Reservations: the king's mistake and Sir M.V's stand

Perhaps the earliest instance of a Karnataka government screwing up on the issue of uplift of dalitaru is to be found in the wrong move made by His Highness Krishnaraja Wodeyar Bahadur of Mysore. Because of the king's unscientific though well-intentioned stand on the topic of reservations, Sir. M.V. resigned from the office of the Dewan of Mysore.

I quote Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah from his "Memoirs of my working life":

About the years 1916-1917 there was an agitation in Madras against the Brahmin community in view of the predominant position they enjoyed inthe Government services. This agitation spread to Mysore also. I was aware that non-Brahmin communities were backward on account of lack of higher education. The education problem had been vigorously attacked ever since I came to Mysore. I had arranged for the Mysore Government granting liberal scholarships to backward communities and depressed classes to encourage their education. Special steps were also taken to advance the prospects of mebers of backward communities in Government service. It was true that there was considerable inequality in preferment to offices and the Brahmin community had worked their way to the front. The policy adopted of spreading education rapidly was showing some results. As stated before, the school-going population had been nearly trebled. There was a desire in some quarters to hold back the proressive community by restricting their admission to educational institutions and otherwise reducing their opportunities for acquiring education. With this aim it was impossible to sympathise because it was an attempt to put back a section of the population which by its own special enterprise was going forward.

There was a definite proposal put forward by several leading members of the non-Brahmin community in Mysore to adopt the policy of the non-Brahmin leaders and their Press in Madras. A committee, presided over by Sir Leslie Miller, Chief Judge of Mysore, was appointed by His Highness the Maharaja to consider the question of adopting, in Mysore, measures similar to those advocated by the non-Brahmin leaders in Madras. My idea was that by spreading education rapidly and adopting precision methods in production and industry, the State and its entire population would progress faster. By ignoring merit and capacity I feared production would be hampered and the efficiency of the administration, for which we had been working so hard, would suffer. There was never any complaint that I favoured any particular community in making appointments. Nevertheless, I felt opposed to the establishment of the Miller Committee. His Highness the Maharaja seemed anxious to placate the backward communities and the leaders in the State who supported the policy advocated by the non-Brahmin leaders of Madras. After prolonged discussion and exchange of views for a considerable time, I obtained His Highness' consent to retire from service. Some time was required to arrange and place all new schemes in operation and other contemplated developments in a safe condition before I actually laid down office. So itw as agreed, some eight months beforehand, that I should retire at a convenient date at the end of the year. This arrangement was kept a closely guarded secret.

There is no doubt that Sir M.V. was right in his approach to solving the problem of the "backward communities". It is enlightening to note that one of the greatest sons of this soil opposed reservations - of the kind which is still in vogue - right back in 1916.

However, I am yet to understand Sir. M.V.'s stand on the application of Kannada in higher education. There seems to have been no work done by him which proves his undeterred belief in the fact (I'm saying that it's a fact) that Kannada is the only language through which his concept of "spreading education rapidly" would have been possible to his heart's content. If Sir M.V. hadn't realized it, he would have in due course of time. I think. Even if he wouldn't have, it's time we realize it.

Malayali nurses in Karnataka's hospitals: a closer look

[This blog avoids the fact that Malayali nurses are decent enough to learn Kannada in our hospitals. That's good, but that's not good enough.]

Ever been to a hospital in Karnataka and consciously counted the ratio of Malayali nurses to Kannadiga nurses? I believe the ratio is atleast 20:1. If you don't think this is disastrous news, there's something wrong with you!

Karnataka seems to have taken it for granted that the Nursing profession is made for Malayali women. What a suicidal thought this is! Of all the questions that arise in this regard, the most important ones are:

1. What are the kannaDiga women doing? Why are they not getting into Nursing Schools and becoming nurses?
2. Are kannaDiga women finding other jobs because of some sort of widespread dislike for Nursing?
3. Are nursing schools partial to Malayali women in some way?
4. Are kannaDiga women discouraged from working at all?

I don't know all the answers, but I believe the answers are all pointing in the direction of Karnataka's hospitals having more and more Malayali nurses as time progresses, and that is a disease which will consume our women and thereby our entire state.

We have to stop this decay. We need to encourage our women -- most of who are jobless, hopless, destitute, penniless, illiterate -- to take to Nursing as a serious profession. We have to educate the people to come out of the illusion that women should not work. We have to educate our women well so that they can start playing a greater role in the society -- a role greater than that of a baby-machine plus cook.

I leave you with two important questions:

1. Is the strong influence of Christianity in Kerala -- of which the most important thing here is the English language -- giving Malayali women an edge over Kannadiga women? Are they winning the ratrace to Nursing schools simply because the schools teach in English and our women are further removed from English than Malayali women (who come from a state with a strong Christian/English influence)?
2. If the answer to the above question is "Yes", do you advocate for converting our Nursing schools to Kannada medium or do you advocate for making our women learn English or converting them to Christianity?

If your answer to the second question above is "making our women learn English", you are an absolute fool with no faculties of futuristic thinking. You are too short-sighted to be able to tell right from wrong. Your short sight will give you good rewards in the short run, but in the long run you shall suffer. This is my claim.

If your answer to the second question is "converting our Nursing schools to Kannada medium", you are a serious thinker of Karnataka's good. Your long-sightedness gives you the faculty of telling right from wrong. You tend to cheerfully suffer in the short-run, but will have the last laugh when the fools have long started reaping the bitter reward of short-sightedness.

Disconnected hospitals must learn to use Kannada

There's a constant wail among Electronics/Electrical/Computer engineers that their work doesn't find application in their immediate surroundings. For example, they say, their software is for foreign companies which ply in "advanced markets".

Such claims are made only by fools, but that's not the topic of this blog. Let's talk about doctors and hospitals.

Do doctors have to search abroad for an "advanced market" in which their "advanced skills" can be sharpened/used? No sir, no madam! The advanced market for doctors is right here in Karnataka! The most important trait of this advanced market is that the patients speak Kannada and not goddamned english. Then why are all the admission forms in English? When they are also in Kannada, why is the Kannada part on the wrong side of the sheet? Why are all the signboards in English? Why is it a Labour Room and not "herige-mane" or "prasooti kONe"? Why does the receptionist who answers the phone talk English to begin with?

[I will come to the issue of Malayali nurses in a seperate blog. But I would be wrong in saying that they don't speak Kannada. The Malayali nurses are decent enough to learn Kannada in most hospitals.]

Hospital management in Karnataka must start from first principles: Use Kannada in Karnataka. It is very important for you and me to oppose the use of English in our hospitals. It is important for doctors to realize that there is no Englishman trying to pat their backs and throw a biscuit more into their mouth (any more) for their excellent display of English signboards all over the hospital. Service to patients includes speaking to them in Kannada to begin with.