Saturday, April 21, 2012
Biography for Sunny Leone
Early years
Karen Malhotra was born in Sarnia, Ontario to Indian parents and was raised a Sikh. Her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, while her mother (who passed away in 2008 (4 years ago)) was from a small town called Nahan in Himachal Pradesh although both of Punjabi origin. As a young girl, she was very athletic and played street hockey with the boys, enjoyed ice skating on a nearby frozen lake and drinking hot chocolate in front of a fire after playing in the snow all day.Her parents enrolled her in aCatholic School, where she had her first kiss at 11, lost her virginity to a basketball player at another school at 16, and found out she was bisexual at 18. When she was 15, her family received their green card and migrated to the United States. They first moved to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, then to Lake Forest, California before finally settling down in Orange County, California fulfilling a dream of her grandparents that all of them be together in one place. She graduated from high school in 1999 (13 years ago) and proceeded to enroll in college.
Career
Before working in the entertainment industry, she first worked at a German bakery, a Jiffy Lube, and later a tax and retirement firm.While studying to be a pediatric nurse in Orange County, a classmate who was an exotic dancer introduced Leone to John Stevens, an agent who in turn introduced her to Jay Allen, a photographer for Penthouse magazine. When picking a name for her adult career, she has said that Sunny is her real name and Leone was picked by Bob Guccione, former owner of Penthouse magazine. She posed for Penthouse magazine, and was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for the Mar. 2001 (11 years ago) issue, followed by a feature in the Holiday 2001 (11 years ago) edition of Hustler magazine as a Hustler Honey. She has appeared in other magazines including Cheri, Mystique Magazine, High Society, Swank, AVN Online, Leg World, Club International and Lowrider, while her online credits include ModFX Models, Suze Randall, Ken Marcus and Mac & Bumble. Her pictorial credits also include working stars like Adriana Sage, Jenna Jameson (9 walls), Jelena Jensen and Aria Giovanni.
In 2003 (9 years ago), she was declared the Penthouse Pet of the Year and also starred in the video Penthouse Pets in Paradise alongside Tera Patrick (12 walls) and Kyla Cole. In addition to her print work, she had also done pantyhose modeling with Ed Fox and Playtime Videos as well as bondage videos for FM Concepts. In 2005 (7 years ago) Adam & Eve appointed her as their West Coast Internet Sales Representative.
That same year, Leone signed a three-year contract with Vivid Entertainment with which she transitioned into the world of hardcore pornography, stating that she would only do lesbian scenes. Her first movie released was titled Sunny and was released in dec. 2005 (7 years ago). Her next movie, Virtual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone, was the first interactive title for Leone, who was the first Vivid Girl to make such a movie. Taking only four days to film, the movie won her her first AVN award (Best Interactive DVD). She followed this with Sunny Loves Cher, which featured her first on-screen squirting,and The Female Gardner co-starring Mikayla Mendez and Daisy Marie.
Leone's last two movies under her contract with Vivid were It's Sunny in Brazil, which was filmed in Brazil. and The Sunny Experiment also starring Monique Alexander and Brea Lynn. The movies were released in Oct. and dec. 2007 (5 years ago) respectively.
In May 2007 (5 years ago), upon re-signing her contract with Vivid for another six films, Leone agreed to perform for the first time with men on camera, but exclusively with her fiancé, Matt Erikson. That summer she also received breast augmentation, and shot her first movie under the new contract titled Sunny Loves Matt. The movie led to her to be nominated for three (out of six) AVN awards in 2009 (3 years ago) in addition to being a choice for Female Performer of the Year. She followed up her first boy-girl title with The Other Side of Sunny in Oct. 2008 (4 years ago), which would be the last time she would perform with Erikson.
In Jan. 2008 (4 years ago), Leone revealed that she was no longer exclusive to Erikson, and had done scenes with other actors, most notably Tommy Gunn, Charles Dera, James Deen, and Voodoo. In Aug. of that same year, she announced the launch of her own studio, Sunlust Pictures, with Daniel Weber as her partner. With her new venture Leone plans to write, direct and create her own brand of adult movies with Vivid Entertainment as her distributor. Her first independent production, The Dark Side of the Sun, was released in Mar. 2009 (3 years ago), and was debuted at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas. In Jun. 2009 (3 years ago), she held a casting call in Las Vegas for her second independent production titled Sunny Slumber Party.
No longer exclusive to Vivid, Sunny has started working with other studios and performers since 2009 (3 years ago).She has starred in the Cherry Boxx production of Sunny Leone's Watch Me (released Apr. 2009 (3 years ago)), Triangle movies Intimate Invitations 12 ,Vivid's Undress Me (released Jun. 2009 (3 years ago)) and Vivid Red.. She has also signed on for skinworXXX's upcoming titles Deviance, starring Eva Angelina and Teagan Presley; and in Sun Goddess: Jamaica, featuring Jenna Haze,Bree Olson and Sasha Grey. She has two titles under Vivid which have yet to be released namely Sunny Extreme and Sunny's Dream.
