Sputnik Sweethearts

Where I have been.

2010-12-05T16:19:00.002+08:00

This last week, a dear friend of mine, Sid wedded the beautiful Aastha. Of course in between the whole, OMG Sid is married. OMG we are so old, I managed to photograph most of the wedding. This is part one of the entire album, wherein I photographed Aastha as she got ready to be a colorful and absolutely lovely bride.

"God of All things"

2010-11-22T16:41:00.000+08:00

TOI tells me, that apparently, the Hindus are not so happy about this cover.

"Jab they Met"

2010-11-22T01:09:00.001+08:00

From the Hindustan Times,

"Body language experts, after looking at photos from the meeting, feel there are unresolved issues between them. “Deepika seems anxious. There is evidence of some pain, which may come from unaddressed issues. Eye contact is being purposely avoided, Ranbir looks more comfortable than her,” says psychiatrist Deepak Raheja.

“Their body language is awkward. Their confused state of mind is evident in the way their hands and eyes are going in different directions,” says psychiatrist Sanjeev Kalra."

Maybe Deepak Raheja and Sanjeev Kalra, these amazing psychiatrists who have given us invaluable insight into Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor(?)'s first post-breakup public encounter would want to read this.

A Beginning?

2010-11-14T23:07:00.001+08:00

My favorite photo of the weekend: Burmese Refugees in New Delhi celebrating the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. (From the BBC)

"Oh, in the end, she dies."

2010-11-10T01:14:00.011+08:00

"It is worth remembering, that it is much more disheartening to have to steal than to be stolen from."

"Livingstone 'Livy' Montagne: You're a magician, Boris. To have produced all this in three weeks, and from nothing.

Boris Lermontov: My dear Livy, not even the best magician in the world can produce a rabbit out of a hat if there is not already a rabbit in the hat."

A Powell and Pressburger classic, The Red Shoes was made in 1948 and released in a post-war Britain, that as Anthony Lane puts it, was still rationing "color, food, and feeling." Powell and Pressburger, who had previously made several war movies, including Contraband and 49th parallel- both functioning as anti-German propaganda disguised as thrillers, made during the war, collectively formed a team they called "The Archers." Departing from their war themes, they decided to bring to Britain, something refreshing, colorful, musical, and an absolute visual treat. Unfortunately, "The Red Shoes", the story of a ballet production, a ballet dancer, her "impossible" choice, and ultimately her dance to death, did not quite fare well with the public then.

As part of their "Archers agreement", Powell and Pressburger had jotted down that "When we start work on a new idea we must be a year ahead, not only of our competitors, but also of the times", and rightly so, while The Red Shoes was not well-received at the time, it went on to become one of the most important and renowned films of not only their partnership, but also of post-war British Cinema

I watched it at the National Museum (which has off late become a frequent destination) and I liked it not only for the aesthetic beauty that it is (all the dances were actually performed and staged btw), but also because within that harmless beauty lay a narrative of a possessive, dangerous, and almost demonic ecstasy. Oddly enough, every scene reeks of Powell and Pressburger, yet the film somehow, remains entirely removed from their style and substance.

"Flat Chahiye?"

2010-11-09T13:01:00.002+08:00

Few weeks ago, Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan was supporting the good ol' Thuggerays when they called to ban Rohintan Mistry's book, which was "offensive" to the good ol' Shiv Sena.

Soon after, it was revealed that Chavan had given apartments ("flats") from the Adarsh Society to his relatives. Adarsh Society apartments were built for living war veterans and war widows. But three of his relatives (who fall into neither category) had apartments in the housing society. Moreover, another flat was in the name of his mother-in-law, who, by the way, is deceased and by virtue of being deceased is surely not a living war veteran or war widow. Chavan, of course, promptly, almost by protocol, reacted to the scandal by submitting his resignation. Soniya kept it aside, as Obama was to visit (and Chavan was to greet him, wearing dark glasses!). And now finally, Soniya has accepted the resignation. But what does that even mean? Chavan can now retire as CM but go back to his 3 Adarsh Society flats (in the lovely Cuffe Parade) and other wealth he accumulated during his tenure as CM, or will actual court proceedings be carried out against his corrupt self?

Oh well, I am tired today, so I will not attempt to answer that question and leave you with something funny I found somewhere.

"Obama's Trip to India: Are Coconuts a Threat?"

2010-11-08T16:35:00.002+08:00

While political unrest and curfew continues in Kashmir, Irom Sharmila continues to fast, trains stop because of Maoist threats, and a cyclone approaches South India, NDTV reports here, (on the front page of its website), that "the Red Carpet that was laid to send off the "Obamas", kept flying away and finally had to be removed". Because showing every minute of his movement live on television is just not enough.

Neither was the reporting of the "neutralization of the threat to Obama from coconuts". Yes I kid you not, coconuts. And herein, NDTV and the India Media were not the only guilty ones- "foreign" newspapers and news sources also seem to be concerned about the "coconut threat".

"No fallen coconuts mar president’s visit"

"Coconut threat was neutralized"

"Coconut threat averted before Obama’s arrival in India"

"Obama's Trip to India: Are Coconuts a Threat?"

"India Intervenes to Protect Obama from Killer Coconuts"

"Keeping Coconuts Off Obama"

"In India, a coconut-free zone"

"President Obama (left) and coconuts are shown. | Reuters Photos AP Photo"

Google News tells me there are 1000+ articles on "coconuts and Obama". Wonderful.

"A decade of starvation for Irom Sharmila"

2010-11-04T16:08:00.008+08:00

From the Independent,

"Her skin is ghostly pale from years of incarceration, her body is diminished and thin. But Irom Sharmila's eyes still sparkle. This week, in the drab surroundings of a hospital's secure wing in the north-east of India, the world's longest hunger striker completed 10 years of refusing food or water. The 38-year-old woman marked the occasion by reaffirming her vow not to end her fast until the demand for which she is struggling has been met.

"Ten years has been completed. She is spending the time reading and writing poetry," the woman's brother, Singhajit, said yesterday from Manipur. "Several days ago we went to see her. She was fine, still strong. She told us that unless she gets her demands she will continue fasting."

The dedication of the woman known simply as Sharmila, has highlighted the rarely-told turmoil of the state of Manipur, where a decades-long insurgency, combined with a draconian response from the state has created a place where violence is common-place. Over the years, more than 40 insurgent groups, many of them little more than criminal gangs, have demanded autonomy from India. The authorities have responded by dispatching thousands of troops, creating a state that is almost as heavily militarized as Kashmir.

Sharmila, who is force-fed a mixture of liquified carbohydrates and proteins by a nasal tube three times a day, is demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a piece of legislation that gives police effective immunity from prosecution.

Human rights campaigners say the act has created an environment of impunity, where troops often shoot suspects on sight. There have been numerous reports of so-called "fake encounters" where security has executed suspects and claimed they were killed in a shoot-out. Last year a photographer captured paramilitaries arresting and killing a former militant in daylight in a busy market. Many people are too scared to go out after dark. Unemployment is huge and mental health problems are rife.

When Sharmila began her fast on 3 November 2000, police arrested her and charged her with attempted suicide. Such a charge allows detention in jail for just 364 days. As a result, Sharmila has never been brought to trial and is annually released and rearrested. During all this time she has not seen her elderly mother, the two agreeing that meetings might undermine her determination.

