Hey Ram!!!
Adaab
Rahul, hope you are doing good.
On Martyr’s Day, i ask you if you remember the first time we met, in october 2008? I had just come back from Heggodu where i had met Tushar Gandhi (great grandson of Gandhiji) and you had posed a question to me “Do you think Gandhi is still relevant?” and as an answer i had quoted what Dr. Surendra Rao had said in a seminar on Gandhi in Udupi “The question if Gandhi is relevant stems from the guilt of having killed the ideologies for which he lived”
From the past few days i have been preoccupied with the murder of Gandhi his ideology, your question and my reply, after the recent brutal attacks in Mangalore by Sri Ram Sene. Murder of Gandhi is murder of peace too. So everytime, peace is murdered, we tend to remember Gandhi.
The whole debate that is taking place after the attack of a pub in Mangalore on January 24, is around the question How can we tolerate women going to pub and drinking? While it should have been around the question How correct was it on the part of Sri Ram Sene to take law into their hands?
Tushar Gandhi told us this small incident at Heggodu, which i think i must tell you. It seems once a foriegn journalist gifted Gandhi with a basketful of booze and such items which was of no use to him. Gandhi passing it on to one of his companions said “keep aside the booze for people who would like to have it and keep the basket for me”
Now, how i wish these Sri Ram Sene people and the ones supporting them understood this story from the life of Gandhi! All of us know that Gandhi was against the consumption of alcohol but look how he respected other’s choice to drink, though he himself did not drink!
Last evening a childhood friend of mine was asking me as to why we criticize only saffron outfits and not the islam fundamentalist groups. I had to tell him that i am critical of any fundamentalist group. But that again reminded me of another story from Gandhi’s life.
Riots triggered by partition was catching up all over. Gandhi then decided to go to Punjab from Naukhali (W.B) where communal tension was shooting up. On his way to Punjab he halts in Delhi for a few days as he finds out that even Delhi has become commnallu tensed. On one day at Delhi some fundamentalist attacked his prayer meeting and asked why he was not opposing, questioning and fasting against the Hindu victims in Pakistan. It appears like a valid question. But what Gandhi answered to them, is important and gives an insight into his philosophy and politics. He said “if given a chance i would like to go to Pakistan and conduct prayer meetings there and question the people as to why so much of violence was being inflicted on Hindu minorities in Pakistan. But how will i show my face to them when i have failed in ensuring the security of Muslims in India?”
In this current socio-political scenario where we have murdered the teachings of Gandhi i was remembering all these stories and felt like sharing it with you. But then, do you know what the greatest tragedy is? This is the nail on the coffin it appears to me. After the recent attacks i had turned by G-Talk status message to Hey Ram!!! to say that peace has been murdered. And a childhood friend of mine asks me on G-talk “Sam, have you joined Sri Ram Sena? i see this slogan Hey Ram as your status message” and i was stunned! We have killed not just the teachings of Gandhi but also his last words. What else do i call this other than ‘nail on the coffin’?
With all these developments taking place around me, i feel that the day when Ghodse or Savarkar will be announced as the father of the nation is nearing. And with these thoughts my heart cries HEY RAM!!!
We have forgotten Gandhi’s life, his ideology, his teachings, we have murdered him, his ideology and his last words too. But lets remember this one point, in this troubled times: There may be many debates as to what Gandhi lived for, but there is no doubt as to what he died for: the secular philosophy (Harsh Mander in Madison on 27 June 2005)
I end this letter, Rahul, by the line of the prayer of Gandhi Sabko Sanmathi De Bhagwan.
Peace,
Samvartha ‘Sahil’
30 January 2009
Blinded By Halo
I spent the entire night thinking of Buddha. I had purchased an idol of Buddha that evening, so i was preoccupied with Buddha. Next morning, as usual, i was having breakfast listening to radio. A discussion was taking place on the celebrated hindi poet Maithil Sharan Gupta. The discussion went on to a poetry of his where he speaks of the life of Yashodhara after Siddartha left the palace, at the stroke of midnight, to attain knowledge and become Buddha.