Leone at the 2005 (7 years ago) AVN AwardsLeone has also built a sizable online presence with her official website, sunnyleone.com, along with affiliate sites sunnysmoney.com and sunnysfriends.com. She has managed to leverage her online popularity by striking deals with firms like PPPcard, AdultPokerParty.com, Brickhouse, Flirt4Free, Totemcash and Imlive to sell and distribute her content over the internet and other media.She most recently updated her website in 2009 (3 years ago) to include high definition audio and video, new hardcore material; and news updates to work in conjunction with her Twitter and Facebook pages. For her online efforts, she won the "Web Babe of the Year" at the 2008 (4 years ago) Xbiz Awards. Her websites and business interests are run under her banner company Leone L.L.C.
In addition to her movie career, Leone has been part of the Vivid Comedy Tour, and has modeled for the Vivid Footwear collection. Leone has also participated in events like the Vivid/Club Jenna Lingerie Bowl and Vivid's Hot Rod Night. Doc Johnson launched a pocket pal in 2006 (6 years ago) molded to her vagina, and in 2008 (4 years ago) released the Sunny Leone Exciter vibrator. Control MFG currently uses Leone's image (wallpaper) along with other Vivid girls to market their line of skateboards. She is paired with Gab Ekoe, one of the Team Control riders. She also indicated that she has plans to launch her own line of lingerie and other Sunny-branded products including a diamond jewelry line.
Leone was voted #13 (up from #41 in 2007 (5 years ago)) on Genesis magazine's "Top 100 Porn stars" list, #34 on Desiclubs.com's Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2004 (8 years ago), and one of the "40 under 40" ranking on AVN Online Magazine.
Mainstream appearances
Leone's first mainstream appearance was in 2005 (7 years ago), when she was a red carpet reporter for the MTV Awards on MTV India. She has also had a cameo in the movie The Girl Next Door, performed in Ja Rule's video "Livin It Up" and a video for Kidd Skilly. Other credits include E!'s "Wild On!" and the Sundance movie Festival's 'After Dark.'{Leone(far left) at the 25th Anniversary party for VividIn addition to filming her scene for Debbie Does Dallas in 2007 (5 years ago), Leone was also part of a Showtime documentary of the same name detailing the production of the movie and the personal lives of its stars.
She has had three appearances on The Howard Stern show, most recently in 2008 (4 years ago), where she appeared alongside Joanna Angel, and rode a sybian.
Leone has a strong interest in health and fitness, and has been featured in several mainstream fitness publications. Leone has modeled fitness clothing for the sports brand Fantasy Fitness and shared that she keeps her body in shape by working out as much as she can despite her busy schedule and as quoted in Men’s Fitness magazine, "I try to eat very healthy – lots of vegetables, drinking my milk every day."
In 2008 (4 years ago), Leone announced that she would be starring in a mainstream action adventure movie titled Pirates Blood , which was shot in Oman. The shooting was completed in two weeks and was to be released in Winter 2008 (4 years ago). Leone also landed a role in Middle Men, producer Chris Mallick's indie feature about the birth of the online porn industry set for wide theatrical release in 2009 (3 years ago).
In 2004 (8 years ago), she was part of "No More Bush Girls", in which she and several other popular adult actresses shaved off their pubic hair in protest of the Bush presidency. In May 2008 (4 years ago), she shot a promotional video for Declare Yourself -a nonprofit, nonpartisan voter registration campaign targeting 18-to-29-year-olds. She indicated that Barack Obama would be her choice in the 2008 (4 years ago) US Election, primarily because she felt he was more business friendly to the adult industry than his opponent John Mccain. She also released a public service announcement on behalf of the ASACP, reminding adult webmasters to protect their sites from children by having an RTA label on it.
Leone has made appearances at events such as the 2002 (10 years ago) SEMA International Auto Salon, the 2002 (10 years ago) Extreme Autofest Pomona and the 2006 (6 years ago) World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Sunny has also been the hostess at events in clubs like the Mansion in Miami and the Highlands in Hollywood.
In 2005 (7 years ago), she was mentioned in Forbes magazine for a story on Vivid Entertainment. Leone has also been featured in mainstream publications like FHM, Front and Jane magazine.
Leone was a contestant in the second season of the Fox reality show My Bare Lady 2: Open For Business, in which a group of adult actresses were given classes and training on how to pitch investment ideas and competed for success in the business world.
In 2007 (5 years ago), along with the other Vivid Girls, she was seen in a 48' high holiday Billboard in Times Square at W. 48th Street and Seventh Avenue. Leone is also one of the Penthouse Pets who appears in the Play Station Portable game Pocket Pool.
She was also featured in a coffee table book titled Naked Ambition: An R-rated Look at an X-rated Industry by Micheal Grecco.
She has indicated that for the right price she would seriously consider a career in Bollywood. She has been courted by Indian directors in the past but has felt uncomfortable with the roles that she would have played. Director Mohit Suri is rumored to have asked Leone to play the lead role in his movie Kalyug, but instead cast Deepal Shaw as he could not afford her $1 million acting fee. She has mentioned that Aamir Khan is her favorite Bollywood Actor.
