort – it is set up to protect everyone’s human
rights, young and old, one’s neighbour and
neighbour’s neighbour, and so the community
at large. With today’s ever intrusive state
machinery, it is the Human Rights Act that
is the last bulwark against states showing
increasingly totalitarian tendencies. Thankfully,
we don’t live in such a state but it is best that
we don’t take anything for granted in the
current climate of uncertainty that pervades the
political and economic firmament the world
over.
Human rights law has actually played
a crucial role in protecting the rights of
victims and others who have fallen prey to
circumstances beyond their control. But human
rights laws don’t give criminals an easy ride.
The Act specifically says that those suspected
of or convicted of crimes can be punished. It
is a fact that the Human Rights Act requires
serious offences like murder, terrorism, or rape
to be investigated by the police and for the state
to take practical steps to protect the vulnerable.
The Human Rights act was devised by our
elected politicians. The courts do not have
vast powers under the act and our MPs still
have the final say. The courts can only protect
against abuse by Government and powerful
public bodies. The Human Rights Act only
protects 15 well established fundamental rights.
Sadly there are countries where human rights
violations remain a tragic reality. We must
therefore set the example here in Britain so that
we may look villainous governments in the eye.
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permission of the publisher in writing
15th Virat Kavi Sammellan
A galaxy of eminent and acclaimed poets from
the UK and India including Sri Kesharinath Tripathi,
Dr Budhinath Misra, Alka Sinha, Aachary Saarathi
‘Roomi’, Sita Sagar and Anil Sharma participated in the
15th Virat Kavi Sammellan held at The Nehru Centre
recently in collaboration with The UK Hindi Samiti
under the auspices of the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations.
The former Hindi and Culture Officer, Anil Sharma,
was felicitated with the International Vatayan Award
for poetry and his services towards promoting Hindi
and Culture by HE Shri Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, High
Commissioner of India,UK.. Three books of Aacharya
Saarathi were also launched by Mr. Asif Ibrahim,
Minister (Coordination) at the High Commission of
India.
from left to right Mira Kaushik of Akademi, High The High Commissioner also honoured Shri Ved
Commissioner Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, Anil Sharma, former Mohla with the Hindi Sewa Samman for his services to
Hindi and Cultiure Officer Indian High Commission, Divya
Mathur Senior Programme Officer, Nehru Centre, London and education of youth in the UK and the Sanskriti Samman
Padmesh Gupta, Editor, Pravasi Times to the well known singer, Reena Bhardwaj.
MSDUK awards at gala ceremony in London
MSDUK (Minority Supplier Development UK) held
its first awards dinner celebrating and rewarding the
achievements of British ethnic minority-owned businesses
at London’s Hilton Waldorf on Thursday, September 25,
2008.
Top executives from corporate companies, including
PepsiCo, BT and JP Morgan, joined MPs and community
business leaders to applaud the achievements of suppliers
from Britain’s ethnic minorities. Five awards were pre-
sented with more than 250 guests in attendance.
The MSDUK Awards ceremony was testimony to the
mutually beneficial partnership between corporations that
are the country’s leaders in supplier diversity and minority
businesses.
Garry Clancy, commercial director, PepsiCo UK and
Ireland and chairperson of MSDUK’s board of directors,
was keynote speaker of the evening. The Awards were host-
ed by the BBC Foreign correspondent, Navdip Dhariwal.
Among other speakers at the landmark event were
Harriet R Michel, president of the National Minority
Suppliers Development Council (NSMDC), US, who has
taken the message of promoting supplier diversity all over
the world; Leicester East MP Keith Vaz and Sonita Alleyne
OBE, CEO of the radio production company Something
Else.
The MSDUK Awards were presented in the following
categories:
Corporation of the Year: Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Supplier of the Year - Open Category: Pumasource
Supplier of the Year - HR, Recruitment and Training:
Canary Wharf and City Garry clancy (Commercial Director of PepsiCo, UK and
Ireland) and Mayank Shah (Director of MSDUK).
Supplier of the Year - Print, Media and Marketing:Star
Direct ment firm ‘Canary Wharf & City’ is another example of
Special Appreciation Award: EMDA (represented by Ian the fine partnership with MSDUK which gave her access
Harrison) to win blue chip clients such as JP Morgan, IBM and
Kapil Thakrar, one of the winners in the Supplier of Enterprise Rent-a-car.
the Year category emphasised that what marked his outfit Mayank Shah, Director of MSDUK, said: “These success
as an ethnic minority business to win work from Dell was stories show that being a small business is no barrier to
his ability to understand the requirements of the client and growth. Corporate organisations have proved their com-
maintain flexibility which he could afford to do as a small mitment to supplier diversity and opened their doors to
business. the best entrepreneurial talent.” Here & Now 365 media
Michelle Palmer, the entrepreneurial flair behind recruit- agency co-ordinated the event.
 Confluence 3

