There is poetry in soccer, say for instance, as demonstrated by the Spanish side which won the 2010 FIFA world cup.
Politics, in contrast, has become a kind of free-for-all wrestling match. Unfortunately, the politics which exists today is that as defined by Machiavelli, whether we like it or not.

According to Machiavelli, if as a ruler you accept that your every action must pass moral scrutiny, you will without fail be defeated by an opponent who submits to no such moral test. To hold on to power, you have not only to master the crafts of deception and treachery but to be prepared to use them where necessary. This we see passionately adhered to by Amit Shah and Narendra Modi.

As a result, with no possibility of fair play, we are left with an AIADMK, a DMK or a TTV Dinakaran while in the Centre, a congress or BJP (one being none the better than other) to choose from...

Hence we wake up to the reality of a Dinakaran victory in R.K.Nagar.

(Machiavelli quote from J.M.Coetzeee’s Diary of a Bad Year).

I feel leaders who are capable of taking on the likes of Modi and Amit Shah are the likes of Lalu Prasad Yadav and M.Karunanidhi.  People who are pinning their faith on Rahul Gandhi, it seems, are only day-dreaming.  Rahul Gandhi perhaps would do for the kind of V.P.Singh, but that’s different era. We cannot dream of it today.

I see no silver lining (excluding Jignesh Mevani etc) or consoling traits in today’s poll results.

p.s., civility not while fighting the forces hell-bent on diving the country.

BJP takes gujarat. hope we have no doubt about it? coming as it does after the disastrous demonetisation and GST, among other factors, the BJP has reason to celebrate. The saffron party did ride on the shoulder's of lies and a deceptive campaign...
The BJP would feel emboldened now to carry on with its divisive agenda as the clueless opposition continues to fumble. The congress setback perhaps illustrates the sloppiness of its strategy as it set out to face Modi-Shah duo in their den.
On the other side there is more noise -- self-congratulatory, defensive, condoning voices in favour of the congress and Rahul Gandhi-- that hardly makes sense. An undue haste in giving certificate of efficiency to the young leader is quite visible. But that can wait.

We need to keep in mind that gloating over despite the congress defeat in Gujarat would mean, quite again, lessons not learnt.
(meanwhile hope Prakash Karat is celebrating!).
After the bihar victory in 2015, this certainly is an ongoing descent for the congress-led opposition and unfortunately for the country.

p.s., if the opposition is not willing to bury its differences and get together Gujarat is most likely to repeat itself in the future.

This is how it is!

A mother holding her little daughter’s hand waiting to cross the road. The child in white and green uniform is on her way to a government school in Salem. The mother who is taking her to school cherishes a lot of dreams relating to her child’s future. She should be careful… She will look left and right and right and left before crossing, the highway teeming with traffic, to the other side safely with her daughter.

The mother has to work hard to keep things going for them. She will make sacrifices. She wouldn’t trust her husband.  She should be careful.

The child will grow up to be a woman. She might perhaps do well in her studies, get a job, stand on her own legs (as they say) and choose her own man as life partner as against the wishes of her parents.

The mother might then feel let down. She would challenge her daughter's choice. The daughter would resist... 

The world will try to find scapegoats, point fingers, accuse one of them of being cruel, heartless...  There is no point in it all (though easier said than done). Still there is no point. This is how nature works.

Sing paeans to power or face the music.

In a crackdown on satire, another instance of state trying to bulldoze criticism, silencing dissent; Tirunelveli police arrested a cartoonist Bala for his work lampooning the indifference of the State which  led a family of four self-immolate recently at the Tirunelveli collectorate.

 The family was incessantly harassed by a loan shark despite repeated complaints lodged with the authorities resulting in the rural laborer killing himself, his wife and two daughters.

The cartoon in question, an upshot of frustration caused by the incident, depicts chief minister Edappadi  Palaniswamy, Tirunelveli district collector Sandeep Nanduri and superintendent of police P.Arun Sakthi Kumar, trying to cover up their private parts with a wad of currency notes while a child is ablaze in front of them.