Personal life
In Jun. 2006 (6 years ago), Leone became an American citizen, but has plans to be a dual citizen of Canada. Though bisexual, she has stated that she prefers men. In her spare time she enjoys Abstract (51 walls) paintings, horse riding, reading, playing World of Warcraft (20 walls), and enjoys watching The Simpsons (15 walls) (1 walls) and The Discovery Channel. She used to play on a women's soccer league team in California. Her favorite holiday destination is Hawaii, and her favorite cuisine is Italian.In separate interviews, she has stated that in ten years time she would like to be married and have started a family, and probably retire from the industry by the time she is 30. Leone was engaged to Matt Erikson, a vice-president of marketing at Playboy Enterprises, but they broke up in 2008 (4 years ago), and is currently dating her business partner Daniel Webber. She currently resides in Hollywood, California with her cat and drives an Audi A5.
Sunny Leone in Jism 2 Movie
Jism 2
Porn star Sunny Leone's entry in Bollywood has fetched her immense criticisms all across the nation, but this has hardly bothered the adult film actress. There were many who felt that Sunny Leone might give up her porn career in lieu of her new Bollywood career. But a smart Ms Leone proved all wrong.
Talking to a leading daily, Sunny said that she doesn't prefer to give up her porn career. “I cannot predict the future and one film in Bollywood does not guarantee I will get many other offers,” the porn star was quoted saying.
Sunny Leone arrived in Jaipur with her co-actors Arunoday Singh and Randeep Hooda on March 31. The crew began shooting on Sunday at a luxury resort called Devi Ratn situated in Jamdoli on Agra Road. According to sources, prominent segments of the film will be shot in Jaipur and Udaipur and later in Delhi and at a foreign location. The cast and crew of the film will stay in Jaipur till April 10.
The porn star reportedly said, “I can never be sure enough to give up the porn world. I cannot predict the future and one film in Bollywood do not guarantee I will get many other offers.”
Sunny further added, “My company Sun-Lust Productions will continue to produce adult films and I will continue to remain associated with the industry.”
Imran Zahid is making his debut with Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Jism 2’ in the lead role. “I play a narcotics detective in ‘Jism 2?. I am looking forward to starting work on it. There’s excitement and nervousness,” an elated Imran said adding, “As a youngster, I watched (Mahesh) Bhatt saab’s films. I am a small town boy. I am from Bokaro. For me, it’s a big thing to work with someone like him and Pooja, whose ‘Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin’ I watched as a youngster.”
“Jism 2. is being produced by Pooja Bhatt’s Fish Eye Network and is in news for featuring Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone. Sunny just posted a look of hers in the film. The pic shows her in a lean avatar with high cheek bones in a black outfit which gives a hint of her cleavage.
Porn star Sunny Leone's entry in Bollywood has fetched her immense criticisms all across the nation, but this has hardly bothered the adult film actress. There were many who felt that Sunny Leone might give up her porn career in lieu of her new Bollywood career. But a smart Ms Leone proved all wrong.
Talking to a leading daily, Sunny said that she doesn't prefer to give up her porn career. “I cannot predict the future and one film in Bollywood does not guarantee I will get many other offers,” the porn star was quoted saying.
Sunny Leone arrived in Jaipur with her co-actors Arunoday Singh and Randeep Hooda on March 31. The crew began shooting on Sunday at a luxury resort called Devi Ratn situated in Jamdoli on Agra Road. According to sources, prominent segments of the film will be shot in Jaipur and Udaipur and later in Delhi and at a foreign location. The cast and crew of the film will stay in Jaipur till April 10.
The porn star reportedly said, “I can never be sure enough to give up the porn world. I cannot predict the future and one film in Bollywood do not guarantee I will get many other offers.”
Sunny further added, “My company Sun-Lust Productions will continue to produce adult films and I will continue to remain associated with the industry.”
Imran Zahid is making his debut with Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Jism 2’ in the lead role. “I play a narcotics detective in ‘Jism 2?. I am looking forward to starting work on it. There’s excitement and nervousness,” an elated Imran said adding, “As a youngster, I watched (Mahesh) Bhatt saab’s films. I am a small town boy. I am from Bokaro. For me, it’s a big thing to work with someone like him and Pooja, whose ‘Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin’ I watched as a youngster.”
“Jism 2. is being produced by Pooja Bhatt’s Fish Eye Network and is in news for featuring Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone. Sunny just posted a look of hers in the film. The pic shows her in a lean avatar with high cheek bones in a black outfit which gives a hint of her cleavage.
Sunny Leone Biography Profile
Sunny Leone alias Karen Malhotra is a Punjabi sikh girl who was selected among top 10 model of adult entertainment industry. Now she will be a wild card contestant in Bigg Boss house to give a break in falling TRP of the show. See complete profile, biography, biodata, family and other personal information of Sunny Leone alias Karen Malhotra.
Karen Malhotra or Sunny Leone is born to a Punjabi Sikh family and now have a dual citizenship of USA and Canada. She is a renowned name in adult entertainment industry and had also appeared in cover page of Penthouse and from that time she was named Sunny Leone.
