Namma Cauvery? The Hypocrisy!

It is that time of the year again when History repeats itself and our Dear Mother, River Cauvery is the cynosure of all eyes. Unfortunately, this History seems to be repeating itself so often that there seems to be no end remedy in sight. The past week has seen protests erupt across Karnataka against the Supreme Court decision on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

I am not going into the merits of the case for that is for our Legal teams to argue and Courts to decide. I find this whole exercise of protests and Bandhs a hogwash for I firmly believe that nobody actually wants to find a solution to the problem. If we have rains, then nobody talks about the excess water at our disposal for we really have no solution to using excess water, do we? It is only when the rain Gods fail that we actually realise the gravity of the situation. From accusing the State Government to not appointing the right legal luminaries and not being assertive to accusing Tamil Nadu of being greedy and demanding excess water, we have all the right excuses to make our case but the sad part is that the crux of the whole issue get washed underneath it all.

River Cauvery, or Kaveri Mathe or Kaveriamma as people would like to call it is definitely a true provider to the people of a large part of South India; while it is the source of water for farmers to till their lands or for others to quench their thirst, it also the biggest provider to people from all walks of life to grab the limelight. From Politicians trying to wrestle power from one another to so called patriotic organisations pushed into the oblivion, the River gives all of them a chance to grab their pound of flesh in their quest for power.

A lot of the individuals and organisations that have called for the Bandh against the release of water are hypocrites. For far too long, these people have used Kannada Pride and Cauvery to further their personal ambitions. Almost everybody from the Political, social and Entertainment fields have joined the chorus against the release of water. The bottom line is that Cauvery is an issue that has maximum benefits for everybody provided you join the bandwagon. Everybody is going to get air time and regional news channels, always desperate for content are going to use the issue and these people to garner maximum TRPS.

My problem with these hypocrites is this, you cannot save the river by picking and choosing issues. The popular slogan this time around seems to be "Kaveri Nammadhu". Its ironic that they say it with so much pride when all they have done is abuse what they call theirs. Wearing and flying the red and yellow and burning effigies of people is not going to get more water; nor is attacking people of Tamil Nadu by accusing them of being greedy going to get water. It is good to see so many people bringing regular life to a stand still to put their point across. But the sad part is that almost all of them have been hoodwinked by our Politicians, Bureaucrats, Businessmen and other vested interests for far too long. All of them are talking about not having enough water for irrigation and drinking water purposes but do not care as to where the actual source of the water is. The truth is that nobody really cares to find out the reasons behind deficient rainfall and water flow and our dear media will not enlighten people with the truth for that will not benefit anybody. I will not be surprised if a lot of them think that KRS is the source of the River.

The primary catchment area of the Cauvery, Coorg has been abused by all these vested interests including local representatives. Kodagu seems to be one of the favourite destination for people from all walks of life. From being a favourite destination of the Film Industry with its scenic spots to holiday makers looking for a getaway for the weekend, Coorg provides for everybody just like River Cauvery does. It provides for the timber mafia who are hand in glove with the politicians to fell as many trees as they want as it does for the Sand mafia to transport all the sand they need. People looking for a place to buy, just need to contact somebody from the land mafia and you will have a place in either a converted wet land or a villa property for the right price. This is the reason why all these pro- Cauvery activists who are making a hue and cry over the issue at the moment are hypocrites.

Where were these activists when locals in Kodagu were protesting against the high tension power line project? The same State Government crying foul over the Supreme Court decision today slapped sedition charges against the locals protesting against the power line project. The media covered it at a glance and the politicians made these local activists look like jokers who are against development. It is very easy to dismiss these activists as those with their own vested interest and against development. Yes, they have their vested interest which is a love for the land. Sadly, a lot of such activism for a larger good cause gets lost in this garb of development.

Of course, Coorg needs development and tourism. We need better roads, better infrastructure, Hospitals, Schools, Colleges and grounds. But this development needs to be a sustainable one. Unfortunately, the powers to be equate development to be that of building railway lines, 4 lane roads, high end layouts or resorts. Instead, what we actually need is development that will benefit the locals without damaging the environment. Why can't the development be about improving the infrastructure? The district had nearly 7 Olympians in the contingent to Rio this year. So, the development can be about improving sports infrastructure in every part of the District or getting mobile and internet connectivity to every nook and corner or roads with markings and reflectors to name a few. These jokers that we would like to call our representatives have no such vision and we people have our heads so far in our backsides that we will not do anything about it except write about it in a blog like what I am doing at the moment.

If the Government of Karnataka along with the other Politicians cared so much for Cauvery, then why doesn't the State Government declare Kaveri Sankramana as a State Holiday for starters. If you do not celebrate "Namma Kaveri Mathe", then what is the use of calling her "NAMMADHU". Our Politicians instead want to be the ones in the front row at Talacauvery on Sankramana or they will make their presence felt on Sankramana by distributing Food to devotees and then making a case for them to build a centre and a guest house in Talacauvery which will definitely not help in improving water capacity of the river. I sometimes wonder if the larger idea is to take control over Cauvery by sidelining the people of Kodagu.

These unplanned activities are the reason for the Cauvery to be in the news for all the wrong reasons and as people of the land that is Kaveriamma's, it is time for us to pull up our socks. None of these red and yellow flag lovers will ever come to help save the catchment area, Kodagu. We need to assert ourselves and make sure that we preserve, protect and nurture the river and our land for our future survival if not for anything else. As I write this article, I am hoping that people in Coorg have better sense than support a bandh that serves no purpose.

