Making mediation Popular (Street plays)

Mediation is of the heart. It involves people. At another level its an attitude.
An attitude that when conflicts stay unresolved cause agony to both the parties involved in a dispute. Many conflicts involve families, neighbours, friends and companies. They could have complicated issues or very simple matters. When they are not addressed they grow into serious problems and what is worst is they land up in a court.

The method of street plays has been probably the oldest in any civilisation.
A theatre group or any individual actor who understands meditaion could put up small plays, skits etc., high lighting the concept of mediation.
Plays speak much more than speeches do, people identify themselves with the characters and act upon the message more faster than any other medium. The immediate response of the audience is what attracts serious actors to take up acting in theatre rather than in movies because of the instant connect.
Specially in villages this method would be highly successful. The rural areas are the places where the country still lives. However, owing to the changing scenario where the people are moving to the cities for better employment opportunities has created a certain void in the village lives.
The youth are wasted as they generally languish aimlessly. They get into wrong habits which leads to crimes in villages.
The illiteracy levels are quiet high and people actually do not go to courts as they should. The street plays would address the importance of even going to a court to begin with whenever it is needed.

The street plays could be performed in colleges, around court halls, in central areas of cities.
This requires an awareness drive. The street plays could also be filmed and posted in public domains on the net.
An interested group would be welcome to get together. This is easiest done by college students as a pert of the project to generate awareness are my thoughts.

Making Mediation Popular (Courts.)

This is the most vital part of writing this blog. The many ways that could be used to make Mediation popular in India. So that people who have filed cases and can get relief in a mediation must seek mediation.
It is rather too long as I have to stand on each topic for long. So I will make this into a series.

The courts.
The courts play a vital role here, specially in India where the Judges are the most aware of the future of a case.
The judges guide the parties to take up mediation when ever they observe that the case can be sorted through a discussion among the parties.
Most of the time such an intervention is taken well by the parties. This is the most popular way the litigants are introduced to the concept of mediation. They are initially confused and rather surprised, specially when they hear the opening statement. Then, they are at ease and cooperate with the process.
This happily forms the majority, and such cases normally see a happy ending too.
However, not all cases end like this. Some cases may still need the court intervention and so after agreeing to a matter at least partially settled at the mediation, they go back to the courts.
Some cases may not be suitable for mediation at all, they continue in the courts.
The courts make mediation an accepted process better than any other means. If there is no Mediation centre it would be a good idea to approach the court with an application to have it referred to the nearest centre. Most of the High Courts in India have a Mediation Centre attached. (the list is in this blog..they are being updated constantly).

A Mediation Case in Pune.(Media)

At last my hunt for some Mediation cases in the Indian media is fetching results. I'll post cases reported in the Indian media on Mediation.
This was reported in the Times Of India, where while hearing advance bail plea, court sends marital dispute for mediation on 7th November 2012

"PUNE: For the first time, a local court has referred a matrimonial dispute case to a mediator.
The court was hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by a software engineer and his family on Saturday. The man moved the court fearing arrest in a matrimonial dispute case filed by his wife, who is a constable at the immigration counter of the Pune airport.


Web-link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-06/pune/34947486_1_mediation...

Parents and Divorce Proceeding.

One of the mediations that I sat through was, where the mediator played a counsellor on the request of the daughter who was going through the Divorce.
As the Divorce case was coming to a close the mother of the party (lady) was heading towards a nervous breakdown. Fortunately, she had come to trust the warm and friendly mediator at the Bangalore Mediation Centre.

The family was a typical middle class where the father was the provider, the mother had never stepped out but took complete charge of the household. Her only interactions were of the neighborhood ladies or the family women folk who thrived on gossip from families. She could not come to terms with the fact that she was on the other side of the fence.
Surprising, that the mother cared more of that fraternity than the daughters' well being. How and when our priorities get lost sometimes we never know.
The mediator convinced her that as a mother she needs to stand by her daughter and help her move on with her life. The father was still aloof and not used to playing a vital role on the emotional front in the family, he was suffering but had no vocabulary to express I guess even to himself.