Date of Birth of Sunny Leone or Karen Malhotra - 13th May 1981.
Age of Sunny Leone or Karen Malhotra- 30 years.
Education of Sunny Leone or Karen Malhotra - Sunny Leone did her schooling from a Catholic school and completed high school gradualgtion in 1999.
Activities of Sunny Leone or Karen Malhotra - She was very much interested in playing hockey, ice skaing and played with boys in her school days. Her first physical relation was also with a sportsman, a basketball player.
Age of Sunny Leone or Karen Malhotra- 30 years.
Education of Sunny Leone or Karen Malhotra - Sunny Leone did her schooling from a Catholic school and completed high school gradualgtion in 1999.
Activities of Sunny Leone or Karen Malhotra - She was very much interested in playing hockey, ice skaing and played with boys in her school days. Her first physical relation was also with a sportsman, a basketball player.
Born in Ontario, Canada, Sunny Leone grew up in idyllic surroundings, loving the cold Canadian winters and the snow that came with them. Building snowmen and ice skating were regular activities outside the Leone household every November through March. With a love for sports, singing and dancing, young Sunny was a consummate performer, basking in the attention it brought her and eating up every word of praise that came her way. Everything changed in 1996, when her family packed up and moved to Southern California. It was a difficult adjustment for the little Canadian girl, whose innocence and naiveté were less than fully appreciated by her new high school classmates. In addition, her adopted hometown lacked the change of seasons she so loved in the Old Country. Sunny persevered, however, and after graduating in 1999, enrolled in a local junior college. After a friend told her she should try modeling - a natural choice for a young beauty - she found a contact who specialized in adult entertainment and decided to give it a try.
Father of Sunny Leone was a Tibet based person from Delhi and her mother was from a small town of Himachal Pradesh, Nahan in Sirmur. Mother of Sunny Leone died in 2008 due to cancer and after that her motive is to do social work for cancer patients. Sunny Leone during her study in Orange sity was introduced by her colleague to a person of adult entertainment industry
Biography Of Sunny leone
Date of Birth
13 May 1981, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaBirth Name
Karenjit Kaur VohraNickname
KarenHeight
5' 4" (1.63 m)Mini Biography
Born in Ontario, Canada, Sunny Leone grew up in idyllic surroundings, loving the cold Canadian winters and the snow that came with them. Building snowmen and ice skating were regular activities outside the Leone household every November through March. With a love for sports, singing and dancing, young Sunny was a consummate performer, basking in the attention it brought her and eating up every word of praise that came her way. Everything changed in 1996, when her family packed up and moved to Southern California. It was a difficult adjustment for the little Canadian girl, whose innocence and naiveté were less than fully appreciated by her new high school classmates. In addition, her adopted hometown lacked the change of seasons she so loved in the Old Country. Sunny persevered, however, and after graduating in 1999, enrolled in a local junior college. After a friend told her she should try modeling - a natural choice for a young beauty - she found a contact who specialized in adult entertainment and decided to give it a try.Though initially wary of taking her clothes off and striking suggestive poses for the camera, curiosity got the better of her and she dived in full force, quickly becoming one of the most sought-after adult models. In 2001 Sunny was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for the March issue, and numerous layouts in other magazines soon followed, including "Cheri", "High Society", "Swank", "Leg World", "Hustler" and "Club International". She has also appeared in the Penthouse: Pets in Paradise (2001) (V) home video, as well as Ja Rule's "Livin' It Up" music video. So popular had she become that she set up her own website. Sunny would one day like to have a mainstream acting career, though she is content to stick with nude modeling for now. In addition, she is attending a junior college in Southern California, and hopes to become a registered nurse. She would also like to be a wife and mother at some point, though that will have to wait until Mr. Right comes along.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Cryptico
Spouse
| Daniel Weber | (20 January 2009 - present) |
Trivia
Penthouse Pet of the Year 2003.Is of Indian ancestry. Her family moved from Ontario, Canada to Southern California in 1996.
Penthouse Pet of the Month for March 2001.
Loves riding horses, playing with her pet bunny and hanging out with her friends.
Would one day like to have a mainstream acting and modeling career, though is content with nude modeling for now.
Has done pantyhose modeling for photographer Ed Fox.
Personal Quotes
My family loves me and accepts me for who I am. No parent can stop loving his child. I am daddy's little girl in his eyes. Of course, they don't want me to continue (in pornography), but I tell them my plans, what I am doing and, most importantly, I tell them I am happy and that's what they want most.What gets me in the mood is a man who knows what he's doing. There's nothing like someone who knows how to treat you, touch you and make you feel good.
UPA should leave aside ego and pass Lokpal Bill: Anna Hazare
PUNE: Social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday advised the Congress-led UPA government to "shed ego" and get the Jan Lokpal bill passed in current session of Parliament.
"I am hopeful the Lokpal Bill will come up before Parliament before conclusion of current session by May end. The government should shed ego and think of the country and society (by enacting a strong Lokpal Bill)," he told reporters here.
