December 8, 2010

Today in class we watched Slumdog Millionaire.

India- Not a Third World Country

India has the second biggest population in the world; they have approximately 1.17 billion people in their country as of July. 30.5% of people in India are between the ages of zero and fourteen, but people between the ages of fifteen and sixty-four is 64.3%. The smallest percentage of people are 65 years of age and older, they only make up 5.2% of the population. Even though parts of India are very poor and unsanitary, the life expectancy is 66.46 years which is pretty good for a country that has certain parts that are slum. The average of children born per women is 2.65 and in comparison to the world they are ranked eighty-one.  One fact that I found surprising about the population is that 2.4 million people are living with AIDS which makes India ranked fourth in the world. 310,000 deaths have been caused by AIDS. This is a lot of deaths just because of one disease; India is ranked second in the world for the number of deaths caused by AIDS. In the movie Slumdog Millionaire they show the little boy Jamal’s mother being killed because of religious beliefs. Hinduism is 80.5%, Muslim is 13.4%, and Christian is 2.3%, therefore the majority of their country is Hindu but they have been having disagreements for years about this particular topic. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

One of the major problems in India is human trafficking. Human trafficking is a type of slavery that exploits people, usually women and young girls. The government is trying to be more committed to stopping child labor. They are even making laws and plans such as the Legislative Action Plan and the Child Labor Act. Both of these laws are dealing with India becoming closer to the United Nations so they can lessen the amount of child labor occurring in India. In certain parts of the movie they show young women and adult women being exploited and used for sexual behaviors. India was put on a list in 2007 that has people keeping a close watch on them because they didn’t try hard enough to decrease the amount of human trafficking. http://labour.nic.in/

The movie Slumdog Millionaire doesn’t correctly portray how the country of India really is. Throughout the movie, they show the slums and the shantytowns, not the established neighborhoods and the nicer, more sanitary areas of the country. In one part of the movie they show the Taj Mahal and that is probably the only part this shows the beautiful side of India. At the beginning of the movie they show where they have to use the bathroom and how all of the waste drains into the water that they drink. Slumdog Millionaire makes India seem like a third world country, almost like Africa. They show murder, disease, and extreme contamination all throughout the movie. I don’t disagree with the producers of the movie though; the point was to show the viewers how poor the characters in the movie are.

In conclusion, I believe that India is a country that could use support. When Haiti went through the earthquake and when Hurricane Katrina hit many organizations set up funds and programs to help those people. Maybe an organization like the Red Cross or a sanitation company can set up a fundraiser for India so they can put towards keeping their towns cleaner and having medicine to cure the many diseases there. India is not a third world country but it is struggling to maintain clean water, keep disease out, and have enough money to prevent a lot of unhealthy and bad things.

Human Trafficking

India is not considered to be a third world country, but parts of India are very dangerous and poor. Human trafficking is one of the major problems in India. Human trafficking is the act of transporting or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. In other words, human trafficking is a form of slavery. In India women and young girls are trafficked for sexual reasons, while children are sent as beggars and workers.  India has been placed on a list called the Tier 2 Watch List because over the past few years they have not tried to decrease the amount of human trafficking in their country. In the movie Slumdog Millionaire it shows examples of trafficking among women and children throughout their country.  According to the national labor and employment website, there are plans being devised in attempts to reduce human trafficking among children by passing laws such as the Child Labor Act and the NCLP. There is a program called Unicef that tries to protect children from around the world from violence, exploitation, and abuse. Unicef has developed plans such as The Medium Term Strategic Plan, and Child Protection Strategy. The Medium Strategic Plan is a four year plan trying to protect children by strengthening their relationships with the United Nations and by building national capacities.  The Child Protection Plan basically states that they want to ensure as much protection as they can in numerous ways. Their main goal is to have good relationships with the United Nations and to have a strong and supportive government.

http://www.unicef.org/protection/index.html

http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm

www.unodc.org/.../human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html  

Questions for 12-2-10

1. The film making industry in India produces far more movies than the U.S does and they include many more musical pieces.

2. Jamal, Latika, and Salim.

3. Chai Wallah is a blend of spices made into a drink, somewhat like tea.
http://chai-wallah.com/about.html

4. The Taj Mahal is one of the 8 wonders of the world, built by the Mughals, houses the grave of queen Mumtaz Mahal, took 22 years to build, makes an octagon.

http://www.islamicity.com/culture/taj/default.htm

December 1 Questions

What is Kaun Banega Crorepati? 
 Is and Indian game show based on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaun_Banega_Crorepati

List five essential facts about Bombay (Mumbai).
A tropical climate.
Population is about 18 million people.
38% of the international air passenger traffic.
Money is country in rupees
Was renamed Mumbai in 1848.
http://www.mumbaiproperties.com/Mumbai_-_Fact_File/page_748140.html


What is Dharavi?
A slum or an administrative word.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharavi
What is a shantytown?  How many people live in shantytowns worldwide?
A slum settlement of impoverished people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanty_town 
About 20% of the world lives in a shantytown.
http://www.bookrags.com/research/shanty-towns-enve-02/

Who is Amitabh Bachchan, and what does he have to do with Slumdog Millionaire?
He is a famous Indian actor and in the movie Slumdog Millionaire he is brought up at the beginning.
(in class)

What is Bollywood?
The Indian Film Industry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood
How much is 250,000 rupees (or any amount of rupees) in American dollars? (Hint: find a currency converter.)
$5371.62
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Rupees_250000_equals_US_dollars

What were the Bombay riots?
Damage was about 3.6 million dollars worth of damage. The Muslims and the Hindus were fighting about religion. Occur in 1992-1993. Babri Mosque demolition started this riot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_Riots