I have been thinking of writing this for the
last three days. What prevented me from doing it is the apprehension that
whether this is the right platform or place to do it. Considering the kind of
intellectual discussions on this place, perhaps, it is wrong. But sometimes,
situation demands one to set aside such apprehensions and swallow whatever
little pride one has. I am in exactly such a situation. Let me start by
apologising to Prof Wolff and the regular readers of this blog for using this
place to make an appeal/request for contribution.
I am from India and a couple of months back,
Prof Wolff had kindly offered me some space to talk about the place I hail
from. Well, India is a large and diverse country and I am from Kerala, one of
the southern states in India. For the last one week, my state has been reeling
from incessant rains and related floods and landslides. As per official
estimates death toll has crossed over 300. The toll is likely to rise further
as people are still trapped in buildings and rescue teams are yet to reach
them. India is still an under developed
country, although the federal government likes to pretend that we are just two
steps away from being developed. As a result, Kerala is still largely dependent
on individual contributions to tide over the unprecedented crisis. Economic
loss is over Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 10 million = Rs 1crore). So, if any of you are
willing to contribute (whatever little), it will be of immense help. Another
reason for making this appeal on this place is that at present, rupee is
sliding against dollar with $1= Rs 70. In other words, my one rupee
contribution may not fetch a slice of bread, but your one dollar can help the
disaster affected people buy two packets of bread. Just for comparison, one
relief camp in one district need on an average 65 kg of rice (that is our
staple food) and an average quality rice will cost Rs 35/kg. There are close to
100 such camps in most districts depending on the severity of the condition.
For contributions you can go to Chief
Minister’s Disaster Relief fund and the site is: www.donation.cmdrf.kerala.gov.in
Google and Amazon have also set up
contribution links.
https://www.amazon.in/b?ie=UTF8&node=8891257031
For those, who are not familiar with Kerala,
12 out of 14 districts in the state have been affected. It is the only state in
India, where a Communist (though namesake) government is in place. It was also
in Kerala in 1957 that the world’s first democratically elected Communist government
assumed office. Historically it has great significance as Kerala is the state
in India with the highest HDIs. Also, most of India, including the central
(Federal) government ruled by the right-wing BJP. Not that any of its matters when seeking
funds for disaster relief.
I offered this background as I want you all to
make an informed decision. I am aware of many cases where people (especially
from third world countries) have set up fraud online accounts to seek money. As
a precautionary measure, I urge, anyone who is considering to contribute, to go
to Google and check for news on Kerala floods. Alternatively, you can go to
YouTube and type Malayalam news live. Mute it and just see the visuals. That
will give you an idea about the situation.
I don’t live in Kerala anymore. India has 29
states. I live in Hyderabad in Telangana state. My parents in Kerala left their
house yesterday with just two bags – one with clothes and another documents. I
would say they were among the fortunate ones as they managed to leave the house
when the ground floor got inundated. Most people had to leave without anything
but wet clothes they were wearing. And, that will haunt them in the coming
days. In all probability, these poor souls will be asked to prove (with
documents) that they are alive. Thanks to our red tape. Besides, my parents did
not go to a relief camp. They went to my aunt’s house. Yet, it was a challenge
for my 63-year-old mother and 70-year-old father to wade through the waist-deep
water for about 20 minutes to reach the main road.
Finally, I want to add another caveat.
Corruption is (reportedly) rampant in India. Kerala is comparatively better but
not free from corruption. There is a chance that 10-15% (lower limit) of the
total contributions (not individual) may go to line the pockets of the
officials. That is a chance we Indians take when we contribute money. If you
are also willing to take that chance for a larger cause, kindly contribute. It
can go a long way in reducing the suffering of people. Thank you all for your
patience.
Prof Wolff, you can decide not to publish this
if you think it is not suitable for this platform. I felt I should do this as I
did not want to regret for not doing it later. Thank you.
Sreekala
3 comments:
I, for one, think that posting this here is entirely appropriate. Flooding and related events have always been a problem in coastal areas of the Indian subcontinent, but climate change is likely exacerbating the effects. I didn't know that Kerala had been recently hit (an indication that I'm not following the news as closely as I should), so I appreciate hearing about this, and from a first-hand perspective.
A philosophy blog seems like a strange place to go for fundraising
Anonymous,
If you think this is only "a philosophy blog," you cannot have been reading it for very long.
If you want a philosophy blog, there are plenty of them out there (Daily Nous, Leiter, Feminist Philosophers [I think that's what it's called], and the list goes on).
This isn't that. I think you are making what I believe some philosophers call a category error.
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