Her mother, Shakhi Devi, who lives little more than a mile from where Sharmila is held, says: "I will meet her after getting our demand." For a reason the authorities have never explained, Sharmila is not even permitted to exercise or walk outside in the daylight, a right routinely granted to those convicted of the most serious crimes.

Earlier this year, when she entered her 10th year of fasting, Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, Amnesty's India researcher, called for the young woman to be freed. "The Government of Manipur must release Irom Sharmila and withdraw the criminal prosecution initiated against her. In addition, the Indian authorities must repeal the AFSPA," he added.

Sharmila, who cleans her teeth with dry cotton out of a determination that water not pass her lips, and whose body has stopped menstruating, began her fast the day after 10 people waiting at a bus stop on the outskirts of Imphal were shot dead by paramilitaries belonging to the Assam Rifles.

The previous day, insurgents had attacked the paramilitaries' base, though there was no evidence that any of the 10 people killed at the bus stop were linked to the attack. Today, the location in the village of Malom is marked by a simple memorial where the names of the victims are inscribed in a white block.

The night she learned of the massacre, Sharmila had scribbled on a piece of paper: "What is the origin of peace and what will be the end." The next day, she ate a meal her mother had prepared and told her of the killings at the bus stop. Sharmila has not eaten since.

"We Are Not Pro-Anyone, We're Only Pro-Burma"

2010-11-02T23:51:00.001+08:00

Published at Counter Currents

"We Are Not Pro-Anyone, We are Only Pro-Burma": An Interview with Burmese Activist and Former Political Prisoner- Ko Bo Kyi

By Akanksha Mehta and Ava Patricia Avila

Burma has been under a military-dominated regime since 1962, when General Ne Win led a coup, toppling the civilian government under the tight control of the military-led State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Burmese military regime has since then suppressed political activism, engaged in several human rights violations, and disallowed free and fair elections. On November 7, 2010 , Burma will hold multi-party elections for the first time in twenty years. The elections form a part of the seven step “path to democracy” proposed by the SPDC.

The military regime's leader General Than Shwe has pledged to release Burmese political prisoners in amnesty before the upcoming elections. However, there is increasing international skepticism about the military regime's commitment to `legitimate` political process and the mitigation of human rights abuses. At the 17 th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit held in Vietnam from October 28-30, 2010, Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan stated that representatives from the military junta did not give any indication whether Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's detained pro-democracy leader, would be released on 13 November, the date on which her house arrest is due to expire.

With a few days to the election we met Ko Bo Kyi, a former Burmese political prisoner, and pro-democracy activist, at a Human Rights Conference in Bangkok , Thailand . Bo Kyi was imprisoned and tortured for seven years and three months in Burma . While his father and sisters still remain in Burma , Bo Kyi now lives in Mae Sot, a Thai town at the Thai-Burmese border, where he is the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). In 2008, Human Rights Watch honored him with the Alison Des Forges Defender Award for “his extraordinary activism and heroic efforts” to disclose the oppressions of the ruling junta and advocate for pro-democracy activists. In this interview, he elaborates on his own ordeal, torture and political imprisonment in Burma , as well Burmese politics and the upcoming elections.

You were first arrested in 1988. What was the situation in Burma at the time and what acts of “dissidence” led to your imprisonment?

In 1988, I was a final year student at university in Rangoon and I wanted to be a scholar. But in Burma , there is no student union, and no human rights. Many of my classmates were killed within the compounds of the university- in front of me. Watching all this, how could I stay silent? Therefore, I joined student demonstrations and demanded for the release of all student detainees. I was arrested because of my participation in these demos and protests.

What happened after you were arrested? While in prison, were you aware of the political developments in your country?

Immediately after my arrest, I was taken to an interrogation centre and for the next 36 hours I was denied food and water and was kicked and beaten repeatedly. I was not allowed to sleep for four days and was questioned by the officials. If my answers dissatisfied them, they would torture me more. In 1990, the government held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years. I was informed that after the elections, power would be transferred to the winning party. I knew if that happened, I would be released soon. When the results were revealed and NLD won, we [the political prisoners] were very happy, but we soon realized that the results were being annulled. I was then transferred to a very remote prison.

What were the conditions in the remote prison and how were you treated?

I was kept in a tiny cell and I was only allowed to go out of the cell for 20 minutes everyday. They did not even let me study or read/write. They killed my intellect and my brain. I somehow sneaked in a dictionary and started teaching myself English. But they found a piece of paper I had written on and they began to torture me and beat me regularly. The prison guards told me if I wanted to stay, I should stay away from politics. That is how it is in Burma.

How long were you in prison the first time you were arrested? Why were you re-arrested?

I was released after three years in prison, and I had several discussions with the regime's leaders. They wanted me to become an informant and I agreed for the sake of others. But I continued to demand the release of all political prisoners and they arrested me again, saying that three years was not enough for me. I was sentenced for five years in prison. These five years, I learned a lot from other political prisoners and their experiences and studied a lot. I was in the same room as other activists and we became a `democracy`, exchanging our opinions and figuring out our differences.

What happened after your release from prison in 1998? How and why did you continue your fight for democracy?

Some of my colleagues did not survive the torture and starvation and died while I was in prison. How could I live in ignorance and discontinue my fight? Without the release of political prisoners, we cannot have a democracy in Burma . The resolution of Burma 's ethnic issues relies on a political dialogue between different leaders and activists, and this can only happen if political prisoners are released. After a year in Burma , I escaped to Thailand and in the year 2000, along with other former political prisoners, I started the Association for Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP).

What is the situation in Burma today with regards to political imprisonment? How many political prisoners still remain in Burma ?

As of today, there are 2193 political prisoners in Burma . In 2005-06 there were about 1100 prisoners, but after the monk-led protests in 2007, the numbers have doubled. These include activists, journalists, bloggers, monks, students, elderly, and even children as young as 14. The regime arrests anyone for “real or perceived opposition” to the regime. You can be arrested as a political prisoner for merely owning a copy of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Many political prisoners are sentenced to over 65 years in prison, without any legal representation or fair trial.

You've talked about your ordeal and the torture you faced while in prison. Is it common for political prisoners to face torture while in detention? Is torture state policy in Burma ?

The UN defines torture as severe pain or suffering that is purposely inflicted with the consent of a public official for coercion, confessions or any discrimination. Torture in Burma occurs systematically as a means of punishment, confession, and instilling fear in those who oppose the regime. All political prisoners face torture at some point or the other during their detention. There are 43 prisons, 109 labor camps, and several interrogation centers where torture is carried out. The military regime states that Burma has no political prisoners, only “criminals”. However, political imprisonment and torture is state policy in Burma.

How does the AAPP assist political prisoners in Burma ?

Torture is designed to breakdown the identity of a strong man/woman turning a politician, a union leader, a leader of an ethnic community into a non-entity with no connection to the world outside of the torture chamber. The AAPP documents cases of torture and human rights violations in Burmese prisoners, keeping the identity of these prisoners alive. We work to secure the support of governments and international organizations to put pressure on the Burmese military regime to release political prisoners. We also provide political prisoners with basic necessities such as food and medicine and aid in the reconstruction of the lives of political prisoners.

The regime has stated that they will release political prisoners before the upcoming elections. Do you think the military regime will do so?

Some political prisoners will be released before the elections as a token gesture. They will be the one with 3-5 year sentences. Some will be released. Not key prisoners. Not all prisoners.

So given that, do you think the upcoming Burmese elections will be fair and legitimate?