The cartoonist was booked under section 501 (printing on engraving matter known to be defamatory) of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form).  

While Bala is out on bail now it's worth noting that this isn’t the first instance of gagging of free speech witnessed by the state. The message the rulers and their sidekicks seem to be sending out is: don’t call out the vain emperor with no clothes. Sing paeans to power or face the music.

A Green Salute for Self-Confidence!

Activism proclaims self-confidence as it makes it from Silent Valley to Athirappilly.

Translated from Civic Chandran’s piece in Malayalam in Patabhedam.

The Kerala electricity minister M.M.Mani still keeps on reiterating that the Athirappilly hydroelectric project will be accomplished.  He gets chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan undiscerning signature of approval.

Making a case for consensus is the former chief minister.  Amid this a movement which was spearheading the struggle against the project decides to call off its dissent and disband the movement.

Contending that no struggles against the dam anymore but, for river conservation.

What a farce bro? How can activists surrender? Voluntarily scatter and walk away at a time when the struggle demands augmentation?   This climax puzzles the traditional resistance movements. At the least shouldn’t the struggle go on till the revolution? Isn’t activists born to intone Inquilab.

It was in this context a recap becomes necessary to understand the change of tidings beginning from the Save Silent Valley movement until the Athirapilly anti-dam protests.  The old silent valley agitators still grieve that even struggles that are doomed need foot soldiers.

 Meanwhile resistances in Kerala have seen several successes, and many still continue in a bid to achieve the purpose for which they were launched.  The nuclear power projects in Kothamangalam and Peringome were shelved. The Coca Cola company dropped its Plachimada operations and left the place for better.  The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation will not anymore dare to dump wastes at the heart of Vilappilsala with the help of the army. In the film industry the monopoly of ‘Amma’ was challenged by a group of smart damsels. Further has there been a period in contemporary history of the state when women shed self-restraint thrust upon them by the society and went on to provoke families, streets and campuses? Similar is the case of movements which sprang up and flourished without any support from mainstream political parties.

Coming back to Athirappilly struggle, the protesters had ensured that the falls and the Chalakudy River are safe. Besides the tribal people with know-how of forest act and the traders and local people have thrown in their lot with the struggle, since Athirappilly being a tourist centre and they are dependent on it. There have been studies on economical and ecological consequences of the project and the courts and offices were swarmed with petitions against the dam. This was supplemented by an ecologically conscious new generation. Only after instilling self-confidence to the struggle so that it cannot be derailed by a Mani or Pinarayi Vijayan that the movement was disbanded. If not everybody was certain, Latha, Ravi, Mohandas and their friends are in no doubt that a dam across Chalakudy river or Athirappilly is not anymore possible.

Someone will sit somewhere and annoy. Assuming that some drooped coconut will fall on their head so that they can whine, run around and perform `thiruvathira.’ Comrade this isn’t activism. Activism is not dancing to tune of the enemy. We decide the agenda of activism. We are going to function as per our own agenda.  Activists no longer wish to continue as rabbits in the compound of a blacksmith.

In a war of unequal’s, guerilla warfare takes the side of the deprived. It is not when the enemy intends, but when the people does that people agitate. It is not as per the wish of the enemy but as decided by the people that they will protest.  For the self-confidence gained by activism, a Green Salute!

Ends

O.V.Vijayan's Saffron.

(29 September 2017)

O.V.Vijayan, I think, made sure that Ravi wears saffron dhoti, belonging to a Swamini of an ashrama as he leaves his past behind on his journey toward  his `inn’, the village called Khasak.(Was the author aware that `Appu-Killis’ will later on brand him a `RSS man?’). Vijayan also sees to it that the books Ravi carries are `pulp and scripture. ‘

Vijayan perhaps didn’t want his protagonist to be an ‘intellectual.’  Ravi would have passed that phase eons ago…

ENDS.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/22/dearest-teddy-sylvia-plaths-love-letters-ted-hughes-published/

Module 10- Tintoretto and Veronese

A handbook on how to become a Saint and Celebrity overnight.

