Anyone familiar with the farmer suicide crisis in India will know the place Warangal. Located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, Warangal is considered the epicenter of the farmer suicide crisis. It is here that the farmer suicides by the hundreds were first recorded in 1998.

Finally some good news to report: Marks & Spencer, UK based retailer will continue to invest in the ‘Better Cotton’ Initiative for the next three and a half years. Their press release says the investment will extend to 20,000 farmers in Warangal.

M&S will now continue to fund the project for the next three and a half years to extend the project to 20,000 farmers. It is a joint venture between M&S and WWF. Results from last year include:

• 51 per cent less water use;
• 81 per cent less pesticide ‘active ingredient’ use;
• 53 per cent less synthetic fertiliser use.

Why should we care?

India is currently the 2nd largest producer of cotton in the world (China is #1). And, cotton is a water hog – It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton; equivalent to a single T-shirt and pair of jeans.

Without a doubt, Anna Hazare’s fast-unto-death protest is now a full-fledged citizens movement, with Bollywood and political parties thrown in for good measure. Something good will come out of it. The pressure on the government is coming from all quarters because of one and only one reason – the consequences of not meeting Hazare’s demands are just too drastic.

Meanwhile another fast-unto-death protest has gone largely unnoticed for the past 11 years. In the year 2000 a young 28-year old woman declared her protest to not eat food or drink water. She did so because security forces brutally gunned down 10 civilians standing at a bus stop in Manipur. The security forces were operating under the rights granted them by the 1958 Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), a draconian act that gives them the powers to:

• “Fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against any person who is acting in contravention of any law” against “assembly of five or more persons” or possession of deadly weapons.
• To arrest without a warrant and with the use of “necessary” force anyone who has committed certain offenses or is suspected of having done so
• To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests.

Irom Chanu Sharmila is now 39 years old. She is being force fed through a nasal tube at a Government hospital. In the 11 years since her protest began she gets in the news for two reasons, an arrest and/or winning an award for her determination.

Hers is a protest that never garnered the support that Hazare’s movement is getting. Corruption is an evil that must be rooted out of India. Irom Chanu Sharmila’s protest fights for an as- if not more important and fundamental human right – that no citizen of a democratic country should have to die at the hands of its government who is there to protect and serve them.

Irom Chand Sharmila - social and political activist on fast for 11 years in India.

Yesterday Paul Beckett, the South Asia bureau chief of the Wall St Journal snarkily wondered if hunger strikes work in a piece titled ‘Another Hunger Strike? Yawn’

Social activist Anna Hazare is reportedly starting such a fast this morning to push civil society’s involvement in the formation of the anti-corruption ombudsman bill in Parliament. I have no reason not to take Mr. Hazare at his word. He has won the Padma Shri award, one of India’s highest civilian awards. But do you think he is really going to go through with this even if the government ignores his demands?

Mr. Beckett has his answer. Anna Hazare has in fact gone through with it. Thousands of Indians are rallying in support of Hazare. Not just on the streets of Delhi, but around the country and around the world. Thousands of young Indians have listened to Hazare’s call on Facebook and Twitter.

Yes Mr. Beckett hunger strikes do work. With perfect timing, a cause that has enraged millions of Indians, a supportive media, and led by a man whose courage and integrity are a beacon in the cesspool of corrupt politicians, hunger strikes work.

As of this morning Union Minister Sharad Pawar has quit the GoM (group of ministers) tackling a solution to corruption. Parasitic politicians are even losing the battle of hogging some Hazare’s spotlight.

I was telling my American friend that I would be out of commission on Wednesday morning watching the ‘mother of all sports rivalries’ – the India versus Pakistan World Cup Semi Final match.

Being American she doesn’t get cricket. But she as a die-hard Yankees fan she gets sports rivalries. “OK it’s like the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry then,” she said.

“Somewhat like that, yes,” I said, “now add to that millions of lives lost over 60+ years through partitions, wars, religious conflicts, terrorist bombings and claims for a piece of land called Kashmir in which over a billion people have an opinion. That’s what an India versus Pakistan match represents.”

You didn’t have to be on the ground in Mohali to feel the passion. On Facebook, Twitter and YouTube the vitriol spills freely: mothers and sisters are cursed; Presidents and Prime Ministers are bashed; and cricketers are vilified in words most wouldn’t dare utter in public.

That was Wednesday. The match is done. India won and have moved on to the finals. After the storm comes the calm. Passions are cooling, heads are thinking, and for a few hours post-match we’re witnessing moments of grace on both sides that are transcending the madness.

The video below of Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is the most graceful example doing the rounds. (Loosely translated Afridi is wondering why there is so much hatred towards India. After all Indian dramas are playing in Pakistani homes, our wedding traditions are so similar and Pakistanis enjoy Indian films).

Afridi speaks for those of us who continue to hold out hope for peace between the two countries. It takes courage to speak out as he does, arriving in his country after losing a ‘historic’ match as the hysterical media dubbed it. As the video makes its rounds, it seems some others too are listening. Not just listening, but also responding with the respect a gracious captain of the team that lost deserves.

Whatever the outcome of the cricket diplomacy between the two Prime Ministers is, Shahid Afridi has opened a door that more of us should walk through.

Couldn’t stop watching this video! Perhaps because there is so little to cheer about these days that we are moved by any effort that cheers an ordinary and random act of goodness.

It’s a great way to begin the week. Happy Monday to you all.