"In our world, a divorce is SEP — Somebody Else’s Problem. It never comes home. It’s what is spoken of in hushed tones about far-off relatives when you meet other far-off relatives.
My poor mother. She became the gossip...." writes Arathi Menon, read here


http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/joSxYsgRB6THhxWW3NOYgO/DANCING-DIVORCEE-When-the-heart-breaks-again.html

I feel, here is a society thats changing surely, but rather fast for the generation before us. This is because they cemented relationships by having problems and solving them together,  they went through there ups and downs. There were unsaid rules of the society. Once the children came in life revolved around them and they take priority. Yes, they do pay a price where either of the spouse specially the mother's sacrifices end up being more. This role of the woman is changing..the men are not willing to get ready...this is what I have understood.

The Custody Dilemma.

Children are the worst sufferers in any Divorce proceeding. Always. How does one decide which child goes where? For a child both parents are equally important. Here is a query of a parent, of course no one can give a satisfying reply to a situation like this.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/H05k1dyvstfzD07mUK2i1O/The-custody-dilemma.html

If you have anything to say on this please add to the comments here.

Litigation and Mediation.

"Mediation":

The Dictionary meaning.

mediation |ˌmēdēˈāSHən|

noun

intervention in a dispute in order to resolve it; arbitration: the parties have sought mediation and it has failed.

• intervention in a process or relationship; intercession: they are offering sacrifice and mediation between God and man.

DERIVATIVES

mediational adjective

The Thesaurus, says, the noun Mediation is ,

mediation between victims and offenders: arbitration, conciliation, reconciliation, intervention, intercession, good offices; negotiation, shuttle diplomacy.

In strict legal terms Mediation is one of the "Alternative Dispute Resolution" Technique.
disputes do not come under the purview of Mediation but, 75-80% of the cases can be solved easily through the technique of mediation.

If we look at many of the cases filed in courts they could be easily resolved by simply sitting across the table. Since, they has been filed the prescribed procedure has to take its course. It is also that that is the only option available to the citizens. Many a case is filed for revenge or in a rage, many a party regret having filed after a certain lapse of time and loosing money. The procedures of the common law simply do not allow for a communication between parties. The parties even forget the nuances of a case as it proceeds.

For example, a case filed by a neighbor where the plaintiff did not want the defendant who was constructing a house to have windows facing his own house windows for  privacy. As the parties did not communicate well on this issue a case resulted. The construction of the house was stalled owing to an injunction order passed by the court.
When the matter came up for hearing again the judge saw that there was a scope for the matter to be settled . He asked both the parties to go for Mediation.
At the mediation centre the parties sat before the neutral mediator and talked the issue without any harsh words. The plaintiff expressed his concern of privacy and the defendant said that he had no problem in getting the windows shifted away from the plaintiff's windows.
As the mediation agreement was getting ready the warring parties actually got to know each other well and parted as friends.
The Mediation turned into a boon for what would have been a matter dragging in courts for a few years.

 Mediation is basically just a form of facilitated negotiation. The mediator's role is to act as a neutral third umpire to help each party identify his/her/its principal interests, and find ways that each party can get what it really wants/needs out of the process.

"Mediation can prevent or resolve litigation, because it promotes settlement, but if at the end of a mediation there is no agreement, that dispute doesn't just evaporate into the ether. The next step, naturally, is to submit the dispute for adjudication, either by a private arbitrator or by a court."
Also, A Mediation works best when the two parties are of approximately equal leverage and bargaining power, and ideally when the parties need to maintain an ongoing relationship. The former is almost never and the latter is not always the case when a dispute occurs."

says Stephanie Vardavas,
Attorney, mediator/arbitrator, product safety consultant in www.quora.com.

Chief Justice Of India on Mediation.

A two-day conference has been organized in July 2012 jointly by the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court Mediation Monitoring Committee.

....to resolve “complex” commercial disputes involving the pricing of natural resources like gas and oil as judges may lack the expertise and their decisions could affect the country’s economy.

The judgments delivered by judges sometimes can hit the economy of the country which is not good,” he said.


http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cji-for-mediation-to-solve-disputes/971894