I have my doubts about the legitimacy of the elections. Some Burmese (a minority) support the regime and they will vote. Many Burmese people will not vote for the regime, but the regime instills fear in the public and often forces them to vote. The elections will be rigged and the struggle for democracy will be far from over.

Then what is the role of the international community and in particular the region (ASEAN, India , and China ) in assisting the release of Burmese political prisoners and the Burmese struggle for democracy?

The international community needs to acknowledge repeatedly that 10,000 political activists have been arrested, detained, and tortured since 1988. An independent international investigation into torture and death of political activists behind bars is required. ASEAN leaders need to commit to human rights causes in their own nations and strengthen their civil society groups in order to assist the Burmese struggle. India supported our struggle for democracy before 1997, but since then has been on good terms with the military regime. India has geopolitical and geostrategic interests in Burma and has always proclaimed that India 's heart is in Burmese democracy, but India 's mind is in the regime. For China as well, Burma is geopolitically important. The Chinese are supportive of the regime as they fear that the rise of Burmese democracy will align Burma 's foreign policy as pro-West or pro-American.

But, they are so wrong. We want everyone to know. We are not pro-West, pro-China, pro-Inda or pro-anyone. We are only pro-Burma.

"Temple for 'Goddess English' focuses on Dalits"

2010-10-27T23:39:00.002+08:00

NDTV reports here,

A temple dedicated to 'Goddess English' is coming up in a nondescript village in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district with an aim of encouraging the local Dalits to learn the language.

The temple, a single storey structure covered with black granite, would have an over-three-feet-tall idol of 'Dalit Goddess English' installed on a pedestal in the shape of a computer holding a pen, a copy of the Indian Constitution and donning a gown and a hat. The idol has been inspired by the Statue of Liberty and the computer screen would have a dharma chakra (a Buddhist symbol).

"When it was being debated as to what should be the national language of India after independence, Dr Ambedkar was the only national leader who vociferously batted for English while all the others were against it. And today we see the imbalances caused in the society because of English as those who do not know it are left behind," he said.

Prasad said that the temple is being built to popularise English among Dalits, who form a sizeable number in not just the village but also in the area, so that they can move ahead in their lives. "This temple would help encourage them to learn the language which has become essential for one's growth as in 20 years' time, no decent job would be available without its knowledge," Prasad said.

"In future, the temple would become the focus of Dalits with most of their rituals like the ones relating to births and weddings revolving around it," he said.

It gets better,

"To give a touch of modernity, the engravings of symbols and formulae of physics, chemistry, mathematics and English sayings would adorn the walls. Efforts are also being made to build the staircase of the temple in the form of a computer keyboard," he said.

Well, the former Chief Minister of the state, Mulayam Singh Yadav, used to talk of banning English (and computers) in schools and the current Chief Minister of course likes to build statues of herself (not those of Goddess English) and garland herself with money. And while this temple might just "popularise" English, I hope the state (and the temple trust) realize that the temple and the statue and the computer-keyboard-staircase will not actually "teach" those who are inspired to learn. For that one requires- schools, teachers, books, infrastructure, supplies etc.

Things that have Amused me recently.

2010-10-23T15:34:00.011+08:00

[Above: My CEO father inaugurating a dealership in Nashik by releasing a dove whilst wearing a shiny turban. (others may not find this amusing, but there is just something hilarious about your father so dramatically releasing a dove)]

[Below: A palm tree in Mumbai grows to resemble Ganesha and residents of the area adorn it with flowers,color, and fruit- worshiping and praying to it- From the Mumbai Mirror)]

"No one can contain or stifle the Shiv Sena's roar."

2010-10-22T22:57:00.005+08:00

NDTV reports here,

The Mumbai Police has filed a case against members of the Shiv Sena who organized a rally at Shivaji Park on Dusshera. The Bombay High Court had ruled that the party would be permitted to go ahead with its annual rally at Shivaji Park, provided the speakers did not exceed the 50-decibel limit. The Sena agreed to that in court.

But at the rally, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had mocked the Bombay High Court saying "Is my volume within 50 decibels. No one can contain or stifle the Shiv Sena's roar."

In an editorial in its mouthpiece, Saamana, the party today said, "Loudspeakers blaring out 'azaan' atop mosques in Bhendi Bazar and Behrampada areas disturb sleep and children's studies. Action should be taken against them also."

It really is as simple as that- "No one can contain or stifle the Shiv Sena's roar"- because the Shiv Sena is nothing but a thuggish bunch of goondas who go around taking every law in their hand and justifying it all with some bizarre nationalistic/religious/moral reasoning, and all the while, our ministers watch, ignore, and condone. After all, it's all about the voter bank that might be lost- freedom of speech, public law and order, freedom to reside anywhere within the country etc. can all make their way to hell while the Shiv Sena and it's hooligans stand there "mocking" the judicial institutions of the nation.

Well done, Mumbai police. While the Chief Minister Ashok Chavan decides that Rohantan Mistry's "offensive" book should indeed be banned, at least someone is standing up to the Thuggerays.

2010-10-21T18:03:00.006+08:00

NDTV has an interview with Amitabh Bachchan here.

The interview is introduced/summarized as "Amitabh Bachchan talks about Paa, his father, and how KBC is changing lives." However, the headline of the story (or title) is "I would like to believe Narendra Modi is secular: Amitabh Bachchan."

Firstly, Mr. Bachchan, please look up the definition of secular. Also while you are at it, please read the Sangh Parivar and RSS preamble, the various RSS prayers, books by RSS (Modi is an RSS pracharak), and while you are at it, I suggest you also read the core texts of the Hindu Right Wing by Savarkar and the kinds. You can get all these at the VHP bookstore in R.K. Puram, and Suruchi Prakashan Store in Karol Bagh. You can also find them online. While I am not suggesting that all RSS members are violent and riot-engaging, the ideology is not secular, it is Hindu Nationalist.

Anyway, this was not supposed to be about Bachchan's terminology or his beliefs and business, whatever they might be.

So let me get to the point. Dear NDTV, I find it quite amusing that in the introduction to this interview you mention how it is about "Paa", "his father", and "KBC", but you decide that none of these subjects are interesting enough to be put into the headline? Instead you take the one statement about Modi and decide that will be your headline. So then either, the person who wrote this is a terrible journalist who decides that the headline has nothing to do with the article's introduction/summary (or forgets to change the introduction), or you are as always trying to make everything into a sell-able masala and tamasha. I suppose since the two are far from being mutually exclusive, it is both.

Finally read this work of Brilliance.

2010-10-20T11:51:00.001+08:00

This is kind of book you read on quiet evenings, with a glass of whiskey or wine, party amused, partly bemused, thoroughly smitten.

"Writing, when properly managed is but a different name for conversation. As no one would venture to talk all, no author, who understands the just boundaries of decorum and good breeding, would presume to think all. The truest respect which you can pay to the reader's understanding, is to leave him something to imagine, in his turn, as well as yourself."

Sure.

2010-10-20T11:23:00.001+08:00

From the Hindu: Apparently, “The minorities enjoy the best opportunities in Gujarat and per capita income is high. People belonging to all sections of the society are happy a lot, though it is a different issue that the Chief Minister gets bad press all the time because of politics and people in Congress.”

How can Ravan refuse to get killed at the hands of Ram who represents all that is good and right in society?

2010-10-18T18:45:00.001+08:00

Hilarious story on NDTV, here:

For the first time in the history of the more than 100-year-old Ram Lila on the grounds opposite Agra Fort, Ravan simply refused to die!

