Sunday 11 December 2011

The ghosts of the whistleblowers


A tribute to Shehla Masood and all the whistleblowers of India who speak out and are silenced, assaulted and murdered in this great democracy. And the amazing fact is that there is no law in our country which will safeguard them. (Published in Dec 07, 2011 edition of Mint: http://bit.ly/tqIrgG). With Manta Ray Comics.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

The poverty line.

The latest comic for Manta Ray. Published full page in the newspaper Mint on October 12, 2011.
Here is the hi res from the epaper.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

The Tigerwallahs

 Full page comic in the newspaper Mint. Published Sep 12th, 2011. Link here.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

India's poverty line

 The Planning Commission told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that anyone spending more than Rs 965 per month in urban India and Rs 781 in rural India will be deemed not to be poor. Updating the poverty line cut-off figures, the commission said those spending in excess of Rs 32 a day in urban areas or Rs 26 a day in villages will no longer be eligible to draw benefits of central and state government welfare schemes meant for those living below the poverty line. 
From TOI.

Friday 2 September 2011

A roadmap

Click on the image to enlarge and read.























I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling
 
At the very best, The Great Indian Clearance Sale is an art and design project that asks questions and visually explores the environmental issues that affect all of us. The process has been live through blogging, Twitter and Facebook in the hope to inspire everyone to ask questions and explore the world around us in newer and braver ways. 
When we began we knew that every art and design project comes with an expiry date, but we said to ourselves, ‘not this one!’. How could we ever stop asking questions? 
And we won’t.

And we hope neither will you.

But at some point in time, The Great Indian Clearance Sale will become irrelevant and boring, as it happens with art. It just fails to appeal to people. And sometimes the artist moves on. 

But we hope that you will keep asking questions. The wonderful reality of our times is that if you ask questions, you will find a lot more answers than you ever did. And we believe that, people, armed with the right information will make better choices about their future.

Here’s a little roadmap for your adventure in information. We hope you will enjoy going on this adventure as much as we have.

Wednesday 31 August 2011

Monsanto's ad in the newspapers. Some questions.



It seems to be a bit factually incorrect.
1. They say in the fine print about Bollgard making cotton resistant against pests.
But:
For the first time anywhere in the world, biotech agriculture giant Monsanto has admitted that insects have developed resistance to its Bt cotton crop. Field monitoring in parts of Gujarat has discovered that
the Bt crop is no longer effective against the pink bollworm pest there.
The company is advocating that Indian farmers switch to its second-generation product to delay resistance further.
-The Hindu, March 06, 2010


2. They throw in percentages like a number game. Since we are all educated, they should tell us what does 87% of Bt Cotton Farmers mean in numbers. We know for a fact that a lot of Cotton Farmers have committed suicide. So, going by this ad, of the remaining few 87% are leading a better life. Right?

3. GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce their own built-in pesticide in every cell. When bugs bite the plant, the poison splits open their stomach and kills them.
The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is designed to be more toxic and cannot be washed off the plant.
Flu like symptoms are now being reported by farm workers throughout India, from handling Bt cotton.
Studies has also shown Bollworms developing resistance to Bt toxin and becoming infinitely more dangerous and uncontrollable.
Add to this the fact that cotton is not only attacked by Bollworms, but about 160 other pests as well

4. And while we are at it, what about the fact that Bt Corn is a massive failure and is destroying whole crops?
http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/08/29/mkts_midday_monsanto.cnnmoney/

and

5. 42.4 crore additional days of employment. The mind boggles. So let's break it down. If there were 500,000 Bt cotton farmers (unlikely), that would mean 840 additional days of employment for each one of those people. Anyone who has travelled to the cotton belt of India will tell you that if there is so much employment there, it certainly doesn't show. We are not good at Math. Someone, please help us out here.