There are a lot of things that we need to do but that is for another day. For starters, do not let any politician or organisation to attend Sankramana at Talacauvery. Please support all local organisations working towards protecting the catchment area. If you do not agree with them, then tell them where they are wrong. The time has come for us to act.

I am also hoping that this article provokes people to either agree with me or infuriate people to atleast show me the middle finger.

Wake up and Smell the Coffee!

It has been nearly a year now since my last article. I had ended it with the words of Jane Goodall, "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right". And right now. I don't think anything is right when it comes to my hometown, Kodagu. 

Two issues have grabbed the attention of the people of Coorg in the last couple of months. And both these issues actually affect the very identity of Kodagu as we know it. One is the proposed railway line which affects the environment and the other is the Court order against certain traditional practices. And both these issues have got dramatically different reactions. While the former has garnered a lot of attention online with people of all ages using different means to raise awareness, the latter has sadly been brushed under the carpet almost as a sort of acceptance. 

We fortunately have learnt a lesson after the failure of the campaign against the Power Line project. This coupled with the awareness on the need to protect the environment has ensured that people from all walks of life are now supporting the various groups involved in the fight against the railway line. It is heartening to see the communication centered around Mother Cauvery and I believe that this has helped garner widespread support from all over the World. However, all the online campaigning will not help much if we do not see some action on ground, And by action, I do not mean violence. I mean galvanizing enough forces on ground to cripple normal life. For until and unless we get people to come and support these causes on ground, we will not be able  to make much of an impact. The Railway Minister has reacted to the campaign and has tweeted that he will look into it. But what is he going to look at when our elected representatives have not even given a single statement either supporting or opposing the project. Why do we even call these people our representatives if they are not going to understand and stand by the pulse of their electorate? 

I am no saint nor do I think I have the answers to all the problems plaguing us. But I believe that if we do not start speaking about it, we will only fall deeper into the pit that we have dug ourselves into. I blame us, the people for we have brought this upon ourselves. We are a society that thrives on arm chair activism. Almost anybody and everybody in or from Coorg has an opinion on anything and everything. We criticise every single thing around us but when it comes to taking a stand publicly or going for a protest, we somehow have no time for any of it. So while we comfortably share and write about issues on social media platforms, the time has come for us to hold a mirror and look long and hard at ourselves and see the truth for once in our lives. 

The campaign against the Railway Line started to make waves after the "Toast to Cauvery" initiative where one holds a glass of water and raise a toast to Cauvery. It is a brilliant campaign and helped strike a chord with friends from outside Coorg especially in cities or places that depend on the river. However, while it is nice to think innovative for a campaign, it is time to ask ourselves if we really hold the river in the same esteem that our forefathers did before us. How many of us Kodavas have gone to Talacavery in the recent past? How many of us celebrate Kaveri Sankramana in the true spirit of the Festival? I for one went to Cauvery after nearly three years because I had to go and barely make it home to Coorg for Kaveri Sankramana. We have become tourists to our own practices and places of identity. And that is the hypocrisy. We say it is ours but don't show it. 

I love the fact that our Culture is very different from a large part of the Country, but while we have opened up and become liberal; we somehow seem to be identifying ourselves to be that of pork eating guzzlers with a short fuse. Of course, it is all about individual choices. I truly respect the fact that each individual has the liberty and freedom to make choices that they think is right. For that matter, I do not like the Kodava Samaj or any other body to tell me what makes me a Kodava. But a time has come for us to feel the need to preserve what is left of us being an indigenous community. 

These practices are what makes us who we are. The past three odd months has seen authorities clamp down on centuries old practices to implement a Court order. A Court order that most of us did not know about until it was implemented. The said Court order banned animal sacrifice in places of worship in Coorg. Every temple Festival this year saw a huge contingent of Police around the premises making sure that no animal sacrifice took place. So much so that people wee intimidated and hurt that they were not allowed to practice what they truly believed in. I have an issue with this attitude of the Courts and the system in general where individual rights and practices have no voice. The whole media is going to town about Freedom of Speech and so on but what about my rights. There are some people who will argue that animal sacrifice is cruel and we need to have more humanity and stop this but that change if at all needs to come from inside the Community and not by the high hand of the law. 

So will they then go on and tell us that we cannot offer Karana to our ancestors? Today, it is about animal sacrifice, tomorrow it will be about our rights to own guns and day after our right to our land and it will only continue to get worse. Our language and a lot of our traditional practices are already dying a slow death. As a society, we have always been open to adapting and moving with the times but of late, we seem to be adapting better to those things that dilute our practices. As an indigenous population, we need to preserve whatever little is left of our place and our Culture.  

Of course, everybody has a right to go to Court but It baffles me that we somehow seem to miss all that concerns us, especially in the legal or political fields. The need of the hour is a body, a think thank of the young and the old that brings the various organisations in Coorg under one platform. A body that is not just a committee of power and prestige but a body of individuals from all walks of life that helps the various groups get maximum traction for each of its causes. Judicial overreach and unnecessary judicial activism needs to be curtailed. Every single one of us needs to get our hands dirty or at least support those who are willing to get their hands dirty. We need an organisation that will work with the Officials and against the Officials, from solving individual problems to regulating tourism and land laws. It is time for us to be assertive and take control over our lives before we get run over and don't even realise what hit us.. 

So its time to wake up and smell the Coffee!!........