It was sometime in mid 1998…almost out of one college, and on the verge of getting into another, also a time of great moral/economic crisis that the country was going through. We, though were old enough to herald a revolution or at least choose to learn, chose to sit in student conferences that gave a ‘platform’ to become undergrown arm-chair intellectuals!
It was one such conference/meeting on globalization and how it affects the ‘poor,’ which was organized in the pristine Yelagiri hills, where we munched beef and mutton and talked about what can be done to combat globalization! Of course the person who sat through those conferences has hardly anything common with the person typing this, but, yes, something that happened in that camp/conference has its relevance today.
After one the usual ‘awareness raising (read as hair raising)’ speeches, each college was told to present something creative on globalization; could be a skit, a song, a poem, etc. There must have at least been a dozen presentations on that day, but I distinctly remember a guy and girl (from a not-so-hep college), who confidently take the mike and sing a Tamil song on globalization. It wasn't the people who sung the song, but the song itself that stirred and unsettled me! Today, I wish, I had overcome certain hurdles and walked up to them and asked how and who taught them the song! Their answer might have been a definite turning point, but I did let go that moment, and lived to regret it for a very long time. In all these intervening years, I must have hummed a couple of lines of that song each time I would come across Coke or Pepsi. In a way, that song has been a very strong reason to why I quit drinking cola! But, my search continued...And, today, purely by chance, I check my reader, and what awaits me! Bingo, the same song; a search of almost 11 years comes to an end…in some ways, it feels like homecoming…
Hear the song here!
For those of you, who don't understand Tamil, I have tried to translate the words for you! All of you know am no authority on translation or on Tamil, but still I have attempted so that you all share what I felt as I heard this song!
The country’s developing!
The country’s developing, says he
mmmm….jim jim jim (just for the rhythm, and also connoting to glitter)
In the path taken by Germany, America, and Japan?
Country, our country’s, developing, says he
Coca-cola to quench your thirst
Foreign ‘goods’ to heighten your spirits
Mix up Pepsi and Lehar
The rest of the tasks will be taken care of by mineral water
There’s dearth of water, and you want rose water to rinse your mouth
Slipper him, and his cheeks will puff up
The TV shows a smiling complan girl
As the doctor commands you to give fruits and eggs and milk every day
His child eats voraciously and bloats
As our child only sees the ad and desires
And runs with the plate to get the free meal at school before its over
And, what are his nonsensical schemes swatting?
Morning coffee at Meenambakkam (the Chennai airport)
He goes to ease of (to shit!) at the great city, London
In a private jet, which is fly-like
You need a police delegation for this
When just the rains have washed away our roads
And, the big-mouthed fellow comes talking about country development
The school is hanging with its nameboard
But, what you see is just three walls
The students are hanging on the trees
As the teacher sleeps
The moneyed-man’s child goes to the convent
While only liquor flows in our corporation schools
The government hospitals are at hand
The disease starts right from there
He says he’s operating
He cuts open and says there’s no thread to stitch back
The moneyed man’s crowd goes to Apollo
And, the government in its great mercy conducts postmortems for us
Within the AC cage, the doll stares
As the golden bordered saree glitters on its body
The coffers of Nalli and Sarathas are bursting at the seams
Only white buffaloes are loitering inside
The charka is laying in wait for the cotton thread
Your silk’s glittering in our hunger deaths
Forests, trees, seas, fish are private
Even electricity and telephone are private
All government plants have been divided
And auctioned off thrice
What’s left to be called our country?
He’s dancing and the director is jungle-raaj
© www.vinavu.com
Showing posts with label Social Structures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Structures. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Can?
Can an actor pull down the curtain?
He doesn’t want to act any longer
Can the river stop flowing?
It’s tired flowing over hills and valleys
Can the breeze stop blowing?
It’s bored of the unchanging colors around
Can the greedy humans stop living?
Coz we don’t want to work to satiate their greed
Can the rich become poor?
We are furious about your daylight robbery
Can the world stop for a moment?
We need to take stock
We need to undo great mistakes
We need another chance!
He doesn’t want to act any longer
Can the river stop flowing?
It’s tired flowing over hills and valleys
Can the breeze stop blowing?
It’s bored of the unchanging colors around
Can the greedy humans stop living?
Coz we don’t want to work to satiate their greed
Can the rich become poor?
We are furious about your daylight robbery
Can the world stop for a moment?
We need to take stock
We need to undo great mistakes
We need another chance!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Periyar; 130 Years!
A couple of days ago, Chennai was splattered in red and black, especially the Valluvar Kottam area; it was Annadurai’s birthday. Now, my readers please don’t embarrass me by googling Annadurai’s name. You must know him! Okay, anyway, for my young readers, here’s a small refresher: he’s the ex-chief minister of TN and one of the important voices of the Dravidian Movement, which had its beginnings in another very important movement called the Self-Respect Movement that was spearheaded by one of the greatest thinkers of this millennium, E. V. Ramasami, fondly referred to as Thanthai Periyar.
Today, the post is on Periyar since it’s his 130th birthday and there’s hardly any trace of the celebration! Never mind, Periyar would have liked it this way. I know some of you have this highly annoying habit of zodiacing the moment you hear someone’s b’day and have rubbed off that habit on me too! And, today, as I realized it was this great man’s b’day and tried to zodiac him, I almost had this ethereal experience, where I only remember a firm knock on my head with Periyar’s walking stick; perhaps, he tried to knock me out of such irrational nonsense! And, I thought it would be a fitting way to remember this great man by reviewing one of his books, Penn en adimaiaanal (Why did the woman become a slave?); it’s actually the first of Periyar's books I got to read, but that too a translation only!
Read the review in my other blog
Today, the post is on Periyar since it’s his 130th birthday and there’s hardly any trace of the celebration! Never mind, Periyar would have liked it this way. I know some of you have this highly annoying habit of zodiacing the moment you hear someone’s b’day and have rubbed off that habit on me too! And, today, as I realized it was this great man’s b’day and tried to zodiac him, I almost had this ethereal experience, where I only remember a firm knock on my head with Periyar’s walking stick; perhaps, he tried to knock me out of such irrational nonsense! And, I thought it would be a fitting way to remember this great man by reviewing one of his books, Penn en adimaiaanal (Why did the woman become a slave?); it’s actually the first of Periyar's books I got to read, but that too a translation only!