"I am hopeful the Lokpal Bill will come up before Parliament before conclusion of current session by May end. The government should shed ego and think of the country and society (by enacting a strong Lokpal Bill)," he told reporters here.
Anna Hazaare Biography
From a tenacious soldier to a social reformer, and a right to information crusader, Anna Hazare’s journey of four decades has been unprecedented in terms of a non-violent yet effective campaign of resurrecting a barren village into an `ideal village’ model and empowering the faceless citizen through pioneering work on Right to Information. His efforts to empower grampanchayats, protect efficient government officers from frequent transfers and fight against the red tapism in government offices have also received accolades.
His tryst with the army came when many Indian soldiers became martyrs in the Indo-China War of 1962 and the Government of India had appealed to young Indians to join the Indian army. Being passionate about patriotism, he promptly responded to the appeal and joined the Indian Army in 1963. During his 15-year tenure as a soldier, he was posted to several states like Sikkim, Bhutan, Jammu-Kashmir, Assam, Mizoram, Leh and Ladakh and braved challenging weathers.
At times, Hazare used to be frustrated with life and wondered about the very existence of human life. His mind yearned to look out for a solution to this simple and basic question. His frustration reached the peak level and at one particular moment, he also contemplated suicide. For this, he had also penned a two page essay on why he wants to live no more. Fortunately for him, inspiration came from the most unexpected quarters – at the book stall of the railway station of New Delhi, where he was located then. He came across a book of Swami Vivekananda and immediately bought it.
He was inspired by Vivekananda’s photograph on the cover. As he started reading the book, he found answers to all his questions, he says. The book revealed to him that the ultimate motive of human life should be service to humanity. Striving for the betterment of common people is equivalent to offering a prayer to the God, he realized.
In the year 1965, Pakistan attacked India and at that time, Hazare was posted at the Khemkaran border. On November 12, 1965, Pakistan launched air attacks on Indian base and all of Hazare’s comrades became martyrs, It was a close shave for Hazare as one bullet had passed by his head. Hazare believes this was the turning point of his life as it meant he had a purpose to life. Anna was greatly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. It was at that particular moment that Hazare took an oath to dedicate his life in the service of humanity, at the age of 26. He decided not not to let go of a life time by being involved merely in earning the daily bread for the family. That’s the reason why he pledged to be a bachelor. By then he had completed only three years in the army and so would not be eligible for the pension scheme. In order to be self-sufficient, he continued to be in the army for 12 more years. After that, he opted for voluntary retirement and returned to his native place in Ralegan Siddhi, in the Parner tehsil of Ahmednagar district.
While in the army, Hazare used to visit Ralegan Siddhi for two months every year and used to see the miserable condition of farmers due to water scarcity. Ralegan Siddhi falls in the drought-prone area with a mere 400 to 500 mm of annual rainfall. There were no weirs to retain rainwater. During the month of April and May, water tankers were the only means of drinking water. Almost 80 per cent of the villagers were dependent on other villages for food grains. Residents used to walk for more than four to six kilometers in search of work and some of them had opted to open country liquor dens as a source of income.
More than 30-35 such dens located in and around the village had tarnished the dignity of the village and marred the social peace. Small scuffles, thefts and physical brawls resulted in loss of civic sense. Morality had reached such a nadir that some of the residents stole wooden logs of the temple of the village deity Yadavbaba to burn the choolah of one of the country liquor outfits.
Hazare came across the work of one Vilasrao Salunke, a resident of Saswad near Pune who had started a novel project of water management through watershed development in a joint venture with the Gram Panchyat. Hazare visited the project and decided to implement it in Ralegan Siddhi. By keeping an eye on conserving every drop of water and preventing erosion of the fertile soil, he steered the villagers to begin working towards water conservation. At the outset, they completed 48 Nala Bunding work, contour trenches, staggered trenches, gully plugs, meadows development and of forestation of 500 hectares of land. Thereafter, they constructed five RCC weirs and 16 Gabion Weirs.
This resulted in increase in the ground water level. After that, Hazare along with his team worked out the cropping pattern suitable to the quality of soil and the water volume available for farming. This led to increase in the water table by making water available for 1,500 acres of land instead of 300 acres. As a natural sequel, this effort led to yielding of food-grains and the villagers became self-sufficient in terms of food. The table turned turtle – earlier there was no work available for the villagers, now manpower was required to be imported from neighbouring villages.
The changes in the economics brought all the villagers under one roof of unity and people voluntarily contributed in terms of labour and money to build a school, a hostel, a temple and other buildings. Mass marriages, grains bank, dairy, cooperative society, self-help groups for women and youth mandals helped develop the village in all aspects and gave a new face to it.
Hazare opines that proper planning of natural and human resources can result in the betterment of a person, area, village instead of exploiting such resources. He says, ``Today we all are exploiting the earthen resources like petrol, diesel, kerosene, coal and water. This can never be termed as perennial development as it is going to lead a state of destruction one day. The sources of energy are limited and hence I am concerned about the next generations. Today many of the villages of almost every state are feeling the brunt of water shortage. Building concrete jungles does not mean development as Gandhiji had rightly said.
