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