All hell broke loose Sunday night when the Ram Lila - a dramatic enactment of the epic Ramayana - had reached its tail end. As thousands of highly amused spectators watched, Raju, the actor playing Ravan, decided he was loving the limelight and could not leave the stage so soon. As Ravan refused to be killed, the organising committee decided to let Ram move ahead in his chariot to torch a huge effigy of the mythical 10-headed king of Lanka. But even as the burning Ravan effigy tottered and splattered all around, high drama continued in the middle of the ground. Raju kept wielding his sword dangerously, even scaring away Ram and the other characters!

The ground was divided into Ayodhya and Lanka - the two places where much of the Ramayan unfolds. Trouble started when Shyam Babu, one of the office-bearers of the Ram Lila committee, urged Raju to hurry up with Ravan's death scene.

"The character playing Ravan, with a bunch of supporters in tow, really got into the mood and kept putting up a fight with his sword. He was in no hurry to speed up his death as he enjoyed the cheer all around," said Vishal, a photographer who watched the proceedings from close.

A member of the organising committee confided that Raju, who was playing the character of Ravan, did not like the constant pressure on him from Shyam Babu to get killed soon. Shyam Babu is the owner of the Kunjamal Tent House which has been traditionally making all the arrangements for Agra's main Ram Lila for past 100 years.

Even after lots of cajoling, Ravan refused to die. He moved from the middle of the ground to Lanka and then disappeared from the scene!

Informed sources later said "Ravan returned to Lanka" instead of dying as is the tradition.

"The question now being debated is whether Ravan did or did not die, though his effigy was burnt," wondered Padmini, a housewife.

It gets better,

Raju even pulled out his sword. Shyam Babu and two others are believed to have got hurt. This was a signal for more trouble and the actors representing the two armies of Ram and Ravan got involved in a fight for a few minutes - much to the amusement of spectators.

Shyam Babu told police that Ravan and his team members were insisting that there should be at least 21 bombs in the effigy. This argument escalated and created an ugly situation, and police arrived on the scene. Raju even tried to bully a sub-inspector and other cops who eventually managed to clear the stage with much efforts.

The committee members debated the issue and Sri Bhagwan Agarwal, the secretary, tried to pacify all the warring groups till midnight. "Most probably the fireworks will continue for a few days because it is a serious matter," commented Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.

And my favorite bits:

"The free-for-all was indeed symptomatic of society at large with so many Ravans in myriad forms growing bolder by the day and refusing to meet their nemesis at the hand of the righteous," said Sudhir Gupta, who watched the Ram Lila.

"How can Ravan refuse to get killed at the hands of Ram who represents all that is good and right in society? Or is it that a new script is being written inspired by what's going on in today's India?"

This made my day!

2010-10-12T23:47:00.002+08:00

और सब भूल गए हर्फे-सदाक़त लिखना
रह गया काम हमारा ही बगावत लिखना

न सिले की न सताइश की तमन्ना हमको

हक में लोगों के हमारी तो है आदत लिखना.

हम ने तो भूलके भी शह का कसीदा न लिखा

शायद आया इसी खूबी की बदौलत लिखना.

दह्र के ग़म से हुआ रब्त तो हम भूल गए

सर्व-क़ामत की जवानी को क़यामत लिखना.

कुछ भी कहते हैं कहें शह के मुसाहिब 'जालिब'

रंग रखना यही अपना, इसी सूरत लिखना.

-हबीब जालिब

More Satyajit Ray

2010-10-12T23:22:00.001+08:00

Watched Parash Pathar (1958), Charulata (1964), and Nayak (1966) last week at the Satyajait Ray Retrospective. Beautiful films. Each one. And I will write more about them later.

Off to Bangkok in a few hours.

"Soviet Jet Leaves Heathrow without Passengers"

2010-10-06T11:55:00.001+08:00

So this year, for Roy's birthday, other than my usual `book` present, I decided to make him something interesting.

I found from October 1983 (which was when he was born)- front pages of newspapers, news articles, magazine covers (Time, Vogue, Rolling Stones, Playboy, Penthouse!), movie posters (English, Hindi, and even Telegu), cover pages of Marvel comics, comic strips (Garfield etc.), even stamps released by the Indian government- and put them all together.

It was great fun to put together (I mean what is there not to like about news linked to the Cold War, old Canon Camera models, and dramatic Shatrugan Sinha movie posters), and I am glad that he quite liked it :)

“And what if I hadn’t run?”

2010-10-04T23:21:00.098+08:00

“It’s impossible not to be afraid of dying. But I’m too stubborn, too much of an animal to believe it. If I don’t believe it to the very last moment, the last split second, I’ll never die.”

Finally watched Jean Pierre Melville's "Army of Shadows" about the French Resistance against the German Nazi occupation. A beautifully cold, unsentimental, bleak portrait of `heroism` I will never forget.The scene were Gerbier and his men are unable to shoot one of their own (an informant) because of the family next door, and Gerbier proceeds to coax and finally order his men to strangle the informant, with the informant having to listen to the entire conservation- is still on my mind. But more than that, what remains on my mind is the scene after the strangling is done. Gerbier 's man Felix, who strangles the informant, stands in a crowded train,and slowly and remorsefully, with his face still cold and unmoved, removes his hat.

Unfortunately, Melville released the movie in 1969. After liberation from the German occupation, France was swept with executions, imprisonments of "suspected" German collaborators. This official period of "repression" (which strengthened after Gaulle's return to power in 1954) was built on the "collective memory" of the Resistance. By "valorizing" efforts of those who fought for "liberation" by being a part of the Resistance, the Gaulle administration discursively justified its atrocities. By the 1960s the younger, liberal, leftist generation of France had begun to question the "construction" of this "collective memory", calling it a myth, and stating that Gaullist politics were based on "appropriated history". In May 1968, de Gaulle put down a student uprising, and with anti-Gaulle sentiments and French Left wing sentiments running high, Melville's movie, which according to critics "romanticized" the resistance was not received well in France.

Several critics have applauded Melville and have highlighted that the movie did not "romanticize" the Resistance at all. And I agree, the unsentimentality with which subaltern narratives of heroism are presented in the film, left no room for "romanticization".

Satyajit Ray Retrospective

2010-10-04T00:50:00.032+08:00

The National Museum is having a 3 week-long Satyajit Ray Retrospective. Several films by Ray are being screened and a few talks about his films and about Tagore's writing are also being held. Among others, Ray academic and professor of history, Dilip Basu and Indian actress Sharmila Tagore are present at some of the screenings, introducing the films with stories about their making. On Saturday, I watched the Apu Trilogy- Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), Apur Sansar (1959). The three screenings took up all day and it really was quite a day.

There has enough been said about the three movies. And I doubt I can say anything that has already not been said.

Did you know that the Government of West Bengal paid for the production of Pather Panchali? The government employee did not know how to account for the expense and hence decided, that since the movie was called the "Song of the Little Road" he will put down the expense under Road Construction and Repair-works. So, in the expense sheet, it is PWD, the Public Works Division that paid for this wonderfully sad movie.

Many have mentioned that the movies (especially Pather Panchali) are painfully slow, painfully mundane- but that is exactly what makes it so beautiful. After all, the movies are portraying life that is indeed slow and mundane. Ray's neorealistic portrayal of Apu and his family through the years is stark and raw, and hence every emotion, every detail lies naked. Be it the wrinkles on the back of the aged Aunty in Pather Panchali's, or the absolutely brutal suffering and anger of Apu and later his son in Apur Sansar. To add to this, the limited spaces and the timelessness of every frame (remember the old Aunty trying to thread the needle?) and every moment enhance the neorealistic portrayal. Entire villages and entire cities are reduced to single streets, single rooms/houses/yards, the same balcony, the same path, and the train that connects it all.

