[Reader-list] the slaughterhouse meeting and blogging

[Ritika]

Dear all, this mail is for those who are reading up some of my work on 
slaughterhouse and who occasionally read my blog - that i must admit 
that as of now i am an irregular blogger...but

Last Saturday I met Junko Uchizawa - a japanese writer, illustrator and 
a book binder. We chatted for almost 4 hours and it was quite 
fascinating. Here's a jist of our conversation:

Junko is an independent writer. because she is also a book binder - she 
knows how to make paper etc. SO everytime she would make bind books - 
she would use paper to do the same. Once she wondered that why wasn't 
she using leather leather to bind books. She went to her master and he 
advised her against it. He said that the work of making leather is a 
closed occupation and also dirty and that she should avoid it. However, 
she was insistant on learning how to make leather from tanneries etc, 
and that's how she got interested in the world of slaughterhouses.

In course of her understanding on how slaughterhouses and tanneries 
operate, she learnt that in Tokyo - there are seperate zones in the city 
which are referred to as zones of "compensation for discrimination". In 
this zone live specific community called - Bokuru - who are in 'dirty 
jobs'. The municipality offers them elecricity, facilities, money - 
everything - just that they are meant to stay in a specific zone.
The butchers there are now fighting for their rights. They feel that 
they are not doing any 'bad' thing and that people should 'respect' 
their work.

Junko is researching the slaughterhouses of the world to understand the 
specific relationship the community shares with this work and the rest 
of the population with this work and the butchers. She's been to 
Morocco, Egypt, CHina, taiwan etc etc....now she had come to delhi - 
india and has plans to go to US as well.

She showed me the magazine she writes for. Obviously is was all japanese 
for me!! I shared my research interests and reserch material and she was 
obviouly excited.

In a nut shell, it was fun to meet someone from differnt part of the 
world - but doing such similar work.

Blogging is not only fun....it helps in doing research as well!!

On that 'preachy' note

take care
ritika
-- 
Ritika Shrimali
The Sarai Programme

http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika

What good is that life which does not get provoked or provokes. 
Gottfried Benn