Lead a collective, collect rice, hard cash, presents

call on the deprived, 

click a photograph

while handing over the alms,

Publish and publicize.

Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel

The traffic inside her head seemed to have stopped believing in traffic lights. The result was incessant noise, a few bad crashes and eventually gridlock.’ 

--Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.

9/11, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (the ‘moderate face of far-right), Gujarat, (The Chief Minister of Gujarat Modi who didn’t acknowledge Newton of course, because, in the prevailing climate, the officially sanctioned position was that ancient Hindus had invented all Science ) Bhopal gas leak, Iraq, Kashmir…Arundhati Roy’s insistence on cramming too many catastrophes of contemporary history in the Ministry of Utmost Happiness, interrupts the otherwise free flowing  narrative (signature Roy) affecting the work come across as contrived, at least in patches.

The narration happens to pick up pace, swaying and moving, the reader, when it shifts to Kashmir (Tilo & Musa) which is the high -point of the novel.

A tad let down. Maybe as a consequence of over -expectation.

----

Meena Kandasamy springs a surprise with When I Hit You, going a notch up from her first novel, The Gypsy Goddess. When I Hit You is a breezy yet searing read, about a despot's cruelty towards the exploited; the way State acts towards the masses.

The canny Power, as we knew, is scared of intellectuals. (Power dreads beauty and poetry. Hence desires to conquer it.) But history shows the tyrants its place. Amazing work!

Ends

So Dileep is behind bars. The shocked film industry, by and large, has washed its hands of him. Dhe Puttu, a restaurant owned by the actor was ransacked soon after his arrest by a mob. The release of the actor's latest movie Ramleela which was scheduled for July 7 has been deferred to July 21. According to reports, three or four films of the actor were on various stages of production and at stake is about Rs 50 crore investment.

Currently the public anger is against the  'Janapriya Nayakan' (popular actor) as Dileep is known among his fans.

The actor has claimed that he's `innocent.'  'This is what all criminals say once they were caught,' seems to be the pervasive reaction of Kerala society which is debating the growing nexus between criminals and film industry.

Dileep's lawyer K.Ramkumar claims that he was 'framed.' 

The senior lawyer said that all the evidence the police claims to have gathered against Dileep is based on the confessional statement of the key accused Sunil Kumar aka Pulsar Suni which was never disclosed when the first chargesheet was submitted in the court. What is supplemented now is based on conversations between the first accused and a co-accused inside the prison. No conversation is attributed to the actor. 

The police say they have strong evidence to prove the role of Dileep in the actress' assault case. The details were not revealed to the media yet. There is no explanation about a 'madam' who Sunil Kumar had reportedly told the victim hired him for purpose.

 The leading actress was abducted by a gang in a pre-planned strike on the night of February 17 when she was heading for Kochi from Thrissur in a car. The gang sexually harassed the actress in a moving van for about 45 minutes before she was freed near Palarivattom. Investigating officers who saw the vidoclippings shot by the assailants were reportedly shocked by the horrific nature of the crime.

The actress plucked up courage to immediately lodge a police complaint.

Police say Dileep nursed a grudge against her for allegedly creating discord in his marital life with Manju Warrier. Hence he plotted to wreck her life. 

A script writer Rafeeq Seelat, familiar with the 'villain' within Dileep in a reminiscent post in his Facebook page reveals the actor once snooped when a co-actress was changing dress.

Meanwhile, actor Mammooty flanked by Mohanlal, Prithviraj, Remya Nambeesan among others, informed the media about Dileep's ouster from Amma (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes) He apologized for the unpleasant incidents witnessed during the general body meeting when actors Mukesh and Ganesh Kumar's off-hand reaction to the media while fielding questions on Dileep.  He affirmed that the association stands by the victim. 