Read the review in my other blog
Friday, July 17, 2009
Money, Money, Money!
In the last few weeks, one has been subjected to teasers and promotions of yet another reality show: Sach ka Saamna. It’s a program inspired by the very popular western show, The Moment of Truth. The promotion includes very provocative slogans like, can your truth tear asunder your marriage, your family! Can you face the truth!
Another popular reality show is the much publicized Rakhi Sawant ki Swayanvar, in which Rakhi Sawant (who needs no introduction) chooses her groom from a list of wannabes who go through multiple rounds of qualification, including a horoscope-matching round (or something similar with a Brahmin priest going through the palms of the guys and Rakhi).
Both these programs will undoubtedly have an enormous number of viewers and hence will prove to be great money spinners! And, that’s all that matters to the producers, to the actors, and everyone involved in this despicable attempt at entertainment!
Let’s look Sach Ka Saamna first. What does it promote? Or, what does it exploit? One word that comes to my mind is voyeurism. The perverted pleasure that a person experiences by being privy to the intimate lives of other people! So far, we have been told not to read other people’s letters, diaries, and ask ‘personal’ questions even to partners! And, here, you go before the whole world and talk about your ‘affairs,’ and also go through a lie detector for some money! Are the participants of this show so hard up on cash? Then, the viewers! What kind of mind will want to watch such crap? Or, have we all really lost touch with our real selves? Pornography is still banned, but Sach ka Saamna is aired on prime time! So, it’s all about money! More and more and more money! It’s really scary beyond point; where are we all headed at this rate?
Next, Rakhi Sawant ki Swayanvar. Here’s a young woman who wants to get married, and wants to make money in the process of her selecting her better half, after subjecting him through multiple rounds of tests! I have heard some flippant talk about this being feministic! It’s one of most ridiculous things I have heard in the recent past. Just because a woman comes on screen, shoots off her mouth, wears skimpy clothes, and declares her wish to go through a traditional, Hindu marriage, does it make her a feminist? Or, should it be considered as a victory for the woman’s movement? I really would like to hear what the women groups have to say about the Rita bahuguna’s anti-woman and anti-dalit statements! Coming back to Rakhi Sawant: one is subjected to the processes involved in a traditional Hindu marriage, which in itself is highly derogatory to women, preceded by equally despicable ways in which Rakhi chooses her groom! In one of the episodes, the wannabe groom’s are made to write and read their ‘love’ for Rakhi! And, Rakhi evaluates each one on the basis of how she feels about each of them! Now, I really don’t know why one should choose a TV program to talk about such things! All for money! In the face of money, everything ceases to remain sacred or even human! Only the following came to mind as a fitting end to this story.
The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers.
The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.--- The Communist Manifesto
Another popular reality show is the much publicized Rakhi Sawant ki Swayanvar, in which Rakhi Sawant (who needs no introduction) chooses her groom from a list of wannabes who go through multiple rounds of qualification, including a horoscope-matching round (or something similar with a Brahmin priest going through the palms of the guys and Rakhi).
Both these programs will undoubtedly have an enormous number of viewers and hence will prove to be great money spinners! And, that’s all that matters to the producers, to the actors, and everyone involved in this despicable attempt at entertainment!
Let’s look Sach Ka Saamna first. What does it promote? Or, what does it exploit? One word that comes to my mind is voyeurism. The perverted pleasure that a person experiences by being privy to the intimate lives of other people! So far, we have been told not to read other people’s letters, diaries, and ask ‘personal’ questions even to partners! And, here, you go before the whole world and talk about your ‘affairs,’ and also go through a lie detector for some money! Are the participants of this show so hard up on cash? Then, the viewers! What kind of mind will want to watch such crap? Or, have we all really lost touch with our real selves? Pornography is still banned, but Sach ka Saamna is aired on prime time! So, it’s all about money! More and more and more money! It’s really scary beyond point; where are we all headed at this rate?
Next, Rakhi Sawant ki Swayanvar. Here’s a young woman who wants to get married, and wants to make money in the process of her selecting her better half, after subjecting him through multiple rounds of tests! I have heard some flippant talk about this being feministic! It’s one of most ridiculous things I have heard in the recent past. Just because a woman comes on screen, shoots off her mouth, wears skimpy clothes, and declares her wish to go through a traditional, Hindu marriage, does it make her a feminist? Or, should it be considered as a victory for the woman’s movement? I really would like to hear what the women groups have to say about the Rita bahuguna’s anti-woman and anti-dalit statements! Coming back to Rakhi Sawant: one is subjected to the processes involved in a traditional Hindu marriage, which in itself is highly derogatory to women, preceded by equally despicable ways in which Rakhi chooses her groom! In one of the episodes, the wannabe groom’s are made to write and read their ‘love’ for Rakhi! And, Rakhi evaluates each one on the basis of how she feels about each of them! Now, I really don’t know why one should choose a TV program to talk about such things! All for money! In the face of money, everything ceases to remain sacred or even human! Only the following came to mind as a fitting end to this story.
The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers.
The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.--- The Communist Manifesto
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Two Rapes and a Bandh
During the fag end of last week, one was assaulted with twin rape stories, a gang rape of a girl and a rape of a domestic help by the house owner. What’s interesting, or rather revolting, is the way people/media/the police interpret rape and these cases. In the first case, the police say that the victim was in a ‘compromising’ position with her boyfriend. For once, the state viewed this statement from the police through a feministic lens and promptly transferred him! Well, one mustn’t forget the fact that this incident happened in Gujarat (whoa! Only the name sends shivers down one’s spine), where 1000s of Muslim women were not only raped, but also had steel rods and wooden planks inserted into them during the Gujarat 2002 riots! Before looking at the communal edge this rape victim has over the several other women raped in her state, we must try to see how rape is used as a tool by the patriarchal society to: 1. Perpetuate violence on ‘the other’ community, class, and gender 2. Subjugate woman by making her think that honor is all that MUST matter to her. 3. Make the woman herself responsible for the violence as well.