IMMIGRATION
Managed Migration: history and developments
a rejoinder to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - Eddie D’ Sa
Introduction
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith’s
paper in Confluence (July 2008) cov-
ers current policies and proposals on
Managed Migration – a saga that
began about seven years ago. A whole
gamut of laws on immigration and
asylum have been enacted over the
years, often accompanied by inflam-
matory pronouncements from politi-
cians and the media. Her neutral, mat-
ter of fact tone belies the harshness
of the laws and their implementa-
tion, drawing rebuke and criticism
from Church leaders and human rights
groups. Jacqui Smith also makes no
direct reference to the racial minorities
(Blacks, Asians, Middle Easterners)
who have borne the full force of the
legislation.
In the 1980s, EU leaders had
decided to halt Third World immigra-
tion permanently but had to make a
U-turn. In the 1990s, the UN warned
that western Europe was suffering
from a growing demographic deficit.
There were not enough native workers
to keep the working age population
stable and support the ageing popula-
tion. An intake of some 1.6 million
new migrants per year was needed to
redress the balance. At the Tampere
Summit (Oct 1999) in Finland, EU
leaders decided on a switch from a zero
migration policy to managed migra-
tion. This allows business to exploit
cheap non-EU migrant labour while
the state can save on health care and
pensions. Jacqui Smith admits in her
speech that migrants contribute finan-
cially more than the local born. “Last
year (2007), immigration contributed
roughly £6 bn (0.5%) to GDP growth.”
But there is a downside. While busi-
ness and the state gain, the staid native
Brits feel sidelined by the new, vibrant
cultures around them and also face
more competition from overstretched
social services (housing, welfare).
Let us respond to some of the themes
from Jacqui Smith’s speech.
THEME 1: Immigration
and politicians
Jacqui Smith said that the
migration issue is “vulnerable to
exploitation for political ends”.
That’s understating it. If there is any
issue that can get the British people’s
attention (apart from football and pop
stars), it is immigration and asylum. The
politicians have capitalised on this fear
and pandered generously to bigotry.
Way back at the General Election
(1964), Peter Griffiths (Conservative)
campaigned in Smethwick on the slo-
gan: “If you want a nigger neighbour,
vote Labour.” The sitting Labour MP,
Gordon-Walker, reassured the voters:
“Labour favours continued control of
immigration, stricter health checks
and deportation of those convicted
of criminal offences….” But Griffiths
won. This was a turning point in
British politics – playing the race
card to win votes.
The Tories passed the
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
disallowing Commonwealth immi-
grants from entering Britain freely.
Minister William Deedes admitted:
“The Bill’s real purpose was to restrict
the influx of coloured immigrants from
the Caribbean and Indian subconti-
nent…”
When Labour came into power
in 1965, PM Harold Wilson did not
repeal the Immigration Act but in fact
reduced voucher numbers available
for migrants. Said Richard Crossman:
“Politically, fear of immigration is the
most powerful force today. If we hadn’t
done this, we would have faced certain
electoral defeat in the West Midlands
& South East.”
“Restricting numbers is good for
race relations” became the guiding
principle for Labour’s policies.
In 1968, Enoch Powell, former
Conservative Minister, warned in an
apocalyptic speech:
“We must be mad, literally mad as
a nation, to permit the annual inflow of
some 50,000 dependents…”
Opinion polls showed that
up to 75% supported what Powell
had said. His popularity drove the
Labour government to rush through
the Commonwealth Immigrants Act
1968 regulating the entry of Asian
British passport holders from Kenya
by a strict quota system. Nevertheless,
Labour lost the 1970 elections
The new Tory PM, Edward Heath
passed the Immigration Act 1971,
removing the right of non-white
Commonwealth citizens from settling
in Britain. In 1972, Asians expelled
from Uganda were reluctantly allowed
in and in 1976 some 250 Asians from
Malawi. Enoch Powell (1976) raged
again about “the limitless increase in
the coloured population in English
cities.”
Margaret Thatcher (1978), then
opposition leader, warned that “the
British people feared that this country
might be rather swamped by people
with a different culture.”
Thatcher was ousted in 1990 but
the Tories went on to win the 1992
elections.
Five years later, New Labour tri-
umphed under Tony Blair after he reas-
sured media mogul Rupert Murdoch
that he would promote pro-market
policies. In 1999, Blair came down
heavily on the asylum seekers. As
the Jewish Chronicle (4 June1999)
put it: “Asylum seekers will not only
lose social security, but also access
to community care, housing and dis-
ability benefits…They are not entitled
to work and their children will not be
protected under the Children Act…
They will have to live under a cash-
less voucher system and be dispersed
to different parts of Britain, isolated
from their families and community…
These proposals will deliver a crush-
ing blow to asylum seekers’ dignity…”
But Tony Blair was not moved. In a
leaked memo, he wrote: “Asylum and
crime - these may appear unlinked to
patriotism but they are: they are tough-
ness issues and they reach deep into
British instincts…We are perceived to
be soft... we need to highlight remov-
als.” (Independent, 31 July 2000).
As Election 2005 drew near,
Labour added a sixth pledge to the
usual five—“Your country’s borders
protected”, with promises on “ID
cards and strict controls that work
to combat asylum abuse and illegal
immigration”. The move came in
direct response to Tory promises of a
“crackdown” on immigration.
Piers Morgan, former editor of the
Daily Mirror, wrote (Evening Standard
08Feb05)  ers having entered the EC by false
“The (coming) election is shap-
ing up to be the most repulsive I can
remember; an election is being fought
on who can be the most racist. We
have hordes of lazy, dole-scrounging,
ignorant, foul-mouthed, cheating, vio-
lent white English yobs without whom
the country would be better off. But a
campaign against “white trash wreck-
ing their own country” would not win
many votes  I am thoroughly embar-
rassed and ashamed of what passes for
political debate.
THEME 2: Asylum and the media
Jacqui Smith put it mildly: “Media
accounts can sometimes reinforce anx-
ieties” she must be well aware of the
horror stories spun by the tabloids on
refugees. A casual visitor might be for-
given for thinking that the Brits are liv-
ing in terror of foreign hordes forcing
their way here or determined asylum
seekers stalking the land. The word
‘immigrant’ is code for Third World
people, not those from Australia,
Canada or USA. The tabloids (like the
Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Express)
have long demonised the non-white
asylum seekers (especially if they are
Muslim), stoking up fear and hatred in
the native millions who feed on these
tabloids.
Nick Davies wrote that “the Daily
Mail is the most powerful paper in
Britain. The government pays attention
to it. PM Gordon Brown sent a special
video message to Paul Dacre on his
10th anniversary as editor…”(New
Statesman, 28Jan08) Home Secretary
Blunkett was sent to greet him in person.
Nick Davies added that the Mail
distorts and fabricates the news
and the Home Office is known to
leak it items to prepare the public
for forthcoming announcements.
Blair commented in 2004: “The Daily
Mail is an extraordinary product…Paul
Dacre (editor) is accountable to no
one. He has absolute and unaccount-
able power.” (Independent 17 June07)
It’s only the former London Mayor,
Ken Livingstone, who had the guts to
condemn the Daily Mail: “The Mail
had continued to discriminate against
minorities since the war, demonising
first Irish immigrants and now asy-
lum seekers.” (Guardian 15 Feb 05).
Other tabloids are no better. Here are
two examples:
Daily Mail (10 Oct 1991) published
an article: How can we stem the tide?
“It is now abundantly clear that Western
Europe faces the threat of a tidal wave
of immigrants from Eastern Europe
and the Third World… These invad-
pretences, seek to remain by claiming
they are political refugees who deserve
asylum. We must face the fact that
they will lie, cheat, flout the law and
pay criminal organizations to smuggle
them into our countries, abusing the
tradition of western liberalism.”
Dover Express fulminated in an
editorial: “Illegal immigration, asy-
lum seekers, scum of the earth drug
smugglers have targeted our beloved
coastline. We are left with a nation’s
human sewage and no cash to wash it
down the drain”. (quoted by Socialist
Worker 21 Aug 1999)
For more examples of media
smears, see Appendix.
The awe in which the tabloids
are held may explain why the Home
Office will not rebuke them for their
scare stories or the police charge them
for telling lies and stirring up hate.
Sir Herman Ouseley (CRE chair
1993-2000) raised this issue in the
Guardian 10 April 04 “The home
secretary, the opposition parties and
the CRE have not challenged the
tone set by newspapers, which daily
describe people as “scroungers” and
“scum”, “pouring in”, “flooding” and
“swamping” a “Britain under siege”?
Why have those who are responsible in
law for promoting good race relations
remained silent?”
Continued on pages 4,5
4
IMMIGRATION -
THEME 3: Tougher legislation on
immigration & asylum
Let’s set the scene with ear-
lier reports on ethnic relations:
The Macpherson Report (1999)
In 1993, black teenager Stephen
Lawrence was murdered by racists in
South London and this led to a public
inquiry led by Sir William Macpherson.
His report declared that “Racism exists
within all organisations and institu-
tions. It infiltrates the community and
starts among the very young...”  But
the rightwing press and politicians
were furious about the charge of insti-
tutional racism and succeeded in get-
ting most of Macpherson’s 70 recom-
mendations shelved.
The Parekh Report (2000) on
the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain
 This seminal report affirmed that a
multicultural society cannot be based
on the history and achievements of
one race (whites), one language group
(English speakers), one ethnicity
(Anglo-Saxon) or only one religion
(Christianity). The state must treat all
equally but with due recognition of
cultural differences.
It proposed three models to bal-
ance cohesion, equality & diversity.
Again the rightwing media
was up in arms, led by the Daily
Telegraph which had also opposed the
Macpherson Report. They fumed at the
idea that Britishness had racist conno-
tations, leading Home Secretary Jack
Straw to disown the report, which he
had sponsored in the first place.
The Cantle Report (2001)
The year 2001 was critically eventful:
Blair’s New Labour won a second term
in May 2001 and David Blunkett suc-
ceeded Jack Straw as Home Secretary
a month later. There were two policy-
shifting events: civil disturbances by
Asian youth in the English northern
towns and the terror attacks on Sept
11 on the US. In the summer of 2001,
Asian youths took to the streets of
Oldham, Leeds, Burnley, Bradford
and Stoke to defend their communities
from racist violence. For example, in
BRADFORD (7 July), fighting broke
out between the racists, police and
Asians. Rioting continued through the
night resulting in 200 police officers
being injured, two men stabbed and
36 arrested. The Home Office asked
Professor Ted Cantle to make an offi-
cial response.
The Cantle Report (Dec 2001)
was no doubt influenced by the after-
math of the 9/11 attacks. Instead of
addressing the root cause of the unrest
- institutional racism - the state intro-
duced a distraction called community
cohesion, whereby multiculturism and
cultural diversity had to be contained
and Muslims forcibly integrated into
British values, taking language and
Confluence
cont from page 3
citizenship tests and taking an oath of
allegiance.
Meanwhile US President Bush
threatened that “anyone not for us is
against us” and launched his ‘War on
Terror’. A culture of fear and suspicion
was imposed on Britain and the EU,
with constant warnings issued about
security threats.
*** Nationality, Immigration &
Asylum Act (2002)
Government began legisla-
tive action with the publication of
the White paper Secure Borders, Safe
Haven: integration with diversity in
Britain in Feb 2002. Institutional rac-
ism, anti-racism and multiculturism
were all taken off the agenda while
integration and community cohesion
became the new policy framework for
minorities and migrants.
A grim bill followed the White
Paper with little discussion and only
74 MPs voting against it.
Jacqui Smith had said that after the
1971 Immigration Act, “10 more Acts
have been necessary”. The NIA Act
was the fourth in 10 years. Here are its
draconian provisions:
- Citizenship
Applicants (including spouses of
British citizens) for citizenship are to
face English language tests, have ‘suf-
ficient knowledge about life in the UK’
and take an oath of allegiance.
- Removal of Citizenship
A citizen, including one born
British, can be deprived of citizenship
(unless this makes one stateless) if the
person ‘has done anything seriously
prejudicial to the wider interests of the
UK’. Clearly the intended targets are
British-born Muslim youth moved to
violence by imperialist interventions.
- Checks before travelling
Airlines and carriers have to check
details of passengers travelling to
Britain to confirm they pose no secu-
rity risk. There is no right of appeal for
anyone refused boarding on the basis
of an airline’s check.
- Internal controls
Anyone applying for a visa will
be required to provide biometric data
with their application, which will be
stored on a central database. Detention
escort officers (mostly from private
security firms) will be empowered
to enter premises and search detain-
ees before removal. Local authorities,
Inland Revenue, Employers, Banks and
building societies will all be obliged to
assist the Home Office with informa-
tion and checks.
- Restrictions on asylum seekers
All asylum seekers will start in an
induction centre for up to two weeks.
Those not detained will be subject to
strict reporting and residence condi-
tions. Destitute asylum seekers will
not be allowed to stay with relatives or
friends and receive a cash allowance as
at present. Children will not be allowed
to attend mainstream schools.
Church leaders and other groups
promptly attacked the harsh clauses,
especially segregated education for
refugee children. Dr Rowan Williams
demanded an end to the detention
without charge of 14 foreign nationals
but Home Secretary Blunkett refused
to back down.
An anti-terror bill was also passed
in 2003, approving suspects to be
detained without trial for up to 14
days. According to the Guardian (Feb
3, 2004), the Labour peer Helena
Kennedy QC described Mr Blunkett
as a “shameless authoritarian” and
compared him to Zimbabwe’s dictator,
Robert Mugabe
THEME 4: Managed migration: Border
controls & a Points Based System
Charles Clark became Home
Secretary in Dec 2004 and in Feb
2005 (Election year) unveiled
Labour’s 5-year strategy under the
title: Controlling our borders: mak-
ing migration work for Britain.
The highly respected Joint
Council for the Welfare of
Immigrants (JCWI) commented:
”The main thrust of the strategy is a
multi-pronged drive to ‘crack down’
on illegal entry and unlawful working;
step up fast-tracking of asylum claims
and detention; toughen removals poli-
cy and enhance surveillance before, on
and after entry…Ever more intrusive
systems of surveillance are being built
into the existing databases. To ‘secure
borders’, the strategy proposes to fin-
ger-print all visa appli­cants by 2008,
to screen those travellers coming from
‘high risk’ areas for TB and to con-
tinue to deploy immigration officers in
France and Belgium. New legislation
is expected to abolish appeal rights for
students; to demand financial bonds
which can be forfeited; fixed penalty
employer fines; and to extend car­riers’
liability penalties.”
Jacqui Smith said: “We’ve signed
the e-borders contract – a robust sys-
tem that will count everyone in and
out of Britain, so we know who is
here, who should be allowed in and
who refused… Now anyone applying
for a visa will have their fingerprints
taken…” It all smacks of the workings
of a police state.
Ms Smith also explained the
Points Based System (PBS) set up
for all economic migrants in five cat-
egories or tiers. It was first introduced
in the 5-year strategy (2005), followed
by a consultation and elaborated in
the paper. “Making migration work
for Britain” (March 2006). The PBS
seems biased in favour of skilled work-
ers and unskilled workers would only
be allowed in from the expanded EU.
Jacqui Smith explained the 5 tiers
but made no mention of a vulnerable
group - Migrant domestic workers
(MDWs) - who fall outside the PBS
categories. Current rules allow them
to enter the UK and switch employers
to prevent abusive practices. Now the
Home Office intends to treat MDWs
as business visitors – their stay will
be restricted to six months with no
right to change employers or to set-
tlement. Many of these MDWs are
poor women from South Asia and
the Philippines working for the fami-
lies of rich foreign nationals. Many
of these non-EEA MDWs undertake
caring tasks which cannot just be
switched off at the end of six months
because it would mean severing rela-
tionships built with members of their
employers’ family such as children.
Labour seems only interested in the
economically “useful” to live here —
as defined by big business.
Concluding remarks
All Home Secretaries ritually offer
vapid reassurances: “we will remain
a haven for the oppressed and those
legitimately seeking asylum…” and
well worn platitudes like: “We can
continue to celebrate difference - with
tolerance, fairness and broadminded-
ness that is uniquely British.”
But doesn’t it all sound contradic-
tory and hypocritical, in the light of
the harsh treatment of immigrants and
asylum seekers over the years, and the