Dileep's wife Kavya Madhavan de-activated her Facebook account. The celebrity couple recently offered a Shatru Samhara ritual (to protect themselves from enemies and evil forces) at the Kodungallur Devi temple. But the fall of the hero was already written on the wall. It was scripted by the actor himself.

Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi’s (self-righteous) response in dealing with Youth Congress workers who landed in controversy for slaughtering a calf in public in Kannur as part of the protests against Centre’s recent notification appears excessive. The three Congress leaders were suspended from the party. 

CPI (M) MP, M.B.Rajesh was correct when he reacted to the (calf slaughtering) exhibitionism as ‘Woeful!’ This kind of buffoonery will only help the Sangh Parivar,’ he said.

That’s it. The act does not deserve suspension.

Maybe, Rahul Gandhi could have advised or censured the Youth Congress leaders. Instead, by suspending them, the Congress scion has once again proved that he is still clueless in politics.

On M.K.Stalin.

A leader isn’t a leader if he is not capable of building bridges with his foes. The public rally is over. The noise, plaudits and rhetoric’s have died down. The leaders of various political parties who had flown in to Chennai for the rally to coincide with the nonagenarian’s birthday have gone back after selling /reinforcing a dream to DMK patriarch’s son; that of leading the State in the near future. Stalin as Chief Minister. Like his father. Or in his hallucinations, better than his father, ‘Kalaignar.’  ‘Ilaya Thalapathi,’ perhaps sounds better.

But where are the regional leaders?  Whoever they might be. Spent forces or acerbic critics. If Stalin thinks he can do without them he is mistaken…

Chennai: It is quite comprehensible if the Dravidia Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) rank and file appears animated when the party chief M.Karunanidhi, who is indisposed, turned 94 on Saturday. 

If sycophancy has become part of Dravidian parties, trust their cadres to outdo others in celebrating their leaders, though one doubts whether DMK could beat AIADMK herein, as the latter is believed to have taken sycophancy to new levels or lows.  

Having said that, this year’s birthday fete of Karunanidhi holds some political relevance for people of the state, considering the current state of affairs under the Edappadi K.Palaniswamy-led government. Governance looks to be in shambles while the tug-of-war for power between the ruling faction and the splinter group led by O.Panneerselvam persists.  The absence of a coherent opposition is badly felt.  So people cannot be faulted if they expect some changes to emerge as a sequel to the opposition leaders’ get together at a public meeting in Chennai on the occasion of Karunanidhi’s birthday on Saturday evening.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D.Raja among others are expected to participate in a public meeting at Royapettah here. Leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav have wished the DMK patriarch in advance.

In her greetings, Sonia Gandhi referred to Karunanidhi as one of the tallest among contemporary political leaders. It was not an easy task to remain at the helm of a political party for 48 continuous years. It is quite possible that it is a record in politics in any democratic country, she added. The same sentiment has been reflected by Gopalakrishna Gandhi in his piece of writing on Karunanidhi in a leading English language daily today.(Gopalakrishna Gandhi reminds : “Has he not, as the one and only Kalaignar, the supreme word artist among its leaders, dominated the State’s political stage since 1969 when he became ChiefMinister at 45, reaching that office four more times, in 1971 at 47, in 1989 at 65, in 1996 at 72 and then in 2006 at the very mellow age of 82?”)

The mainstream media which saw an ‘able administrator’ and a `strong leader’ in Jayalalithaa but found a ‘shrewd politician’ in Karunanidhi. 

If the DMK patriarch is  ‘Kalaignar’ to his fans, he is a ‘Tamil fanatic’ to a section of the elites; he is a `hypocrite’ to pro-Tamil outfits. 

Or to be more precise, he was `pro-Tamil’ for the elites’ and ‘anti-Tamil’ for pro-Tamil outfits. 

Above all, Karunanidhi bashers can always fall back on the multi-crore 2G scam when they feel like assailing him.

On various occasions in his political career Karunanidhi has played a crucial role in national politics. Today, with the party reins in the hands of his son M.K.Stalin, this year’s fete can either be a game –changer or a drab affair.

