After my preious post that blogging is not only about ranting, I found two action-able points.
Thanks to our media, we are all warned about Manglore-incident-accused Ram Sena Chief Muthalik’s endeavor on 14th February. Good thing is bloggers in Delhi are meeting this Sunday, 8th February to protest. Here’s where you can find the details: Stand Up to Moral Policing
This protest is not because we want to uphold love-is-in-the-air sentiment of Valentine’s day but because it is our right to mix with opposite gender. Its about standing up against any regressive moral policing.
Never Forget is also another endeavor worthy to be part of. It aims to track the promises made by our politicians, local MLAs, MPs and ministers. You can select your constituency and check the promises made by. The idea behind tracking of a politician’s responses is to make them accountable. Accountability, a word that is dying in our democracy. Never Forget is looking for volunteers who can help in various ways, colelcting data, web site design, writing about the issues. Visit Never Forget and take your pick.
Sometimes signing the petition too works. 2 such small victories gained by signing petitions are:
Vishal Dadlani (of Vishal-Shekhar duo) had submitted a petition in High Court on 1st December about revealing-shoddy journalism by TV News channels on 26/11. This petition, signed by several of us, is now a PIL and wasscheduled for a hearing on 5th February in Mumbai High Court. This is thought was befitting response to Barkha/NDTV’s silencing of blogger. Vishal though hasn’t updated the site yet to update what happened in the hearing. Check out his Small Change Website for further updates.
I have mentioned Greenpeace before. Well, this time they seem to have ‘cleaned up Nokia” for good. 🙂 Nokia has announced its new line of eco-friendly devices.okia announced an entire mobile recycling program in India. It has set up recycling bins with Nokia Priority Dealers and Nokia Care Centers across the country.
Nokia has promised 100 percent of the materials in the phones will be recovered and used to make new products or generate energy. It will not aly take back its own chargers and handsets, but also those made by ANY other brand!
Wow, that’s something. A first in India. Thank you, Greenpeace! You too can join Greenpeace, right here on Facebook.
Picture courtsey Overstock.com. It is Website, where you can buy this painting. CLick image to visit the website.
Visceral Observations 
Despite my comment on your previous post, this blog action thing is to be praised a lot, Poonam. Tracking politicians for accountability and the right to mix with the opposite gender seem two important issues.
Reema told me in my blog that Valentine’s day was targeted by traditionalists. Maybe they think it is something Western, against Indian culture (wondering if India was so much for traditions before Sept 11: it could be an Islamic influence, which we also feel in the West).
As far as Valentine, I’m a southern Western and my generation, who didn’t consider Valentine’s day much, see this festival as a commercialization imported from America. But young people all over the world, instead, feel it as a great festival of love. Proper expression of love should not be condemned.
This growing fundamentalism all over the planet worries me.
The meet is in Delhi only: 8 Feb. I am not coming! Kinda feel bad but can’t do more!
Today I spent 7 hours making a blog on how to flood JNU with RTI queries by offering elaborate RTI application/template for download! The JNU VC is destroying JNU and the campus is quite charged! I want hundreds of RTIs being sent to the JNU administration.
So,no time for any more activism this month! Joined Greenpeace though my Facebook profile is rather dormant! I have flaunted conservation stickers on my blog in the past; Some ten days ago the sidebar on my blog had everything except food and water! I removed many items after a suggestion from Timethief (onecoolsite.wordpress.com) who is my friend now.
Glad to know things are moving in the right direction; My prayers for the endeavours!
Looking forward to the next release from you! Adios!
thanks for all the links
Had read your last post but wasn’t able to comment. All I would want to say is that I very much agree with you. Whenever any incident occurs we all come up with numerous posts critcising things but we hardly do anything. Sometimes because we don’t get a medium to co operate and mostly because we feel why shud we be involved. And yes it is time we do something better.
I know abotu a blogger (http://strummingmythoughts.blogspot.com/) who was anguished by the mumbai terror attack. She was directly affected because her father was at Oberoi’s I have been following her blog and she & another blogger friend of hers have started an initiative…her is the link
http://indiahelps.blogspot.com/
This is a case in example where people like u n me have come together for something good…
No doubt that Valentine’s Day is pure commercialization but then what isn’t these days? Here the fanatics are opposing it because they think it is against their culture. Which culture are they talking about? As I mentioned at another place..we are an amalgamation.
As always you stifle people, they will be agitated. Those who never cared about Valentine’s Day are now thinking about doing something that day. At least spreading love is better than hatred.
Thanks for the links Poonam
The links are good. And nice post..
Keep Blogging!
I too had signed the Vishal’s petition and it’s a great news that it has reached status of PIL.
Btw, I wrote review of LBC and now Dev.D as well..
i too am pledged with greenpeace already & got their mail about nokia.
maybe we can make a difference even by being connected through net only..! thanks for the links..
oh where was this meeting held? did you attend it?
and poonam, did you see that greenmarathon on ndtv good times ( from our very own miss dutt)
will check out the never forget site asap
off topic; and you are most welcome for the award 😛
Thanks for putting up that link 🙂
And interesting stuff you got going here…
You are doing a great job Poonam!