Rape, as a lot of movies, media, and books would have us believe, is not about sex. It’s about power. Several studies have been done and books written to ascertain this fact. It about the ultimate subjugation of the prey by the predator, where the predator uses all available mechanisms to acquire the prey. In a way speaking, if rape can be considered murder (of course, it’s an extrapolation), it’s a premediated, cold-blooded act. Therefore, it is a well devised tool to cause damage to ‘the other’s’ sense of dignity and humanity. This takes us to the next point: honor. Here comes our understanding of the origin of private property, which led to the commodification and ownership of women. In this scenario, the woman and her body are owned in toto by the nearest patriarchal figure: father, brother, husband, or son. So, any ‘harm’ done to the woman’s body (she doesn’t have a mind, you see!) directly affects the owner. And hence, the man is supposed to protect his woman with his life (in reality, by erasing any semblance of her real self). No wonder, the society developed institutions such as the purdah, sati, dowry, sindoor, and many other practices, basically to make a commodity or an inanimate object of a woman. She’s the most guarded, especially her sexuality, which if left unbridled or unchecked can cause the biggest shame to the family, even worse than her death. This idea will help us understand the honor killings that happen in most parts of the country even today. This brings us to the third point where we look at the codes or rules of behavior (unwritten, at least, today) for a woman. She (if she comes from a lower class that depends on the upper class for its sustenance) cannot afford to be alone in the presence of a man from another community or class (as happened in the Ahuja case) or be in a ‘compromising’ position with her lover (in the Surat case). In both cases, the woman invited it upon herself! And, this is not pronounced by some uneducated, fundamentalist fools (who we can ignore), but the guardians of the constitution! If this is what the police will say, what is point of a State? Or a law and order department? If women must take care themselves, which is, basically, shut themselves up in their homes, not study, learn household chores, have arranged, caste-, class-based married and of course get raped again (marital rape, I believe is still not recognized as rape) and be safe! Women needn’t be equal partners in nation building, in bringing the revolution, in making new discoveries, or (damn it!) in anything! Should all the women just disappear into thin air?
Now, the communal angle! In just hours after the incident, one of the right-wing parties in Surat called for a bandh! I mean what kind of an opportunism is this? The same state where 1000s of women were inhumanly raped, killed, and burnt, is calling for a bandh for the rape of one girl? How is this girl different from all the other victims? Is it because she's among the beautiful people of the society? The bourgeoisie or the uppercastes? Whereas, all the women ambushed in the riots were from ‘the other’ community or from working class backgrounds? After all, who is the society for? Can’t we have sanity even in the way we deal with crimes? Can’t we divorce ourselves from our hangups about class, caste, and gender at least while dealing with crime?
Rape, as a lot of movies, media, and books would have us believe, is not about sex. It’s about power. Several studies have been done and books written to ascertain this fact. It about the ultimate subjugation of the prey by the predator, where the predator uses all available mechanisms to acquire the prey. In a way speaking, if rape can be considered murder (of course, it’s an extrapolation), it’s a premediated, cold-blooded act. Therefore, it is a well devised tool to cause damage to ‘the other’s’ sense of dignity and humanity. This takes us to the next point: honor. Here comes our understanding of the origin of private property, which led to the commodification and ownership of women. In this scenario, the woman and her body are owned in toto by the nearest patriarchal figure: father, brother, husband, or son. So, any ‘harm’ done to the woman’s body (she doesn’t have a mind, you see!) directly affects the owner. And hence, the man is supposed to protect his woman with his life (in reality, by erasing any semblance of her real self). No wonder, the society developed institutions such as the purdah, sati, dowry, sindoor, and many other practices, basically to make a commodity or an inanimate object of a woman. She’s the most guarded, especially her sexuality, which if left unbridled or unchecked can cause the biggest shame to the family, even worse than her death. This idea will help us understand the honor killings that happen in most parts of the country even today. This brings us to the third point where we look at the codes or rules of behavior (unwritten, at least, today) for a woman. She (if she comes from a lower class that depends on the upper class for its sustenance) cannot afford to be alone in the presence of a man from another community or class (as happened in the Ahuja case) or be in a ‘compromising’ position with her lover (in the Surat case). In both cases, the woman invited it upon herself! And, this is not pronounced by some uneducated, fundamentalist fools (who we can ignore), but the guardians of the constitution! If this is what the police will say, what is point of a State? Or a law and order department? If women must take care themselves, which is, basically, shut themselves up in their homes, not study, learn household chores, have arranged, caste-, class-based married and of course get raped again (marital rape, I believe is still not recognized as rape) and be safe! Women needn’t be equal partners in nation building, in bringing the revolution, in making new discoveries, or (damn it!) in anything! Should all the women just disappear into thin air?
Now, the communal angle! In just hours after the incident, one of the right-wing parties in Surat called for a bandh! I mean what kind of an opportunism is this? The same state where 1000s of women were inhumanly raped, killed, and burnt, is calling for a bandh for the rape of one girl? How is this girl different from all the other victims? Is it because she's among the beautiful people of the society? The bourgeoisie or the uppercastes? Whereas, all the women ambushed in the riots were from ‘the other’ community or from working class backgrounds? After all, who is the society for? Can’t we have sanity even in the way we deal with crimes? Can’t we divorce ourselves from our hangups about class, caste, and gender at least while dealing with crime?
Saturday, May 30, 2009
A movie that I wish was never made...
Thevar Magan (1992)
Starring: Sivagi Ganesan, Kamal Hassan, Nassar, Gauthami, Revathi
Story: Kamal Hassan
Direction: Bharatan
I had the misfortune of watching this rather ‘old’ movie, which couldn’t have come from a more ‘original’ pen like Kamal Hassan’s!
For those of you who have forgotten this movie, here’s a short refresher. The story is set in a pristine village in the interiors of Tamil Nadu, where the local, ‘kind-hearted’ landlord lords over the lesser mortals, the dalits and landless laborers. The landlord is from a community called the thevars, (Today, these people top the list of castes that thrive on committing atrocities against the dalit people in Tamil Nadu). The movies centers around the rivalry between this kind-hearted thevar and a nasty thevar, who’s actually his cousin! The seething rivalry’s fuse is blown with a younger thevar breaking the lock of a temple to enjoy some private time with his scantily clothed muse. Then, several things happen, and finally peace is restored by this younger thevar chopping the head of the nasty thevar and going off to prison! Now, I don’t know what kind of great minds would have selected this movie to represent the country at the academy awards! In any case, my faith in the academy awards remains intact, thanks to the way they sent this movie packing.
