Articles by Hansavivek


such as oppression and exploitation are the staple of the historical process which determines the destiny of man. The specificity of biology is the only additional element to differentiate the dialectics of the second sex. However much you and I may rail, there is no escape from the tyranny of this specificity; while each other element of exploitation can be tackled on the plane of human endeavour, this one cannot be. That the Second Sex is so described is an accident of culture, itself the outcome of the historical process; with very little bending of effort, it can be redesignated as the Other Sex. But the physical attributes of the sexes will not be altered thereby, mounting tantrums against Nature are for the present nonproductive inducements, whether progress in bio-physics and the molecular sciences will, in the course of the next couple of thousand years, make a breakthrough can only be speculated upon. For Simone de Beauvoir, as life reached its denouement, it was thus a kind of double tragedy, Read her adieu to Sartre, never mind the foundation of existential faith, the companion had been rendered into the wife. It is a magnificent story of an immutable fidelity, but it is also a magnificent negation of the belief which, through intellection, she had arrived at and had dug herself in. In the process, she also exposed the precarious basis of her sexual philosophy, You can render the Second Sex into the Other Sex, but whether you can travel beyond the semantic detour is hardly an issue of philosophical assertion waiting to be transformed, through active combat, into an empirical reality; that will depend upon the forces of nature, much beyond the force of circumstances shaping the hurlyburly of existential living. In the placement of history, Simone de Beauvoir will at most be a footnote to Jean-Paul Sartre. One can hardly conceive a greater affront to the Second Sex, but there it is.

proceeded along a leisurely fashion. Along with the state government, the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India were impugned as interested parties; neither of them appeared to be particularly interested; affidavits and counter-affidavits were called for; but who does not know that the judiciary in our country is terribly overworked, the injunction thus continued for six and a half long years. The Janata Party inter- regum too was in the meantime over at the Centre. Perhaps the company's political connections were revived, perhaps its patrons scaled even higher pinnacles of power and glory in New Delhi. Irrespective of whether the injunction was vacated or not, the Government of India could have so amended the laws of the land as to put a restraint on the company's operations; the Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India too could have, if they had only so chosen, read the inspection report submitted to the Bank's Department of Non-Banking Operations and acted thereon. This is however the land of Buddha the Enlightened; the Government of India and the Reserve Bank decided not to see any evil, not to hear any evil, not to speak any evil. The company's business has expanded .twelve to thirteen times since September 1979; lapsations of policies and forfeitures of premia paid in must have also increased according to scale. How does it matter, it is only illiterate adivasis and peasants and factory workers and members of the lower middle class who got jilted; true, they must have lost hundreds and hundreds of crones of rupees thanks to the majesty of the High Court's stay order; so what, look at the brighter side of things, the agents and sub-agents, and the 'influential people' to whom they are related, never had it so good; you cannot dispute that this too is redistribution of income


side the open court, but Jogen Babu knew, a half-wink of a drooping eyelid, the flicker of a smile on the tired old face, those were the only trace of acknowledgement on his part that the young British magistrate had crossed the Rubicon, that he belonged to them. Carritt was aware that Jogen Babu knew, and Jogen Babu was aware that the magistrate knew that he knew. It was a silent, unspoken conspiracy, and there is a certain magnificence in the way Carritt describes it. You recognise your comrades for what they are, your comrades recognise you for what you are, yet there would be a barrier of silence, a barrier of caution, a barrier of circumspection. Comrades, this is war, and we must not let our enemies know; each of us, in our own manner, would serve the cause, the contentment ties in serving the cause; for some of us the circumstances are a little more trying than they are for some others, but, comrades, we are in it together, for it is the cause, it is what fulfilment as human beings means to you and me.

is, this realisation that you have the power to make or break the economy; the rich, let there be no fooling, will now make the economy in their own image.

Diversification to Cope with Demand Recession Hansavivek HINDUSTAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (HDC) is further expanding and diversifying its activities. It has got a letter of intent for setting up a composite steel plant at Malanpur in Bhind district of MP with a capacity of 1.25 lakh tonnes per annum. The company has finalised an area of 100 acres of land in consultation with the state government for establishing the project. Technical consultants to the project have been selected and some of the quotations for major plant and equipment have also been received. Meanwhile, the company is seeking approval of the government for setting up a galvalume steel sheet project with a capacity of one lakh tonnes per annum, for which foreign collaboration has been already tied up. The company has also applied for setting up a cynauric chloride project with a capacity of 1,650 tonnes per annum at the existing site at Cyanides and Chemicals at Olpad in Sural district of Gujarat. To finance these projects and for other financial requirements, the company has planned to raise Rs 125 crore by issue of debentures. Accordingly, borrowing powers of the board are proposed to be raised to Rs 250 crore.