I felt ashamed for i had never thought as to what was the life of Yashodhara after SIddartha left her! Suddenly i remembered an essay of Rabindranath Tagore where he says that Urmila is a neglected charachter in Ramayana. Sita, Tagore says, left the luxury of life for her husband but Urmila had to sacrifice her husband itself even before she had casted off her bridal dress. SO tagore says the sacrifice of Urmila is greater than that of Sita.
May be, while celebrating some people, we tend to overlook the sufferings of some people. The halo of some blinds our eyes to the world of some people.
*****
Soliloquy of Urmila
You Might Come Back
After Many Years
But What To Do?
Your Love(r) Has Been
Embraced By Old Age
While Standing Alone
In This Strong Palace.
Misty Are Eyes
Remembering Your Words;
‘Love Doesn’t Melt, Evaporate,
Nor Does It Go Dry’
- And So On
But,
Love Is Nothing But A
Long Wait, Unending Search For Me.
Tell Me,
Even If You Come Back
Can I Return (To My Youth)?
- Vibha Tirakpady
(Translated from Kannada by me)
Sin Cleansing…
Standing near the exit door George Bush said that there have been some mistakes on his part while he was the President. How true was his statement, is something which can be questioned. But yes, at least for the sake of appearing ‘good’ he said so. But does this wash away his sins?
Hitler committed suicide. Out of fear or out of guilt? We know not. Even if considered as an act of being guilty, will that wash away his sins?
While studying about the massacre during partition Asish Nandy interviewed one Mangathram. In one of the initial interviews Mangathram expressed his anger towards men who cry and behave “like a women”. And in one of the follwing interviews, supporting his act of killing during the partition, narrating, proudly, the stories of him killing Muslims, then justifyed his act by quoting an old saying: “When, in a forest, an old huge tree falls down, no one can save the small plants, on which the tree falls” This justifcation was followed by a moments silence and then Mangathram buried his face in his hand and wept like a child. After that he refused to meet Nandy. Was he feeling guilty? May be. But does that wash away his sin?
May be, Bush, Hitler, Mangathram and many more such felt guilty of their acts at a later stage of their life. Even if found guilty in the realm of law and even if punished for their acts, what is he justice given to the ones who were the innocent victims of these peolpe?
*****
….. Look from the helicpoter
Peep from the aeroplane
From the car or in the press meets
Wearing caps
Or go close and see
Hiding all your dark shades
Wearing the mask of empathy and love.
There is only one sight to see!
Only one silent agony!
But worry not
The corpse will never demand
For an explanation from you…
… May be years later
While cultivating this land
A skull might surface
And laugh.
But then fear not
For, a skeleton will
Never demand for an answer…
- ‘Nagnamuni‘ (Original Name: Keshavarao) in his Koyyagurram (Wooden Horse) a modern Telugu epic written in 1977.
Opium Of The Masses
Speaking about media and sensitivity Kannada poet Jayanth Kaikini, in Manipal (30th march 2008) said that one of the TV channels asked him to write a script for a serial, where the story would revolve around rich people. Kaikini said, he was asked to have plots where these rich people would suffer and cry a lot. When asked for a reason behind such a suggestion, kaikini was told “The viewers are mostly of middle class who are envious of rich people. If you make the rich cry, they will love it and watch it.”
Carl Rogers, a psychologist of the humanist school, says that every individual has two ‘self’, namely ‘real-self’ and an ‘ideal-self’, one what he is and the later what he longs to be. The more the distance between the two, Carl Rogers argues, the more is the frustration. With the increase of the frustration, man starts envying those who have achieved the ‘self’ which he has idealised and also constantly looks for a ventilation for his frustration.