Ends

Perumal Murugan on Muthukrishnan.

Translated from Malayalam. Perumal Murugan on Dalit scholar Muthukrishnan (Why did Muthukrishnan aspire for more?) in Civic Chandran Chinnangath's Patabhedam, May, 2017 issue.

(V.P.Jishnu in Malayalam)

----
I work as a professor in a government college where ninety percent of the pupils are first generation students. These children, due to economic conditions, take up some physical labor when they were in school. In college, they are part-timers who do some odd jobs to fulfill the needs of their family, so also to meet their own expenses. They, for whom an elaborate meal is a distant dream, stay content with one meal a day.

Among this lot, most choose Economics, History or Literature for their degree course for the simple reason they would get spare time to work even as they pursue their education. These kids learn almost nothing during their three-year under graduation course. Seventy- five percent of them drop-out after landing some job. Only twenty-five percent go on to pursue further education, that too, in government colleges.

A student of a government college completing his Masters degree successfully is a big event. For professor’s like me, it is a matter of pride and celebration when a student gets admission to prestigious institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University. We refer to such students as role models with the hope it would inspire others like them. But is it possible anymore after what has happened to Muthukrishnan?

Muthukrishnan who was doing PhD at Centre for Historical Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University belonged to our Salem district in Tamil Nadu. He completed his B.A and M.A in History from Salem government Arts College which was considered one of the oldest institutions in the state. He did B.Ed from Ramakrishna College in Coimbatore and M.Phil from Hyderabad University. I met Muthukrishnan when I went to address a group of Tamil students in Hyderabad University. I remember appreciating Muthukrishnan for his determination, for having come this far: from Salem government college to Hyderabad University.

Propelled by a lot of hard work and zest, Muthukrishnan ended up doing his doctorate at JNU. 
But unexpectedly one day I heard he was found dead (Hanging from a ceiling fan) at his friend’s room. It was said to be a suicide. The cause, however, still remains a mystery.

Muthukrishnan’s family background was similar to that of ninety percent of our government college students. His father is a watchman. Mother, a daily -wager. Of his three sisters, one was married off, while marriage of another sister has been fixed. They live in Swaminathapuram in Salem. How did Muthukrishnan find money to meet his educational expenses? 
He took up several physical labors. Sold a cup of tea for Rs 1 and worked as a waiter in a restaurant.

Besides his work, he was a frequent visitor at the college library. The district central library was his another home. There were professors who encourage students like Muthukrishnan, and also those who ridicule them. After being mocked by one such teacher, Muthukrishnan vowed to study in JNU, become a professor and come back to this same college. His dream was to become a professor in History. But English language was a main stumbling block. So he underwent private tuition. I think it helped him. His friends tell that he was capable of engaging himself in lengthy discussions in English. He liked his friends calling him ‘Rajini Krish.’ He had a Facebook account n that name. Now, how could a new generation youth like him identify himself with an yesteryear’s star? The trait of roles the actor played in his movies—men hailing from poor background making it big through hard work and honesty-- maybe a reason.

Muthukrishnan liked the books of Romila Thapar, R.S.Sharma, Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi among others. Gaining admission to JNU appeared something ‘historical’ to him. It was after four years of hard work, written test and interview did he get admission to JNU. He had planned to write a book describing his journey to JNU titled, `A Junket to JNU.’

His death now raises hundreds of questions and dread within me. Is it possible anymore to refer to Rohit Vemula and Muthukrishnan as role models to other aspiring students? What if the students retort back, do you want the same fate that befell Vemula and Muthukrishnan to befall us?”

Why do students who study in Tamil language find it so difficult to get through the doors of higher education? Students in north India can write their entrance tests in English or Hindi language. Even after learning English for ten years in school our children approach English with dread. We do not learn Hindi in school. Even if we do, just like English, it remains unfamiliar to us. Because Tamil language belong to a peculiar family, Dravida family. We were forced to write entrance tests in a language in which we are not fluent. Why this discrimination among citizens of the same country? Why we are denied of an opportunity to pursue our education in our mother tongue? When we were forced to give all our efforts to master a foreign tongue, how could you expect us to focus on the subject?