failure to confront institutional racism,
promote multiculturism and discipline
the media?
Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney
North & Stoke Newington, wrote
in the Guardian (Feb 18, 2005)
”Immigration has always been syn-
onymous with race in British politi-
cal discourse. Likewise, asylum has
been conflated with immigration. The
asylum seeker has been transformed
from a person deserving of pity into a
tabloid hate figure.”
For a supposedly Christian
nation, it is sad that so little compas-
sion and moral restraint has been
exercised in dealing with intend-
ing migrants, especially from poor
countries fleeing from poverty and
repression. The JCWI noted that
“the new Points-Based System (PBS)
wishing to immigrate for work and
study, is in danger of replicating the
racial injustice which is a feature
of our unjust society with its huge
gaps in wealth and development.
In this way the PBS is in danger of
both defeating the UK Government’s
objective of Making Poverty History
and undermining a culture of non-
discrimination and equality in the
UK.” (Ref 4 below).
Many of the poorer countries
are former colonies which Britain
and the EU have exploited for their
resources and labour over some
centuries. Shouldn’t therefore the
EU feel morally obliged to make
some reparations via a more flex-
ible migration policy? Instead the
EU seems solely driven by the goal
for economic dominance - if neces-
sary, by making war and propping
up client regimes, while claiming to
champion democracy.
Continued on pages 5
 Confluence
The Devi Rajab column
South African newsletter
Monty Naicker: charming hero of the struggle
Devi Rajab
Time is a great dispenser of
justice. Though its wheels grind
slowly, it eventually reaches its true
destiny and takes its rightful place
in history. At long last, the good
deeds of Dr Monty Naicker, leader
of the Natal Indian Congress have
been acknowledged by his country.
Despite the politicking between par-
ties in favour of and against the idea
of renaming streets after old politi-
cal stalwarts, the general consensus
of acknowledging great men and
women who have contributed to
the struggle for freedom cannot be
disputed.
Last week, Dr Kreesen Naicker
received the City of Durban scroll
from Mayor Obed Mlaba on behalf
of his father, the late Mr Mogambary
(Monty) Naicker. Had he been alive
today, Monty Naicker would have
shied away from such publicity.
Immigration -
Statewatch.org noted (Ref 5):
“When the west (USA & EU) stops
exploiting Third World resources and
markets, many people will not have to
flee from poverty or seek work. And
when they stop supporting pro-western
authoritarian regimes, many fewer will
have to flee from persecution.”
Of course, it is true that Britain
does not unilaterally make policies
on managed migration, but rather
has to submit to the decisions taken
at EU Summits. For example, the
e-borders that Jacqui Smith spoke of
is an EU idea. The EU plans to go
much further. It is currently develop-
ing a new 5-year strategy for jus-
tice, home affairs and security for
2009-2014. The proposals include the
latest technologies of surveillance and
closer cooperation with the US. In the
words of the EU Council presidency:
Instead, he would have preferred
to have been at home laughing and
joking with close friends, over a
drink or two. In many respects,
Uncle Monty, as we all knew him,
was a very unpretentious man who
enjoyed the pleasures of simple
things in life. A freshly cooked hot
curry, a good book, a game of
snooker, parties, the “thirukuthu”
or six foot male folk dance, the
company of young folk, but most of
all he loved bragging about his son
Kreesen, in a jovial way. It was his
way of coping with the harshness of
the struggle.
According to his friend, the
late Dr K Goonam, who studied
with him in Edinburgh, whenever
he arrived at a party, the sedateness
of the atmosphere would disappear
and there would be a sudden liven-
ing up of young and old. Looking
around the room he would sidle
up to the shyest old aunt and make
some unexpected comment like, “Is
your husband good to you?” His
remark would sound odd in Tamil,
as the language does not lend itself
to frivolous banter. Then, as the
music started playing, he would lift
her off her feet and whirl her on to
the dance floor, guiding her to keep
rhythm with him, and whispering in
her ear “Now your husband will be
good to you.” Monty Naicker loved
singing Tamil songs, interspersed
with a creative smattering of Zulu.
His repertoire consisted of no
more than a few lines from three or
four songs which he learnt at ver-
nacular school. His personal friends
cont from page 4
“Every object the individual uses,
every transaction they make and
almost everywhere they go will cre-
ate a detailed digital record. This will
generate a wealth of information for
public security organisations, and cre-
ate huge opportunities for more effec-
tive and productive public security
efforts.” (Ref 5)
References
1. CARF Bulletin Summer 2002
2. JCWI Bulletin, Spring/Summer
2002
3. JCWI 5-year plan on immigration,
June 2005
4. JCWI critique of the Points based
system, Nov 2006
5. Tony Bunyan: The Shape
of Things to Come, www.
statewatch.org, 10 Sept 2008
were drawn both from the move-
ment and the larger community. My
father considered himself to be one
of his closest friends, and together
with others they established the
famous Bellair club, partly to cush-
ion themselves from the indignity
of being constantly refused admis-
sion to hotels and restaurants and
other public places. They purchased
a rambling cottage on two acres of
land and, there in between going
to prison, directing political cam-
paigns, and practicing medicine on
a social welfare basis, he relaxed
– dancing and playing bridge. The
Naickers were very hospitable, and
their home was the scene of many
happy parties where the guests
would mingle with the likes of Alan
Paton, Chief Albert Luthuli, Dr
Yusuf Dadoo, the Meers and other
stalwarts in the movement.
Everyone loved him, even the
security police who squatted outside
his watching his movements every
hour of the day, taking down the
number plates of his visitor’s cars.
He spent much of his life in pris-
on, but each time he came out his
spirit was never crushed. He would
jocularly raise the leg of his trouser
pants and show us his wounds,
which he received from doing hard
labour. For him, going in and out of
prison became a routine, as did his
confrontation with the authorities.
To our amusement he would claim
that at least he was assured of a
honeymoon each time he cam out
of prison!
His beautiful wife, Marie, gra-
APPENDIX
The media and asylum seekers
The overwhelming majority of
applicants are bogus. Most have entered
this country illegally and only when
arrested, they pose as terrified fugitives
from tyranny… (Daily Mail 12 Dec 95)
“Clamp them at Calais” (Sunday
People, 24 Jan 1999)
“Some supposed asylum seekers
repay our generosity by cheating the
benefit system … begging and thiev-
ing in town & city centres; and even
setting up criminal networks” (Daily
Mail, Mar 00)
“Handouts to refugees are robbing
the British poor” (Evening Standard,
April 00)
“We need deportations on a huge
scale” (Sun, 9 Mar 00)
“Beggars build mansions with
ciously bore her hardship with
uncomplaining dignity. I recall at
the time that the story went that she
had been raised by white nannies in
De Aar, and knew no Tamil, except
for the few swear words which she
inadvertently learnt from her hus-
band’s equally limited repertoire.
But always resplendent in saris, she
carried herself with great dignity
throughout the 40 – odd years of
her husband’s political struggles for
the cause.
As a political activist, Monty
Naicker cut another picture. He was
principled, unswerving and fearless,
a fighter to the bitter end. When,
as a young man in the 1930s, he
formed the nationalist wing of the
Congress movement, few in South
Africa were thinking of a non-racial
democratic future. Within a sort
space of time he was able to mobi-
lize the Indian community political-
ly, and South Africa saw the return
of the Gandhian spirit. Under the
banner of the non – European united
front, Mr Naicker brought radical
Indians, Africans and coloureds
together. The post war era brought
Monty into conflict with Jan Smuts,
who had helped to draft the United
Nations Charter, but was not pre-
pared to extend the principles of the
charter to black South Africans in
his own country. He led the passive
resistance movement, in which over
2000 registers were imprisoned.
Dr Naicker also played a cru-
cial role in placing racism on the
international agenda. He realized
that unless South Africa’s racial
OUR handouts” (Sun, 14 Mar 00)
“Time to kick the scroungers out”
(Sun, 17 Mar 00)
“Refugees get flats with Jacuzzi,
sunbeds and… a sauna” (Daily Star,
25 March 00)
“Asylum seekers eat our donkeys”
(D Star, 21Aug03)
“Asylum seekers steal the Queen’s
birds for barbecues” (Sun 4 July 03):
The Daily Express in 2001, ran front
page headlines for seven issues in a row:
We can’t take anymore asylum seek-
er; Asylum: we’re being invaded;
Refugees: run for your life; Labour
U-turn to stop asylum mayhem;
Asylum invasion reaches 12,000 a
month; Asylum seekers: give us the
true figures; Asylum invasion: judges
to rule.
Mail on Sunday (26 Jan 03)
announced that disease is ‘the new
5
Monty Naicker
practices were brought to the
attention of the world, they would
remain unpunished. Later, under the
presidency of Albert Luthuli, that
alliance began the bitter struggle
against the government, eventually
leading to the banning of the ANC,
PAC and SACP.
Monty Naicker was among the
many brave men and women who
were banned, and his voice of rea-
son and understanding was muffled
for 14 long years.
Yet he remained a symbol of
hope for all those dedicated to a
non – racial democracy in South
Africa. Surely we will all agree
that his memory must live on in our
midst. Viva Monty Naicker Avenue,
Boulevard, Highway!
Dr.Devi Rajab, a leading
South African journalist can be
reached at: rajab@cybertek.co.za
asylum peril that we cannot ignore…
‘We live in fear of foreigners bringing
death to our land... It is not by allow-
ing in terrorists that the Government’s
policy of mass immigration, especially
from the Third World, will claim most
lives. It is through letting in too many
germs.”
The Sun (27 Jan 03) warned that
immigrants had brought “alarming
levels of infectious TB, Hepatitis B
[and] incurable Aids’ to Britain.” It
was running a petition calling on Tony
Blair to ‘stop Britain becoming a soft
touch for illegal asylum seekers’. With
over 300,000 signatories, it claimed
to be the biggest newspaper petition
in history.
Eddie D’Sa, a former academic,
is a social activist and Secretary,
Goan Welfare Association, UK
6
Confluence
FOOD BALANCE SHEETS - cont from page 1
Food Supply and Availability at
National Level
The current food situation in
South Asia is drastically different
to that which prevailed up to the
1970s. In the 1970s and 1980s most
South Asian countries were trans-
formed from food deficit countries
to food surplus countries. This was
particularly so with respect to India
and Pakistan the two biggest coun-
tries of South Asia that together
contain over 80 per cent of the
regionís population.
India attained food grain suf-
ficiency in the 1970s and has sus-
tained it since. It has had adequate
grain stocks to meet the year-to
year fluctuations in production. In
2002 India had food grain stocks of
over 60 million metric tons. Current
grain stocks are estimated at around
30 million metric tons.
Similarly Pakistan became an
exporter of rice and reached self-
sufficiency in wheat in the 1980ís.
However in the 1990ís high popu-
lation growth resulted in domes-
tic demand for wheat exceeding
domestic production resulting in
the country becoming an importer
of wheat once again. This situa-
tion was reversed by incentives
for wheat production and Pakistan
became a grain surplus country
once again at the turn of the cen-
tury.
There has been a significant
increase in food production in
Bangladesh in the last few decades
but the county suffers from year to
year fluctuations owing to frequent
floods and drought conditions. In
contrast, Nepal that was a grain sur-
plus country in the 1970ís turned an
importer owing to high population
growth and tardy progress in rice
and wheat production.
Sri Lanka was for many decades
a food deficit country importing
her requirements of rice, wheat
flour, sugar, milk and other prod-
ucts. The situation with respect
to rice production has changed
significantly in recent years. The
country has achieved near self-
sufficiency in rice. This situation
has been achieved owing to signifi-
cant increases in rice production as
well as a degree of substitution of
imported wheat flour consumption
for rice. Nevertheless, rice produc-
tion in 2005 was adequate to meet
domestic consumption needs and
build a small rice stock, though
there were also a 3 per cent of rice
imports. A surplus of rice was real-
ized in 2006.
All five countries have export-
ed some food, though the exports
from Bangladesh. Nepal and Sri
Lanka are insignificant. Besides,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have
imported a fair quantity of food in
recent years. Nevertheless four of
the five countries, with the excep-
tion of Bangladesh, had a positive
food balance. They were able to
meet their national food require-
ments by either production or
imports. In the case of India and
Pakistan the food balance was sig-
nificant, while Sri Lanka and Nepal
had small positive food balances.
Bangladesh alone had a negative
food balance.
The availability of food grains
has increased in the region and in
all the constituent countries. In the
region as a whole cereal availability
has increased from 2330 kcals/day
in the 1970ís to over 2400 kcals/
day in 2000. The highest avail-
ability of energy is in Pakistan,
followed by India, Sri Lanka, Nepal
and Bangladesh that had only 2120
kcals/per day in 2000. Nevertheless,
the cereal availability in South Asia
is the lowest among the regions of
the world. Therefore the region as a
whole and the five rice-producing
countries have adequate food either
due to adequate domestic produc-
tion or through imports. They are
for the most part food secure at the
national level at current levels of
food demand. India and Pakistan
are self-sufficient in food. Sri
Lanka though not self-sufficient
in food, has a capacity to import
her food needs through its export
earnings. Bangladesh and Nepal are
also food secure at national level
though less secure than the other
three countries.
Nature and Extent of Food
Insecurity
However the improvements in
national food availability observed
above have not been matched by
similar gains in food security at
household levels. There has been
little or no improvement in house-
hold food insecurity either in the
region as a whole or in individual
countries of South Asia. In fact the
number of persons who are food
insecure has increased in the last
decade.
About 500 million persons in
South Asia live in poverty and 400
million persons or about 35-40 per
cent of South Asiaís population are
deemed as having inadequate food.
All five selected countries of South
Asia have an unacceptably large
proportion of their populations mal-
nourished. It is also observed that
there is a high correlation between
poverty, malnutrition and child
malnutrition.
The largest number, as well as
the highest proportion of the mal-
nourished resides in India. About
40 per cent of Indian adults suffer
from chronic energy deficiency and
225 million Indians are chronically
undernourished.
Pakistan too has 35 per cent
of its population undernourished.
Nepal has nearly one half of its
population suffering from malnutri-
tion. Over thirty per cent of Sri
Lankaís population lack adequate
food, with the proportion in rural
areas and estate areas having higher
levels of malnutrition.
While South Asia has seen
improvements in household food
security, all five countries have
a significant proportion of their
households that are malnourished
and the levels of child malnutrition
are still unacceptably high. In all
five countries the average figures of
malnutrition mask regional varia-
tions. Rural areas have much higher
rates of malnutrition than urban
areas, though the numbers in the
latter could be high. Disadvantaged
groups, remote areas and conflict-
ridden parts of these countries have
much higher rates of food inse-
curity than the national averages
suggest.
Future Food Requirements in
South Asia
Food consumption in South
Asia is expected to double in the
next 25 years. This is a conse-
quence of the increase in popula-
tion and increases in per capita
consumption with expected rising
incomes in these countries.
Population growth in the next
two decades is an important deter-
minant of future food needs in
South Asia. Although the rate of
increase in population growth has
declined in all countries, the abso-
lute increase in population is large
in each of them and the region as
a whole.
Even if we assume that per
capita consumption of food does
not increase, the food needs in the
region would increase substantially
as the absolute increase in popu-
lation in the region is high. The
population growth is faster in the
first few years and decelerates later.
Therefore the increase in food needs
will flatten out in the later years. As
per capita incomes rise the demand
for several foods will rise progres-
sively, if not exponentially.
The projected increases in food
needs are likely to be higher than
the increase in population for sev-
eral reasons. First the per capita
consumption of food is likely to
increase as the countryís levels of
food consumption are relatively
low, on the one hand, and per capita
incomes are likely to be about two
and a half times todayís income
at the current rates of economic
growth and population increase.
There could also be changes in
consumption patterns owing to the
ageing of the population. In the
next two decades there would be a
progressive ageing of the popula-
tion, especially in India and Sri
Lanka, that would also have an
effect on food consumption. This
would offset some of the increases
in per capita consumption, espe-
