Category: Lok Issues

Pub in South Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village

‘A Pub Can’t Cover Its Running Cost With 50% Occupancy’

By LokMarg

Prakash Chandra, manager at a budget pub in South Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village area says a night club needs to have at least 60 per cent occupancy to meet its basic expenses

Unlock 4.0 has brought a great sense of relief for the pub owners across the national capital as the government has allowed the reopening of night clubs on a trial basis. However, the clause of 50 per cent occupancy is not what any budget bar owner will like. It defeats the very purpose of Unlock 4.0. Let me explain.

You see despite the permission to reopen bars at night in Delhi, most small and medium bar owners are preferring to keep their business shut. The reason is not very difficult to see: a night club needs to have minimum 60 per cent occupancy to reach the break-even point. Thereto the profit booking starts. Thus, with 50 as the upper limit set by the government, each day will only add up to the losses of a bar owner.

Unlike the big bars, the budget bars have very less seating capacity. On an average, in Hauz Khas village, which is the hub of budget night clubs in Delhi, each bar has about 40-50 seating capacity. With no bar counter service allowed, these units are allowed to serve only 20-25 customers at a time, which leads to a miniscule profit.

ALSO READ: ‘Goa’s Casinos Earned Zero In Year 2020’

To run a bar, there are too many liabilities to be taken care of. The biggest liability is the excise license fee, which we have already paid. Next, we have to bear the cost of centralized air conditioning, housekeeping, bar tenders, waiters, cooks, bouncers and disc jockeys (DJs). These are the bare minimum requirements to run a bar in the national capital and it comes at a heavy cost.

Running a night club in Delhi-NCR carries many liabilities, says Chandra

This cost has to be met if we are reopening the bar, else there is no point running a business in loss. Each week, we have to make Rs 3.5 lakh and with the restrictions of 50 per cent occupancy, it seems very hard to make it. Also, there is still a sense of fear among the residents of Delhi of Covid-19 pandemic and not many people are turning up at the bars. The bigger bars have more seating capacity and they can survive the rule of 50 per cent occupancy.

The roads of Hauz Khas village, where people thronged throughout the weekend, largely remained vacant with a handful of customers going to some of the bars. We have never seen such times. If the government cannot allow over 50 per cent occupancy for small and medium bars, then the business is not going to take off anytime soon.

We are a key contributor in Delhi’s entertainment and leisure. The government can give us refund for the license fee or allow relaxation in taxes till we are not able to reopen the business.

‘Connecting With Community Is True Policing’

By LokMarg

A frontline officer with Toronto Police for 20 years, Randall Arsenault uses social media in engaging with the community. A celeb among Indo-Canadians, Arsenault shares his journey as a cop

I was born in Scarborough and grew up seeing my father serving as a cop in Toronto. To be honest, I never wanted to be a police officer. However, that changed when my father was transferred to the Aboriginal Peacekeeping Unit. It was the first time I saw my dad in a community role, which required him to engage with the community. I thought that this was something I could do.

The term community policing was new then and I did not realize that the police did that kind of work. I saw the way my dad interacted with communities and how it brought a positive impact within them. Today, it has been 20 years in service and I have come to love my role in community policing.

Social Media & Policing

I am a primary response officer (a street-cop). Ten years ago I entered the role of a school resource officer. That is when social media was taking off. I found it cool. But a lot of police services around the world are using it in a very robotic manner; I add a bit of my personality to it. I feel this is how people got connected to it.

Some of my best videos were never planned. Sometimes, when my car is parked I often get approached by people and they come to greet me. It is generally an impromptu decision to make a video with them. Mostly, the person shooting the video is also a passer-by from the community.

But social media is not the only tool in community policing. Each time I enter a mall or a café, I choose to interact with people. I say hello to children, greet the youth and the elderly.

Popularity Among Indo-Canadians

I have seen the Indian community grow Scarborough. Over the years, I have taken a liking to the Indian cuisine. I feel breaking the bread is the best way to know the people. Sometimes, we get a noise complaint and on turning up we find it to be an Indian wedding. For some it is just noise, but I find it amazing to see girls and boys in ceremonial dresses and enjoying a function without any alcohol.

A selfie with Arsenault is a proud moment for South Asians in Canada

Once, I was driving by and I saw this boy from the south-Asian community waving at me. I turned my car around and stopped to interact with the boy. We learnt from his parents that he wanted to be a cop. We put the boy in our police car, took photos, which his parents posted on their Instagram page. Their relatives back home were surprised to know that this is how the police are in Canada.

People ask if I have a strategy, but honestly there is none. When I have spare time, I have a little bit of fun. I am not a professional speaker, I mumble, I go off track and I think that is what attracts people. We talk about humanizing the badge and it has certainly worked for me.

