I have always considered my city an extended courtyard.. needless to say I’m obsessed with Chandigarh and madly in love with the city and its people.I shifted here just 3 years back and the love and warmth i received from the people here is heart warming. Many a times we come across things which don’t impress us and we are like..‘yaar kuch karna chahiye hai!’ and the counter thought is ’ yaar kuch nahi ho sakta… system hee kharaab hai ..! ’ We get so much from our city..but what do we give back ? We take our cities for granted and forget our own role in keeping the city going . We do have habit of discussing ‘Global issues’.. but we forget that action at Local level only.,can bring about change ..as many locals make one global !
Green Warriors happened when i came across this lovely place called ‘Heritage pond’ in middle of the city Chandigarh through the head of NGO Environment society of India , who has been maintaining it. Also he told that , this soon would be gone as Govt. is planning to build up a VIP’s club here. More than 600 trees would have been axed…and a lot more. So I took it as a challenge… to use my Film-making talent to raise the voice for this Heritage pond ...The Campaign started in Mid October 08 and the major Tool of fighting
back for the cause was a 35 min Zero Budget Documentary called ‘Green Warriors’ (http://www.humlog.org/gw ) The film was shot on a HandyCam and then extensively screened in the schools of the city. Around 2 dozen of screenings were organized in 4 months in various
institutes and schools in the Tricity. It was an awareness cum advocacy film shot over a period of 6 months in 2008. The film set a perfect example of ‘Video Activism’ at a local level.The main support in the campaign were the School Kids and the staff.The Heads of the schools issued Recommendation letters stating that the Heritage Village site is of Educational Importance and thus be saved. The school kids helped to spread the word around by being a part of various events like painting workshops , protest march etc.A very strong role was played by the Print media of the city by highlighting the cause time and again.
Final nail in the coffin came, when the High Court as a result of PIL filed by us, asked Govt to submit the affidavit that no such club shall be made at that place ,which the Govt. did. Today the place is being developed into a ‘Butterfly Park’ on the lines of Eco-tourism.
This is how the beautiful green place was saved by the Citizens themselves, by turning into ‘Green Warriors’

The very first rain…

My most lasting memories from work in the mobile clinic in Topsia are the stories told by the grandmothers of the area. Complaining of aching backs, knees, and hands they told tales of cruel daughters-in-law and unlowing sons. But sometimes, when the pounding rain outside gave the old ladies an excuse to linger longer in the clinic, they settled into the red plastic chairs, and showed us the vegetables they bought to cook for lunch and vigorously chewing paan, also praised Allah, talked about their sweet grand-children, and used the most colourful of curses with a mischievous smile.

These ladies have lived through the cruelty of partition and saw their fathers killed mercilessly. Some of them came to Kolkata s children from Bihar to work in the now long-closed iron factories of Topsia. One of these children who came to Kolkata 60 years ago, Zinat Aman, has been living on the street as long as anyone remembers, mumbling: “Na baap, na bhai. Hum akele hai. Shaadi nahi kiya. Kai karenge? Baap toh nahi hai. Khud kaise karenge? Koi toh tha. Dusre se rishta lia.” And after all her years the street is the only reality that has remained with Zinat Aman. “Ami Masjid Bari Lani jabo,” she stamps her feet when someone tries to take her somewhere else. Zinat Aman barely sits, and wanders instead constantly away from and to her beloved Masjid Bari Lane.

Not many pause to listen. In Topsia, people wave the grandmas away, not recognizing the value of the stories they are dismissing . But if we do not record these remarkable women’s stories, they will leave without a trace. Recording these old ladies’ experiences of the past and their thoughts about today is a project that I would like to realize one day.

Just before the West Bengal elections, the most colourful cartoons and party symbols appeared on walls around the city. While Congress-supporters limited themselves to innocent tricolour flowers, the sharp minds and brushes seemed to be on the Communist side. Which, alas, did not help them in the end.
I wonder if Mamta was able to appreciate the wit in the caricatures?