Priti Talkies

Photo credits @Priti Singh My father always told me that there were two kinds of people in the world - the ones who overlooked every malady, every mystery, every mirth. People whose life graphs rarely fluctuated with the quotidian rhythm of human existence. And then there were others who looked beyond the physical response of the optic nerves, people who saw a meaning to everything even slightly more than mundane and sought answers to the many mysteries of life. As far as I was concerned, there was never a doubt about my typification. A string of broken toys and gadgets bore testimony to this inquisitive trait which had a habit of resurfacing every now and then.  After living for three long years on the mellifluous islands of Andaman and Nicobar, surrounded by the ubiquitous coconut tree, I knew this was bound to happen again. Daily consumption of freshly plucked coconuts with mouth-watering kernel and the purest form of liquid available to man somehow seemed no longer enough t

“She was raped and murdered.” “She was Priyanka Bhotmange.” You have read it right. The name here is Bhotmange and not Mattoo. The latter being one we more easily relate to. But in this witless “Tragedy of Errors” (set a good ten years apart from each other) the protagonists - two girls, different not just in surname, but in the classes they represented, castes they belonged to and places they came from - were joined together by their tragic denouement. Both lives were prematurely snuffed out by egotistical maniacs – a lone stalker in the case of Priyadarshini and a mob of thirty in Priyanka’s case. But while we are all aware of the nitty-gritty of the Mattoo case, the details of the other one still elude us. Today, where we can all find solace in the fact that Priyadarshini has (finally) got justice, primarily due to the tenacity of her very brave family, the contumaciousness of the media and the large scale support of the urban Indian middle class that helped revive the onc

Photo credits @Priti Singh Defogging the islands  Author Priti Singh tells NANDINI NAIR that "The Islands and Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar" clears popular misconceptions about the archipelago. "I wanted to defog mindsets. People view them with much trepidation." It's a coffee table book but meant to be seen and read. Priti Singh's "The Islands and Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar,"published by Prakash Books, and dedicated to the people of the islands, is an appreciation of their resilience and hope. Initially apprehensive about her husband's transfer, she ended up discovering and loving the islands. Having grown up in Zambia, she says, "The germ (for the outdoors) was laid there." Of the 300-odd islands she says fondly, "They have a siesta like atmosphere. It's a place that prefers to trot rather than gallop." In a relaxed mood, Singh describes her motive, "I wanted to defog mindsets. Many people view t

Photo credits @LiveMint    "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime"  - A Chinese Proverb The State, for more than half a century now, has been doing whatever it can to provide free and compulsory primary education to all. But, its ineffectiveness to deliver in the rural areas and the appalling condition of the schools there (reflected in the absence of basic infrastructure, monetary support and trained and dedicated teachers) force many children, even today, to steer clear of the few available classrooms we may have in the countryside. The problem is further compounded by various socio-economic compulsions, like the need of more hands to till land and help out in domestic chores, forcing village folk to arm their children with farming tools like the sickle and the hoe instead of empowering them with educational tools such as a humble book and a pen. So, what can be done and has been done till now? I&#