Perhaps, the most significant moment for me was when at the end of Pather Panchali, Apu throws the necklace into the pond by the house. The leaves diverge and move away, giving way, stirring slowly. And then a few seconds later, they converge again, as if nothing had changed, and life and time continue to move.

"A person who longs to leave the place where he lives is an unhappy person."

2010-10-03T19:27:00.004+08:00

"The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body.The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?"

"For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes."

"Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves."

"And therein lies the whole of man's plight. Human time does not turn in a circle; it runs ahead in a straight line. That is why man cannot be happy: happiness is the longing for repetition."

"Ab #Ayodhya Hamaari hai, kal Mathura ki baari hai."

2010-10-03T13:21:00.002+08:00

I got a few `wonderful` responses on Twitter after the Ayodhya Verdict, and someone left a `wonderful` poem in the comments section. Thought I'd share and save them here for eternity.

Twitter Messages directed to me, after I questioned the verdict in a tweet:

"if ur given a choice between hindu extrimists & islamic extrimists, whom will u choose ? RSS or Taliban ? #Ayodhya"

"Would you have rather given in to Islamic Imperialistic Demands?"

"Hindu people are not extrimists like your talibani brothers!"

"Say Hi to your Muslim Talibani brothers."

"What have you been drinking?"

"India is a Hindu Rashtra, if we don't have a temple we become Islamic Taliban."

"Ab #Ayodhya Hamaari hai, kal Mathura ki baari hai."

Now the poem-

"Suna nahi shayad tumne,

faisala nayaylay ka,

ram lalla hain viraazmaan,

devi bhoomi hai jaanmsthan

yeh mandir majid ka masla nahi,

yeh sadiyon ki parchhai hai,

itihaas ke panoo ko dekho,

palto, tatolo, jo kuch bhi kaho,

shohit raha yugon ke hindutav hai,

maat hindu ne humesha yun hi khai hai,

sone ki chidiya ko jab muglon ne barbad kiya,

humarhi jholi ko jab ghori ghazni ne loot liya

navyuvko bhulo mat yeh

kisse katha kahani nahi

aateet hai bharat maa ka

ab tak tha jo bas soya ya roya

kal sitaroon ne bhi dekha,

hinduon ka vishwas naya,

jab Allahabad ke lucknow bench ne,

kar diya isthapit itihaas naya

Ram lalla aur seeta maiya kar

rahe hain bahut dino se vishraam

Suru karo ab mandir ka kaam

Suru karo ab mandir ka kaam"

Aaj Ayodhya, Kal ?

Mosque windows open into Hindu temple

2010-10-03T13:08:00.001+08:00

From NDTV,

In Pune's Ghorpadi Gaon, the windows of the Ahle-Sunnat Jamaat Masjid opens into the yard of the Kashi Vishweshwar Mandir, a wall separates them only somewhat. This unique congregation is 18-years-old.

The Masjid has been here for 200 years.

In 1992, the year that saw massive communal riots following the demolition of Babri Masjid, Hindus and the Muslims came together to build the Temple whose foundation had been laid adjacent to the Mosque.

"We started the Temple work when the country was fighting over Mandir-Masjid. Many Muslims worked for the construction. We even used the water from the Masjid," said Alfred Anthony, President, Kashi Vishweshwar Mandir Trust.

When it's time for azaan, the arati stops, and vice-versa.

Eid, Diwali, Shiv Ratri and Moharram are common celebrations.

"Mazhab nahi sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna. Hindi hai hum, watan hai Hindustan hamara," sang Nasir Khan, Maulana, Ahle-Sunnat Jamaat Masjid.

The area derives its calm from this religious harmony and peace prevails even in times of communal disquiet.

"It's a perfect example of national integration," said Devidas Patil, Inspector, Ghorpadi Police Station.

The broad message of the court verdict on Ayodhya is: On God, there should be no dispute. And if a Temple and a Masjid can co-exist peacefully in Pune, then why not in other parts of the country?

Stories like these give me hope, that not all religion has been "politicized." Common sense and religious harmony, at its most basic, still remain. Although I do have reservations about Ayodhya Verdict (for another day), now that the judgement is out and is asking for a do-able compromise from both sides, maybe we really will have a Temple and Masjid co-existing in Ayodhya? (Optimistic much?)

Either way, this made me happy. I will visit this place when I am in Pune next.

il Postino (The Postman)

2010-10-02T23:46:00.000+08:00

"Even the most sublime ideas sound ridiculous if heard too often."

"When you explain poetry, it becomes banal. Better than any explanation is the experience of feelings that poetry can reveal to a nature open enough to understand it."

The Commonwealth Games 2010: Dent to India’s Image

2010-10-01T14:21:00.001+08:00

RSIS presents here the following commentary The Commonwealth Games 2010: Dent to India’s Image, by Akanksha Mehta and Arabinda Acharya. This commentary is also available online at http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/Perspective/RSIS1262010.pdf

No. 126/2010 dated 1 October 2010

The Commonwealth Games 2010:

Dent to India’s Image

By Akanksha Mehta and Arabinda Acharya

Synopsis

Despite a long lead-time, India’s preparations for the Commonwealth Games 2010 have met with pitfalls. This has undermined India’s opportunities to host global events and affected its international image..

Commentary

TO THE pleasant surprise of many in India in 2003, New Delhi defeated the Canadian city of Hamilton by 46 votes to 22 to host of 19^th Commonwealth Games. Starting this weekend from Oct 3 until 14 October, the Games bring together over 30 sporting events, approximately 5,000 athletes from the 54-member Commonwealth of Britain and the 14 British overseas territories. An organising committee was named and the official budget of the Games was estimated to be US$2.5 billion.

Controversies Galore

Six years later, in September 2009, Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennel announced that the Games were at a serious risk of falling behind schedule; construction work on 13 out of 19 venues was far from complete. He also stressed that

India

needed to ensure high levels of security for the event. On September 19, 2010, a fortnight before the Games, unknown gunmen opened fire on a tourist bus outside the Jama Masjid in Delhi resulting in injuries to two foreign nationals. The incident put a question mark on the security ahead of the Games, raising concerns about safety of the athletes. Fresh in the minds of many was the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket Team in Lahore, Pakistan.

Additionally, delegations from several countries such as New Zealand, Canada, and Scotland, deemed the conditions in the Games Village as “filthy and unlivable”. Safety of the Games’ infrastructure was also questioned with the collapse of a footbridge near the main venue and the ceiling at the weightlifting venue. As New Delhi grapples with heavy monsoon and a dengue outbreak, such incidents have exposed the poor state of preparedness for the Games, leading to some countries calling for a boycott. A few athletes have already announced their withdrawal from the event.

What India has Done

India’s preparations for the Games were twofold: Firstly, facilities for the sporting events and athletes were created, including upgrading existing stadiums and constructing new ones as well as a Games Village. Renovation and construction works were carried out within a “green” framework as

India

had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Environment Programme asserting its intent to host "sustainable games". For instance, effective water management systems (including rainwater harvesting systems) as well as solar energy-based lighting systems have been installed at new facilities such as the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.