Sunday 28 August 2011

How to manage our environment - 4


How to manage our environment - 4. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the wikileaks expose and the government’s BRAI plan. (Wikileaks on how US diplomats are promoting GMOs: http://bit.ly/pwini2 How Indian govt is sabotaging public debate on BRAI: http://bit.ly/nvWIeC )

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Of foreign hand, circuses and other such.


Click on the image to enlarge

Is that a foreign hand or are you just excited to see us selling India?

There is a foreign hand behind this uprising of people. There is no doubt about it. The government has been selling the nation to companies like Vedanta – foreign, Monsanto – foreign, POSCO – foreign. In fact the whole development model that the government follows is so foreign that people are really fed up and have taken to the streets. So, yes, there is a foreign hand. The movement is to take it out of the corrupt politicians’ a$$e$.

The Liberal’s view of the uprising – It’s a circus

Oh well, some of us are upset about the show and chaos and music and drums and tamasha. Well, guess what, that’s what a revolution in India would look like. Those sadhus and charlatans and unkempt people and crazy histrionics and Gandhigiri and all that is as Indian as you or me. When the revolution comes, these are the people we will be fighting shoulder to shoulder with. Let’s accept it. The revolution we read about in our books and saw in our minds will make for a great play and a great book. Let’s write that book. We’ve had enough of trashy literature anyway. Meanwhile, the real revolution in India will be non-violent and it will be fought on Gandhi’s principles. Nothing else will work in this country. Nothing else has.

Where were these people when other struggles were happening?

In their homes. Trying to figure out where the hell will they get their next dal and roti from. Trying not to eat tomatoes and cut down on onions. You think that is not a struggle? And these are the people who are out on the streets. How is their struggle to live a life any less than a Niyamgiri or a Dantewada?

Anna Hazare

In the last 65 years, this is the first time, and probably the second time in our history as India that one man has brought the entire nation together to fight against the disease that is eating the country alive. If you don’t see greatness in that, check your eyes and hearts for their expiry date.


Sunday 14 August 2011

Independence Day, India.


Photograph: Deepak Dogra

Overcome by an overwhelmingly celebratory mood this independence day, we looked for ONE defining image of our country today. One image that would accurately describe the governance and the governed. One image that would define our development model. One image that is so 2011, that 2011 stops it its tracks and asks, where the hell did you get this mirror. We found the image! Happy independence day.


Tuesday 2 August 2011

Bollworms and Ladders



Go ahead, take a print out of the game and play. And if you think it is a one sided game, then raise your voice against it. Don't let people die in this game agri companies are playing with millions of farmers.

Monday 1 August 2011

A bright and rosy death of our nations' food security.


Project Sunshine, Golden Days, Rainbow, Golden Rays. Sound bright and optimistic? Brace yourself for the most important stories of this year. Which, if not paid attention to, will become the obituary of our nation's food security. (Click on the image to know more).

Monday 18 July 2011

So what's going on?



So, what’s going on with all of us? How is it so easy for a few corrupt people and a few corporations to take all of us for a ride and sell our land, our forests, our food, our common sense to the lowest bidders? We dug deep here’s what we found.

Thursday 14 July 2011

How to manage our environment - 3


How to manage our environment - 3. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the coal the hell out of India policy. WHich would make a single Indian state one of the world's top 20 emitters of carbon emissions. http://www.guardian.co.uk/envi​ronment/2011/jul/14/india-coal​-rush?intcmp=122

Tuesday 12 July 2011

The death of the environment ministry.