cially of cereals and sugar. The
increase in per capita incomes
would also lead to shifts in the con-
sumption patterns among the higher
income groups.
If the objective of food secu-
rity were to be attained in South
Asia, the availability of food at
the national level would require
increasing substantially. In the case
of food deficit countries and any
South Asian country that becomes
a deficit country owing to the fac-
tors discussed, there are additional
concerns. There are concerns about
national food security in the future
arising from a serious deteriora-
tion in the terms of trade, reduced
international competitiveness for
industrial exports and the global
food situation. The prospect of oil
prices rising further in the next two
decades has accentuated this anxi-
ety. These concerns imply a need
to look at the future needs of food
and the prospects for their domestic
production. What these consider-
ations imply is that rice produc-
tion in these countries requires to
be increased to ensure adequate
supplies as it has a direct bearing
on the supply and conditions of
availability of rice to households.
This in turn has a bearing on house-
hold accessibility to food. Owing
to these reasons there is no room
for complacency. There is a need
to increase rice production through
increases in productivity to feed the
millions of new mouths that would
be added to the population of South
Asia in the coming decades.
Dr.Nimal Sanderatne M.A.,
Ph.D was founder Chairman of
the Centre for Poverty Analysis
(CEPA), Sri Lanka.
visit www.confluence.org.uk
for the article in full
 Confluence
Confluence BUSINESS
Ban on short selling shares and stock market trends
Ragu Dharmaratnam ACMA, MAAT
Ever since 1609, when Isaac Le
Maire, a Flemish merchant, encour-
aged a group of investors to push
down the share price of the Dutch
East India Company (VOC) short
sellers have been blamed for almost
every market decline. Even after
the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade
Centre there were rumours that
Osama Bin Laden had shorted the
market mainly financial and insur-
ance sectors to his benefit, before
the attack.
What is short selling?
Short selling is when an investor
or a trader sells shares in a particular
company in the hope that the prices
will fall in the future. If an investor
thinks that a particular company is
going to make a poor trading state-
ment or is going to announce poor
trading results in future, they may
sell shares in that company before the
announcement is made and then buy
the shares back at lower prices after
the announcement and pocket the
difference as profit. In this case if the
price goes up after the announcement
then the investor makes a loss. Short
selling in the U.K markets can be
exercised by two main methods such
as Contract - For Difference (CFD)
and Spread betting. Other methods
such as Warrants and Options can
also be used to short sell shares in the
UK markets but they are not as popu-
lar as CFD’s and Spread betting.
Spread betting / CFD
Spread betting and CFD’s are
the two main methods by which
investors can short (sell) the shares.
The main advantages of these
methods are that there is no stamp
duty to pay on dealing in shares
and there is a saving of 0.5 pc.
and being margin products you can
buy £1000 worth of shares with a
deposit of as little as £30 (3%). The
main difference between Spread
betting and CFD is that all the gains
from trading via the spread betting
method are tax free. Any one can
short sell company shares and one
does not have to be a financial
or banking institution or a hedge
fund.
Financial Services Authority
(FSA) and short selling
Recently the FSA has banned
investors and traders from opening
new short positions on major banks,
investment and Insurance compa-
nies such as Barclays bank, HBOS,
Lloyds TSB, Aviva PLC, Friends
Provident, Prudential, and Close
brothers to name a few. This ban
will remain in force until January
16th . Other countries such as the
U.S.A and Germany have also
banned traders from short selling.
Ban on short selling – can this
help financial shares rally?
According to many economic
commentators short selling activity
is one of the main reasons why bank-
ing and insurance sector shares have
fallen in recent months and hence
the reason for banning short selling
in these shares. If this is correct then,
banking shares such as those of Royal
Bank of Scotland (RBOS) should not
have dropped in value from £2.00
(on the date of the ban on short sell-
ing) to less than £1.00 within four
weeks (see graph below). This now
raises a doubt whether short selling
in fact was responsible for recent
heavy falls in share prices.
There was a valid reason why
financial stocks went down: mis-
priced securities on the balance
sheets caused the problems and not
short sellers alone. Short sellers were
not responsible for the drop in the
fed. funds rate nor for advice to
clients to take out mortgages which
they should not have.
Ban of Short-selling shares – an
unwise move?
In the very short term one may
say that a very large short selling
of shares of a particular company
may be detrimental as small private
investors could be affected by this,
but in the long term this will cor-
rect itself as the hedge funds or
finance institutions which first sold
these shares will have to close their
books by buying back these shares
and at that point of time the share
price is bound to rise due to buying
pressure.
Ragu Dharmaratnam
I will argue that for the fol-
lowing reasons short selling is
essential for the markets:
It brings liquidity into the
market. Hedge funds are among
the biggest traders and liquidity
providers in the market and by
banning short selling you prevent
these experts from selling shares
first to buy them back later.
Stock markets need both buy-
ers and sellers. It must be allowed
to function as a free efficient mar-
ket, and by banning short sellers
you are restricting one section of
the traders that could affect the
market equilibrium. “Someone
has to sell shares for others to
buy”.
A large short selling of shares
in a particular company can also
serve as a warning signal to a
company that they are not going in
the right direction and could com-
pel the company to take corrective
action at a very early stage.
Convertible bond funds have
been hurt the most by the ban on
short selling. Investors who buy
convertible bonds (that is bonds
that can be converted to stock at
a certain price) usually short the
same company’s stock as a hedge
against a fall in the price. Due to
the ban on short selling of certain
types of shares this arbitrage func-
tion stood badly hit.
Lehman brothers went bust;
the U.S government was forced to
rescue AIG. This was the result of
poor management of the business
model and not due to short sell-
ing, leading ultimately to central
banks world wide such as the
Federal Reserve, Bank of England,
European Central Bank, and Bank
of Japan injecting money into the
banking system.
The practice of short selling
has for years been used as a hedg-
ing strategy aimed at protecting
“long” investors - those who own
stock in a particular company.
The last time when short-sell-
ing was banned in the US in 1929
it did not have the desired effect
and so I have my doubts it will
work this time.
Finally, it is not a good move to
select only a few company shares
that the hedge funds cannot short.
For example FSA announced that
Alliance Trust was one of the
investment companies where trad-
ers cannot short sell shares but
that led to traders targeting other
investment companies such as
ICAP and Man Group. Now short
sellers are targeting property and
construction sector companies as
they are not on the banned list and
this failure to ban these high beta
sectors has exposed them to attack
by short sellers.
Lack of liquidity and lack of
market confidence in the finance
sector is the major problem now
and banning short selling alone
will not help to overcome the cur-
rent crisis.
Recession fears and the rescue
package
Can the temporary measures
such as the US $700bn rescue
package, the up to £400bn pack-
age by the UK government, and
the coordinated effort by six coun-
tries to cut the interest rate at the
same time remedy the recent fall
in share prices? We will have to
wait and see if it will work, but
all these moves were taken very
badly by the market and the share
prices fell further as the markets
thought them “panic moves”.
It was Jim Rogers, who cor-
rectly predicted the commodities
rally in 1999 who said that it is not
a good idea to fight a recession and
if one did and pumped money into
the economy it would be nothing
better than a quick fix leaving one
worse off than the recession itself.
I think he is right in so far as the
temporary moves by the various
governments around the world
have failed to materialise.
7
In a recent interview with”
Money Morning” Jim Rogers said
“The U.S Financial crisis has cut
so deep and the government has
taken so much debt in misguided
attempts to bail out companies
such as Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac that the super crash is so
likely that most Americans alive
today will not be around by the
time the last of this credit market
mess is finally cleared away, if it
ever is”.
What is the future trend for
share markets, currencies and
commodities?
DOW JONES:
Dow Jones the world’s widely
traded stock market index, has
broken through a key15 year long
trend line support level last month
at 9950. What we are hoping
now is Dow Jones to bounce back
above this key 9950 level fairly
soon otherwise this downtrend
may continue for a while.
Technical analysts may say
Dow Jones is a buy above this
9950 level. One piece of good
news for investors and traders is
that the S&P 500, the US based
world’s largest index that includes
the top 500 companies in the US
lost more in the weeks of October
2007, September 2001 and April
2000, than in the weeks of October
2008, and on all three occasions
bounced back the following week;
Also cyclically, we are (on 27th
October 08) where we were at
the crash of October1929, and
October 1987, giving us hope that
27th October 08 reflected the lows
for the stock market.
GOLD
Gold is the best investment to
have during times of uncertainty
such as the world is going through
now. Gold was trading at just over
$1000 an ounce in July 2008 and
then dropped to $685 an ounce
in October 2008 and had many
commentators saying that the bull
market for gold was over. At the
time of writing, gold was trading
at $710 an ounce and there is a
possibility that gold prices may
edge higher and hit $900 an ounce
before the year end as November
and December months are nor-
mally bullish months for gold.
Continued on pages 14
8
front row dance and drama
IN ITS OWN RIGHT - A festival of Asian art forms:
INVASIAN at edinburgh fringe
The great British pilgrimage
each summer is to the north. 2008
saw a first at the edinburgh fringe:
the INVASIAN festival sponsored
predominantly by Incredible India,
and produced by Club West. It
was hosted in the Royal College
of Surgeons’ Quincentenary Hall.
Through the daily downpour, fami-
lies, artists, companies, media, got
into stampede mode for feasting
their soul in the trough of culture.
edinburgh is home of the world’s
recognizably trail blazing, star
making, profit shattering, destina-
tion that programmes art today that
becomes the thought for tomorrow.
The hype surrounding the festivals
– fringe, International, Comedy,
literature, Theatre, Dance, Jazz –
makes a thriving industry for inves-
tors sponsoring the events, and for
hotels, real estate rentals, theatres,
employment for a wide range of
production staff at the venues apart
from the companies that bring their
own.
In a time when the economic
current is looking east to India
it seemed a significant gateway.
The INVASIAN festival was a
ConfluenCe
programme of Asian performing
arts ranging from Bollywood to
Classical Bharatnatyam as direct
influences from the subcontinent,
and voices of the diaspora in the
Asian theatre in england. Apart
from this there were popular and
serious representations of work
from Korea and Hong Kong and
Israel as well.
Taking work to the edinburgh
festivals is a high risk venture.
The saying on the street goes:
“You never go to make money at
edinburgh, only a reputation and
it best be a good one”. out of
the 2000 shows that play simul-
taneously, one is lucky to get an
audience at all! In a climate when
arts funding is shrinking for sub-
sidized theatre companies, this
was a good idea as a platform for
Asian work as an umbrella, put
together somewhat indiscriminate-
ly, for diverse purposes, that had an
interesting effect. firstly, the shuf-
fling of commercial programmes
like Taekwando placed at prime
daytime slots, brought in family
audiences with a sense of curios-
ity – not necessarily culture. But
what was good was that it made the
general public enter a venue that
advertised a culturally spe-
cific programme, which
they might otherwise
have passed by.
Secondly, the
artists enlisted
from diverse
environments
stretched the
perception of
Asianesses. This
was evident from
performers of diverse
ethnicities display-
ing a professional
commitment to Asian
art forms integrated with
British issues and con-
cerns.
A vibrant example of this was
Danceihayam (www.danceihayam.
org), a Bharata natyam dance com-
pany based in edinburgh. Priya
Shri Kumar as artistic director,
chief choreographer & dancer with
her multiracial team of dancers
from Israel, Ireland, Malaysia,
and Scotland created VISMAYAHA
combining Krishna, Shiva and Devi
narratives. They were spectacular
in their combination of complex
footwork, rhythms, including
an exploration of Bharata natyam
with music from the orkney-based
Wrigley sisters and a finale to
Celtic music. It was heartening to
see the old stories, in traditional
dance forms sending waves of
excitement to new audiences. The
discipline of Priya and her dancers
signalled that true performance is
about an immersion in the poetry
of the moment; dance is a vehicle
for that.
from the south, or london,
AKADeMI (www.akademi.co.uk)
came DAReDeVAS. A powerful
contemporisation of kathak with a
multiracial cast of dancers. While
these two organisations embedded
the classical origins with a flair
for integrating cross-cultural art-
ists and styles, there were compa-
nies embarking on personal stories
through traditional dance.
Then comes the antithesis to
dance : Theatre. Sayan Kent’s
new work ANOTHER PARADISE,
directed by Janet Steel of KAlI
Theatre Company was a refresh-
ing take on the ID card issue as
a government intervention in the
wake of identity fraud, citizenship,
computer misreadings resulting
in human mishaps, hackers, and
the price of freedom. Sakuntala
Ramanee’s performance was well
poised between the surreal world of
the play and the imminent reality of
the chaos should this happen. The
serious political nature of the work
was well diffused by humour. It
will be out on tour in April 2009.
RIfCo Theatre company ( www.
rifcoarts.com) more popularly
known for Bollywood inspired
musical theatre brought out
a poignant work: IT AIN’T
ALL BOLLYWOOD. This
work featured a young
Asian woman who locks
herself into a panacea that
Bollywood brings each time
she has to encounter reality.
And this is probably true of
Cleveland Watkiss creates a vocal suite
of percussive, wind, and melodic sounds
a lot of young Asian women whose
dreams, and wedding parties, are
fantasies of Bollywood, than fac-
ing cold reality. This two-hander
paced itself with a hard working
cast shaping a moving story.
Straddling across the worlds
of dance and theatre with its use
of movement, music and impro-
vised Storytelling was Vayu naidu
Company’s (VnC) (www.vayun-
aiducompany.org.uk) re-telling of
RAMAYANA with Ansuman Biswas
on the Swiss Hang ; a musical
instrument that combines melodic
and percussive sounds. VnC’s new
work BHAKTI & THE BLUES was
with jazz singer Cleveland Watkiss.
The former is the Hindu epic, the
selection of stories are derived
from unfamiliar folk, and tribal ori-
gins rendered in english. BHAKTI
& THE BLUES is an intercultural
meeting of the meaning of encoun-
tering the infinity of love across
times of political oppression and
human hardship. VnC’s poems,
and selection of Devi and Afro-
American stories were interwoven
with Cleveland’s vocal suite that
range from a trumpet to a djambe
drum; it was where Indian story-
telling met transatlantic Jazz and
was ‘a serious side to the fringe’
(Glasgow Herald).
The work that touched and
combined technology with live
performance as an installation the-
atre was ID by Hu nununMul
enabling the audience to experi-
ence the alienation that every visi-
tor and immigrant must experience
when entering a country and not
being fluent in the language. It was
shortlisted for the Total Theatre
awards.
The Chinese elvis (www.
Chineseelvis.com) was another
phenomenon that deserves men-
tion. Paul Huw is no ordinary elvis
sing alike. There is definitive polit-
ical creed with his powerpoint on
the Diverse elvis Spectrum done
with the required irony, about iden-
tity. He states that the Chinese have
not been embraced within the genre
of Asian in england, as they are the
singular minority emerging from
Asia that does not play cricket.
Through the comedy, some ques-
tions of what it means to be Asian
are raised and looking at differ-
ences and similarities – particularly
in the fascination with elvis.
The Tourist Board of India
– Incredible India! - sponsored
this platform that gave the first
visibility of Asian work at the
edinburgh fringe. The Indian High
Commissioner’s visit and affirma-
tion gave it the stamp of approval
for the future. (INVASIAN was pro-
duced by CluB WeST).
Dr.Vayu Naidu - is a storyteller,
writer, producer and Aristic
Director of Vayu Naidu Company
funded by the Arts Council
England, whose intercultural
work took her to the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival. Now with Guys
and St. Thomas’ Arts Charity as
Artist in Residence at the New
Cross Gate Satellite Unit, Vayu
works across private, corporate
and health sectors enabling
people to envision change in
their work place, stretching the
frontiers of performance across
art and life.
 Confluence 9