Creation of a human idol should be the main objective rather than creating towering buildings. Surely, one needs to live for oneself and the family but simultaneously one owes something to your neighbour, your village and your nation too. For this, you need an idol who could lead to this goal. Such leadership is not created by power or money but only by virtues like pure thinking, matching action and willingness to sacrifice. It is the thumb rule of farming that – When a seed buries itself, it leads to a better yield. in order to get better yield of grains, one single grain needs to burry itself.
The society needs such volunteers who are ready to get buried in selfless service for the better future of the society.’’
Hazare’s Ralegan Siddhi became the first role model of an ideal village and has become a tourist spot for many visitors across the nation, since it shows the metamorphoses from the worst village to an ideal village. Visitors include politicians, researchers, social workers and students. Four postgraduate students have completed Ph. D. thesis on Ralegan Siddhi.
Social Life
Anna rightly thought that Development is marred by corruption and started a new venture in 1991 called Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Aandolan (BVJA) or public movement against corruption. It was found that some 42 forest officers had duped the state government for crores of rupees through corruption in confederacy. Hazare submitted the evidences to the government but the latter was reluctant to take action against all these officers as one of the ministers of the ruling party was involved in the scam. A distressed Hazare returned the Padmashree Award to the President of India and also returned the Vriksha Mitra Award given by then prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.
He further went on an indefinite hunger strike in Alandi on the same issue. Finally, the government woke up from deep slumber and took action against the culprits. Hazare’s sustained campaign on this issue had a great effect - six of the ministers were forced to resign and more than 400 officers from different government offices were sent back to home.
Hazare realized that it was not enough to merely take action against fraudulent ministers or officers but to change the entire system that was studded with loopholes. Hence, he campaigned for the Right to Information Act. The state government turned a blind eye towards the pleas in this regard and so he first agitated in the historical Azad Maidan in Mumbai in the year 1997. To create mass public awareness about RTI amongst the youth, Hazare traveled extensively throughout the state. The government kept promising that RTI Act would be made but never raised this issue in the house or the state assembly. Hazare did not relent – he agitated at least ten times.
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Finally, again he went on an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in the last week of July 2003. At last, the President of India signed the draft of the Right to Information Act after his 12-day-long hunger strike and ordered the state government to implement it with effect from 2002. The same draft was considered as the base document for the making of the National Right to Information Act-2005.
After the implementation of the RTI Act-2005, Hazare travelled for more than 12,000 Kms across the state creating awareness about the Act. In the second phase, he interacted with more than one lakh college students and also conducted mass public meetings across 24 districts of the state. The third phase included daily 2-3 public meetings in more than 155 tehsil places. In this massive campaign, posters, banners were displayed and more than one lakh booklets of the provisions of the Act were distributed at a nominal price.
This created enough of awareness and people were educated on the issue of rights of citizens.
Hazare deservedly won the coveted Padmashree and then Padmabhushan. Care International of the USA, Transparency International, Seoul (South Korea) also felicitated him. Apart from this, he received awards worth Rs 25 lakh and donated the entire amount for the Swami Vivekananda Kritadnyata Nidhi (social gratitude fund). Out of the two lakh rupees received from the above amount, mass marriages are carried of at least 25-30 poor couples every year.
That Hazare has given his life for social betterment is reflected thus: ``I do have my home in the village but I have not entered it for the past 35 years. I have implemented schemes costing more than several crores of rupees but I do not have bank balance. Last 12 years I have been working in the field of eradication of corruption. This movement is run entirely by public support without and grants or sponsorships. I appeal for money wherever I go for a public meeting and urge them to contribute generously. The same money I use to carry out my campaigns. The money collected at such public meetings is counted in front of the villagers and my volunteers issue a receipt of the same on the spot.’’
He further states that, ``The movement that we started many years back without a penny in wallet, has spread its wings in all the 33 districts and 252 tehsils of the state. Hence we have been instrumental in offering rights to local bodies like Gramsabha, preventing red-tapism and initiating the law of transfers. This has prevented corruption on a large scale. This has also resulted in offering social justice to the economically backward class. The Union Government keeps on making various schemes for poor people in availing kerosene, LPG and pulses on ration card but the middlemen keep on gulping the subsidies of the same. Our efforts made these necessities available to the poor.’’
The state government promoted opening of cooperative societies, credit societies & urban banks. Believing in the principles of cooperative sector, the utmost lower class of the society invested their savings with such cooperative societies. However, the directors of such societies devoured the money and failed to pay back the basic amount to the members of the societies. This created havoc and people were duped for crores of rupees and did not have money for the marriages of their daughters or for medical treatment. Hazare agitated for over eight months. The result was that more than Rs 125 crore was recovered from defaulters and the members of such societies heaved a sigh of relief. Recovery of around Rs. 400 crores is in the pipeline.
In the future, the BVJA will work for the decentralisation of power and laws related to the same. Says Hazare, ``we have decided to develop centers to create awareness amongst people about govt. schemes and train activists to know the modus operandi of corruption in each sector. As the state government has decided to set up committees at almost every nodal point like state, district, tehsil, and village level with one member on such committee represented by our organisation. We have trained more than 400 volunteers to work on such committees.’’