Today you were killed by the government.
You had been in coma for years before. Until a man called Jairam Ramesh came and breathed life into you.
He said he was doing things “in enlightened national interest”. And he did. He thwarted Monsanto’s attempts at contaminating our biodiversity.
He said no to Vedanta who would have us believe that Niyamgiri was their jagir and the tribals their slaves.
This man tried. Failed. Stumbled. Bumbled. Got pushed over. Made mistakes. Did wrong. Did right.
He was a human after all. Standing in the crossfire between the development debate and the environmental concerns.
It’s a damn tricky place to be in. Try talking to your rich friends about tribals and mining and see how red eared and how blood pressured you become. And this man was making policies and making decisions that not only angered the rich friends and industry but the corrupt politicians as well.
And when they clipped his wings, he still pranced around, making noises.
Then, with one move they chopped off his head. And said they promoted him.
A country where the environment ministry isn’t the most important ministry has lost its bearings. To take away the ministry from a man who cared, is not promotion. It’s murder.
Of the environment ministry.
Monsanto, Vedanta, POSCO, you win this round. There is a chink in our armour.

Thursday 7 July 2011

Monsantorattus


Public safety warning! A strange new breed of rat has been let loose in India and it feeds on the blood of the farmers and it can't be controlled by pesticides, because it makes them. And the rat has been seen and caught red handed flouting bio-safety norms and threatening India's food supply. http://www.greenpeace.org/indi​a/en/news/Monsanto-caught-red-​handed-violating-rules/?src=sn​et

Wednesday 6 July 2011

How to manage our environment - 2


How to manage our environment - 2. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the policy of moratorium on industrial pollution. http://downtoearth.org.in/cont​ent/gentle-critical-pollution

Thursday 30 June 2011

How to manage our environment-1


Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.)
Lesson 1, based on this report:
A High Powered Committee on efficient allocation of natural resources and telecom spectrum puts market above people: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/pay-and-take

Wednesday 11 May 2011

TISS protests against the Great Indian Clearance Sale!







TISS students protest against the great Indian clearance sale. Jairam refuses to listen. Stands firm on Jaitapur. Meanwhile Japan decides to back off nuclear energy. Wonder why they are so afraid? They should learn from India. (photos: Faiza Khan)

Sunday 17 April 2011

An adventure in information









So here it is then: An adventure in information; our first publication. We asked a lot of questions and found some answers along the way. Here are some of them in this illustrated journey that took us into the heart of darkness and out of it. Hope it helps you on your little quest of finding out the truth.
Play Clan has very kindly agreed to stock our publication. You can get your copy at:
DELHI

Play Clan
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Near Atrium
Select Citywalk Saket,
New Delhi
Tel: 40534559
Open all 7 days
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Play Clan
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Meherchand Market
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New Delhi
Tel: 24644393
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MUMBAI

Play Clan
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Saturday 5 March 2011

You



Turn up the volume.

Description: The Great Indian Clearance Sale isn't about the corrupt people. Not about Monsanto. Not about coal. Not about mining. Not about environmental disasters. It is about one person who will be most affected by it. You.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

The monsters of consumerism.



Consumerism sure is inspiring. Here is, hopefully what will become a series, an attempt at an animation. Our billionnaire honcho Ambani's home in Mumbai consumes as much electricity as 7000 families in a month. That's about 21000 people. A family of 5 consuming as much electricity as 21000 people? God help us.

Thursday 24 February 2011

Are you capable of selling your country? Test your IQ now and find out. Test 1: Endosulfan.


Please click on the picture to enlarge and read the questionnaire.

Think about it. Why is Endosulfan not banned in this country? What could be the reasons?
You may want to read a bit of Wikipedia.
Or an article from one of the 72 countries which have banned it.
You can of course google it too.

The blood of elephants

Where will we go when we have killed all the elephants? To the Siddhivinayak Temple and pray to Ganesha?

Tuesday 15 February 2011

The Other India's 2011



January
haunted by the ghost of the year gone
cold woebegones
hangover of consumerism
the corrupt plan their loots for the year
nothing about the next eleven months looks promising
something should disrupt the black
but nothing does


February
The corporate plunder
claws at the heart of my country
ghosts of the dead rise and question
the spring season in the capital
the nasturtiums in bloom
could almost make you come out
of your self imposed exile
and if you do
the mixed smell of diesel, blood and perfume
will intoxicate you
to a sleep that the 350 million
are only too content to sleep