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Category: communities

Unemployed and underground

Posted by Mahafreed on November 3, 2009 | 5 comments

Saddled with debt and the tag of being unemployed, a group of 20 trained commercial pilots met last week at Kalina. They prefer staying anonymous and say there are around 3,000 others like them. They’re people who spent Rs 30- 40 lakh to train and obtain a commercial pilot license, and are now just about barely managing to pay EMI. Some are 21-year-olds, who joined flying schools, after not scoring well enough to make it to medical or engineering school. For them it was the best alternative, but little did they know that three years down the line, the slowdown-hit sector would have no vacancies.

For 22-year-old Divyesh Trivedi the captain prefix before his name is only of ornamental value. Today, after completing 200 hours of flying, the Dadar-resident works with a BPO. “How else do I pay an EMI of Rs 45,000?’’ he asks. Trivedi says it was the air traffic boom, three years ago that attracted a large number of young students to the sector. But that gap was filled by over 900 expat pilots and those who had retired after the government increased the flying age from 60 to 65. “It hurts when airlines continue to employ foreigners when there are so many qualified Indians waiting for a job,’’ he says.

Recruited on a contractual basis, expat pilots are paid 30-70 % more than their Indian counterparts with a bonus of free accommodation. “Their contracts are being renewed and other expats are still being hired. Why the unfair treatment?’’ he asks. “We want a rollback in the retirement age back to 60,’’ say pilots like Trivedi who have come together and formed the Unemployed Pilots Welfare Association of India this year. “For all government jobs the retirement age is 60, then why is it still 65 for pilots? Isn’t it a security risk since the rarefied atmosphere, fatigue and jetlag can make it tougher for retired pilots to fly?’’ they ask emphasizing the need for all pilots to have quick reflexes. Members network using the Internet and hold meetings like the one at Kalina to make sure they make the right noises, at the right decibels. But when they warn out-of-school freshers against attractive aviation school adverts, they are snapped at with, “You are pulling us down,’’ in return.

So severe is the job drought that even small time airlines are taking advantage of the large number of unemployed who are eager to fly. When Air India advertised for 30 trainee pilot posts, it received more than 1,350 responses and no one was selected because of reported irregularities. Spirit Air in Ranchi, a private air-taxi provider invited applications but charged a fee of Rs 6,000 from every applicant. Other private operators charge heavy deposits for every application, making huge profits in the process and do not even tell the applicant the results. “Recruiters are taking advantage of the jobless and milking us as much as they can,’’ says Dhruv Sen who was asked to show 3,000 hours of flying experience by one recruiter. “It takes almost a year to finish 1000 hours, with each hour costing Rs 7000. It is next to impossible for a newbie who generally completes 200-280 flying hours to have that kind of experience.’’

Others believe, aviation related jobs can be created. Members give instances of how Air India and Indian Airlines have accommodated jobless pilots as flight dispatchers and operators in the past. Hiding behind their past, some don’t reveal they ever did the pilot training course. “When relatives ask, I say I took a break from studies but never tell them I spent Rs 40 lakh to end up being jobless.’’

When 25-year-old Anita Padukone was looking for vacancies, she was suggested to spend Rs 15 lakh on a type-rating course that gives aircraft-specific training. “The courses teach the various Airbuses like 329, 319, 321 or the Boeings or some of the smaller aircrafts,’’ says Padukone who thought it was “plain stupid’’ to take up the course with the guarantee of employment. “Three of my friends are sitting at home with the type-rating.’’

(Some names have been changed on request)

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Tags: mumbai, pilots, UPWA

Read this before you gift a pet

Posted by Mahafreed on October 26, 2009 | 3 comments

animals • around Mumbai • communities

It’s the story of two strangers who found comfort in a temporary home cushioned among the slums of Chinchpokli in Mumbai. Cuddling and demoing ruff love for a photograph, Don a paraplegic Boxer and Spots a maggot-scarred Dalmatian were rescued last month, malnourished and abandoned by their owners, at different places. The two nibble on milk and bread among other Indian stray dogs and cats, some shaking off anesthesia after a sterilization operation, others barking out at visitors, waiting to be walked.

Animal behaviourist or not, anyone can tell Don’s had a traumatic past. At the Welfare of Stray Dog’s campus, he refused to eat for days and sat quietly only “to look quickly at you and look away again,’’ says CEO Abodh Aras. Dragging his hind legs behind, Don hasn’t barked ever since he was rescued, unlike his canine companion Spots who jogs around, even with front paws, maggot-eaten. “He doesn’t know how to behave now. You can see how uncomfortable he is around humans.’’

Caretaker Aras, who once rescued an aristocratic Newfoundland sniffing its way around in a Dindoshi garbage dump says abandoning pets is rampant because “people think pets are toys.’’ Reasons for separation include skin infections, birth defects, the flaky, “I never knew he would grow this big’’ and “we’re shifting base’’.

Dog dumping is on the rise in metros like Delhi and Mumbai, say activists who network using SMS and online social media to find new homes for the `abandoned breed’. Topping the list of most abandoned breed is the Indian Spitz or Pomenarian followed by breeds like Labradors, German Shepherds, Daschunds and Pugs. There are two types of abandonment. “They either leave them on the road or look for new owners. Both ways, it’s the dog that suffers,’ says Aras.

SOS adverts like, “Hi, I am a little white dog, but I have no name, because no one seems to know it. My owners left me on the street, though I loved them with all my heart,’’ and the more interactive, “Are you lonely? Do you need an escort for 24 hours? Unconditional love with only requirement of 10 % reciprocation and a few caresses,’ flood online pet-lover communities. On Facebook, a 128-member strong community called `Pets for Adoption in Mumbai’ says on its about section: `Wanna put a pet up for adoption? Dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles… even snakes? Just upload their pictures and add a brief profile in the wall.’

Veterinarian Dr Deepa Katiyal, an active member of Petnopolis a networking site for pet lovers doesn’t know what to do when she finds random pets tied up outside her Goregaon clinic with some money and little notes. “They either come with skin rashes or hip dysplasia,’’ she says. According to her, recent illegal indiscriminate inbreeding has produced an entire generation of dogs with “faults in line.’’ So when someone buys a puppy, “they have no idea it will grow up to become handicapped.’’ And then, medicines for curing skin diseases like scabies and making sure the dog is clean often costs more than the cost of certain breeds themselves, reason enough to abandon the dog.

And although The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act states that an owner who `without reasonable cause, abandons any animal in circumstances which render it likely that it will suffer pain by reason of starvation or thirst’ shall be fined or imprisoned, enforcing it becomes difficult. In several countries like Japan and New Zealand inserting a microchip below the skin at the back or left side of the neck of the dog is compulsory, making it easier to track the dog owner of lost and abandoned pets. But the system hasn’t been introduced in India yet, causing grief to crèche owners like Sairaj Iyer. “There have been times when people have left that their pets with me saying that they would return and then shifted homes,’’ he says. Iyer narrates stories of he managed to find new homes for an abandoned Great Dane Mastiff, paraplegic German Shepherd and a Neapolitan Mastiff. “More male dogs are bred than female, skewing the ratios’’ leaving a large number of male dogs without mates. “If a dog is not allowed to mate at two, it’s going to become aggressive. The easiest and most common practice then is to dump the dog.’’

But that’s just an excuse, like are all reasons for abandoning a pet thinks Aras. “There are behaviorists for aggressive pets, boarders to relocate pets, vets to help deal with diseases and a gamut of other pet professionals waiting to help out.’’

Tags: dog, mumbai, pets