Does it take so much effort from a youth of the country to reach its capital Delhi? Is this how the capital welcomes him? By taking his life? It was said that Muthukrishnan was forced to rip away a portrait of Ambedkar which he had pasted on the wall of his room. Isn’t it a shame if Ambedkar is denied a space in JNU?

As a professor I hold it my responsibility to encourage students to learn and keep away from physical labor. Muthukrishnan encourages me to reflect on this duty. But we are forced to be content with odd jobs and be content with one meal a day. Terms such as ‘education’ and ‘research’ remain out of our reach. We are expected to be content with our traditional trade or job, for generations.

Many of our students end up in the Police force or the Military. Some do make some progress by managing to get through Group IV test and becoming office clerks. That is our limit. All these are works of sacrificial lambs. Why did Muthukrishnan aspire for more? How did he consider himself entitled for such things as Research?
Hereafter this is my message to my students. This is my historical moment.

ENDS.

Men who fear the sunrise and the wind, reflected Paraashara in forgiveness, these are your twin discoveries: trade and war. In these have you barred the light and touch of God.’ Armies faced each other in battle, as in a mart of trade, with death as their tender; ants and worms, burden-carriers of the mart, heaved their tiny loads of flesh from the trenches, and hurried back and forth across the simmering line of battle.

Paraashara walked the captive Hayavadana along the mountainside, where in dugouts of snow, the soldiers kept vigil; the dead, their fingers frozen around their weapons, kept vigil over their own decomposition.

‘Look Hayavadana,’ Paraashara said,’ so many cadavers! And so much hide promises good trading.’

‘It does, indeed, General, sir.’

Imagine the fine things we can make with the hide, and the travellers who will come here to buy them.’

Hayavadana now felt at ease with his captor. He volunteered, ‘We could do many more things to please the travellers, sir. We could set up state-run bordellos. Women in cages would undoubtedly excite the travellers. It would help them experience their own brutal past again.’

‘Great will our earnings be, in precious hard currency. What then might we do with all that money?

Hayavadana smiled at the thought.

‘Sir, we can import candy and toys.’

‘What else?’

`Guns and rockets, flying machines and machines to ignite nuclear conflagrations.’

`What else?’

Hayavadana forgot his captivity as the guns aroused his lust.

‘Concubines, sir,’ said the man-woman.

‘Concubines?’

‘Yes, sir. We make Sorrows so that we can buy guns. The gun-sellers would reward us for buying from them, they will give us much gold. With that gold we can pay for more concubines.’

‘The story of the wealth of nations?’

‘So it is, sir.’

--O.V.Vijayan, The Saga of Dharmapuri.

The first thing I was up to today morning was to try and reach Lena Kumar (a friend of my Tirunelveli days) and find out whether he is alright. Lena Kumar is with the May 17 Movement (I have my own reservations about the outfit. But ain’t we a democracy? Not bothered either about two different opinions prevailing among mainstream media; one section labeling it an 'extremist outfit' while the other claim May 17 is working for the intelligence unit...)
Because the May 17 activists were arrested by the police at Marina on Sunday evening when they tried to hold a candle-light vigil to commemorate the killing of innocent Tamil population by Sri Lankan government during the civil war. I wanted to find out whether Lena Kumar is alright. The first time I tried I couldn’t reach him. I was almost sure he was arrested (This was not the first time he was going to jail) But after sometime I got `engagement tone’ on his cellphone. I tried at least twice, again; ‘engagement tone.’ He called me after sometime. I was relieved when he said he was not arrested because he stayed out to take care of procedures such as applying for bail for his friends, arrested by the police. He said he was in Chennai. I’m mentally tired and didn’t wish to see him now. He too, I thought, would be busy with his works. I told him, “if people like you get arrested we are least bothered, whether you get bail or languish in prison…All that we (media) were concerned about at the moment are trivialities such as whether or not Rajinikanth will enter politics, and what politicians have to say about it, because it is what sells and what excites us, we call this ‘positive stories.’ We’re not bothered about the people (downtrodden). Majority of us, like always, stand by authority and the influential. We dance to their tunes. How entertaining, you see!!!