You are rite..
@Manofroma: Honestly, I havent taken any action about things mentioned in this post othre than sigining petition. I plan to do more though.
In my country, fundamentalists are not really fundamentalists, they do it to garner few votes by playing on insecurities of other groups/religions. Its a political gimmick. That’s ad, we are mutilated in anme of democracy.
@Vikas: I too could not be at the meet. For details of meet was sent to me late at night, by then I had made other plans. 😦
And whatever you are doing in your circle for your rights is good enough. DOn’t feel pressured to do thing that you can not or do not want to. Every person doing their bit is enough.
@Reema: You are welcome!
@Smita: Thank you for understanding. I am not underestimating the power of writing. But words backed without action are hollow words. We should do what we can to uphold what we write. This is not public service, its standing up to what we believe in. Like you refused to bribe for your scooty. These routes are hard, but together they can make impact.
@Solilo: I too hardly believe in the sanctity of Valentine’s day. BUt I oppose that someone should stop my right to clebrate or believe in sanctity of the day. Thanks for understanding!
@Biju Mathews: THank you!
@Oxy: Do you ahve any new about what happened to PIL? Yes, I saw your reviews, didnt read and comment as first plan to write my own woithout being influenced. 🙂
@Oorja: Your are welcome! Yes, I too artake in all Greenpeace campaigns. We do what we can do, online and offline.
@Arpit: Meeting was in south Delhi. I didnt attend it as details were sent out to me late at night, by then I had made other plans. Nope, I didnt see that greenmarathan. What was special about it.
Yes, thanks again for the award.
@Sirop: You are welcome. Hopefully, I would join you in the protest.
@Dev: Honestly, not done anything real yet. But hope I soon will. :))
Poonam,you are one of the few bloggers who are really passionate about putting things right and talking against injustice..I read your last post and came here many time,but i didn’t know what to comment..This post is really a positive one,with rays of hope and imparting confidence that ‘Yes,We can”..Both the news provided are worth enough to be appreciated and elt us work more and look forward for more of this kind..I don’t know how can i help,but you can mail me anytime for any need,and i wil be glad to help if it is within my reach..
🙂 Thanks the Green Peace is on.
Poonam
Apparently in a light tone, but taken deadly seriously is this campaign for Valentine’s Day. Take a look.
http://thepinkchaddicampaign.blogspot.com/
Several thousand women – and men – have signed up to it and from a distance, I expect this Valentine’s Day to not be a very peaceful one.
But u have already written on LBC.. so what u think of that!!! :):)
No yaar, no clue of PIL..
Thanks for all the info via links.
@Nimmy: Thanks for the unconditional support you ahev offered. I couldn’t have asked for more. And its ok to not to comment sometimes, we all sometimes read and empathise and dont knw what we can add by commenting. It happens to me a lot of times.
@Chirag: Bravo!:)
@Shefaly: Yes, I have read about it and had been waiting for their Delhi colelction center to be announced.
This can not be a campaign to be taken in light vein, to be a part of it requires getting out of your comfor zone of cultivated-since-birth sensibilities.
@Oxy: I had scurried through your post in hurry, but I will surely be there today. 🙂
@Vimal: You are welcome! 🙂
Poonam, allow me to paste here a (long) comment on fundamentalism, which was a response to Nomad’s comment on my blog( Reema’s sister):
“What I am fearing, is this growth of fundamentalism everywhere. It is contagious. In the Renaissance, when Catholic Rome was getting back to some freedom of mores, the protestants arrived (Luther etc.) and split Christianity, they were much stricter in some way, and Rome had to counter-react and all became very strict again: we had Inquisition, witch hunts, wars of religion, horrible killings for centuries in Europe.
At present, I am fearing the Muslim fanatics (most of the Muslims are moderate though), the Muslim revolution started in Iran, all this is triggering something similar. Is it again contagious? For example I’ve read that Muslim and Christian fanatics are becoming allied in creationism … and from many Indian bloggers I learn that Hindu fanaticism is growing too. I fear this disease spreading, yes.
Clash of religions and civilizations? Gosh, plsss no….”
PS
By fundamentalism I mean the strict adherence to a set of very ancient religious beliefs lived fanatically. This attitude accepts no compromise with modern social manners.
:))
a happy day.
i just wrote somethin’ … would love ur view.
@Manofroma: Yup, if all religions stsarted to ahve their own fanatics, it would be hard to co-exist together. I agree with your definition of fundamentalism, I maintain these guys taht I ahve been writing about are not religious or fundamentalists. They are opportunistic hooligans, they write and rewrite their own rules of religion for political gain. They are hoping to woo foolish bigots or fundamentalists that maybe lurking in the population.
@Roop: Thanks: 😉
Hey! How was the meeting of the bloggers? Did you go? I would have loved to attend it… 😦