If my whole account was simply entertainment with no educational content, it would not be fair of my role as a cop and I would just be seen as a stupid-funny cop. And if social media was purely educational and there was no fun element then people would not respond to it. I feel that using social media I have developed a good connect with the community and when the time comes to put the serious message like in the case of a missing child or some other situation, the people are more likely to respond to that.

People are attracted to people and not attracted to logos or a brand or a police service logo. People want to see a human face to the message.

I am often asked why does one particular community reflect more in my videos and if I am being inclusive consciously. These questions take me back because I am not doing this consciously. But if I work in a community which is mostly inter-racial and that is who is seeing me online and interacting with me, it is naturally going to be the way it is.

I get a lot of questions on whether I ever make an actual arrest or do some real cop work too. I find this thinking archaic, for a part of my role is crime prevention and engaging with the community. Just because I am engaging differently doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with what I am doing. I use social media because it suits my personality. When I attend the radio calls and I show up, people are surprised that I am the same cop who they see on TikTok, Instagram or Twitter.

An Ironman Triathlete and Coach

‘Training At Home Is No Match for A Gym Workout’

By LokMarg

Harrsha Paliwal, 39, an Ironman Triathlete and coach, says workouts at home are full of distractions; for a consistent and focused exercise, you require professional gym and equipment

In November, 2019, I successfully completed the renowned Ironman Triathlon held in Goa. I felt as if I had conquered the world. The Triathlon comprises swimming (1.9 km), cycling (90 km) and running (21.1 km) all in quick succession, in the course of a single day. Training for the Triathlon meant hitting the gym daily without fail; throughout 2019, I breathed and lived workout. So, after winning the title, I just wanted to fly from there.

But destiny had other plans. Forget any high flying, for months I couldn’t even go step outside my housing society gate in Ghaziabad, Delhi-NCR. A strict lockdown was put in place. Gyms were closed. Suddenly, I felt as if someone had clipped my wings. It has been a long wait since. Unlock 1, 2, 3 were announced but gyms didn’t find mention. Finally, last month, when Unlock 4.0 allowed gyms to be functional, my joy knew no bounds.

ALSO READ: Covid-19 Has Maimed Sports Fraternity

Even though I never stopped working out at home during the pandemic, it is not the same when compared to a proper gym workout. At home, there are distractions; at the gym there is consistency, routine and focus. My society gym opens at around 6 am and I am one of the first to train because I want to take no chances. The gym management follows all stipulated guidelines. A temperature check is done right at the entrance, then oxygen levels are is checked, followed by sanitisation. Only, then are we allowed to enter inside.

Not more than six people (including the trainer) are allowed to workout at one point and social distancing is strictly maintained. The workout for one batch is restricted to one hour. After every batch, housekeeping staff thoroughly sanitise every surface and equipment at the gym.

Paliwal says safety measures are strictly followed at her society gym

Thankfully all the users follow the precautionary measures to the tee. At personal level, I take care that I clean my water sipper every time I come back from the gym, followed by a bath, and sanitising of all my gym wear and shoes. Only after that do I interact with my daughter. Slowly, words like core workout, abs & biceps training, leg & back training are becoming parts of everyday conversations again. I can’t tell you how happy I am about normalcy returning to my life.

ALSO READ: ‘Some Work From Home, I Workout From Home’

The Ironman Triathlon is an extreme endurance sport but one that changes you completely. You have a life before Ironman and life after Ironman. My Ironman journey was coupled with another extreme endurance test: fighting a virus (Covid) for which no one had any strategies or no one even knew when the finishing line would be reached.

My regular gym training in 2019 equipped me a bit better than most people for fighting the feelings of monotony, boredom and suffocation and even worry that can come with being under lockdown for an extended period. I never stopped exercising even during lockdown and also made a few workout videos. Being optimistic is an attitude and you have to keep exercising the muscle of hope every day much like in a gym. A positive attitude builds immunity and immunity builds community.

The Enacted Agriculture Bills

Watch – ‘Farmers Will Become Puppets Of Corporates’

By LokMarg

As farmers in Punjab and Haryana continue their protests against the recently enacted Agriculture bills, LokMarg speaks to Swaraj India leader Rajiv Godara on why their organization is supporting the farmers’ demands.

Godara says the very fact that there were no debates, nor any discussions with farmer organisations before tabling this bills raises questions on the intention of the BJP-led Centre. He believes, the Centre wants to destroy mandi system and create new markets. “The day kisan mandis fails, the MSP will also be inevitably fail,” Godara told LokMarg. The NDA government plans to send the farmers off the field, and put corporates in their place. These laws will make farmers puppets in the hands of big businessmen, he says.