E d w a r d L e a r H o t el
The Edward Lear Hotel is an ideal
location for visiting central London, only
a 100 metre walk from Oxford Street.
Just the right location for visitors
to London’s tourist centre, and with
discounted budget prices.

The Hotel is a former town-house typical of those once

occupied by London’s wealthy elite and is the former home
of the famous Victorian artist, Edward Lear who once taught
Queen Victoria. Within easy walking distance of the theatre
district, there are value-for-money prices for the bedrooms with
a full range of choices to suit every need.

Prices include full

English breakfast,
service and tax. Each
room has cable TV
with free satellite
film and sports
channels, tea/coffee,
direct-dial phone, etc.
We require a minimum
of a two –night stay
over the week-end and
of a three – nights
stay over New Year’s
Eve. Rooms:31
Corina Heemskerk, Netherlands:
Very clean very friendly staff, good location, good breakfast!
Just at the beginning of Oxford Street and very close to
Marble Arch. Good neighbourhood. For a London hotel, the
room was excellent. It was spacious too.

Branka Group, Las Vegas, USA:

The history of the building, the excellent and charming
28 – 30 Seymour dining room, the hospitality of the staff, comfortable bed,
leave little to be desired.
S t r ee t, M a r b le A r c h ,
London W1H 7JB Robert, solo traveller,Siena, Italy:
Staff at the reception helpful and friendly.
The English breakfast is surprisingly good and rich
Where a 5 star service given that the hotel has a ‘budgety’ feel to it

blends with Elite Group, Ferndale, USA:

old world charm Almost everything and the food was good,
staff friendly, location and price perfect
10 Confluence
POETRY RENDEZVOUS
Poems by Sasenaraine Persaud ... And Sukrita Paul Kumar
LANTANA STRANGLING IXORA DO NOT SAY GOODBYE Pilgrim’s Progress
There were times in the morning Lemon-green buds cover the tarmac. Buried in the debris spewing the romance,
we questioned the bloom near the blind well
Young maple leaves laugh hidden snugly,
of the previous evening, watering
in the wind. This is not the way in the jungle
cana lilies, clearing the live oak of times immemorial
acorns from our white wrought-iron bench to say goodbye; not in the pub are a thousand tales
by a cold river, or a coffeehouse in the tunnel built,
nibbled by scurrying rats
How do ripe plantains smell? cozy and comforted by a dozen ears
and infected by amnesia as they say, from the
Like ripe bananas. You could laugh listening for tomorrow. Do not look back
until after dinner. I will hold to this piped time; the one who talked bottom of the well
Radhakrishnan’s interpretations of the Upanishads too much, the one whose ears went out Bits of tales peep out
to his majesty’s fort
until you snap on the ceiling fan as if sticking their tongues
to space, whose hair fell like a flaxen
at Tughlagabad
And we swirl on the sheets of a different seeking Kaiteur; I’ve been there, I know through fine slits
scented like lilacs in a north-of-Toronto park it all, Manhattan’s the world… Or in the wrinkled surface
or in the Arnold Arboretum. If you conjure another head framed by the Charles, of the heap The flash of light,
a dead British poet with the same last name Concord grape eyes; we didn’t make
hardening over time, an end of the long night,
would you be wrong? American literature that reading. Pretend, at least, we’re friends
with more and more
happy for each other; we will
Or flowers in a Florida garden thorny creepers and shrubs
keep in touch, some separately; we will
are all we need to know except slides down the spiral steps
become famous; I know no irony—I do gripping the forest
if “papa” is hunting in the “Green Hills of Africa”
or Buck is observing Chinese. You drift not know “American,” or own a dictionary, in a net to kiss the mouth
off into a naked sleep where snores sing in Georgetown English—eh!—South America from which slip out of the passage
we cuss you to your face. We take everything
And a mouth that has taught us Kali’s secrets personally—even blossoms falling to the regal splendour
falls open to accommodate blocked passages dead voices severed
on your hair. How flows the Demerara, at the other end,
or water the definition of a flower cluster from their bodies,
dear brother, still out to the Atlantic?
or the naming of a southern plant: datura yielding fresh bodies
Do not say goodbye, until we’re gone.
as prickly as that morning when the alarm
Compressed sighs for the voices
failed to startle sexed sleep and you are hurried
rising occasionally
and softening the earth
For a meeting and we barely have time THE BOARDING HOUSE as white smoke
to glance at the golden marigolds—left foot to impregnate her with a million
and bouncing as cold echoes
right foot brake and accelerate through amber Touching the harmonium’s black
against the walls of the deep black pit more legends of love…
lights impatient with ancient drivers gaping keys, singing a dhun and stopping
a Florida night in a Boston’s
At dew on the St. Augustine grass and the aroused
I couldn’t make out your melody
ficus leaves, a replica of Rama’s arrow tips, and Just Before Birth
was sweeter than any Demerara
we barely have time to see lantana strangling ixora.
sugar. The closest we came A canvas before the cry
to conversation: Are you off
empty of colour of anguish
STREET FAIR: BROOKLINE 300 on holiday then? No. I’m finished.
So quickly? Yes. Goodbye? Yes. a body
They are dismantling the tents in the dusk. You toss that cabbage kissed by death I remain in half light,
The steel poleframes clanging as they fall
head into your room. I do not know
to the ground. We are still sitting on the tarmac Listen to hidden songs
your name. I will forget these brown
under a few leaves yellowing in the September sun
walls, snow-boots outside your door A long silent wait
a folk artist singing, “This land is my land”
and then, “Where have all the flowers gone—gone uncaredfor shoes. We crossed in the rain of the foetus Strain to hear the ebb and flow
for graveyards everyone.” You are not supposed barely recognizing each other’s umbrellas.
floating in Of tides and seas
to cry for strangers, young men who have come back I will never know you again.
from the desert draped in red white and blue, If we pass, it will be as strangers. backwaters of
but you do, quietly. The girl with the leashed gray-black
existence In the darkness ahead
cat—looking, like you, for a pickup—dancing (is she
drunk?) like the Odissi and Kuchipudi dancers I read you
we just saw, accompanied by the Indian flautist (a doctor),
undefined As the blind do.
the Indian veena player (another doctor), the mridangam player
a scientist. For thirty minutes we are artists giving India
to the world for free—and again at MIT in two months.
It is all we have left. You have misnamed our numbers
calling them Arabic Numerals; the windows operating Sasenarain Persaud is the author of eight
system, not Bill Gates, an Indian scientist developed.
books. His awards include the K.M.Hunter
You have taken our yoga, renaming it in the New York
Foundation Award (Toronto) the Arthur
Times today, Christian Yoga and now Jewish Yoga
right here in Boston we must ask The Master, Iyenger, Schomberg Award (New York) for his pioneer- Sukrita Paul Kumar is a poet and critic.
what else can we give you Brookline? ing of yogic realism, and fellowships at the She teaches literature
What else can we give you World? Universities of Miami and Boston. at a Delhi University college.
 Confluence 11