What is problematic about this movie?
Firstly, the movie is casteistic, eulogizing caste-based, ad hoc monarchies that run in the villages, which are nothing but cauldrons of dalit atrocities. This only shows the crying need for land reforms! How the hell can one family (damn it!) own an entire village? No wonder, the differences are stark; Kamal (the son of the kind-hearted thevar) and Gauthami (his muse) all the time speak in flawless, accented English and smooch around when the sons of the dalits become nothing but landless laborers and foot soldiers who get their hands cut off, defending the thevar honor! The movie was outrageously anti-dalit; Vadivelu (the side kick and also the humble, devoted slave with zero esteem) is named after a dalit god!
Secondly, the movie is sexist, showing women as either clingy, cry babies (Gauthami) or silly yappers (Revathi), singing to their husbands! Which Indian woman (even the ones educated abroad) would strut around half naked in the presence country brutes who ogle at any inch of visible skin? Does the average Indian woman lack even that basic sense? And, the same old story; two women quibbling over one silly man, who couldn’t even stand up to his own father!
Finally, the entire movie lacked any fine imagination and acting! Yes! Acting! Kamal Hassan and Shivagi, both were terrible. Yet another patriarchal bullshit, served to us by a bunch of upper caste, patriarchal men!
Am sure in the West, this movie would have invited at least 10 law suits from several groups! But, no, not here. Yes, it’s with dejection that I sign off this post, but with hope that someday we will have sensitive mainstream movies that portray reality, question discrimination, and reinstate hope for a better tomorrow.
Starring: Sivagi Ganesan, Kamal Hassan, Nassar, Gauthami, Revathi
Story: Kamal Hassan
Direction: Bharatan
I had the misfortune of watching this rather ‘old’ movie, which couldn’t have come from a more ‘original’ pen like Kamal Hassan’s!
For those of you who have forgotten this movie, here’s a short refresher. The story is set in a pristine village in the interiors of Tamil Nadu, where the local, ‘kind-hearted’ landlord lords over the lesser mortals, the dalits and landless laborers. The landlord is from a community called the thevars, (Today, these people top the list of castes that thrive on committing atrocities against the dalit people in Tamil Nadu). The movies centers around the rivalry between this kind-hearted thevar and a nasty thevar, who’s actually his cousin! The seething rivalry’s fuse is blown with a younger thevar breaking the lock of a temple to enjoy some private time with his scantily clothed muse. Then, several things happen, and finally peace is restored by this younger thevar chopping the head of the nasty thevar and going off to prison! Now, I don’t know what kind of great minds would have selected this movie to represent the country at the academy awards! In any case, my faith in the academy awards remains intact, thanks to the way they sent this movie packing.
What is problematic about this movie?
Firstly, the movie is casteistic, eulogizing caste-based, ad hoc monarchies that run in the villages, which are nothing but cauldrons of dalit atrocities. This only shows the crying need for land reforms! How the hell can one family (damn it!) own an entire village? No wonder, the differences are stark; Kamal (the son of the kind-hearted thevar) and Gauthami (his muse) all the time speak in flawless, accented English and smooch around when the sons of the dalits become nothing but landless laborers and foot soldiers who get their hands cut off, defending the thevar honor! The movie was outrageously anti-dalit; Vadivelu (the side kick and also the humble, devoted slave with zero esteem) is named after a dalit god!
Secondly, the movie is sexist, showing women as either clingy, cry babies (Gauthami) or silly yappers (Revathi), singing to their husbands! Which Indian woman (even the ones educated abroad) would strut around half naked in the presence country brutes who ogle at any inch of visible skin? Does the average Indian woman lack even that basic sense? And, the same old story; two women quibbling over one silly man, who couldn’t even stand up to his own father!
Finally, the entire movie lacked any fine imagination and acting! Yes! Acting! Kamal Hassan and Shivagi, both were terrible. Yet another patriarchal bullshit, served to us by a bunch of upper caste, patriarchal men!
Am sure in the West, this movie would have invited at least 10 law suits from several groups! But, no, not here. Yes, it’s with dejection that I sign off this post, but with hope that someday we will have sensitive mainstream movies that portray reality, question discrimination, and reinstate hope for a better tomorrow.
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Holy War of Redemption
Will I hear the children again?
Oh mother land
You broke my home
My life, my name, my identity
Will I see the sea beyond the smoking corpses?
Oh neighbour
You drank my blood
My garden, my labour, my ethnicity, my liberty
Will I hear the birds sing beyond the hills?
Oh lover
You killed me in my sleep
My passion, my pain, my pleasure, my sweat
Will I see the rain again from my home?
Oh friend
You drew your dagger through my heart
My love, my friendship, my land, my roof
Will I taste the sweet springs in the jungles?
Oh soldier
You tasted my blood on your sword
My soul, my heart, my mind, my body
Oh mother land
You broke my home
My life, my name, my identity
Will I see the sea beyond the smoking corpses?
Oh neighbour
You drank my blood
My garden, my labour, my ethnicity, my liberty
Will I hear the birds sing beyond the hills?
Oh lover
You killed me in my sleep
My passion, my pain, my pleasure, my sweat
Will I see the rain again from my home?
Oh friend
You drew your dagger through my heart
My love, my friendship, my land, my roof
Will I taste the sweet springs in the jungles?
Oh soldier
You tasted my blood on your sword
My soul, my heart, my mind, my body
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Taking on the neo-liberals of this developing country
Several months ago, I received the following forward. Besides, desperation, the forward stunk of racism, stupidity, ignorance, arrogance, and scant regard for human rights. So, to set the record straight, I am writing a take on the forward, only taking care not to sound as crass and obnoxious as my ‘inspiration.’ Read on friends….
Dear Friends,
Here is a story that you can pass on to our Indian friends who live, work and prosper abroad.
Best Wishes and Regards
An Old Story:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed.
The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
Indian Version:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
Amnesty International, UN, EU and World Human Rights Organisations criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .
Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for ' Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Governmentand handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'
Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.
CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '
Ban Ki Moon invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later.....
The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley,
100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ,
..AND
As a result of losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,
India is still a developing country!!!
Hows that ?
