ARAYIND AD GA

homeand brutallytortured. Desperate toget away, Dannyuses hisfather's savings tocome toAustraliaona student visa tostudyina nondescriptschool, which turns out to be abigscam. His subsequent request forasylumisrejected, because,afterall, hehadarrived legally on astudentvisa(nevermind the torture scars). Consequently, Dannygoesinto hiding, livingin agrocerystoreroom for fouryearsand movesaboutthecitywith avacuumcleanerstrapped to his back.

Australian husbandwho exerts brutal controloverher. Her lover Prakash isfreeloadingon her,yet at the sa1ne time resents the residual obligations she feels towards her husband. When Radha turnsupdead, Danny musteither choose to tell the policewhathe knows or remain silent to avoid gettinginto trouble.

•

: hadworked in Dubai forson1etime, but

• : had been mistaken fora LTTEterrorist

• : bySri Lankan authoritiesonhis return

•

As Danny negotiates theworldof Livingandworking in Sydneyas an illegal, tryingto blend in byemulating theaccent and streakinghis hair-we are privyto what he thinks ofAustralia andAustralians. DannyknowsRadhaatwhosehomebedoesoddcleaning jobs-and thatRadha ischeatingonher

GOODGIRLS:ANORDINARYKILLING bySonia Faleiro

oniaFaleiro'snovelGoodGirls: An OrdinaryKilling(Bloomsbury, 2021) isbased onrealevents

• : that shookthevillage ofKatra

• : in UPin2014-whentwoteenagegirls,

: one 16 and theother 14, cousinsandbest

: friends-were foundbangingfrom amango

• : tree intheirvillageonenight. Faleiro

: has attempted togettothe bottomof

• : the 'killing'byspendingagreatdealof

• : time inthevillage,interviewingscoresof

: people,andworkingonitforfouryears.

: Itisawonderfullywrittenbookthatis

• : reportageatitsbest. Iwillnotdisclosethe

: actual'truth'behindtheeventforfearof

• : spoilingitforourreaders,butFaleiro's : descriptionofthebravestandtakenbythe

: women- whoformacirclearoundthetwo

• : girlshandingfromthetree,refusingtolet

: theirbodiesbetakendownforafull48

• : hours,forfeartheremightbeacover-up;

: thejournalistswhodescend onthevillage

: eagerforastory;thefathers'responses;

•

Sonia Fa Leiro

Adiga makes scoresofastute observationsaboutAustralianattitudes, mindsetand outlookonlife in general through Danny'svoice. Adiga hiLnself hadlivedforsome time in Sydneyand purportedlystill carriesan Australian passport - sotheyfeelquite authentic. His reflectionsonAustralia are nothing shortofsearing, as his Man Booker Prize winning White Tigerwas on India's nouveau riche.

thevillager's reactionetal, arelaidout for thereadertobeholdingreatdetail.All thecomplexitiesofwhatitmeans tobe a youngwomanin intrinsicallyconservative ruralNorth Indiaare madeapparent as Faleirocarefullynavigatesdisturbing anddelicate themes. Itisamosttelling revelationofhowideaslikehonour,shame andcollectivevillagemoralitycome headto-beadwithmodernity, mobilephones and media.

TheGoodGirlsis aharrowingtale that saysas1nuchabout India'sunderbelly ofpoliticalcorruption,violence against women, and casteprejudice-as itdoes about the twoyoungwomenwhofall prey toit. The bookhasalreadybeen chosen bya hostofliterarynewspapers andmagazines as a 'must read'for2021. Readersmay recall that Faleirohas previouslypublishedawidelyacclaimed bookonthesexindustryinMumbai called Beautiful Thing.

BY BAGESHRI SAVYASACHI

iwi bybirth and lndophile by choice, volunteer Ben Chapple's trystwith India firstbegan on a trip to Chandigarh as a mature age student pursuing a social welfare degree. Fiveyears on, the 56-year-old reached out to Indian Link to continue to help serve the cause ofIndian Adivasi (indigenous) con1munities he came to know on his travels, and thathave been adversely affectedbythe COVID-19 pande1nic.

Describing his maiden trip to India, Ben told Indian Link, "It wasa cultural progra1n hostedby Punjab University. We received lectures from different faculties which illuminated avery broad understandingofIndian culture. We visited welfare organisations and did son1e touring, including the GoldenTemple. At that point, l decided I loved India andjust vowedto return."

Whenhe did return in2018, he caught upwith friends he'd ,nade. These included the Prince ofRajpipla in Gujarat, Manvendra Singh (theonly 'out' Indian prince)- Benhadbeenimpressed by his advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights.After striking up an e1nailfriendship, the prince invited Ben to staywith him in his countryside cottage. They did yoga in the mornings and theprincewould tellhim stories fromhis life.