The labour class recognizes itself with the poor hero who out masses the rich man, which they would have loved to do in their real lives, but are unable to. The urban middle class which is usually caught in the mishmash of urban set up longs for a life shown in films like Dil Chahta Hai (the reason behind dil chahta hai clicking only in urban centres can be understood in this light). The audience see themselves in the characters and live their ‘ideal-life’ and ‘ideal-self’ second hand in a span of three hours in the cinema hall where the subconsciously driven desires and dreams come into light as the hall turns dark.
“Nothing can induce working men and women to read stories that treat of their own world. The working class detest anything that tries to represent their daily life” says a character in George Gissing novel ‘The Grub Street’. Probably these lines give us an insight into why some of the critically acclaimed and aesthetically rich films which by nature are realistic, do not work at the box office.
In this process of ventilation and identifying oneself in a cinema, the common man starts worshipping the actors who play the roles of the ‘ideal-self’. In Madurai a report says, there are as many as 500 fan clubs of actors and actresses, whose members mainly include the labour class. There is not much of a difference between Shree Rama being called an ‘ideal-man’ and temper being constructed for film stars, in whom the common mass sees its ‘ideal-self’.
The strength of an audio-visual medium can’t be neglected in this discussion, which can create spectacle in a much better way than a literature or a play can. S.S Vasan’s description of his production as “Pageants for peasants” makes a lot of sense, when seen in the light of this discussion.
Speaking about religion Karl Marx made one of his often quoted statements- “Religion is the opium of the masses”. If the word ‘religion’ is to be replaced by ‘soap opera’ and ‘cinema’ to say- “Cinema and soap opera is the opium of the masses” it wouldn’t be any wrong.
“If public men work for the good of the public” S.S Vasan had argued in 1955 “Showmen do, as a matter of fact, work for the pleasure of the public”. Things have changed now. Public men are now working for themselves and thus making the lives of the public miserable. Under such condition cinema and soap operas give some relief to the worn out public at the end of the day.
It Rained That Evening…
He seemed not to be noticing anyone who was falling at his feet as he walked into the green room from the back door. Ustaad Rashid Khan was preoccupied with his music as he walked in. He walks in, sits with his accompanists to tune the tanpura, the tabla , the swaramandal and the harmonium. Few individuals already bow their head listening to the preparation in the green room as the audience wait for Rashid Khan to come on stage. Tuning the instruments he occupies the stage of Mangalore town hall. Ustad was in Mangalore after five years on 30 November 2008.
The 42 year old vocalist of the Rampur Sahaswan Gharana started the concert with Raag Shree in Vilambit Laya. It did take few minutes for Ustaad to come to his elements and wipe out the idea in the audience’s mind that Rashid Khan is not very impressive in live concerts. But once he came to his elements after a while, the audience forgot the heat within the hall and flying of the pigeons within the hall. The recital turned heavenly at the end during the ‘thaat’.
Chaaya Nat was chosen by Ustaad as the second raga to recite where he created magic with the ‘sargam’ for which his Gharaana is known. He asked for a cup of tea before he began Chaaya Nat specifying “bina doodh ke” (without milk). This recitation was in Madhya Laya. The widening eyes of Ustad the moving cheek the rhythmic movement of the hand and the flow of the fingers on the swaramandal all were adding to the charm and the magic.
When his next recital in Chandra Khauns came to an end and the hall turned silent after the applause the audience slowly coming out from the trance realized that it has started raining heavily outside. The overflowing sky the melting body in the heat inside the hall nothing was realized until then. The question “Darjeeling gaye hai kya chai lane?” (have they gone to Darjeeling to get tea?) from Ustaad encapsulates the audience again in his world.
‘Farmaayish’ by Ustaad Rafeek Khan, President Sangeet Bharathi Foundation, the organizer, was respected by Ustad Rashid Khan and thus the plan of Bhairavi was changed to raag Sohini after sipping the ‘bina doodh ke’ tea which then arrived.
The text “Bhavani, Dayaani” knitted in raag Bhairavi was the concluding piece by Ustad Rashid Khan to which he gave voice soulfully. He was supported well during the two hours concert by the accompanying artists, Vishweshwar Deshpandey and Ravi Katti on the Tanpura, Satyajeet Talwalkar of Mumbai on Tabla and Mukund Petkar of Pune on Harmonium.