Watch the full interview here:

Teach Underprivileged Children

‘Corporates Should Sponsor eLearning For Slum Kids’

By LokMarg

Rajneesh Verma, 24, an Engineering graduate from Noida, speaks about the challenges Covid-19 brought for his initiative to teach underprivileged children, and how he overcame them

Though I recently completed my Engineering course , I have been running an NGO called Slum Swaraj for the last five years. It is a Delhi-based initiative to teach underprivileged children which I started along with a college senior and friend Shivam.

When the pandemic broke out there was tremendous concern about how residents of slums would be able to maintain social distancing and follow other precautions, given their meagre resources and space crunch. It was feared that infection would go out of control in such areas. But those concerns proved to be unfounded medically.

However, the education of the young children was greatly affected. Majority of slum households own a basic phone, mostly used by the bread earner. We had stopped many slum children from being sent to work and take up formal education. We were worried that once the pattern of their regular education is broken, they might fall back in the rut of their old lives, where education is low on priority.

ALSO READ: ‘Covid-19 Wreaked Havoc On Slums’

In the initial days of lockdown, we had no clue how to cope up with the situation. Children had no phone for online learning and we could not risk a gathering of children for a real-time class. Finally, we devised a method. While earlier a volunteer would be teaching a batch of several students, we worked out an ‘Each One, Teach One’ method. A volunteer was assigned to each student and the classes went for an hour daily.

Children and volunteers associated with Slum Swaraj

The few with access to smartphones were given online coaching and those with access to basic phones were provided classes through a regular call. We realised that in one-on-one interaction or in online classes, children were more confident of asking questions, which they may have been scared of asking for the fear of being judged by their peers in regular classrooms.

We were hoping that in these trying times, corporate groups would come forward to sponsor smartphones or laptops for poor children under their CSR budgets but sadly that didn’t happen. It is easy for poor children to exit the classroom and get sucked into the cycle for survival.

WATCH: ‘No Smartphone, No Classes; Kids Play All Day’

Apart from formal education, we provide children updates on how to prevent or fight Covid-19 and ensure that they respect the state guidelines stay in place. Education is not just text-book learning. In pre-pandemic times we used to take children to malls, monuments, zoos, natural water bodies etc. to understand the world in totality but now we have suspended all such trips till situation is conducive for an outdoor activity.

Slum Swaraj volunteers

I am happy to say that we have been inundated with offers from people who want to volunteer in teaching poor children. Many people whose commuting time has been cut down because they are working from home are now using the extra time to give back to the community. We hope soon the corporates would step forward to support online education to be made affordable for the underprivileged.

Ghatak Speaks about her Struggle

‘Husband & I Lost Jobs In March; Survival Is Tough’

By LokMarg

Young parents Rimpa Ghatak and her husband Manthu Roy were looking forward to join a Siliguri school as art teachers when the pandemic struck. Ghatak speaks about her struggle and hopes

As if to weather the pandemic with a young child was not enough, my husband and I both lost our jobs during the pandemic. Call it a twist of fate or whatever else but it has been difficult for us to make sense of the whole situation.

My husband Manthu Roy (35) and I both were employed as art teachers at a private residential school in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh and even had new job offers from a reputed school in Siliguri, West Bengal around December 2019. Since the offer was good and Bengal is known for its art appreciation, we decided to take a chance.

My husband, a PGT Fine Arts, and I had just about finished our notice period when the pandemic struck in March 2020. We had resigned from Etawah school and the Siliguri school, which we were supposed to join from new academic session, closed down like many other institutions. Between two stools, we fell to the ground.

Manthu Roy with some of his artworks

There was a time in March when I felt I was close to despair as I didn’t know what future was in store for my child, who was barely six months old. Our savings were dwindling. Given the strict lockdown, we couldn’t even go to our parents. Those were very difficult days from March to June. We had built up an atmosphere for art appreciation in Etawah but it couldn’t provide us even online classes so that we could earn money from it.

ALSO READ: ‘Virus Took Away My Job, Not My Resolve’

Some of my husband’s students had got placed in premier institutes like NIFT (Kolkata), NID (Ahmedabad) etc. and they kept us motivated to carry on. Manthu and I flew from Etawah to Siliguri the first chance we got and moved in with my elder sister and her husband who also stay in Siliguri.

We managed to get a few online classes but the pandemic has been hard on everyone financially and learning art is not on top of people’s priority. Thus online classes haven’t been very fruitful financially. We have been networking actively on social media, but between household chores, caring for a young baby, doing artwork because you also need to keep on creating work to show after networking, it hasn’t been easy.

Rimpa Ghatak and Manthu Roy

Now, in October we hope something moves for us. It has been nearly seven months without work now. The school at Siliguri that we were supposed to join has been really nice to us and keeps us updated about the state of things.