____________________________________________________________________
Dear Friends
Here’s a story that you can pass on to all our sisters and brothers (definitely only a few of them will have access both to computers and the English Language), so that they understand why our country is still developing…
Read and pass on for annihilation of caste and for building a new society…
An Old Story:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed.
The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
Indian Version:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant must toil in the fields that he doesn’t own, clean the toilets of grasshoppers because of the ant’s past life sins, and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Sometimes, when the grasshopper meditates he remembers what a great game his ancestors have played and crushed the hardworking ants under them!
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper, as usual, calls for a yagna to please the gods and tries to take away all the resources that the ants have painstakingly earned over centuries, braving the inhuman crimes of the grasshoppers, such as casteism, untouchability, rape, land grabbing, and lies। However, this time, the ants do not come to the yagna; they found a new god!
This scares the grasshopper to no limit! How can the ants go to another God! His mind starts working। In no time, the ants will realize the lies of the Grasshopper’s ancestors. They would realize that untouchability is hogwash! They will also start studying and perhaps even stop doing the ‘polluting’ work. What if they become lawyers, doctors, engineers! The ants have all the labor force; in no time they will build a self-sufficient society. They will have no need for the grasshoppers, who can only after all spout prayers, conduct business, and ‘own’ land!
The grasshoppers realize the imminent downfall of their kind and start plotting! They fall back on their age-old philosophy of divide and rule through lies-mongering!
They float lies through popular media about how certain religious communities are growing. They cause rifts between happy ant families and make them kill each other! They move from one ant society to another and cause more and more butchery, laughing all the while when rivers run red with the blood of ants.
The World is stunned by the deviousness of the grasshoppers.
Repentant grasshoppers, unable to stomach the violence, demonstrate with the very few enlightened ants. Some try and force their way and write the rules to follow. They finally agree that every one must work to earn their wage. But, what they don’t realize is the grasshoppers are still guarding every profession! And, so they ensured the safety and comfort of the grasshoppers for the next 60 years, despite the special provisions for the hardworking ants!
After 60 years…
The 15% grasshoppers rule the 85% ants! Yes, even after the provisions through affirmative action, the grasshoppers through their lies, which the only thing they are great at, hoodwinked the country to believe in pollution, and in the inherent ‘intelligence’ of the grasshoppers!
The grasshoppers take to novel ways in spreading their lies; they make some totally, lies-based e-mails and forward them to all their no-brain communities.
The ants, who have been watching, especially the enlightened ones have been working and slogging. They set up learning centers, they consciously choose another religion, fight elections, question the systems that subjugate people…
The ants are at work…
Just you wait, the ants tell the grasshoppers…now, that could be construed as a threat and so…
Grasshoppers come up with laws every second to kill and butcher the ants, but, with every ant killed, 1000 such ants are born!
Yes, slowly, but steadily the Indians (85% of the total population) are developing….that’s why India is a developing country!
Dear Friends,
Here is a story that you can pass on to our Indian friends who live, work and prosper abroad.
Best Wishes and Regards
An Old Story:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed.
The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
Indian Version:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
Amnesty International, UN, EU and World Human Rights Organisations criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .
Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for ' Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Governmentand handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'
Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.
CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '
Ban Ki Moon invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later.....
The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley,
100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ,
..AND
As a result of losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,
India is still a developing country!!!
Hows that ?
____________________________________________________________________
Dear Friends
Here’s a story that you can pass on to all our sisters and brothers (definitely only a few of them will have access both to computers and the English Language), so that they understand why our country is still developing…
Read and pass on for annihilation of caste and for building a new society…
An Old Story:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed.
The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
Indian Version:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant must toil in the fields that he doesn’t own, clean the toilets of grasshoppers because of the ant’s past life sins, and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Sometimes, when the grasshopper meditates he remembers what a great game his ancestors have played and crushed the hardworking ants under them!
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper, as usual, calls for a yagna to please the gods and tries to take away all the resources that the ants have painstakingly earned over centuries, braving the inhuman crimes of the grasshoppers, such as casteism, untouchability, rape, land grabbing, and lies। However, this time, the ants do not come to the yagna; they found a new god!
This scares the grasshopper to no limit! How can the ants go to another God! His mind starts working। In no time, the ants will realize the lies of the Grasshopper’s ancestors. They would realize that untouchability is hogwash! They will also start studying and perhaps even stop doing the ‘polluting’ work. What if they become lawyers, doctors, engineers! The ants have all the labor force; in no time they will build a self-sufficient society. They will have no need for the grasshoppers, who can only after all spout prayers, conduct business, and ‘own’ land!
The grasshoppers realize the imminent downfall of their kind and start plotting! They fall back on their age-old philosophy of divide and rule through lies-mongering!
They float lies through popular media about how certain religious communities are growing. They cause rifts between happy ant families and make them kill each other! They move from one ant society to another and cause more and more butchery, laughing all the while when rivers run red with the blood of ants.
The World is stunned by the deviousness of the grasshoppers.
Repentant grasshoppers, unable to stomach the violence, demonstrate with the very few enlightened ants. Some try and force their way and write the rules to follow. They finally agree that every one must work to earn their wage. But, what they don’t realize is the grasshoppers are still guarding every profession! And, so they ensured the safety and comfort of the grasshoppers for the next 60 years, despite the special provisions for the hardworking ants!
After 60 years…
The 15% grasshoppers rule the 85% ants! Yes, even after the provisions through affirmative action, the grasshoppers through their lies, which the only thing they are great at, hoodwinked the country to believe in pollution, and in the inherent ‘intelligence’ of the grasshoppers!
The grasshoppers take to novel ways in spreading their lies; they make some totally, lies-based e-mails and forward them to all their no-brain communities.
The ants, who have been watching, especially the enlightened ones have been working and slogging. They set up learning centers, they consciously choose another religion, fight elections, question the systems that subjugate people…
The ants are at work…
Just you wait, the ants tell the grasshoppers…now, that could be construed as a threat and so…
Grasshoppers come up with laws every second to kill and butcher the ants, but, with every ant killed, 1000 such ants are born!
Yes, slowly, but steadily the Indians (85% of the total population) are developing….that’s why India is a developing country!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Taking Dilli for a 6!