May 22, 2017 (10.30 a.m.)

László Krasznahorkai and Colm Tóibín

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6LPgvxA5Fs

Vinu Chakravarthy / 'Silk' Smitha.

(28 April 2017)

Chennai.

Veteran actor Vinu Chakravarthy died on Thursday night. He was 72. He was not keeping well for the past couple of years. A native of Melappudhur village near Usilammpatti in Madurai district, 

Chakravarthy, with his rustic look and rasping voice, was at home playing assortment of roles, even as one thought he would have been more suitable for theatre.  Before his entry into films, he was in real life, a sub-inspector of police and, a station master with the southern railway for four years.

One understands that it was Vinu Chakravarthy who chanced upon Vijayalakshmi Vadiapati, who later became popular as Silk Smitha.  

He spotted her at a flour mill when producer Thiruppur Mani was looking for a new face for his film. Impressed by her eyes and looks he called her. When asked what she was doing the girl from Andhra replied she was working as a domestic help in a house nearby. Vijayalakshmi revealed her interest in acting. She told Chakravarthy that she know dancing.
Thus she was roped in for 'Vandichakkaram' (1980) for which Vinu Chakravarthy himself was the script writer. 

Subsequently, he took her under his wings. She became Silk Smitha. Chakravarthy's wife reportedly taught the young girl English language and arranged for her to learn dancing.

A section of the media called him Smitha's 'boyfriend.' (Was he?) I think the English language media was against him when he opposed  Ekta Kapoor for her depiction of Silk Smitha in The Dirty Picture in 2011.

But in a television interview when asked about his relationship with the late actress, he quipped: 

"I'm like a father to her, and she like a daughter to me.If there is another life I wish she will be my daughter." 

ENDS.

It's the ideology that should be in the dock, not the artist.

Before we write-off Gaddar.

(Patabhedam Editorial by Civic Chandran Chinnangath )

Translated from Malayalam.

I’m sure, you’ll dismiss what I have to say. Yet, let me. An artist’s association with a political movement need not be primarily inspired by politics. It can be transcendental, instead.

In my case, at least, it was true. My Maoist links were more about sublimity than stateship.

It was in the early 80’s that I interviewed singer-poet Gaddar in Chennai. Maybe, it was the first interview of Gaddar by a Malayalee. It was meant for an English magazine titled `Distant Thunder.’ Unfortunately, the magazine did not see the light of day and I misplaced that notes as well.

In these days when reports suggest Gaddar has embraced spiritualism, I recall the revolutionary poet’s words shared with me. The words which went unpublished.

No, not now, two years ago I happened to visit Shanthigiri ashram along with Doctor M.Gangadharan.

In Thiruvanthapuram we got enough time. What will we do? Shall we meet O.V.Usha ? She was in the ashram. When we called her it was festival time there. `Come Sire, it was a long time since we met.’ Thus we ended up in the ashram.

As we rambled among the festival crowd familiar faces and ‘Hi’ calls emerged here and there. Who are these acquaintances among the devotees? Some friends of `Cultural Vedi’ days are addressing me by my name. Among them were some old accused' of Guerrilla Actions. No wonder Usha teased ; Suresh Gopi visited the ashram recently. But you have more comrades than him here.

When I ran into some of them, alone, I did indeed ask them. How came you end up here ?

The reply : We feel the same comradeship here which we felt in the movement those days.
More than politics, isn’t it an incorporeal closeness what the comrades of a movement share among themselves ?