Secondly, to prepare New Delhi for such a large-scale event, steps were taken to improve transportation and other infrastructure of the city. The construction of the Delhi Metro, the upgrading of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and the construction of several roads and flyovers are some examples.

Importantly, intelligence and security measures have been implemented to safeguard the event. CCTV cameras have been installed at all venues and over 100,000 security personnel, including those from Delhi police and the elite NSG Commandos have been deployed for the security of the Games. Army personnel have been placed on standby, and Air Force and helicopters as well as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) teams of the Army are also being deployed.

What India Should Have Done

In preparation for the Beijing Olympics 2008,

China

finished the construction of all 31 venues well ahead of schedule. Not only did this allow for effective lock-downs and security drills, it also led to international media coverage of the venues well ahead of the event, thereby increasing the influx of tourists into the city. To prepare for enhanced security,

China

organised the Conference on International Security Cooperation for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in September 2007. The International Olympics Committee (IOC), the International Criminal Police Organisation (ICPO), and contingents from all participating countries discussed and formulated security strategies for the event. Different agencies and institutes also invited scores of consultants to understand the complex dynamics involving security, infrastructure, and mega-event management.

Not only did this lead to a more comprehensive security and event management strategy, it more importantly also allowed all stakeholders and participants to be a part of the planning process -- easing their concerns about security and infrastructure safety. Additionally, in efforts to “dress up Beijing like a bride” before the Olympics, China launched elaborate anti-littering and anti-spitting campaigns and even addressed issues linked to safety and hygiene of street food in tourist areas.

When India competed to host the Games there was an underlying expectation that international standards in sporting facilities and living conditions would be met. This is not only for the comfort of the visitors and smooth conduct of the Games, but also to showcase the prowess of a developing country rising rapidly both in terms of economic growth and democratic values. However, despite resources and a long lead time, infrastructural problems plagued preparations for the Games.

This is not due to corruption alone -- as has often been pointed out.

India

’s poor preparations are also the result of a deeply-rooted lack of professionalism and work ethic, a culture of inefficiency, and an attitude of indifference, among others. This is evident from the “blame game” among members of the organising committee and the political leadership as well as from irresponsible comments on “different standards of hygiene and living”, among others.

Security Not the Only Issue

Usually, security issues would not deter a state from participating in the Games, as that would imply succumbing to the threats from terrorism. A number of countries, including

Singapore

, have made this abundantly clear. But it is difficult to compromise on concerns about safety and quality of the infrastructure, living conditions for athletes and health hazards. Unfortunately, this was lost on the people organising the Games.

After high-level interventions, the conditions appear to be improving and

India

may still be able to pull through the Games without any significant mishap. But the damage has already been done. An.inept Games organising committee and an indifferent political leadership have failed the state and its people and severely dented

India

’s international reputation. This has undermined

India

’s opportunities to host global events and affected its international image.

Arabinda Acharya is a Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, where Akanksha Mehta is an Associate Research Fellow. Both are Indian nationals.

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Republished by Today, Malaysian Insider, Times of India, EurasiaReview

दूसरा बनवास

2010-10-01T11:53:00.004+08:00

पांव धोये बिना सरयू के किनारे से उठे

राम ये कहते हुए अपने दुआरे से उठे

राजधानी की फज़ा आई नहीं रास मुझे

छह दिसम्बर को मिला दूसरा बनवास मुझे......

(via my dearest Swati Parashar)

Ayodhya

2010-09-30T18:00:00.000+08:00

I hate that the entire country awaits a verdict on this constructed "sacred" space.

I hate that 32 cities are almost shut down, schools, colleges, and offices are closed, and people sit at home preparing for the worst.

I hate that, in our own country, we are held hostage inside our homes, afraid of what might happen.

I hate that Hindu Right Wing bigots "constructed" an entire movement, appropriating history, and creating "imagined" and "invented" narratives and identities.

I hate that Narendra Modi still remains the Chief Minister of Gujarat after orchestrating the mass murder of thousands of Muslims and the murderers, rapists, arsonists roam free.

I hate that the man behind the Ramjanmabhoomi Movement, Advani, was the leader of our opposition, and walks free today, devoid of any blame for all he orchestrated.

I hate that I have to see Modi and Advani appear on National Television and call for "Peace".

I hate that the people who will die in Hindu Right Wing-led riots, or blasts by Islamist terrorists, will probably have no opinions or attachment to this "sacred" space.

I hate that we have been fighting for 60 years over a mosque and a temple, when millions have no homes, no schools, no hospitals.

I hate that we are living in the past. 1528. 1992. I hate that we no longer see the difference between history and mythology.

I hate that most of our public is quick to blame "Muslim terrorists", but does not understand how violent, divisive, and toxic Hindu Right Wing politics are as well. Not to mention, how much our "Secular" Congress government has condoned to maintain a voter base.

I hate that this verdict/judgement is being portrayed as a test of India's secularism, India's unity. Is this what we have come to? Hostages of divisive politicians and extremist agendas, is that what we have become?

"Row over 'untouchable' Indian dog"

2010-09-29T11:08:00.000+08:00

BBC reports,

Police in India are investigating claims that a Dalit woman has been ordered to pay compensation to the high-caste owners of a dog she fed.

The incident took place in Malikpur village in Morena district in central Madhya Pradesh state." I made some roti [Indian bread] and took it to my husband who works in a farm. After I had fed him, we had some leftovers which I gave to the dog," the Dalit woman, Sunita Jatav, said. She said the owner of the dog, Amrutlal Kirari, saw her feeding him. "He got very angry and said 'You've fed my dog, it has become an untouchable now'." Mrs Jatav said Mr Kirari left the dog, a black mongrel called Sheru, tied to a pole outside her house. On Monday, the village council met and decided that Sheru had been defiled and hence Mr Kirari should be paid 15,000 rupees as compensation, Mrs Jatav alleged.

While discrimination like this (and worse) continues to happen; the ones that are supposedly "speaking up" for the "Dalit cause" garland themselves in millions of rupees (literally) and build statues of themselves.

"I want to hang my head in shame"- Arun Jaitley on CWG

2010-09-27T11:43:00.003+08:00

NDTV has a video (here) that has Arun Jaitley talking about how "distraught" he is about the CWG saga. He says he wants "to hang his head in shame".

Dear Arun Jaitley, please proceed with the "hanging head" bit. Perhaps you should have "hung your head in shame" when your close associate Narendra Modi orchestrated the mass murder of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat. But then I guess, if you had done so, you would not have been awarded/gifted your current Rajya Sabha status. I find it amazing that when it comes to criticizing Manmohan Singh's government, you leave no stone unturned, but your own people get away with everything, even murder. And while I am no fan of our government and most of it's actions, I detest our opposition's bigots and hypocrites (like you) much more. So please do this country a favor, and "hang your head in shame".

Bulk SMS, MMS banned ahead of Ayodhya verdict

2010-09-23T00:01:00.001+08:00

The Hindu reports here,

The government has banned bulk SMS and MMS for three days with immediate effect in view of the Ayodhya title suits verdict. The Ministry of Communications issued the order in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The step comes two days before the verdict by the Allahabad High Court on the title suit of the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute on Friday.

The government is apprehensive that some extreme elements may foment trouble by inciting communal passions after the delivery of the judgement. Earlier in the day, Home Minister P. Chidambaram appealed for peace and caution against rushing to any inappropriate conclusions over the judgement.

Perhaps, the "government" should realize that some of these "extreme elements that will forment trouble" are a part of the "government". Some others, a part of the opposition. And some, murderers who roam as free men (and sometimes politicians), because the "government" was (is) too afraid to lose a voter bank.