Just watched the movie that is the namesake of the city I dwell in! Okay, am no patriot of Delhi nor do I believe in patriotism as being a virtue. However, after watching this movie, to say am outraged at the portrayal of Delhi is an understatement. Before going into the gory details and the justification for my outrage, let’s simply talk about the movie.
Firstly, there’s no story, period. Of course, who said a story is essential to make a good movie; I have seen several riveting and mind-boggling movies that don’t necessarily have a consistent storyline. But, this one flouted all the basic rules, if there are any, rules of film making. Was it a documentary on the so-called ridiculous behavior of people in the walled city? Or, was it a tourist flyer promoting tourism, what with the recession and stuff, are we gonna fall back on tourism?
Secondly, the characterization! Who, for example, is Roshan? Just an NRI? That’s it? Does it kind of capture the essence of the person? What type of NRI is he? Has he studied anything? Why is everything so damn new to him, especially after being brought by a very religious dadi! Not even one character seems sorted out.
Thirdly, the movie failed utterly in terms keeping the audience engaged! Of course, every second had suspense woven in, because we didn’t know when the movie would end; it seemed like it could have ended in at least 10 points; and when it finally ended, the audience were like, “wow, it’s over man!” You know, I do enjoy movies that are no-brainers, as long as they are fun to watch. But, movies as these are violating; I was not only bored, but also angry!
Now to the anger part: anyone who has lived in Delhi for at least a year will know about Dilli 6: the walled city. For those of you who don’t know about the walled city, here is a small note on the area. It is one of the oldest residential areas of Delhi. It is predominantly a Muslim area, with the Jama Masid at one corner.
It is a heritage site; several years of history is buried in the roads of this unique place. Interestingly, the people and houses there and the way of life (not that it is very different from any other of the middle class areas in the country) is actually history. You must be there to witness or feel what it is to be in the midst of a historic place that is still very much alive. The mode of transport within the city is only by cycle rickshaws because the houses are so closely built that there’s hardly any space for any other type of vehicles. And, here, we have our hero sneering at the time it takes to reach his sick grandmom to the hospital on a rickshaw. What is worse is they aren’t delayed only by the rickshaw, but by a cow in labor! What a ridiculous idea! And, what’s even horrible is that the grandmom gets better when she hears of the cow in labor and goes and touches the cow with so much devotion.
The movie screams of the exotic orient in every damn shot! Guys, didn’t things like this get dealt with several years ago with Edward Said and our own Romila Thapar shattering such myths?
Next, this movie hardly explores the real culture of dilli 6. There’s this elaborate Ram Lila happening throughout the movie, but nothing on the lovely sweet meats sold around Jama Masid or the famous breaking of the Mohram fast or the famous buff kebabs of dilli 6! Everybody has been ridiculed! The dalit woman is as usual the beedi-smoking, foul-mouthed whore, who dutifully sits outside the temple and worships God! I felt violated as I walked out of the movie hall; my time, my money, and my intellect were insulted!
Just a word for Abhishek Bachan! Do yourself a favor; take a holiday for a year and go faraway; I suggest the Himalayas. And, do some soul-searching. Acting is not for you man; however, you could learn it, and I assure you one thing, your dad can’t be your teacher. Buddy, you can do better than this. If only you could find something real and true for yourself. I could see how bored you were; more than anger, I felt sorry for you!
Firstly, there’s no story, period. Of course, who said a story is essential to make a good movie; I have seen several riveting and mind-boggling movies that don’t necessarily have a consistent storyline. But, this one flouted all the basic rules, if there are any, rules of film making. Was it a documentary on the so-called ridiculous behavior of people in the walled city? Or, was it a tourist flyer promoting tourism, what with the recession and stuff, are we gonna fall back on tourism?
Secondly, the characterization! Who, for example, is Roshan? Just an NRI? That’s it? Does it kind of capture the essence of the person? What type of NRI is he? Has he studied anything? Why is everything so damn new to him, especially after being brought by a very religious dadi! Not even one character seems sorted out.
Thirdly, the movie failed utterly in terms keeping the audience engaged! Of course, every second had suspense woven in, because we didn’t know when the movie would end; it seemed like it could have ended in at least 10 points; and when it finally ended, the audience were like, “wow, it’s over man!” You know, I do enjoy movies that are no-brainers, as long as they are fun to watch. But, movies as these are violating; I was not only bored, but also angry!
Now to the anger part: anyone who has lived in Delhi for at least a year will know about Dilli 6: the walled city. For those of you who don’t know about the walled city, here is a small note on the area. It is one of the oldest residential areas of Delhi. It is predominantly a Muslim area, with the Jama Masid at one corner.
It is a heritage site; several years of history is buried in the roads of this unique place. Interestingly, the people and houses there and the way of life (not that it is very different from any other of the middle class areas in the country) is actually history. You must be there to witness or feel what it is to be in the midst of a historic place that is still very much alive. The mode of transport within the city is only by cycle rickshaws because the houses are so closely built that there’s hardly any space for any other type of vehicles. And, here, we have our hero sneering at the time it takes to reach his sick grandmom to the hospital on a rickshaw. What is worse is they aren’t delayed only by the rickshaw, but by a cow in labor! What a ridiculous idea! And, what’s even horrible is that the grandmom gets better when she hears of the cow in labor and goes and touches the cow with so much devotion.
The movie screams of the exotic orient in every damn shot! Guys, didn’t things like this get dealt with several years ago with Edward Said and our own Romila Thapar shattering such myths?
Next, this movie hardly explores the real culture of dilli 6. There’s this elaborate Ram Lila happening throughout the movie, but nothing on the lovely sweet meats sold around Jama Masid or the famous breaking of the Mohram fast or the famous buff kebabs of dilli 6! Everybody has been ridiculed! The dalit woman is as usual the beedi-smoking, foul-mouthed whore, who dutifully sits outside the temple and worships God! I felt violated as I walked out of the movie hall; my time, my money, and my intellect were insulted!
Just a word for Abhishek Bachan! Do yourself a favor; take a holiday for a year and go faraway; I suggest the Himalayas. And, do some soul-searching. Acting is not for you man; however, you could learn it, and I assure you one thing, your dad can’t be your teacher. Buddy, you can do better than this. If only you could find something real and true for yourself. I could see how bored you were; more than anger, I felt sorry for you!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Parents, children, control and many other things...