The English Project and the English Language in India

English belongs to the people who speak it, the people like you
who are on the front line - Christopher Mulvey
David Crystal’s Stories of English
tells us that to tell the whole story of the
English language is to tell many stories
since every one of the hundred or more
countries in which the English language
now has a substantial presence has a
particular story to tell. If there is a single
story of English, it is like the story of a
river, and in India when we think of riv-
ers we think of the Ganges. The Ganges
does not become the Ganges until six
streams have become one but before the
Ganges reaches the sea it divides into
the unnumbered waterways of its great
delta. The great flow of the Ganges
provides an image of the great flow
of the English language, and I want to
focus on two streams. They are the ones
that end in present-day England and
present-day India. Legend tells us that
the story of English in England began
in 449 in a place then called Britannia
with the landing of a band of warriors
led by Hengst and Horsa coming from
across the North Sea. However, it seems
that Saxon people had been arriving in
Britannia from at least 400, so Hengst
and Horsa may have found a welcoming
party who understood fairly well what
they were saying. The story of English
in India can be given an even more pre-
cise date, 31 December 1600. On that
day, Queen Elizabeth I signed a charter
creating the Company of Merchants of
London Trading to the East Indies. (Port
Cities) However, we can guess that,
when those London traders reached the
East Indies, they met Englishmen who
were there before them. The upshot four
hundred years later is that the language
that people speak in London is now
widely spoken in the city of Delhi.
It is a remarkable fact of language
that the sacred River Thames that flows
into the North Sea has the same name as
the sacred River Tamesa that flows into
the Ganges. The Celtic word ‘Thames’
is derived from the same root as the
Sanskrit word ‘Tamasa’, and both mean
‘dark river’. (Ellis, Hart) Celtic and
Sanskrit like English are but three of
the many ancient and modern languag-
es that derive from that great mother
of tongues, Indo-European. Bengali,
Gujarati, Hindi, Pali and Punjabi are all
tributaries with English, all owing their
origins to the same source. The living
Thames does not flow into the Ganges,
but the linguistic Thames most certainly
does, and English has been flowing
into India for four hundred years. The
English of India should not be thought
to start around 1600. The English of
India is as old as the English of England
itself. A history of Indian English must
start with the story of Germanic peoples
crossing the North Sea to make their
homes in Britannia in the fifth century. I
am not going to be able to tell the whole
of that story, but I can discuss some
salient points.
For five hundred years in England,
English evolved in a commonplace
way. The main change was the uptake
of Latin terms required by the conver-
sion of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes
to Christianity. That was not the first
time that they had borrowed from Latin.
They had arrived in England with many
words learned from the soldiers of the
Roman frontier. Butter, chalk, cheese,
kettle, kitchen, mile, pepper, wall, and
wine are just some of them. (Kemmer).
The next change came from the influ-
ence of the Norse language spoken
by Danish invaders in the eighth and
ninth centuries, but the Danes settled
down and became North Country men
and women. Theirs was a Germanic
language, and it blended nicely with the
now fully merged speech of the former
Angles, Saxons and Jutes.
It was in 1066 that something
linguistically profound began to take
place. Invaders arrived in sufficient
numbers with sufficient military power
and they stayed for a sufficiently long
time to bring about major changes in
the grammar of English. These invaders
produced a blend of Old English with
Norman French. Grammatical gender
was replaced by logical gender; most
noun endings were lost; word order was
affected. English ceased to be a normal
Germanic language. The overall change
was so great that ‘English first came
into existence in roughly the form in
which we know it today around 1350,
when the influence of 300 years of
Norman French occupation had been
assimilated into a basis of Germanic
dialects.’ (Strevens 29) That level of
impact of one language upon another
is a linguistically rare event. Languages
change their vocabularies easily; they
change their pronunciations slowly;
they change their grammars grudgingly.
Remarkably, English having changed
its grammar hugely by 1350 went on
to change its pronunciation so that by
1450 English ceased to sound like a
Germanic language. Within a hundred
years, English acquired the range of
diphthongs and strangulated vowels
that make the language sound strange
to speakers of both modern Italian and
German. The change is called the Great
Vowel Shift. Why it took place is not
clear though it might be related to the
great grammar shift of the previous
three hundred years.
By 1500, English had settled into
its modern form. After that, the major
change has been a vast increase in vocab-
ulary. This, the lexicon of the language,
began expanding in the Renaissance
and has continued to do so ever since.
The Oxford English Dictionary has over
500,000 head words (OED Online). The
language is said to contain one million
words, vastly more than anyone person
can ever use or even know. However,
the most commonly used words are still
Germanic. The commonest of all is the
word the, and most everyday words are
Germanic - mother, father, love, food,
drink, god (Using English) - the words
for the things that matter.
The year 1600, when English began
to flow into the subcontinent of India,
saw the beginnings of new forms of the
language and Indian English is the oldest
World English after those of the British
Isles. (Crystal, Guardian) Influences
were two-way. English English began
to take words from the languages of the
subcontinent, and those old languages
began the subtle transformation of the
new language. In less than two hundred,
English was beginning to compete with
local languages. Anthea Gupta identi-
fies 1774 as a key date because it was
then that English became ‘the language
of the Supreme Court in Calcutta’.
(Gupta 189)
Crucial as that date proved to be,
the traders of the East India Company
were by no means settled on the wisdom
of using English in India. ‘Support was
given to developing education in India
in the Indian tradition. [The Company]
established schools teaching Sanskrit,
Persian and Arabic. Some of these
schools were for Indians, while others
[. . .] were for East India Company offi-
cers.’ (Gupta 188) Nonetheless, the fact
that a trading company was concerning
itself with education meant that it was
having to involve itself with governing.
So it was that in 1835, what Andrea
Gupta calls ‘the infamous Minute of
Lord Macaulay’ set English as the lan-
guage of higher education, law and
administration. (Gupta 190) It was not
be until 1857 that Company rule was
ended altogether, but only because the
British East India Company became
the Indian Civil Service. The Company
became the Raj. And, for good and
for ill, the language of the Raj was
English.
Today, there are, as a result of
Macaulay’s Minute, 350,000,000
English speakers in India, making it
the world’s greatest English-speaking
nation. (Crystal, Guardian), outnum-
bering the English-speakers of the
United Kingdom and the United States
combined. So what kind of English are
these 350,000,000 speakers speaking?
What, to be local, is this Delhi English?
Well, it seems that it is not the English
of London or Washington. According
to Jason Baldridge, it differs in phonol-
ogy, morphology, lexicon, and syntax.
Indian sounds different from British and
American. It constructs its words differ-
ently. It has its own vocabulary. It has its
own sentence structures. Baldridge tells
us that Indians ‘shorten many words to
create commonly used terms’ and from
there they go on to make several chang-
es and developments. The results can be
strange for some one from London or
Washington. In Indian English ‘enthu-
siasm is called enthu; as such, it can
be used in new ways. One can say,
“That guy has a lot of enthu.” While
this is simply an abbreviation, enthu
can also be used as an adjective where
enthusiasm cannot, as in “He's a real
enthu guy.” The same applies for funda-
mentals, which is shortened as fundas.
“She knows her fundas.”’ In short, ‘the
English which is spoken in India is dif-
ferent from that spoken in other regions
of the world.’ (Baldridge) If Delhi’s
English is different from the English of
London and Washington, what are we
to make of it? Can it be proper English?
The first answer to that question is to
note that the English of London and
Washington differ in all the ways that
Delhi English differs from both. The
phonology, morphology, lexicon, and
syntax of London and Washington are
distinct. The second answer must come
in the form of an American-style ques-
tion: Can 350,000,000 Indian-English
speakers be wrong?
The best answer is given by India’s
leading English-language scholar, Braj
B. Kachru. In an article called ‘Models
for Non-Native Englishes’, Kachru
argues that speakers of Indian English
must ‘develop an identity with the local
model of English without feeling that
it is a “deficient” model.’ (Kachru,
‘Models’ 67-68) Of course, English
speakers in London and Washington
should come to the same conclusion,
but it is more important that the English-
speakers in Delhi believe that they have
their own valid norm for the speaking
of English whatever Londoners and
Washingtonians might think. After all,
that is what the Americans have done.
They have not looked to England for a
norm since 1828 when Noah Webster
Continued on p 12
12
THE ENGLISH PROJECT - Cont from p11
published An American Dictionary of
the English Language. As Kachru says
no Webster has ‘come forward to defend
a non-native model’. (Kachru, ‘Models’
53). Kachru himself may yet prove to
be the noah Webster of Indian english
since he has written innumerable books
and articles on the subject.
I have sketched two stories of the
english language and similar stories
could be told of the englishes from
Australia to Zimbabwe. Stories exist in
time. linguists call that the diachronic
dimension of language. linguists also
talk about the extension of language
through space. That is called the syn-
chronic dimension. I have been talk-
ing about english english and Indian
english as if they were single entities
because it is easier to tell their stories
that way. But, if we stop at any point
in the last sixteen hundred years, we
can see that it is not a story that we
need but a survey, a survey of the
forms a language takes at a given date.
If we take only the aspect called dia-
lect, we find that British english, that
is the english spoken in the united
Kingdom, comes in over 500 versions.
A remarkable variety within such a
small geographical space. But then dia-
lects are generated by time and isola-
tion, and english speakers have been
in the united Kingdom for a long time
and in isolated places. These accents
vary socially as well as geographically,
and class dialects are pronounced in
england. I think they are very probably
quite pronounced in India. By contrast,
they are less significant in the united
States, a country that despite its size
and numbers demonstrates less regional
variation than the united Kingdom.
The American Mid-West was popu-
lated so rapidly, in a time of railroads
and increasing communication, that the
great majority of American people now
speak the dialect known as General
American - the dominant norm of the
english language.
A synchronic survey of the english
language could be made at any point
in its history, but it is perhaps most
interesting to make it at the present. The
spread of the language is a continuum so
great that it might be that at its extremes
it is becoming different languages. The
creoles of Africa, the West Indies and
the Pacific are at one extreme. Aukan,
Bajan, Creola, Krio, Kwinti, Pijin, and
Patwa (Ethnologue) are just some of
the many versions of english that are so
blended with elements of another lan-
guage that many english speakers find
them difficult to understand. But if on
first encounter they are unintelligible,
a little book study shows their relation
to english, and written forms rapidly
reveal meanings. You could pick them
up readily enough if you were to find
yourself talking exclusively with Bajan
or Creola speakers for a month.
ConfluenCe
I have spoken of two stories, english
english and Indian english; I have
spoken of two dimensions, diachronic
english and synchronic english; I need
now speak of two forms, spoken and
written english. They are profoundly
different. The one is no more important
than the other though linguists give
the primacy to the spoken language.
usually, the written language leads
people to talk first about literature.
english literature begins in the seventh
and eight centuries with the hymns of
Caedmon and the epic of Beowulf. I
count these poems as the beginning
of the literature of Indian english as
well as the beginning of the literature
of english english. The two literatures
are distinct enough today although they
are richly overlapped by writers of both
countries. And they merge with writ-
ers like Rudyard Kipling and Salman
Rusdie.
But if literature comes first to mind
when we talk about written english,
we are all aware that the bulk of what
is written is not literature and that has
been true from the beginning since most
ancient records have to do with butch-
er’s bills and laundry lists. The first
evidence of written english appears on
a thin medallion, found in Suffolk and
dated to about 450. It has the words:
‘gægogæ mægæ medu’ inscribed upon
it. They may mean ‘This she wolf is
a reward to my kinsman.’ (Crystal,
English Language 163-64) Part of the
difficulty in reading the medallion lies
in its battered condition; part in the
fact that it is engraved in runic script.
‘Gægogæ mægæ medu’ is one of those
extremes of english that captures the
mystery of language; another extreme is
the written language of today’s mobile
phone, not a language with which I
have any skill, but it is a recent mani-
festation of an extreme english.
let me try to speak to you for a
while in mobile text language, some-
times called ‘lingo’ or simple ‘txt’: ‘d
gr8st booty of r heritage S d en lang,
n itz r gr8st gft 2 d wrld. itz d lang of
Shakespeare n d rap Rtst. itz d pasport
2 evry cn10nt.’ (Txt courtesy of nigel
Hazelwood) It is rather too difficult to
go on. let me translate into a plainer
english and extend the statement: ‘The
greatest treasure of our heritage is the
english language, and it is our great-
est gift to the World. It is the language
of Shakespeare and the rap artist. It is
the passport to every continent. Many
countries are already setting up treasure
houses to display their languages, but
there is no place where the english lan-
guage is fully presented to the public.
english used to reach very few people
at the beginning but 1600 years later it
is reaching the world. Winchester will
be the place to see that global story.’
That is a quotation from a press release
of a charity called the english Project.
I am a trustee of the english Project,
and we have a mission to deepen peo-
ple’s understanding and knowledge
of english, its history and continuing
development so that english speakers
of all kinds can better appreciate, use
and enjoy the language. To do this we
are setting up a living exhibition, an
online world, an educational centre and
a research foundation.
The english Project will tell the
story of how the tongue of those three
ancient tribes is becoming the language
of two billion people. our virtual site
will be everywhere and our concrete
site will be at Winchester, the ancient
capital of england, one hundred kilo-
metres from london. Winchester is the
city of King Alfred the Great, the patron
of english scholarship (Ackroyd 1.3.5).
He is the first person we know to
call the language ‘english’. (OED) He
ordered his clerks to translate major
latin texts into english. As a result,
Winchester is the first place at which
our language achieved a standard writ-
ten form. (Crystal, Stories 52, 82).
The project has the whole-hearted
support of the BBC, the British Council,
the British library, the english-Speaking
union, and of my own university, that
of Winchester. Much as I have spoken
about the histories of World english,
our exhibition will more concerned with
the englishes of the present day and
indeed of the future.
The Trustees of the english Project
see the english language as one of the
greatest contributions of the British
Isles to world culture. It is providing
the medium of communication globally
for politics, science, literature and com-
merce. The unfolding story of english
is one of the most compelling narratives
of our time, helping to shape the lives of
some two billion people. The english
Project’s reach is global; its artefacts are
sounds; its focus is language; its target
is the non-reader as well as the biblio-
phile; its audiences must be immersed,
engaged and empowered; its scholar-
ship must be the best.
our first production is a book that
we are launching on 16 october. It is
Kitchen Tabl`e Lingo by the english
Project: a book of home-made words.
Written and edited by us it has a
foreword by Melvyn Bragg and an
Afterword by David Crystal. It intro-
duces the english Project to the world:
‘our aim,’ we say in the Introduction,
is to help english speakers across the
globe become more aware of where
the language has come from and how
it continues to develop. underlying that
mission is a strong belief that english
belongs to the people who speak it. It’s
not the dictionary-makers or academics
who own the language, but the people
like you who are on the front line
day-in, day-out using and extending it.
english is a great, inclusive inheritance
that all of us can enjoy. And Kitchen
Table Lingo is a way of acknowledging
publicly the fundamental contribution
made by individuals who shape the
language in their homes and workplaces
to express new ideas and change the
language so it works better (and more
amusingly) for them. You can help the
english Project in a very material way.
Please go today to Amazon.co.uk and
pre-order Kitchen Table Lingo. It only
costs £5.99, and it will make us very
happy. first, we will be happy because
you will have such a good time reading
it. Second, we will be happy because
it will lead you to our website where
you can make your own contribution
to the next edition of Kitchen Table
Lingo. Third, we will be happy because
the more you buy the book, the further
Kitchen Table Lingo gets bump up the
Amazon charts. finally, we will be
happy because the more books we will
sell the sooner the english Project will
go forward.
The english Project has a mission,
as I have already said, ‘to deepen peo-
ple’s understanding and knowledge of
english’. We believe that everyone can
and should enjoy the riches of language
and that the more people know about
this language the more they will be
empowered in their personal, social and
productive lives. The english Project is
new, but it is making its impact through
its fresh and imaginative ideas.
We are exploring new areas by
engaging with ordinary english speakers
across divides of education, geography
and social background. The timing now
is good; it is in fact ripe. The english
Project will not be the first language
museum. I have been to the Museum of
the Portuguese language in San Paolo,
and it is marvellous. language as a
visitor attraction has already been tested
in this world leader. The Germans, the
Danes, and the Hungarians are all plan-
ning similar ventures.
I should say that the english
Project is highly entrepreneurial; we
don’t expect to subsist on public funds.
However, for our larger ambitions we
do need significant pump-priming
financial support. If the full potential of
english Project is to be achieved then
we need a major donor for our principal
visitor centre in Winchester which we
then want to see franchised around the
english speaking world. Are you that
donor?
Isn’t it time that english was prop-
erly recognised and enjoyed to the full?
How can you help that happen? Please
visit the english Project Website at
www.englishproject.org and register
yourself as a supporter, and put in an
Amazon advanced order for Kitchen
Table Lingo today. Please help us with
our fundraising and make the english
Project known in India and become the
Project’s ambassador there.
Christopher Mulvey is Emeritus
Professor of English, at the University
of Winchester. and Director, The
English Project
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ackroyd, Peter. Thames: Sacred River.
3 vols. Audiobook. Read by Simon
Callow. Douglas: Random House,
2007.
Baldridge, Jason. ‘linguistic and Social
Characteristics of Indian english.’
language in India. ed. M. S. Thirumalai.
www.languageinindia.com, 2002.
Crystal, David. ‘The Subcontinent Raises
Its Voice.’ The Guardian (19 november
2004): http://education.guardian.co.uk/
tefl/story/0,,1355064,00.html.
Crystal, David. The English Language.
london : Penguin, 1990.
Crystal, David. The Stories of English.
new York: overlook, 2005.
ellis, Peter Berresford, ‘our
Druid Cousins’, Hinduism Today.
( w w w. h i n d u i s m t o d a y. c o m /
archives/2000/2/2000-2-16.shtml)
Ethnologue. ‘Creoles and pidgins,
english based.’ www.ethnologue.com.
Gupta, Anthea fraser. 1996. “english
and empire: Teaching english in
nineteenth-Century India.” Learning
English: development and diversity.
ed. neil Mercer and others. london:
Routledge, 1996. See 188-194.
Hart, Ian. http://members.aol.com/
wwjohnston/thames.htm
Hazelwood. neil. Lingo2Word. www.
lingo2word.com.
Kachru, Braj B. ‘Models for non-
native englishes’ in The Other Tongue:
English Across Cultures. edited by
Braj B Kachru. urbana: university of
Illinois Press, 1992. 48-74.
Kemmer, Suzanne. Loanwords. Rice
university: www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/
Words/loanwords.html, 2007
OED. Online. Oxford English
Dictionary. www.oed.com.
OED. The Compact Oxford English
Dictionary. 2 vols. oxford: oxford
university Press, 1974.
Port Cities. ‘The east India Company.’
www.portcities.org.uk.
Strevens, Peter. ‘english as an
International language’ in The Other
Tongue: English Across Cultures. edited
by Braj B. Kachru. urbana: university
of Illinois Press, 1992. 27-47.
Using English.com. www.usingenglish.
com/reference/common-words/index.
html, 2007.
 Confluence 13