"An ideal Hindu Village"

2010-09-22T19:24:00.000+08:00

While searching for some related articles, I came across this old piece on Counter Currents.

Bajrang Dal Makes a Village Muslim-free

AKLERA (RAJASTHAN): It couldn't be less subtle. A bright saffron board welcomes you to the ‘‘Ideal Hindu Village’’, Mishroli. Nestled in picturesque green surroundings, the village has acquired this tag just this month.

The past 10 days have seen armed Bajrang Dal activists on the rampage, driving out about 25 Muslim families from their homes, ransacking their houses and setting them on fire.

‘‘This was never a Hindu village but they will make sure it becomes one,’’ says a distressed Iqbal Hussain as he tries to salvage the medicines in his Ayurveda dispensary. ‘‘Nobody wants to come back here, not after what we have been through.’’

Mishroli is at the epicenter of communal violence that has seen around 70 Muslim families of seven villages in Aklera leave their homes and migrate to neighboring districts and Madhya Pradesh.

Bajrang Dal Suraksha Prabhari for Kota, Bharat Bhushan Sharma, warns: ‘‘We will create these Hindu villages which will run in accordance with our traditions and there will be full overall development here. They will surround Muslim-dominated pockets and if the Muslims create any public nuisance, they will have to pay the price. If they want to co-exist, they will have to live by our rules.’’

Last year during my field work, a senior VHP member whom I was interviewing, took the pleasure of informing me that "we [the Hindu Right Wing] did not break the Babri Masjid. We just went there with bare hands. But when we touched it, it fell. It was not us, it was the wish and inspiration (prerna) of Lord Hanuman and his strength that led to the Babri Masjid's fall."

I suppose it was "Lord Hanuman's" wish and inspiration that allowed them to swiftly chase out Muslims in this `noble` venture of theirs.

2010-09-22T19:05:00.000+08:00

The Hindu reports here,

Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani praised Aamir Khan’s film Peepli Live for its “realistic depiction of village life,” but wished that the filmmaker had chosen a subject other than the "distressing" subject of farmers’ suicide.

Yes, Mr. Advani, perhaps she should have.Perhaps, Anusha Rizvi could have made a film about a 'less' "distressing" subject like the killing of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat by Hindu Right Wing fanatics. But then again, if she chose that subject, how would she satirize the media? After all, the government of Gujarat blocked most media channels from covering the horror of it all. And most did not even bother protesting.

Advani and anger aside, I personally feel Peepli Live wasn't so much about the farmer suicides. Any issue could have replaced the suicides- but what would remain is the excruciating hopelessness of our media and politicians. Rizvi successfully parodied something that in itself is a parody. And as amusing as that is, it leaves me terrified.

Not here, Not now.

2010-09-11T23:06:00.001+08:00

Looking at old photographs clicked by me, and a photo essay on ForeignPolicy.org, I think of myself celebrating Eid in the narrow, festive, crowded lanes of Purani Dilli, while at the same time walking around Mumbai on the noisy, colorful occasion of Ganapati.

Of course, I walk neither in Delhi nor Mumbai. With my camera put away, I spend the day reliving moments, either past or imagined.

During Ramzan, a man and child break their fast in the lanes of Old Delhi (photograph from www.foreignpolicy.org found here)

A group of men relax at the Worli Seaface after a Ganpati procession in Mumbai. (Photograph by me- August 2009)

A child looks at me during a Ganpati Procession in Worli, Mumbai (Photograph by me- August 2009)

Self-Promotional Favor to Ask

2010-09-11T20:42:00.000+08:00

So let us see, I have never won any kind of competition (ok maybe not in the last few years). One of my photographs has been shortlisted in this "Asian Faces" photography competition on FaceBook (yes, a very lame life I live).

The photograph (below) was taken in January 2010, in Pushkar, Rajasthan, on a cold winter morning at the Gau Ghat.

So if you like this photo (assuming someone is reading this blog!), please vote for it. Here is how you can vote.

First go the FB page of Photo Tourism- http://www.facebook.com/phototourism - and click "Like".

Then go to my photograph- http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=384054&id=129896540362496&ref=notif&notif_t=photo_reply - and click "Like" (and comment, if you please.)

There are some other amazing photographs in the shortlist album, so do have a look!

Florence with the family.

2010-09-05T12:51:00.001+08:00

The full set on Flickr and FB.

Every Sentence Came Alive.

2010-08-27T11:56:00.001+08:00

"Two people in love, alone, isolated from the world, that's very beautiful. But what would they nourish their intimate talk with? However contemptible the world may be, they still need it to be able to talk together."

"why wud u want to help those terrorists?"

2010-08-23T16:34:00.010+08:00

A few days ago I sent out an email to all my friends and many of my acquaintances regarding the floods in Pakistan and the many ways of contributing to the relief work. I also put up notes on Facebook and used Twitter to spread the word regarding the relief work.

Several hours later I got this email from pakistanhater.xyz@gmail.com

"why wud u want to help those terrorists? they left hindustan to form their muslim countyr. all they have is poverty and terrorism. this is Gods way of punishing them. The flood is there because they are all terrorists anyway. before they kill us, the flood can kill them. If we help them all they do is buy Korans and attack us like in mumbai. they all deserve to die anyway. stop supporting those peoples. stop being a traitor to your own country. u r a hindu hating bitch"

So Dear pakistanhater.xyz, let me first tell you that I cringe at the thought that I might actually know you. But I am so glad that before you took the time and effort to write this message of tolerance to me, you also took the time to create an alternate email address to send it from. God(s) forbid, the Pakistanis read this email of yours and send their terrorists swimming across the floods to find you and well of course, terrorise you.

And you are right, "these" flood-affected people, dying by the thousands, uprooted by the millions, demanded their own nation state and "left Hindustan" (dying by the thousands, uprooted by the millions). And they must be cursing God(s) they did so, because as you said- "all" they have now is poverty and terrorism. If they hadn't left, they would have the wonderful pleasure of being `Indian Muslims`- a category whose marginalization is highlighted by the very creation of the category.

Pardon me for the digression, we were talking of Pakistanis and how they kill us, not of how we kill our own. So Pakistanis. Yes terrorists. Certainly. The people in the photograph below (and many more circulating on the Internet) are clearly "terrorists". So yes let's just not send them food, clothing, medicines, because they will sell them to buy guns, bombs, and "Qurans" and attack us. And since they are all "terrorists" anyway, it is completely alright that the only aid that is reaching them effectively is that organized through extremist organizations and right-wing hard-line organizations. That is hardly relevant I suppose. So let us follow God's(s') plan, "protect" our country and not assist them at all. Because that is what me must do. As human beings. As Indians. As "Hindus".

(Source: The Big Picture)

To help the millions affected by the terrible flooding, see Center for Health, Education, and Economic Relief, UNHCR, and the ICRC or contact me.

Chale-Chalo Ke Vo Manjil Abhi Nahin Aayi

2010-08-21T16:09:00.055+08:00

Last weekend, India celebrated its 63rd Independence Day. I was at a gathering of sorts where I did not quite know very well many of those present. Somehow (unfortunately) the conversation turned to my recent field work in Kashmir. I briefly outlined some of the things I saw and learned about- the human rights abuses of the Indian Army, torture prisons and the detention areas, conversations I had with former insurgents, with "suspected" insurgents, and with families of men and boys who had disappeared. I also highlighted how every year during the time we celebrate our `Independence`, tens of thousands of male "suspects" are rounded up and placed in prison cells- hundreds to a room, and are beaten, questioned, spat on, starved.