Of the many unifying factors of religion, such as women subjugation, stratification, and special status to a select few, is the elaborate rules on behavior, especially with respect to children. And, mind you, am not talking of children in terms of one’s age…you could be well past your ‘adult’ age or you could even be over 25 or 30, but you will be still a child to your parents, and hence you are obliged to follow the detailed rules for children about their behavior and life.
In this context, let me delve into the actual day-to-day realities of some children. As a growing Christian child, the virtues (and of course the carrot of long life, as if good health and fitness never mattered) of being an obedient child was drilled into me, as it was into all the other poor unsuspecting children. Even before we knew it, we were given tags as Christian, obedient, girl, sweet, intelligent, etc…and, one tended to hold on to these tags, even if they gave you no returns…well, the returns were roads of gold after death. But, our minds/intellects were dwarfed so that we don’t ask questions like, “If I obeyed, I would have a long life, which keeps me away from the golden roads!” Then, why should I hanker after a long life here? If I have a long life here, I must try and fit into those tags, which are incidentally given to several Christian children.
This piece is not about religion, rather about the power that certain relationships have due to religious sanction, and hence the prelude. The relationship that parents have with children enjoys much more that just religious sanction, I assume. It has societal sanction, with financial backing. At this outset, the chances of a short change for the weaker party is quite high, and my assumption is most of the children are short changed, except a select few who wage a war, who walk out of the house, who run away, who stay and question/rebel, or become artists…
Well, there might be reasons to why parents behave in a certain way. It could be due to religious, patriarchal, and market forces. However, what happens to the independent free will? After all, isn’t growing up a child a huge responsibility? Especially because the child has no means for developing an independent idea or will? Can a child grow on its own? Is it truly possible for a child to just be on its and develop into a fine individual, well again how does one define what is fine and unfine? Is that why we have scripture to tell us what is right and wrong? But, then why are there so many different types of scriptures, which are most often at loggerheads with each other? And, it hasn’t just stopped being at just loggerheads, rather, we today have armed battle…and who are the arsenal…the poor, unsuspecting children, grown on the much fermented anger of the parents. Dovetailing this idea, I have known of so many children being the actual deliverer of hatred between families. In such situations, do parents treat their children as their arsenal? The ultimate weapon—a young body indoctrinated in the scripture of hatred for the other; without any scope for love or humane ideas, because all of these ‘unnecessary’ emotions have been systematically removed so that the child can be customized to take on the enemy!
If you have noticed, elder children, usually speak the parent’s language, and most often are clambering to take on the ‘parent’s’ role more because that role is the role of power. And, what parents don’t see is that, they make their first-borns their ally! Is this because people marry young (especially those that are immature enough to think of marriage as an escape) and have a child immediately? Is their long-time desire to control comes delivered in the package called ‘first baby; now do what to you want to do!’
This, of course is not a plea for apology or a call to understand a ‘first child’; it’s in fact a way to be re-born…to choose one’s emotions…to break away from set patterns…in Steven covey’s language, to break the social mirror…and rewrite one’s destiny; to be the controller of your destiny and not let others control you…
In this context, let me delve into the actual day-to-day realities of some children. As a growing Christian child, the virtues (and of course the carrot of long life, as if good health and fitness never mattered) of being an obedient child was drilled into me, as it was into all the other poor unsuspecting children. Even before we knew it, we were given tags as Christian, obedient, girl, sweet, intelligent, etc…and, one tended to hold on to these tags, even if they gave you no returns…well, the returns were roads of gold after death. But, our minds/intellects were dwarfed so that we don’t ask questions like, “If I obeyed, I would have a long life, which keeps me away from the golden roads!” Then, why should I hanker after a long life here? If I have a long life here, I must try and fit into those tags, which are incidentally given to several Christian children.
This piece is not about religion, rather about the power that certain relationships have due to religious sanction, and hence the prelude. The relationship that parents have with children enjoys much more that just religious sanction, I assume. It has societal sanction, with financial backing. At this outset, the chances of a short change for the weaker party is quite high, and my assumption is most of the children are short changed, except a select few who wage a war, who walk out of the house, who run away, who stay and question/rebel, or become artists…
Well, there might be reasons to why parents behave in a certain way. It could be due to religious, patriarchal, and market forces. However, what happens to the independent free will? After all, isn’t growing up a child a huge responsibility? Especially because the child has no means for developing an independent idea or will? Can a child grow on its own? Is it truly possible for a child to just be on its and develop into a fine individual, well again how does one define what is fine and unfine? Is that why we have scripture to tell us what is right and wrong? But, then why are there so many different types of scriptures, which are most often at loggerheads with each other? And, it hasn’t just stopped being at just loggerheads, rather, we today have armed battle…and who are the arsenal…the poor, unsuspecting children, grown on the much fermented anger of the parents. Dovetailing this idea, I have known of so many children being the actual deliverer of hatred between families. In such situations, do parents treat their children as their arsenal? The ultimate weapon—a young body indoctrinated in the scripture of hatred for the other; without any scope for love or humane ideas, because all of these ‘unnecessary’ emotions have been systematically removed so that the child can be customized to take on the enemy!
If you have noticed, elder children, usually speak the parent’s language, and most often are clambering to take on the ‘parent’s’ role more because that role is the role of power. And, what parents don’t see is that, they make their first-borns their ally! Is this because people marry young (especially those that are immature enough to think of marriage as an escape) and have a child immediately? Is their long-time desire to control comes delivered in the package called ‘first baby; now do what to you want to do!’
This, of course is not a plea for apology or a call to understand a ‘first child’; it’s in fact a way to be re-born…to choose one’s emotions…to break away from set patterns…in Steven covey’s language, to break the social mirror…and rewrite one’s destiny; to be the controller of your destiny and not let others control you…
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Affirmative Action: A Beacon of Hope
A couple of days back, Kiddy, our little kitten, had a bad accident, and I had to rush her to emergency care at the Tamil Nadu Government Veterinary College and Hospital. Despite all the talk and negative perceptions about the type of care given to patients in government hospitals, I had to go there because Kiddy’s condition was really serious—she was mauled by two grown-up cats; one them her own mother!