BOOK REVIEW
Pure Lizard, Sujata Bhatt’s latest collection of poems
Reviewed by Reginald Massey
Pure Lizard
(Carcanet, Manchester,
2008, £9.95. ISBN
978-1-85754-833-4)
The title of this book requires
some comment. Since Sujata Bhatt
and I happen to hail from the same
part of the world we have first hand
experience of lizards which most
Europeans probably do not. There
are several kinds of lizard and they
are not the most beautiful creatures
on earth though Bhatt quite obvi-
ously finds them fascinating. Most
people, even in India, are revolt-
ed by them. However, during the
rainy season house lizards, geckos
or chipkillis, do perform a useful
service by snapping up midges
and mosquitoes. Then there is the
lizard known as the gir-gittain, a
chameleon, which avoids detection
by changing colour to camouflage
itself. I rather suspect that Bhatt
has this creature in mind and uses
it as an amusing, telling, intriguing
and interesting metaphor.
Most educated Indians (and
there are 200 million of them, give
or take a few million either way)
are multilingual and multicultural.
They possess multiple identities
not because of cultural confusion
or displaced identity but because
their terms of reference are various
and wide; they are globalists in the
truest sense. They blend in easily
with time and place and the local
environment. This is, if I may coin
a phrase, the gir-gittain syndrome.
Bhatt, who has attained a certain
reputation as a poet of internation-
al standing, is a prime example.
Her mother tongue is Gujarati but
her verse, sensitively and care-
fully crafted in English, has an
uncanny grasp of the rhythms and
nuances of English prosody. She
is a poet who has made the world
her oyster. Moreover, where she
scores hugely is in her feeling for
American language and literature
as well her deep understanding of
Continental, particularly German,
thought. Most Indian writers of
the senior generation (among
whom may be counted for example
Khushwant Singh, Rushdie and
Naipaul), are British in their ideas,
discourses and expressions. They
are children of Empire as am I.
But Bhatt is different. She belongs
to the new India. She was born,
like Tarun Tejpal and many others
of their ilk, well after the midnight
hour when the world was asleep
and India made her tryst with des-
tiny.
The collection is in four tranch-
es: ‘A Hidden Truth’, ‘Telemann’s
Frogs’, ‘Sad Walk’, and ‘Solo
Piano’. And what a fabulous feast
they make. She plunders the artis-
tic heritage of the planet and trans-
forms it all into the purest poetic
experience. She interacts with the
art of Paula Rego as well as the
music of Glass and Telemann. I
can quote poem after poem that
moved me, pleasured me, richly
satisfied my love of language and
acute observation. I offer a short
poem as a hors d’oeuvre :
What is Exotic
(for Hasso Krull)
Sweden is exotic –
And so is all of Finland.
Whortleberries certainly are.
Estonia is exotic –
And so is the Estonian word
for lizard: sisalik.
But the lizard herself
is my sister – those hot afternoons
when she comes indoors
to hide –
Now I didn’t know that
Estonia had lizards but then one
learns from the poets. A pity she
did not create a powerful piece
on the dreaded Komodo dragon Book cover
of Indonesia, the largest living
lizard. Bhatt possesses in full Reginald Massey’s collected
measure the Keatsian quality of verses are in “Lament of a Lost
negative capability, the ability to Hero and Other Poems”.
identify completely with one’s His latest book is “INDIA:
subject. Her verses deserve to Definitions and Clarifications”.
be savoured with affection and Earlier this year he was Writer-
respect. She is a lyric poet of the in-Residence at the Wolfsberg
first rank. think tank in Switzerland.

For your bookshelf

The Life and Death of Democracy
John Keane
John Keane’s The Life and
Death of Democracy will inspire
and shock its readers. Presenting
the first grand history of democra-
cy for well over a century, it poses
along the way some tough and
timely questions: can we really be
sure that democracy had its origins
in ancient Greece? How did demo-
cratic ideals and institutions come
to have the shape they do today?
Given all the recent fanfare about
democracy promotion, why are
many people now gripped by the
feeling that a bad moon is rising
over all the world’s democracies?
Do they indeed have a future? Or
is perhaps democracy fated to join
the poor dodo and the forests of
Easter Island in the land of extinc-
tion?
The work of one of Britain’s
leading political writers, a man
whose work on democracy is of
‘world-wide importance’ (The
Times), this is no mere antiquar-
ian history. Stylishly written, this
superb book confronts its readers
with an entirely fresh and irrever-
ent look at the past, present and
future of democracy. It unearths
the beginnings of such precious
institutions and ideals as govern-
ment by public assembly, votes for
women, the secret ballot, trial by
jury and press freedom. The Life
and Death of Democracy explains
how and why democracy spread
in modern times to Latin America,
Africa and Asia. It tracks the
changing, hotly disputed meanings
of democracy; retells the best jokes
about it; and describes quite a few
of the extraordinary characters,
many of them long forgotten, who
dedicated their lives to building or
defending democracy. The book
proposes that we are now living
in a new age of ‘monitory democ-
racy’, explains why it is poten-
tially the best form of government
on earth – and why democracies
everywhere are sleepwalking their
way into deep trouble.
‘History is often said to be
a catalogue of human sorrows,
an unending story of bootlick-
ing, a slaughterhouse of crimes.
It is not always so. The mould of
cruel servitude can be shattered,
as happened 2600 years ago, when
Greeks living on the south-eastern
fringes of Europe laid claim to an
invention that now ranks in histori-
cal importance with the wheel, the
printing press, the steam engine
and the cloning of stem cells.
Born of resistance to tyranny, their
claimed invention at first caused
no great stir. Few spotted its nov-
elty. Some condemned it for bring-
ing chaos into the world. Nobody
predicted its universal appeal …
The invention was a potent form
of wishful thinking that is still
with us today: the Greeks called it
demokratia.’
John Keane is Professor of
Politics at the University
of Westminster and a Fellow of
the Royal Society of Arts.
Founder of the Centre for the
Study of Democracy, his books
include Global Civil Society
(2004), Vaclav Havel: A Political
Tragedy in Six Acts (1999) and
the prize-winning Tom Paine: A
Political Life (1995). He lives in
London. Book cover
14
BOOK REVIEW
The Indian Family in Transition:a changing landscape
Reviewed by Dibyesh Anand
Dasgupta, Sanjukta and Lal,
Malashri (eds) (2007) The
Indian Family in Transition:
Reading Literary and Cultural
Texts, New Delhi: Sage
Publications
Family is central to dominant as
well as resistant notions of Indianness.
More often than not, people derive
their sense of identity through the
institution of family. And yet, as the
contributions in this book point out,
there is nothing essentially democratic
or benign about families. Family is a
site of identity and belongingness as
much as of difference and alienation.
This collection of twenty three chapters
reveals the multiple and interesting
ways in which families are evolving in
modern India and in Indian diaspora.
It brings together ‘in a single volume,
aspects of the contemporary Indian
family in transition, by exploring and
exposing how the Indian family needs
to be re-defined’ (13).
In this process of making real the
putative ‘Indian family’ the book does
not adequately challenge the fetishized
concept of ‘Indian family’. While some
chapters recognise that the two parts
of the term – Indian and family – are
open to interpretation, others offer sim-
plistic notions of both. The strength of
the book lies in moving away from a
sociological analysis to a literary and
cultural one. This offers an innovative
take on the role of the imaginative
and the imaginary as anthropological
resource when it comes to studying
families. However, to what extent do
the literary and cultural representations
(say the television programmes) reflect
the every day lived experience of fam-
Ban on short selling shares Continued from Page 7
CURRENCIES
High interest yield currencies such
as the New Zealand Dollar and the
Australian Dollar were hit hard during
the past few months against low yield-
ing currencies such as the Japanese
Yen and the US Dollar. The Australian
Dollar was the hardest hit as the Central
Bank of Australia also cut interest rates
by a full one point in October when the
market was expecting just a half point
cut. The Australian Dollar lost nearly
40% in three months against the US
Dollar and 50% against the Japanese
Yen during the same period. When
reacting, currency pairs tend to over
react and the Aussie Dollar may start
to pick up from here as the interest rate
Confluence
ily-based individuals? How does the
aesthetic mediate and thereby demand
a caution in assuming the literary to
be anthropological? The book raises
as many questions as it answers. This
is not a criticism of the collection but
a compliment. For a truly scholarly
endeavour cannot but fail to provide
authoritative answers.
A weakness of the collection lies in
focusing disproportionately on Hindu
middle class urban families as the
norm. The exception of Bhave’s chap-
ter makes this focus on middle class
even more conspicuous. Someone not
familiar with India would get a sense
of Hindu - India from this collection
which hardly deals with the similarity
and differences in the experiences of
non-Hindu or mixed-religious house-
holds. Let me give an example. The
first part is titled ‘Colonial Families:
Re-visiting Tradition’ but Walsh’s
chapter looks only at the customary
Hindu family structure and the gender
politics within it. The rest of the book
is no different. The second part deals
with patriarchal family structure and
struggle for empowerment within it
in different parts of India. Mukherjee
offers education, economic self-reli-
ance and collective action as the way
forward while Lamb focuses on care of
the aged and Aleaz highlights the com-
munitarianism in the Naga families.
Are educated and earning women less
vulnerable and more empowered in
India as Mukherjee claims? Are inci-
dents of domestic violence or persis-
tence of patriarchal norms through the
practice of a wife taking the husband’s
surname and treatment of woman’s
career as secondary within the family a
sign of empowerment? I think not.
The contributions in the part three
differential between these two countries
is still over 5 percent. Sterling / U.S
Dollar exchange rate hit a six year low
on the 24th October 08 at 1.5260,and
this level is a 23 year uptrend techni-
cal level and therefore one hopes this
level will be maintained in the long
term unless the Bank of England cut
their interest rates aggressively during
the next few months.Sterling / Euro
exchange rate has been trading side-
ways since March 08 between the levels
1.3000 and 1.2200. It will be interesting
to watch which way this pair is going to
break out and when it does, it may be a
very violent move.
CRUDE OIL
Oil prices have dropped from $148
At the book launch: Prof Malashri Lal (closest to camera) and Prof Sanjukta Das Gupta
(seated extreme right)
on literary representations, the most
interesting chapters that constitute the
bulk of the book, highlight the often
contradictory ways in which modernity
and family interact with each other. This
part is followed by two chapters on the
cinematic representation of family. I
cannot but disagree with Chatterji here
who uses extensive quotes from a few
people to point out the ‘irresponsibil-
ity’ of live-in relationship and laments
the legal sanction by a court in India of
such pattern of living ‘against a back-
drop of the USA lamenting its rising
divorce rate’ (258). Why bring in the
USA in this context? How are these two
things related? Chatterji’s own sense
of moral clarity about the superiority
of Indian culture and its adherence to
marriage comes out clearly in her next
sentence: ‘a couple of generations of
latch-key children in US do not know
what the word “family” means and look
to India as an illustration in monoga-
mous relationships stabilized through
marriage’ (258). Even though it might
be intentional, but her stance on family
per barrel to $65 per barrel in three
months (55% drop). According to tech-
nical analysts they were looking for the
price to drop to $62 before prices start
to push up higher and this price was
hit on the 27th October 2008. The long
term (seven year) trend for the oil price
is still on an upward path so it will be
incorrect to say that the bull market is
over. (This seven year bull trend price
target is coming in as $49)
Conclusion
Artificial methods such as banning
short sellers, intervention by central
banks around the world through inject-
ing money into the economy, cutting
interest rates and so on ( though the
and marriage reminds one of rightwing
conservatives in the West. Gulzhar’s
chapter on the other hand shows the
divided and multifaceted nature of
Indian family. She makes a convincing
argument about the use of ‘family card’
by the media to channelise audience’
emotions for their own purposes.
Then there is part five ‘Memoir’
which gives us insights into the remi-
niscences of some contemporary writ-
ers, activists and commentators on how
they have negotiated the flux within the
family. This includes Meena Alexander,
Vidya Bal, Nonda Chatterjee, Shashi
Deshpande, Makarand Paranjape, and
Uma Parameswaran. For those with
interest in autobiographical sketches
this part should be of some interest.
The final chapter in the book is an
interview of the editors with Amartya
Sen. In their own words it is the ‘pres-
tigious sixth part … [which] is not only
a validation of our engagement and
fitting finale to our endeavour …but
it also makes us feel we have indeed
located a turning point in Indian culture
U.S Federal Reserve cut interest rates
aggressively from 5% to 1% the econ-
omy failed to pick up) may not work.
Though the U.S Federal Reserve cut
interest rates aggressively from 5% to
1% the economy failed to pick up. Free
markets ought to be allowed to func-
tion without any artificial intervention.
Recessions, a fall in house prices,
redundancies, high levels of house
re-possessions, and bankruptcies are
part of the economic cycle and gov-
ernments can take measures to control
them but not eliminate them com-
pletely. One of the world’s best known
investment gurus whom I admire great-
ly said recently: “what the US Treasury
is trying to do is impossible, it is trying
to avoid a hangover by remaining
in the twenty first century’ (29). I won-
der what makes this more prestigious
than others and how does the interview
with Sen give the editors confidence in
having captured a fundamental shift in
India’s family structure? While most
of the substantive chapters are inter-
esting, the introduction should have
avoided the gushing admiration of spe-
cific individuals (apart from Sen, there
is the ‘eminent social scientist Andre
Beteille’ 19) and use of many long
quotes. Such unquestioning respect for
specific individuals reminds one of
hierarchical families and not critical
scholarship.
Overall, the book offers a worthy
and diverse reading of Hindu middle
class Indian family and puts the notion
of family under scrutiny. But it does not
offer much insight into the non-Hindu
and non-middle class families and takes
the qualifier ‘Indian’ to be given.
Dr Dibyesh Anand is a Reader
in International Relations at
Westminster University, London.
permanently drunk”. The financier
Bernard Baruch also famously said “A
market without bears is like a nation
without a free press”
2nd November 2008
Risk warning:
Financial trading and spread bet-
ting, carry a high level of risk to
your capital. You should speculate
only with the money you can afford
to lose. You may lose more than your
original deposit or stake; therefore
seek independent professional advice.
The information set out above should
not be regarded as tips; they are the
writer’s forecasts based on certain
assumptions.
 Confluence 15