Actually the government should train the members of NGOs who can work in the sector of prevention of corruption. Then and then only we can dream of corruption-free state, concludes Hazare.
His tryst with the army came when many Indian soldiers became martyrs in the Indo-China War of 1962 and the Government of India had appealed to young Indians to join the Indian army. Being passionate about patriotism, he promptly responded to the appeal and joined the Indian Army in 1963. During his 15-year tenure as a soldier, he was posted to several states like Sikkim, Bhutan, Jammu-Kashmir, Assam, Mizoram, Leh and Ladakh and braved challenging weathers.
At times, Hazare used to be frustrated with life and wondered about the very existence of human life. His mind yearned to look out for a solution to this simple and basic question. His frustration reached the peak level and at one particular moment, he also contemplated suicide. For this, he had also penned a two page essay on why he wants to live no more. Fortunately for him, inspiration came from the most unexpected quarters – at the book stall of the railway station of New Delhi, where he was located then. He came across a book of Swami Vivekananda and immediately bought it.
He was inspired by Vivekananda’s photograph on the cover. As he started reading the book, he found answers to all his questions, he says. The book revealed to him that the ultimate motive of human life should be service to humanity. Striving for the betterment of common people is equivalent to offering a prayer to the God, he realized.
In the year 1965, Pakistan attacked India and at that time, Hazare was posted at the Khemkaran border. On November 12, 1965, Pakistan launched air attacks on Indian base and all of Hazare’s comrades became martyrs, It was a close shave for Hazare as one bullet had passed by his head. Hazare believes this was the turning point of his life as it meant he had a purpose to life. Anna was greatly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. It was at that particular moment that Hazare took an oath to dedicate his life in the service of humanity, at the age of 26. He decided not not to let go of a life time by being involved merely in earning the daily bread for the family. That’s the reason why he pledged to be a bachelor. By then he had completed only three years in the army and so would not be eligible for the pension scheme. In order to be self-sufficient, he continued to be in the army for 12 more years. After that, he opted for voluntary retirement and returned to his native place in Ralegan Siddhi, in the Parner tehsil of Ahmednagar district.
While in the army, Hazare used to visit Ralegan Siddhi for two months every year and used to see the miserable condition of farmers due to water scarcity. Ralegan Siddhi falls in the drought-prone area with a mere 400 to 500 mm of annual rainfall. There were no weirs to retain rainwater. During the month of April and May, water tankers were the only means of drinking water. Almost 80 per cent of the villagers were dependent on other villages for food grains. Residents used to walk for more than four to six kilometers in search of work and some of them had opted to open country liquor dens as a source of income.
More than 30-35 such dens located in and around the village had tarnished the dignity of the village and marred the social peace. Small scuffles, thefts and physical brawls resulted in loss of civic sense. Morality had reached such a nadir that some of the residents stole wooden logs of the temple of the village deity Yadavbaba to burn the choolah of one of the country liquor outfits.
Hazare came across the work of one Vilasrao Salunke, a resident of Saswad near Pune who had started a novel project of water management through watershed development in a joint venture with the Gram Panchyat. Hazare visited the project and decided to implement it in Ralegan Siddhi. By keeping an eye on conserving every drop of water and preventing erosion of the fertile soil, he steered the villagers to begin working towards water conservation. At the outset, they completed 48 Nala Bunding work, contour trenches, staggered trenches, gully plugs, meadows development and of forestation of 500 hectares of land. Thereafter, they constructed five RCC weirs and 16 Gabion Weirs.
This resulted in increase in the ground water level. After that, Hazare along with his team worked out the cropping pattern suitable to the quality of soil and the water volume available for farming. This led to increase in the water table by making water available for 1,500 acres of land instead of 300 acres. As a natural sequel, this effort led to yielding of food-grains and the villagers became self-sufficient in terms of food. The table turned turtle – earlier there was no work available for the villagers, now manpower was required to be imported from neighbouring villages.
The changes in the economics brought all the villagers under one roof of unity and people voluntarily contributed in terms of labour and money to build a school, a hostel, a temple and other buildings. Mass marriages, grains bank, dairy, cooperative society, self-help groups for women and youth mandals helped develop the village in all aspects and gave a new face to it.
Hazare opines that proper planning of natural and human resources can result in the betterment of a person, area, village instead of exploiting such resources. He says, ``Today we all are exploiting the earthen resources like petrol, diesel, kerosene, coal and water. This can never be termed as perennial development as it is going to lead a state of destruction one day. The sources of energy are limited and hence I am concerned about the next generations. Today many of the villages of almost every state are feeling the brunt of water shortage. Building concrete jungles does not mean development as Gandhiji had rightly said.
Creation of a human idol should be the main objective rather than creating towering buildings. Surely, one needs to live for oneself and the family but simultaneously one owes something to your neighbour, your village and your nation too. For this, you need an idol who could lead to this goal. Such leadership is not created by power or money but only by virtues like pure thinking, matching action and willingness to sacrifice. It is the thumb rule of farming that – When a seed buries itself, it leads to a better yield. in order to get better yield of grains, one single grain needs to burry itself.