Back in the green room again the history repeats. People are falling at his feet to take his blessings as he is preparing his pan chewing the beetle nut but he seemed to be unaware of the surrounding. He signs autographs and then speaking to a few of them he walks out singing. Standing out and staring at the rain he continues singing still not concentrating much on the ones who are still falling at his feet. He is still preoccupied with his music.
(Photo by Sunil Bhadri)
In Need Of A Company
He stopped the car and asked me where was i going. I told him where i was heading towards and he said he would drop me. I entered the car not knowing his name. The board on his car saying ‘press’ told me that we had met somewhere and i dint remember the details. As the wheels moved, he asked me if i was going to cover the ‘unique marriage’. I told him that i was going to cover a protest and had no clue of any ‘unique’ marriage and asked for details. He said that a man aged 82 was marrying a lady aged 70 in a church nearby.
I was asked to interview the man, later in th evening by my in-charge boss. I rang the groom who told me “boy, i just got married today. call me on monday” His excitement was visible in the sound of his voice. But later we got to know that his son did not want his father’s marriage to become a news.
That night, comming home, i started thinking as to why would a man aged 80 think of getting married. Many wouldnt consider this acceptable, was the first thought that crossed my mind. Somewhere deep within if it appears ‘unusual’ or ‘different’ to me that’s partially beacuse i too have a defined model of how things ought to be. But the old man, may be , wants a companion. Simple.
Who does not want a companion? What is wrong if one longs for company? Does this longing has any age limit?
Na Umr Ki Seema Ho Na Janm Ka Ho Bandhan
Jab Pyaar Kare Koi Toh Dekhe Keval Mann
Nayi Reet Chalakar Tum Yeh Reet Amar Kar Do.
(Lyrics of film song penned by Indeevar)
Recently my student friend Shiv Sunny asked me when will get married? I said i have no intentions of getting married and he said “no sir, you should get married. we all need a company, isn’t it? friends will be there, but not always. we need a company who will be always with us, importantly when no one else is with us.” True. One cant rely on friends, parents and siblings all the time for ‘company’.
Just a few days after that i was messaging another friend of mine who was telling me that she was with her friends who are married and she feels very lonely in their company. This loneliness is nothing but a reflection of the need for company. After a few days the same friend told me that she had discovered that her mother has a boyfriend. Her tone said that she had no problems with it. She understood an individuals need for a company. So she had no issues.
Similarly, the old man must also have been in need of a company. He must be having no friends of his age. His children must be married and seeing them in company he must be feeling very lonely, i assumed. May be most of us feel awkward about eldrely people’s marriage is because we dont understand that vacuum created by company-less-ness.
***
Girish (Kasaravalli) Sir’s film Naayi Neralu also speaks of the same need of a companion, to me. In the film Venkatalakshmi is a widowand is living with her in-laws and daughter. She has shaved off her head, as a ritual, which her daughter opposes, saying it displays oppression of women.
Her father in law, Shanbogh, is told once by his friend that his son has taken a re-birth in a far off village. He claims to know that because he has met the boy and has heard him authentically speak of Shanbogh and his family and also claims to be a re-incarnation of Shanbogh’s son.
Shanbogh’s wife is excited by this and asks her husband to get her son (re-inacnated) back home and after a continuous pressure from his wife Shanbogh goes and brings his re-incarnated son Vishwa back. The daughter who is schooled, doesnt like this for she does not believe in re-incarnation. She doesnt accept Vishwa as her father. But Shanbogh’s wife has accepted Vishwa as her son and showering all her affection on him. Ventakalakshmi keeps a distance from Vishwa though he tries to attain her company.
When Venkatalakshmi, later, also shows interest in him, her daughter and her mother-in-law both disapprove the relationship of Venkatalakshmi and Vishwa. The daughter who is ‘progressive’ opposing the head-shaving ritual becomes ritualistic in her mind-set and the mother in law who accepts Vishwa as her son cannot accept Venkatalakshmi accepting Vishwa.