Art has kept us sane during the pandemic as it has kept many other people sane during the pandemic. So many people have learnt new art forms during the lockdown. It is perhaps time India began to appreciate its artists and help them thrive, especially in the new scenario. We are all in this together, right? Wish us luck!

Watch – ‘New Laws Won’t Raise Income Of Farmers’

By LokMarg

Dr Shantanu Dey Roy, Asst Professor in TERI School of Advanced Studies, tells LokMarg the inherent flaws and lacunae in the recently-enacted Central Agricultural Bills. Dr Roy says while these laws will be detrimental to the consumer, due to price manipulation, they will be ineffective in raising the income of the farmers. For, using this bill, big corporations can enter into the production network, and dictate the production process. Thus food security can be compromised.

Dr Roy points out that the main problem facing our farmers today is high input cost and low returns, rending agriculture unprofitable. Thus, the need is to fix a minimum price for various crops to turn farming into a profitable venture. These bills do little to address this problem. As far as the Centre’s claims about wiping out middlemen from the process are concerned, these are nothing but wishful thinking, he says.

Watch the full interview here:

How Traditional Mandi System Works

Watch – ‘Govt Wants To Ruin Mandis, Wholesalers’

By LokMarg

Updesh Yadav, president of Navin Mandi Sthal (farm produce wholesale market) in Uttar Pradesh, explains how traditional mandi system works across the country. According to Yadav, these mandis boost competition and benefit the farmers by fetching them the due price of their produce.

Yadav told LokMarg that the newly-enacted Agriculture bills in Parliament will not only prove detrimental to the country’s farmers but also wipe out a large number of wholesalers.

Watch his interview here:

The Newly Enacted Agriculture Bills

Explained – Farm Bills And Farmers Protests

By LokMarg

Farmers across the country are protesting against the newly enacted Agriculture Bills. The Centre calls these laws key to reforms in the agriculture sector to benefit farmers, the protests continue to spread. There is fear among farmers that these laws will make them dependent on corporate houses mercy.

To understand the contentious provisions under the new law and the previous farm produce procurement system, LokMarg speaks to Dr Darshanpal Singh, a noted agriculturist and farmer leader from Punjab.

Dr Singh explains how farmers will be affected by the new laws and their grievances, as well the measures needed to support the farmer. Watch this interview here:

After lockdown International Flights Suspended

‘I Wish Syria To Be As Safe For My Kids As Delhi’

By LokMarg

Syrian national Mohammad Abu Yusef, 30, who came to Delhi for his wife’s treatment, got stranded after lockdown was imposed and international flights suspended. His savings gone, Yusef is living on charity

I landed in Delhi nearly a month before the lockdown was imposed for medical treatment of my wife. Due to a bomb explosion in Syria, her ear had damaged and she had been facing difficulties in hearing. But right after the treatment was over, Indian government announced the lockdown in March. International flights were suspended and I got stuck here with three kids and a wife to take care of.

I have three children. Yusuf, the eldest one is four-years-old, Sham is two-years-old and the youngest Ahmad is eight-months-old. During the treatment, I had taken a one-room accommodation on rent near Apollo Hospital in Jasola area. As days turned into week, and months, and global travel remained in suspension, all my savings dried up.

Syria is a conflict zone. Sporadic fights keep erupting and there is not a moment of peace in people’s lives. We had planned to not to return Syria after the treatment and seek refuge in any other nation. But due to the lockdown we are stuck and we don’t know when things are going to be normal. All the countries who accept refugees have shut the asylum grants due to the raging pandemic.

ALSO READ: ‘Covid-19 Is Time To Give Back to Community’

I cannot speak fluent English and cannot understand Hindi, which has turned out to be a major problem in finding work. With limited ways of communication, I am unable to express things and seek help. Every time I sought work, I was offered charity. Indian people are generous, and thanks to their help my children never had to sleep hungry as we got enough donations to see us through. The neighbours are helpful and people often ask if we need any help, but uncertainty looms over our future.

I am totally depended on the charity here. To arrange money for food, we often go to the areas like Connaught Place where privileged people come for shopping. In simple or sign language, ask for food and money to pay rent.

I don’t know for how long we can do this. I don’t have any television at home but I get to read news through my mobile phone. I am really disappointed with the recent violence in Oslo. The residents of Syria need refuge to escape the violence. Such incidents will harm the entire population of war-torn countries in the middle-east seeking refuge in European nations.

Contrary to the middle-east, I found India a really peaceful country. Without any fear, I can travel to any corner of Delhi with my kid and my wife, who is always wears a burqa. I have not noticed any sign of discrimination or persecution of minorities here. It is truly a land that celebrates equality and freedom. I am grateful to this country and the residents of this city for being generous to my family. I hope our homeland will be like this sometime in future.

(Yusef refused to be photographed but allowed his son’s picture to be used)