It is not clear whether Gaddar has severed all his ties with the Maoist movement. We need not fear that Gaddar will triumph us. Because he is not a mere politician. What den would tame a lion that carries wilderness within?
But it is the movement and ideology that should do a soul searching as to why creative minds are abandoning it. It’s the movements and ideology that should be in the dock, not the artist.

Obits / Yevgeniy Yevtushenko

(Poet)

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Poet Who Stirred a Generation of Soviets, Dies at 83 By RAYMOND H. ANDERSONAPRIL 1, 2017


https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/01/yevgeny-yevtushenko-russian-poet-babi-yar-dies-84


http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Russian-poet-Evgeny-Yevtushenko-who-broke-silence-over-Babi-Yar-dies-at-84-485854

In Nagapattinam...

(2 April 2017)

A call from Nagapattinam. On the line is R.Soundarajan.  

He was a reader of Indian Express who visited me at (my first assignment was in Nagapattinam) John Kennedy's --then Sun TV reporter-- office near the CPI (M) office in Nagappatinam.

He was a regular reader of my stories and used to encourage me. 

We exchange pleasantries. I inquire about his health.

 "I have arthritis. So, I'm confined to my house."

"What cannot be cured must be endured," he chuckles.

"I'm alright," he said as if to reassure me.

"I'm reading a lot," he said.

"Since I'm not able to move out friends come and meet me. Even recently friends from Bangalore visited me," he said.

"If you happen to come this side, we should..."
"Sure," I said.

As for food- morning, afternoon and night he has arranged with a hotel...

He inquired about family, our health, about my daughter...

I sent him a link of my story (a find of Rajaneesh Vilakudy) which appeared in today's editions of Mirror.

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31821&articlexml=An-old-boy-gives-back-to-Chathanur-LP-02042017008006

Soundarajan, who served with the postal department, is a bachelor. He didn't marry since he was taking care of his chronically ill sister. She passed away sometime ago.

P.S. I lost John Kennedy to Covid-19. Soundarajan? I dread what if he fails to pick up my call. God...!

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The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) treasurer and opposition leader M.K.Stalin has challenges ahead. Whether or not he gets formally elevated to the post of party president, as the buzz goes, at the crucial general council meeting slated for Wednesday, he is already at the helm. His 92-year-old father and party chief M.Karunanidhi is not keeping well and missing from action for months now.

Quite active these days in the role of opposition leader --he led a protest in Alanganallur near Madurai on Tuesday  and slammed the Centre while pressing to ensure the holding of Jallikattu coinciding with the Pongal festival this month--

his shortcoming however seems to be an unaccommodative trait which has kept the opposition divided, forget the isolation of his Madurai-based elder brother M.K.Alagiri. 

This failure has cost the party dearly in the elections to the legislative assembly held in May this year, thereby allowing the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK to come back to power for the second consecutive term.

The opposition continue to remain in splinters as a result of which it is unable to put up a stiff fight against the omissions of ruling dispensations in the state as well as the Centre and capitalise on the political situation in Tamil Nadu which is in a state of flux following the death of Jayalalithaa.

The attack on Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko by DMK supporters when he went to visit Karunanidhi when the nonagenarian was undergoing treatment at the Kauvery Hospital last month --Vaiko was forced to go back without seeing the DMK patriarch--was promptly decried by Stalin and other DMK leaders. The DMK managed to get away, instead of coming under fire, thanks to Vaiko who has lately turned acerbic against DMK leadership. 

Vaiko, who claimed that the attack was orchestrated by Stalin, added that Stalin treated him as his enemy because he felt "insecure." 

It might be recalled that Vaiko, whose support base has eroded down the years and credibility has got a beating, floated MDMK in 1994 after he was forced to quit DMK because he was seen as a threat to the growth of Stalin.

Any intolerant or authoritarian traits in Stalin will further take the party downhill.  At a time when the AIADMK senior leaders are urging V.K.Sasikala to take over as chief minister, the situation demands a strong opposition in the state--though this is currently a nation-wide phenomenon-- so the government's decisions do not go unchallenged.

January 3, 2017.