Thiswaswhere Bengrewaware ofhow the Indianupper class lives. Though the Prince leads a sin1ple life now, stories of hispastgeneration's classiccarcollections and eliteeventswith dignitaries only encouraged Ben to worktowards the upliftment oflandless and homelessAdivasi people.

Ben began to investigate how feasible itwould be to conduct personal Child Welfare advocacy. Heconducted multiple meetings and conferences with a cross section ofpeople. It allwent sn1oothly until he was mugged at gunpointin Delhi the daybefore his departure from India.

The rnishap turned outtobe serendipitous - it broughthimin close contactwith theinternationalcoordinator ofthe Jai Jagat Movement (JJM), aglobal campaign forjustice and peace rooted in Gandhian philosophy.

::Jai ::Jagat Movement's Peace March: Delhi to Geneva

Withthe JJM, Ben became initiated in a gruellingphysicaladventure that would truly test his devotion to social welfare As a participantin Jai Jagat's 2020-21 Peace Yatra from Delhi to Geneva, he setoffon a 11,000kmjourneyon foot, traversing 17 countries, advocatingfornon-violence and justice.

Participantsofthepeace convoywould walk while theirluggagewas transported bytrucks. Fortunately, Ben had retained a good level offitness because he wasan active sportspersonasa youth.

Yatris (travellers) wouldjoinon different stages ofthe Peace Yatra from the own countries and stay in dorm roomswith others. Theywouldwakeat 7am, make sure all the washingwasdone andget theirbags readyto be thrown onthe truck. Chores and communal activities wereassigned to all. Yatriswould begiven responsibilities for the day or theywould meetandengagewith local community men1bers.

"Youquicklylearned to notbe too precious," Benremarked. "Yourindividual egoswerediminished asyou realisedyou had to fitwell in thegroup. And then of course,you might have been tired from doingupto 38km a day. Youwould also be exhausted because you were quite exposed; allyourouter layersofskin hadbeen peeledofflikean onion revealingdifferent things. Aseach layercame to passyou were forced toconfront whoyou were, and how you wish to relate towhateveryou were goingtoconfrontin theday."

He wenton, "Oncewewere walking througha thick forestarea along the tree line and 10 metresoffthe pathwere anold couple sittingoutside their home. Seeing them strugglingtostand up, I rushed to them.Theydonated 1 and 2 rupees respectively in my kalash. I sawthat they were both weeping, l thinktheywere really upset that theycouldn'tcome up to us. It wasbeautifulwitnessing the weakest and poorestofusdesperatetocontribute to society. Ifonly there wasgood leadership inplace."

Just before theyweretosailacross the Black Sea,close to reachingits final destination in Europe, COVlD struck. The Jai Jagatvolunteers,havingwalked 2,400 thus far, hadto turn around andflybackto thefr home countries in disappointment.

COVID relief for Adivasis

Ben'scurrentfundraiser inassociation with the Catholic Bishop's Conferenceof India (CBCI), supports a holistichealth developmentproject forAdivasi peoples and the rural tribal regionsofChhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha.

"We're raising n,oneytobank them off against the next wave ofCOVID. We've been functioning with funds from foreign donors because India's own internal systen,s don'thave much in place," Ben revealed. "Internal funds have mainly been allocated to the bigcities.Villagepeople in rural settings received absolutelyno support through the second wave, and they were ravaged by COYID."

India's latestcensus in 2011 depicted that out ofthe 100 million people livingin the three key north-Indian states that fonn the Adivasi movement, about 17 million wereAdivasis and Indigenous tribes.

Ben's bondwith India is so strongpartly because offamiliarindigenous beliefs in Australia, where he has lived for the last twodecades.

Having worked with Aboriginal housing in Sydney's Redfern, Ben came to learn the three 'pillars' held bythe indigenous community: "Respect, sustainability, and providing for future generations."

"This is reallythe focus forAustralian Aboriginalpeople - providing for thenext generation. I haven't been toanyother indigenous communities, but when I went to India, I saw the same value system, except theAdivasis adopted a fourth pillar - consensus," Ben saidoptimistically.

Historically, India's Adivasi and tribal people have been excluded, suffered neglectfrom politicalgovernance, land grabbings and otherinjustices.

Ben choked up reflectingontheplightof theAdivasis.

"Yet on my travels, I sawthatbecause ofthe church'sactivitiesand social welfare support network, there's agood, positive sprinkling ofeducation," Ben said. "They are seekingequityirrespective offaithor language. I'mnotreligious atall, but the Catholic Church is providing the social welfare networks thatwe mighttake for granted inAustralia."

Donate to Ben Chapple's fundraiserfor aid to Indianindigenous tribes andAdivasi communities at: https://au.gofundme. com/f/dare-to-dream-of-a-covid-free-india