As part of International Women’s Day, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), Mysuru Kendra, felicitated Neelamma, a grave-digger at the burial ground in Vidyaranyapuram, after a video presentation on her life, at BVB premises in Vijayanagar. She is seen with (standing from left) Jayashree, S. Vidya Shree,Vijaya Narasimham, Principal, BVB School, Prof. A.T. Bhashyam, Treasurer, BVB Mysuru, P.S. Ganapathy, Hon. Secretary, BVB Mysuru, Shantha, Kumari and Girish.
This looks more like the photo opportunity for the SOM owner and those standing with nice dresses.
What this does in an ironical way and ,in a scandalous way too, the hardship of poor Indian women, who had to take the menial physically debilitating hard work-fit for able-bodied men, to eke out an honourable living. Shame on the dreadful male community, to give this woman this work, instead of better paying gentler work.
K M Munshi created the BVB, as he was going no where in his political career, and wanted to create something, where he controlled everything. The BVB Bombay was born. Like me, a Gujarathi businessman, Munshi was one ,only hiding it through the BVB. After a few years, this BVB Bombay became like any other Indian institution: navel-gazing, talking more than doing, and mired in nepotism. Look at all its branches, the office bearers including directors, use BVB to parade themselves as cultural ambassadors, opposite to what they did in real life. Favouritism is rampant in foreign branches of BVB. No wonder, one of the Beetles, George Harrison, shunned them, and donated 25 million USDs to ISKCON-the Hare Krishna Movement. They provide free lunches to poor students of the University of London, and free meals in their HQ near London.
It is ISKCON and Swaminaryan Temples that are real Indisn cultural centres, while the BVB branches including the BVB HQ in my city Mumbai look inwards and are mired in petty favouritism, doing almost nothing like this BVB branch. Shame on them.
@Chamanlal
Well said. Here in New York, the branch does absolutely nothing, except navel gazing, a few who are interested in raising their profiles- important in Western countries to be associated with cultural centres to gain prominence in political and social circles. But the Indian disease of nepotism neve r goes away. Take for example, the BVB Lndon centre, the first Director Mathoor remained for 2 decades in his position as the Director, to facilitate succession by his son-in-law, the husband of his adopted daughter. He through his tunnelled vision failed to reach out to George Harrison, the Beetle you mentioned, in fact, spurned all the Beetles, and prominent artists who were interested to know more about Indian culture. With the result, the ISKCON got as you have said about 25 Million USDs, doing fantastic charitable work, you have mentioned. If this money were to be given to BVB London branch, part of it would have been used to buy luxury cars to BVB, one of which would have been used by the Director as his own! ISKCON HQ in England is a beautiful building in a sprawling field of greenery near London, where as the BVB London branch is hidden in a cul-de-sac in a rundown area of London, housed in an abandoned church, poorly renovated! It is functioning thanks to the British government grant to Indian cultural centres, similar to what they do for other communities too.
The New York branch is an apartment and Sydney branch too. No one bothers about the Sydney BVB!
It is a shame that this woman Neelamma had to earn a living through a back-breaking work of grave digging. That reflects more on the shameful society of this corrupt India.