Vishwa and Venkatalakshmi start living seperately and then get seperated when Vishwa gets jailed for having exploited a women. When they get seperated Venkatalakshmi’s daughter visits her and asks “dint you ever feel that he is NOT your husband who has taken re-birth” and Venkatalakshmi replies saying “did i ever believe so, is the question” and her daughter and the audience are perplexed. Then why did Ventalakshmi accept Vishwa? Even when she felt that he is not re-incarnated husband! Possibly because she wanted a company. But in a ritualistic environment, remarriage in unthinkable. But accidentally she chanced upon a situation where the company was within her reach and she just took shelter in that chance, in that company.
Silence Is Betrayal…
Few days ago one Mr. Ravi wrote an open letter to the Naxal leader Gangadhar in Vartha Bharathi reacting to the mailhe had recieved from Gangadhar. Rejecting the ‘path’ of Gangadhar and company Ravi writes the letter. What is the most moving thing about the letter is that it says that Ravi has listened to Gangadhar with whom he does not agree. In his letter, Ravi quotes Gandhi’s reaction at the time of Bhagath Singh’s Judicial Murder. Gandhi had asked the British Government not to hang Bhagath Singh and his conmrades, though he couldnt agree with the path chosen by them. This again shows that Gandhi did listen and accept people with whom he could not agree.
But what is that happened with Gandhi? The people who assasinated Gandhi believe that the people with whom they can not agree has to be eliminated! A recent publication of Sage Publishers titled RSS, The School Texts and The Murder of Mahatma Gandhi:The Hindu Communal Project proves this with historical examples and documents. This is their style. Elmination of the other. This is the ‘Final Solution’ to use the Nazi Germany terminology, which Rakesh Sharma used cleverly as the title of his documentary on Godhra Riots.
Elimination of the other ‘voice’ is also done by the same group adn its sister organizations. To quote a recent example the cadres of these organization have been threatening the shopkeepers in the city of Mangalore not to sell the daily Karavali Ale. And they have been burning the copies, i am told, at some places, where they have found it. The kind of journalism done by KA can be debated. But how can people snatch their freedom of right to speech and expression? The editor in chief of KA has been arrested because the ’saffron’ feels that he can be dangerous to them.
Yesterday Komu Sauharda Vedike, People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Popular Front of India demonstrated a protest in Mangalore against the continous attack of KA and the arresting of B.V. Seetharam, the editor in chief of KA. I was a bit late for the protest, but did manage to catch the last few minutes. After the protest as i was sipping tea with Pattabhi Sir, who had spoken during the protest a question passed through my mind. “When these people are protesting, why the journalists are not protesting here in Mangalore?” The same question came to me in a different voice by another friend Suresh Bhat of PUCL. He asked me as to how the media people were reacting to these incidents in Mangalore. To be frank, i told Suresh Bhat, there is no reaction. There is only silence, i said. THen as we talked about it, we agreed that there might have been celebrations among the journalist fraternity which has sold itself to the saffron (though not all)
Then i told Suresh Bhat of an incident which took place a few days ago when the minister for minority welfare had called for a press meet in Mangalore: The minister, in the press meet, went on to speak in support of the people who had attacked the churches in Mangalore a few months ago. At the end, i decided to question the minister and as i started off firing questions at him the cadres of the party winded the press meet and gave the vote of thanks. This is typical of them. Nothing to be surprised of. But my ‘journalist fraternity’ stood silent. And i am told somefrom my ‘fraternity’ went to the minister and said “do not take him seriously, he is insane.”
What do you expect from such people? I asked Suresh Bhat. This silence shows a kind of acceptance of vioelnce and rejection of the other. Now i am told there is a ‘plan’ to eliminate the reporters of KA from the association!!!
Elmination of a paper, an editor in chief and reporters. The first two by the ’saffron outfits’ and the latter by the ‘fraternity’ members who should have spoken instead of remaining silent.