The society needs such volunteers who are ready to get buried in selfless service for the better future of the society.’’
Hazare’s Ralegan Siddhi became the first role model of an ideal village and has become a tourist spot for many visitors across the nation, since it shows the metamorphoses from the worst village to an ideal village. Visitors include politicians, researchers, social workers and students. Four postgraduate students have completed Ph. D. thesis on Ralegan Siddhi.
Social Life
Anna rightly thought that Development is marred by corruption and started a new venture in 1991 called Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Aandolan (BVJA) or public movement against corruption. It was found that some 42 forest officers had duped the state government for crores of rupees through corruption in confederacy. Hazare submitted the evidences to the government but the latter was reluctant to take action against all these officers as one of the ministers of the ruling party was involved in the scam. A distressed Hazare returned the Padmashree Award to the President of India and also returned the Vriksha Mitra Award given by then prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.
He further went on an indefinite hunger strike in Alandi on the same issue. Finally, the government woke up from deep slumber and took action against the culprits. Hazare’s sustained campaign on this issue had a great effect - six of the ministers were forced to resign and more than 400 officers from different government offices were sent back to home.
Hazare realized that it was not enough to merely take action against fraudulent ministers or officers but to change the entire system that was studded with loopholes. Hence, he campaigned for the Right to Information Act. The state government turned a blind eye towards the pleas in this regard and so he first agitated in the historical Azad Maidan in Mumbai in the year 1997. To create mass public awareness about RTI amongst the youth, Hazare traveled extensively throughout the state. The government kept promising that RTI Act would be made but never raised this issue in the house or the state assembly. Hazare did not relent – he agitated at least ten times.
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Finally, again he went on an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in the last week of July 2003. At last, the President of India signed the draft of the Right to Information Act after his 12-day-long hunger strike and ordered the state government to implement it with effect from 2002. The same draft was considered as the base document for the making of the National Right to Information Act-2005.
After the implementation of the RTI Act-2005, Hazare travelled for more than 12,000 Kms across the state creating awareness about the Act. In the second phase, he interacted with more than one lakh college students and also conducted mass public meetings across 24 districts of the state. The third phase included daily 2-3 public meetings in more than 155 tehsil places. In this massive campaign, posters, banners were displayed and more than one lakh booklets of the provisions of the Act were distributed at a nominal price.
This created enough of awareness and people were educated on the issue of rights of citizens.
Hazare deservedly won the coveted Padmashree and then Padmabhushan. Care International of the USA, Transparency International, Seoul (South Korea) also felicitated him. Apart from this, he received awards worth Rs 25 lakh and donated the entire amount for the Swami Vivekananda Kritadnyata Nidhi (social gratitude fund). Out of the two lakh rupees received from the above amount, mass marriages are carried of at least 25-30 poor couples every year.
That Hazare has given his life for social betterment is reflected thus: ``I do have my home in the village but I have not entered it for the past 35 years. I have implemented schemes costing more than several crores of rupees but I do not have bank balance. Last 12 years I have been working in the field of eradication of corruption. This movement is run entirely by public support without and grants or sponsorships. I appeal for money wherever I go for a public meeting and urge them to contribute generously. The same money I use to carry out my campaigns. The money collected at such public meetings is counted in front of the villagers and my volunteers issue a receipt of the same on the spot.’’
He further states that, ``The movement that we started many years back without a penny in wallet, has spread its wings in all the 33 districts and 252 tehsils of the state. Hence we have been instrumental in offering rights to local bodies like Gramsabha, preventing red-tapism and initiating the law of transfers. This has prevented corruption on a large scale. This has also resulted in offering social justice to the economically backward class. The Union Government keeps on making various schemes for poor people in availing kerosene, LPG and pulses on ration card but the middlemen keep on gulping the subsidies of the same. Our efforts made these necessities available to the poor.’’
The state government promoted opening of cooperative societies, credit societies & urban banks. Believing in the principles of cooperative sector, the utmost lower class of the society invested their savings with such cooperative societies. However, the directors of such societies devoured the money and failed to pay back the basic amount to the members of the societies. This created havoc and people were duped for crores of rupees and did not have money for the marriages of their daughters or for medical treatment. Hazare agitated for over eight months. The result was that more than Rs 125 crore was recovered from defaulters and the members of such societies heaved a sigh of relief. Recovery of around Rs. 400 crores is in the pipeline.
In the future, the BVJA will work for the decentralisation of power and laws related to the same. Says Hazare, ``we have decided to develop centers to create awareness amongst people about govt. schemes and train activists to know the modus operandi of corruption in each sector. As the state government has decided to set up committees at almost every nodal point like state, district, tehsil, and village level with one member on such committee represented by our organisation. We have trained more than 400 volunteers to work on such committees.’’
Actually the government should train the members of NGOs who can work in the sector of prevention of corruption. Then and then only we can dream of corruption-free state, concludes Hazare.
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