All about Key Note address

I am invited to Vienna to participate in a workshop on Actors - Discourses - Practices: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Governing Trafficking in Women. 110 Years of Experience. Participants came from different parts of the world though I was the only one from South Asia. There were papers from Warsaw, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Russia, Pennsylvania, USA, Thailand . This was a mix of Academicians , NGO, Policy makers, Government Officials, Police makers, activists and research students. This was a wonderful experience and I learnt a lot from others and many of the confusions in my mind with regards to trafficking conventions became clear. We could understand the enormity of the issue though prostitution is legalized in Netherlands and Germany and I could understand the advantage and pitfalls of this. Austria has an ambivalent attitude to Prostitution and it does not criminalize it but accepts it but there are a large number of illegal persons from Eastern Europe who are now in the trade.
I was invited to give the key note and the organisers had asked me if they can make my talk public. I agreed and hence mine was the only talk that was open to public.My talk was from 5,30 to 7 and followed by a dinner. During tea break a lady came up to me and said that she will be introducing me to the public. I just nodded and though she must be one of the organisers and after introducing me this lady sat down in the public to listen to me. After my talk was over she came once again and acted as a moderator when people asked questions on trafficking in south Asia. It was only later that I discovered that this lady was a minister in the Austrian Government and currently Dr. Helga Konrad, has been appointed OSCE Special Representative on Trafficking in Human Beings by the Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy and is a leading politician in the European Union dealing with issues of trafficking. I had similar experiences in Netherland, where the minister for Gender came on a cycle all alone and left the same way after giving her talk and in Brazil where the minister had dinner with me in the hotel and as we were having dinner she ordered for a taxi to take her to the airport for she had an important cabinet meeting in Brussels the next day.
All these experiences made me really think as to how we developed the tradition of key note addresses with a lot of fanfare in our country. Though we have reduced this considerably in Hyderabad in many places and regional Universities where I am invited we have speeches after speeches by every one sitting on the dias, garlanding, lighting of lamps, shawl being given, bouquets’ being given along with gifts and thee key note address just gets lost down the line. I am wondering as to how did this tradition start ? I am sure we cannot blame the Colonial government for this is not done in UK today. Is this a relic of the Princely states in India? Imagine a minister coming to an Indian Conference to introduce some one and listening to others. Our ministers only come to talk and give speeches whether the subject is theirs or not and here was a person who had done so much work , was an important figure politically and just sat and listened to me. I got a lot of pleasure just imagining the fact that a Mayawati, a Mamta Banerjee , a Jaylalita, a Sushma Swaraj or a Renuka Chowdhry come and attend a Conference to listen to some expert and go away quietly. Will we see this day? After my talk there was dinner and I learnt another thing where they stated to many participants you are most welcome but please understand this is not an invitation. Our Conferences are almost like our weddings with a lot of eating, cultural activities put together. I am organizing the Women’s World Congress from 17th to 22nd August and imagine telling you are welcome but not invited. Every country has a different culture and a way of doing things even official and it becomes very difficult to change this. I have realized this down the line.

In Vienna

As I land at the airport of Vienna on 12th May, 2014,  I am excited that I am visiting the most ancient city and really do not know what to expect. As a historian I know that Vienna’s history dates back to the post-Christian century when the Romans established the military camp Vindobona and called Vienna Vindobona. This name comes from the Celtic word Vendunia and translates as forest stream. In fact later in the evening when I visited the Museums Quartier one of the ten largest cultural quarters in the world, I can see that the city has preserved some of the artefacts of the Roman period ruins. By 10th cen Vienna was called Ostarrichi, which meant "the kingdom in the east". However it is after 12th cen that Vienna saw its hey days under the Babenbergs. A hundred years later, the Babenberg dynasty came to an end. Today, only the red-white-red colours of the Austrian flag remain as a reminder of this important noble family. When Rudolf von Habsburg was elected king in 1273, and the Habsburgs would reign in Austria and establish a large and powerful empire. Austria reached a first peak under Emperor Maximilian I. He expanded the empire, introduced important reforms and erected sumptuous buildings. The disintegration of Austria became apparent in the 19th Century, and under perhaps the most famous emperor and empress that Austria ever had: under Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Elisabeth, Sissi. In 1914 the First World War began, and after its end in the year 1918 Austria was reduced to the small country it now is. It lost its colonies and access to the sea. Vienna suffered hardships during World War I. Amidst food shortages and revolution it became, at the end of the war, the capital of the small republic of Austria. As I drive down from the airport I see a lot of industrialisation and the establishment of huge industrial infrastructure.
Vienna was home to the world's first psycho-analyst Sigmund Freud. It also boasts of Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1848 as the first professional orchestra in Vienna. They are considered to be one of the best orchestras worldwide. Until recently, wines from Wien, or the wine-growing region of Vienna, Austria's capital city, were regarded as being simple 'Heuriger', or wine tavern wines. The 'Wiener Gemischte Satz', is now internationally acknowledged as being a truly Austrian wine. In Vienna, there are over 27 castles and more than 150 palaces. Vienna truly is the blend of the ancient and the modern, though I would not place it in the same category as Paris. Compared to Paris, Vienna was badly destroyed during the World War and after this many new constructions came up and these were not necessarily a copy of the Romanesque, Gothic or Baroque style but very modern buildings.

Photos of Bittus first birthday

  A memory down the lane of Sankalp's Bittus first birthday celebration on 15th April, 1983. 

The rules of English Language

Found this very interesting write up on English Language and Oh God its rules.

 F

Chandola Uncle

 Met Chandola Uncle on 6th March, 2014. Chandola Uncle retired as a Principal of DACV College in Haldwani. He was a tenant in the house of my parents earlier and we knew him well. During my brotheres marriage or my sisters marriage, now I forget whehose but definitely some where in 1988, I think, we were all sitting and partying and having fun after the wedding. Then Chandola Uncle who is known for seeing every ones palm and predicting the future saw mine. He looked at my palm and said , you are going to have three sons and this is what your palm says. I was certainly not planning for another kid . We all made fun of him and I said, Uncle now a days children are not born by seeing the hands. Who will go for three kids in this modern world. With my job abd travelling twenty five km for my work to the University with one child was enough . However, next year in 1989, I was blessed with twins.

Meeting Ija in Nainital

 

A meeting with Ija in Nainital on 1st March, 2014. Was happy to note that she continues to have the same spirit, wit and zest for life.

An Interview with the News paper, The Hindu

 In these days of internet, we cannot keep tab of all that is happening around us. i was surprised to see this today  and had to jolt my memory that yes, i did give this interview when I visited the University of Vishakapatnam and it was published by the daily News paper, The Hindi on 21st january, 2014.

Rekha Pande, a woman with a mission

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/rekha-pande-a-woman-with-a-mission/article5599649.ece