book review
Paradise Lost: a powerful and compelling debut novel
Reviwed by Shelagh Goonewardene
A Review of MOSQUITO
by Roma Tearne
Published by HarperPress,
Great Britain 2007
Review by Shelagh
Goonewardene
This book belongs to the
increasing number of nov-
els written by expatriates
which focus on the war
which has now dominated
over twenty-five years of
Sri Lankan history. These
years have witnessed the
country’s decline from a
once peaceful and relative-
ly progressive and pros-
perous state to one that
is featured on the Foreign
Policy (FP) Failed States
Index in the eyes of the
international community.
The expatriate novelist
writes from a deep sense
of concern for the country
and its people and while
he or she can maintain a
certain detachment from
events and the pressures
they exert, there is often
an involvement with the
experiences and feelings
of the individuals affected
who become characters in
their books viewed with
both passion and compas-
sion.
In “Mosquito” Theo
Samarajeeva, the chief
protagonist, is a successful
writer with an internation-
al reputation who has lived
in Europe for many years
and led a totally fulfilling
life, until the sudden death
of his beloved Italian wife
Anna in a shocking and
random accident shatters
his life. Unable to cope,
he instinctively makes for
home, Sri Lanka, the land
of his birth and upbringing
just as a distressed ani-
mal would retreat to the
safest haven he remem-
bers in order to tend his
wounds. There, he rents
an isolated bungalow in an
idyllic place on the beach
and settles down to a quiet
life. His only companion
is Sugi, an elderly servant
whom he hires to be his
cook, housekeeper and
general handyman. Sugi
is efficient at his duties
but in addition he is very
perceptive of the moods
and needs of his ‘Sir’ and
develops a close rapport
with him which leads to a
strong friendship between
them. ‘He (Sugi) had seen
in him (Mr Samarajeeva)
the kind of person that no
longer existed. Someone
fine and just and clever….
Someone who had not been
corrupted by the war.’
The third protagonist is
Nulani Mendis, a young
girl of seventeen who lives
close by and has seen her
father die in a petrol bomb
explosion as he was too
outspoken and defended
the rights of Tamils. Her
mother who is rendered
distraught by his death
has become totally obses-
sive in her love for her
son Jim, and has nothing
left to give Nulani who
is mostly treated as an
unpaid servant only use-
ful for household duties.
She leaves the girl mostly
to her own devices, which
include attending a con-
vent school, whereas Jim
is given every assistance to
win a scholarship and leave
for studies in England.
Nulani is a naturally gift-
ed artist who spends all
her spare time sketching
and painting with limited
resources. She gradually
ventures into Theo’s house
since their paths often
cross outside while walk-
ing on the beach and she
begins drawing the decora-
tive European objects that
are displayed in his sitting
room. While he works at
his new book at his desk,
she finds an unobtrusive
spot on the veranda from
where she can observe and
draw him, eventually turn-
ing the sketches into paint-
ings. This is the beginning
of their relationship.
In a parallel story,
Vickram who also lives
in the same small sea-
side town and goes to the
same school as Dulani is
a young Tamil who was a
child soldier rescued from
the Tigers and placed in
an orphanage. A sympa-
thetic unmarried Sinhalese
gentleman takes him into
his home as his ward and
leaves him in the care of
his servant woman, Thercy
who manages the house-
hold, while he leaves the
country on an overseas
work trip. Vickram is a
strange, enigmatic boy
who barely speaks after
he was found hiding under
a bed in his village home
while government soldiers
raped and then murdered
his mother and sister. His
father, in despair, had com-
mitted suicide not knowing
that his son is still alive.
Gerard a Tiger agent
active in the town, gradual-
ly recognizes that Vickram
is an ideal recruit for co-
opting and training for
special missions executed
by the separatists. The sto-
ries of Vickram and Dulani
touch at various critical
points and serve to illus-
trate aspects of what living
in the fog of war means.
Rohan, Theo’s clos-
est friend who has also
returned home with his
Italian wife Giulia at about
the same time as Theo,
after most of his adult life
in Europe, is a painter who
has exhibited at interna-
tional galleries. Theo
introduces Nulani to them
so that her talent may be
assessed by him, and the
presence of these two peo-
ple who best understand
both Theo and Dulani and
the forces against them are
essential to the develop-
ment and eventual climax
of the novel.
The Sri Lankan abroad
is subject to subtle chang-
es in personality, char-
acter and outlook due to
exposure to new cultures
and the resulting transfer-
ence of certain values and
behaviors. Theo has no
hesitation in placing him-
self in danger by openly
confronting a ruthless man
and his equally unscrupu-
book cover
lous friends in the mistak-
en belief that a reasonable
conversation will ensue
instead of the violence that
is visited on him when he
is kidnapped and delivered
to government forces. The
motive for his kidnapping
is their wish to use his
ability as a writer who can
produce useful propaganda
which will whitewash their
image and their actions to
an international audience.
Subsequently Theo is
seized by a Tiger patrol
in the jungle where the
government forces have
taken him and the tempo
of the narrative becomes
one of breathtaking speed,
a pace that keeps the read-
er wholly involved and
gripped by the story. The
characters and their sepa-
rate but interconnected
dilemmas are those which
have won the empathy of
the reader completely. The
writer’s attitude to gov-
ernment forces, Tigers and
other paramilitaries, thugs
with their own agendas and
private armies is exactly
the same for all of these
exist and are purveyors of
violence in various forms.
It is this violence that has
torn the fabric of society
irreparably.
The novel’s title conveys
a host of meanings in this
context. It is both a potent
symbol and telling real-
ity. The mosquito breeds
in stagnant water and other
unhealthy swamp areas. If
it is left without hindrance
to propagate freely it brings
both illness and death.
The malarial mosquito is
endemic to the country and
played its part in the decay
of the great ancient cit-
ies of Anuradhapura and
Polannaruwa. When, as is
the situation now, the erad-
ication of the mosquito is
neglected or a low priority
because of the concentra-
tion on the war and all it
entails, the general popula-
tion is very vulnerable. In
the novel, we are constantly
made aware, indirectly and
directly of its nature and
habitat. Nulani’s mother
dies of malaria.
The point that an expa-
triate never detaches her-
self or himself entirely
from the native land is
clearly and memorably
etched by Tearne. The con-
nections and the effects
sustained are constantly
felt in many different ways
according to individual or
family circumstances. The
people of Sri Lanka are
always present to us in our
thoughts and feelings. As
Sugi reflects to himself at
one point. ‘Underneath the
mess they (the people) had
created for themselves,
the land still had powerful
ancient roots. It was still
capable of healing. One
day it would go back to
what it had been before.’
Roma Tearne has writ-
ten a compelling and pow-
erful novel which also
illustrates a remarkable
depth and delicacy of sen-
sibility
Shelagh Goonewardene
has written a book on Sri
Lankan Theatre, ‘This
Total Art’ (1994) with
considerable experience
of being an actor, direc-
tor and critic in this area
since the 1960s. She now
writes book reviews and
poetry, and has recently
published her first book
of poetry, “Poems to the
Creator.” She now lives
in Australia.
16 Confluence

presents

A dazzling duet for

London with

Shubha
Mudgal
& Bombay
Jayashri
live in concert
Sun 7 December 2008, 7.30
Part of Southbank Centre’s
‘International Voices’ series
southbank centre, london se1 8xx

080908_shubaMudgalBombayJayshri_advert.indd 1 24/10/08 17:51:45

A concert duet never seen before in Europe,

performed by two leading lights in Indian
vocal music. Shubha Mudgal and Bombay
Jayashri are stars in their respective fields
of North and South Indian music, and have
excelled in classical, folk and film music. They
come together in a rare duet, or jugalbandhi,
of classical music, presenting a unique fusion
between the styles of North Indian and South
Indian vocal music, accompanied by Sudhir
Nayak on harmonium, Aneesh Pradhan on
tabla, Embar Kannan on violin and Poongulum
Subramanian on the mridangam.
Promoted by Milapfest in association with Southbank Centre
For further information please contact:
Tel 0151 707 1111 • Email info@milapfest.com
Milapfest is Britain’s premier South Asian
Arts Trust commissioning and touring
high quality arts events thoughout the
year. Look out for exciting events in your
area - visit our website
www.milapfest.com
Booking Information:
Ticket prices £25, £20, £15
(50% off, limited availability)
Box office: 0871 663 2500 or online at
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

080908_shubaMudgalBombayJayshri.indd 2 24/9/08 15:56:57