In the hospital, she was immediately attended to. Her wounds were bandaged, glucose was administered, and an x-ray was taken. In about 2–3 hours, the entire process was over and I was told to return the following day when Kiddy’s trauma would have subsided. As a young child, well even as a grown-up, visiting a medical college was something big, even if getting into one was next to impossible, what with the high cutoff marks and the near-impossible-to-crack syllabus, which only the truly brainy can aspire to be part of. And, the doctors who passed out always maintained this steely exterior of the learned, whose mere shadow venerated the ground it fell on.
Well, all my stereotypes of the doctors and medical students were about to change. Yes, there was something very strange and different about these students. They were medical students who would soon become doctors, but lacked even a trace of the hype that surrounds such students. Something has changed, yes, something definitely was different. And, it was unique to Chennai. Because, in Delhi, the medical college students participating in the much-touted, but demented agitation against reservation, were clearly different—they had this aura about being the very learned or brainy students, which only reinforced the stereotype I carried about them. But, I wonder where their brains went when they took to novel ways of agitation; they started sweeping the roads to show what will happen to them if reservation was implemented! Clearly, if I was being treated by these students, I will be treated as if I were a thing to be studied! Not as a human, who had just one life.
So, back to the Chennai medical students, who were very different in their approach—
very methodical, but with a sense of simplicity. They could have easily been a cousin or a relative. One of them was getting a syringe ready when I turned and he quietly said, sorry maam, did I spray the water on you by mistake? Such humility! The chief doctor was equally nice. So well-qualified to do her job, but with such elegance and simplicity that with just her simple hello or how are you, she could reach out.
As I was growing up, there was always talk about how doctors needed to be compassionate when they treated their patients. But, if your family atmosphere always made you feel superior to lesser mortals (the depressed classes) how can you reach out compassionately to, for example, a riot victim, a drunkard, a child rape victim, or a victim of domestic violence? Especially, if your patients come from backgrounds you have no scope of knowing or the backgrounds that you so abhor. Then, those patients will naturally become a lab specimen to be studied! But, how is that medical students in Chennai are so different today? Are they seeing a sister or a brother or an aunt in their patients? Have they become compassionate? Which, I believe, to be the first qualification to be a doctor! Is there a special paper on compassion? Or, have their backgrounds come closer to the backgrounds of the common people? I guess the latter is the reason, and it has happened because of affirmative action. The students today was naturally dark-skinned, come from government schools, talk in the local Tamil dialect (not a sankritized dialect), and do not believe in pollution (because they come from the so-called polluting or backward castes). These students are my hope for the future…a future rebuilt…a past reclaimed. No wonder, Tamil Nadu is one of the progressive states in the country. Am truly happy to come from a state that hasn’t batted an eyelid before implementing reservation. Our doctors are more effective because they combine medical science with compassion, which comes not from sympathy, but from empathy.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Some thoughts…
Again, as is the case with my writings, this was also spurred by a rather angry exchange between two sisters…
So much for the prelude…my case is this: Too much of ‘modern’ thinking is makes people extremely individualistic, inward looking, and absolutely averse to any kind of collective work. Obviously, the next question is, how does one define modernism…
At the risk being ridiculed by many clear-thinking people, I attempt to construct my ideas here. I do believe and understand the idea of space and independent thinking and ideas, but at what cost? Who calls the shots about whose space can be taken and whose cannot be. Where is mutual aid? Where are the responsibilities that come with living together?
I have always been a proponent of people over the age of 18 having their own home and that policies need to be lobbied for a change that will enable young people support themselves financially and socially. However, given the ‘development’ that our country has seen in the last 60 years, I guess this type of living is out of bounds for the majority in our country. In that case what does one do? Wait till you are 25 or 30 when you are financially independent to make your move? But, by then the social fabric of family catches up, and familial obligations rule the roost with the need to create families without really going into hows and whys reigning supreme in one’s mind.
Given this scenario, do we even have the concept of space? Of individuality? Of the realization of one’s dreams? Of the collective failure that we as a family, community, and country are facing? Is it possible that the whole nature of space is either eulogized or ridiculed? Have we failed to balance? Have we failed to understand the other because each one of us is so busy looking only at ourselves? That too only through the eyes of the other, in which case we fail by default!
Then, the question about balancing…is there a real balance? Many a young people have untold problems about their parents, which incidentally is healthy especially considering catastrophic effects of being in the my-parents-are-god state. The point is when the situation is such that one has live with one’s family and there’s no way out, how does one make it work without threatening the basic fabric of life? This is where problems with too much knowledge and no application comes. When we understand too much about patriarchy and its hold on people and how it has destroyed women’s and chidren’s lives, isn’t it more important for young people to change this world order sensitively?
So much for the prelude…my case is this: Too much of ‘modern’ thinking is makes people extremely individualistic, inward looking, and absolutely averse to any kind of collective work. Obviously, the next question is, how does one define modernism…
At the risk being ridiculed by many clear-thinking people, I attempt to construct my ideas here. I do believe and understand the idea of space and independent thinking and ideas, but at what cost? Who calls the shots about whose space can be taken and whose cannot be. Where is mutual aid? Where are the responsibilities that come with living together?
I have always been a proponent of people over the age of 18 having their own home and that policies need to be lobbied for a change that will enable young people support themselves financially and socially. However, given the ‘development’ that our country has seen in the last 60 years, I guess this type of living is out of bounds for the majority in our country. In that case what does one do? Wait till you are 25 or 30 when you are financially independent to make your move? But, by then the social fabric of family catches up, and familial obligations rule the roost with the need to create families without really going into hows and whys reigning supreme in one’s mind.
Given this scenario, do we even have the concept of space? Of individuality? Of the realization of one’s dreams? Of the collective failure that we as a family, community, and country are facing? Is it possible that the whole nature of space is either eulogized or ridiculed? Have we failed to balance? Have we failed to understand the other because each one of us is so busy looking only at ourselves? That too only through the eyes of the other, in which case we fail by default!
Then, the question about balancing…is there a real balance? Many a young people have untold problems about their parents, which incidentally is healthy especially considering catastrophic effects of being in the my-parents-are-god state. The point is when the situation is such that one has live with one’s family and there’s no way out, how does one make it work without threatening the basic fabric of life? This is where problems with too much knowledge and no application comes. When we understand too much about patriarchy and its hold on people and how it has destroyed women’s and chidren’s lives, isn’t it more important for young people to change this world order sensitively?
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