As i was speaking of all this to my friend rajesh Naik, last night, he told me that the silence is very scary. And i rememberd what Martin Luther King once said:
At Times Of Histroy Silence Is Betrayal.
Unseen Ripples…
I was going through the written complaint. It was for page long. It was demanding to take action against a popular columnist and editor of a newspaper under the sections 153, 153 A, 153 B and 295 A r/w 34.
The inspector sitting in front of me said “The complaint comes three months late” and laughs. My eyes go on the last paragraph of the complaint explaining the reason behind the dealy. Ill-health, the complainant says. I turn the last page and i see a photocopy of the article which was published three months ago. I rememberd reading it then and telling my friends “read it and learn how not to write.”
The complainant says the article intends to instigate one community against another. Which is evident in the article. I ask the inspector what is their action. The inspector says “First to investigate the reason behind the dealy of complaining” i show him the last para of the complaint and he tells me “that is nonsense. he has visited the police station thrice in the past three months for various reasons.” Possible, i tell myself and ask the inspector what is their action against the columnist and the editor. “We will investigate if the article has triggered any mishaps from its day of publication to the day of the comlaint being filed.”
***
P. Sainath was in Udupi for a seminar. He was speaking of his experience and as he spoke he quoted an example from his experience saying how the people of the lower caste in some rural parts of India stood bowing to him, ten years ago, not just out of respect but also because of lack of self-respect. Ten years later, Sainath said, when he visited the same place again, the same people stood straight. Quoting this example Sainath questioned “How can anyone show this change in the attitude through statistics and graphs?”
***
Changes are not visible always. The change in the attitude will be visible only after a long time. The visible is the last wave that touches the coast and the stone that crated the ripple is invisible.
The article has brought about a change in the attitude of the people towards a minority community among the people of themajority community. The inspector’s investigation will never be able to see it for it is invisible. The impact of this change will become visible only after several years, like it did in Gujrat in 2002. (Teesta Setalwad has studied how the massacre of 2002 has its roots in its past throug constant injecting of negative feelings against for the minorities.)
By the time the impact of the article will become visible the inspector would have given a clean chit to the columnist and the eitor.
Why cant our police system see the invisible?
***
“kinare door hote hote bahut door ho gaye…paani ke chapakhon ki awaaz bhi doob gayi…dil mein aise sambhalte hain gham jaise zewar sambhalta hai koi…rooth gaye, naraaz ho gaye…hath se angoothi utari, wapas kar di…bahon ke kangan utare aur saath pheron samet lauta diye…lekin woh…woh baaki zewar jo dil mein rakh liye…unka kya hoga….”
-Gulzar
***
Power should be tought literature, for it enables them to see the waorld in a better way, it appears to me.
Unheard Voices
Its a small house behind Cama Hospital in Mumbai. A sweeper of the hospital stayed there with his family. The day Taj was attacked by terrorist, one terrorist knocked at the door of this house and when the door was opened by the sweeper he was shot in front of his young son. Killing the sweeper the terrorist walked back very casually. The son who witnessed the murder of his father has lost his voice now and is unable to speak- Said a friend of mine who is currently studying in Xaviers College which stands next to Cama Hospital.
This incident appears like a metaphor of the year 2008 to me, where the class which the sweepers son represents, has lost its voice witnessing the tragedies of life, the terrorist walks back fearlessly and casually after his mission is accomplished. A hospital near by, yet a life could not be save. A communication institute near by, yet no media covers this incident.
Oonche Imaraton Ne Ghar Mera Ghera Hai
Kuch Log Mere Hisse Ka Suraj Bhi Khaa Gaye
(Tall bulidings surround my small house,
Some people have consumed my share of sun-light)
- Javed Akthar.
Who will listen to this voicless India? Who will speak for this voiceless India? Who will help them get their share of sunlight? This is the challenge ahead of us and 2009.
Wish You A Happy New Year.