An acquaintance stared and said - "So? What is wrong with that? I do not see anything wrong with that? If we do not do that, then there will be terrorist attacks in the cites. For our freedom, our azadi, our independence, and our security, these things are required."

I remember thinking- Kaahe ka freedom? Kaahe ki independence? (What freedom? What independence). What kind of "Azadi" are we obtaining from dehumanizing thousands of Kashmiris through fear-mongering and this entire discourse of "securitization". If "Azadi" for `me` comes with "precautionary" atrocities for many `others`, then mujhe nahie chahiye yeh so-called "Azadi". (I do not want this so-called freedom).

I stayed silent and stared blankly at her, as I do now, thinking of a few lines from Faiz's poem- Subh-e-Azadi (The Dawn of Freedom). Lines that often come to mind, sometimes for their beauty, other times as an anthem of resistance.

Ye dagh dagh ujala, ye shab-gazida sahar,

Vo intizar tha jis-ka, ye vo sahar to nahin,

Ye vo sahar to nahin jis-ki arzu lekar

Chale the yar ke mel-jaegi kahin na kahin,

Falak ke dasht main taron ki aakhiri manzil,

Kahin to hoga shab-e sust mauj kaa sahil,

Kahin to jaake rukegaa safiina-e-gham-e-dil.....

.....Jigar ki aag, nazar ki umang, dil ki jalan,

kisi pe chaara-e-hijraan kaa kuch asar hi nahin.

Kahaan se aayi nigaar-e-sabaa, kidhar ko gayi?

Abhi charaagh-e-sar-e-rah ko kuchh khabar hi nahin;

Abhi giraani-e-shab main kami nahin aayi,

Najaat-e-diidaa-o-dil ki ghari nahin aayi;

Chale-chalo ke vo manjil abhi nahin aayi.

(The entire poem and translations are here)

Two Short Days in Paris.

2010-08-19T01:40:00.000+08:00

Full set on Flickr and FB.

"Army - The Best Time of my Life"

2010-08-17T21:50:00.145+08:00

(Photo Credit: NYT blog and Al Jazeera)

Meet Eden Abergil, a young woman, a former Israeli Soldier. On 16 August 2010, she posted these pictures on Facebook in a folder titled- "Army-The Best Time of my Life". Photographs of her posing (provocatively or not is besides the point) next to blindfolded Palestinian detainees. A comment attached to one of the photos of the soldier smiling in front of two blindfold men and posted by one of Abergil's friends read "That looks really sexy for you," with Abergil's response reading: "I wonder if he is on Facebook too – I'll have to tag him in the photo."

When the pictures circulated drawing criticism, Al Jazeera reports that she said, "What's wrong with that? I don't understand. There was no violence in the pictures, there was no disrespect."

An IDF spokesman responded, apologizing for Abergil's behavior and saying that "on the face of it the behavior exhibited by the soldier is base and crude." (How kind of them.) But here's the thing, as Breaking the Silence, an organization that collects testimonies of Israeli soldiers on alleged abuse of Palestinians in the territories, has pointed out- while the IDF claimed to be "shocked" by Abergil's photos, it did not represent "the ugly behavior of just one person." In a statement titled, "The Norm that IDF Spokesman Avi Benayahu Denies," the organization has released several such photographs and has asked the IDF not to" insult the intelligence of the Israeli public, and clarify that it is a widespread phenomenon, not an aberration caused by a single soldier."

Three years ago, when I was in the West Bank, I was at the A-Ram Checkpoint heading from Ramallah to Jerusalem. I was interviewing women from MachsomWatch, an organization composed of Israeli Women against the Palestinian Occupation, who monitor the checkpoints trying to ensure Palestinians are not harassed by Israeli soldiers. We queued up to cross the checkpoint- the gates were tall and strong, made of metallic bars and were of the revolving kind- the kind where you get into a small space between bars and then walk and push the side of the gate in front of you, till you get out at the other side. (See the photograph below- clicked by me on the day)

One by one all the women I was with got to the other side. As I got in and started walking/pushing the bars to make the gate move, it began to move for a few seconds, and then the gate suddenly froze causing me to bump my head and feet into the thick, metallic bars rather abruptly. Given that the security area (metal detectors and x-ray machines) in front of the gate were quite empty, I stood there trying to figure out why the Red Light was abruptly switched on (causing the gate to freeze), when a woman from the Machsom Watch turned back and said "Oh they did to you what they do to the Palestinians."

I remember thinking that if Israeli soldiers treated Palestinians who have been "granted" (after much hassle and several procedures) "permits" to cross the Occupation Wall and work/study/seek medical care in Jerusalem and elsewhere with such open contempt, what would they do to those detained, those who question, those who are "suspected" of "unlawful activities"? It was not hard to imagine then, nor is it now. And that is why Abergil's photographs do not shock me. And neither do the ones on Breaking the Silence. It doesn't even shock me that she clicked them and posted them online. And it does not shock me that is in fact "the norm."

What leaves me quiet however, how "normal" it has become to easily and indifferently step on somebody else's "freedom" in order to secure our own. So much so, that while we strive to protect `us` and safegaurd our `values`, when it comes to "dealing" with `other` the same values cease to exist.

An Afternoon in Venice

2010-08-14T23:45:00.001+08:00

An Afternoon in Venice

After few lovely days in Florence, the family and I headed to Venice for an afternoon before taking the flight back to Paris. The plan was to keep our backpacks at the luggage storage at the train station and walk around- Unfortunately, people in Italy found that to be a good day to have a nationwide protest, and the luggage storage had the word STRIKE written on A4 sheets that were stuck all over. With the hot sun, and backpacks, not much walking happened- so I suppose we really didn't see most of Venice- But I found a few stories worth interrupting and retelling.

The photographs are on my Flickr page and also on FB.

VHP's `Brilliant` "Solution" to the Ongoing Protests in Kashmir

2010-08-12T11:54:00.001+08:00

(Photo Credit: Kashmir Global)

While Kashmiris take to the streets protesting against years and decades of human rights abuses, illegal killing and detention, disapperances, and toruture; Manmohan Singh's government is left struggling to find a "solution" to the "Kashmir Problem". If that was not bad enough, the Jammu-based Daily Excelsior reports here that we now have the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) International President Ashok Singhal offering his "solution" in these "troubled" times- "Pakistan-occupied Kashmir should be amalgamated with India and that the portion of the disputed Kashmir which is not with us should be taken back into our fold."

Wonderful.

Khushi Ne Mujhko Thukraya Hai: Begum Akhtar- Behind that Soulful Voice

2010-08-08T01:06:00.139+08:00

ख़ुशी ने मुझको ठुकराया है दर्द-ओ-गम ने पाला है

गुलों ने बेरुखी की है तो काँटों ने संभाला है

मुहब्बत मैं ख़याल-ए-साहिल-ओ-मंज़िल है नादानी

जो इन राहों मैं लुट जाए वही तकदीर वाला है

चरागाँ कर के दिल बेहला रहे हो क्या जहां वालो

अँधेरा लाख रोशन हो उजाला फिर उजाला है

(khushi ne mujhko thukraayaa hai dard-o-gam ne paala hai

gulon ne berukhi ki hai to kaanton ne sambhaala hai

mohabbat main khayaal-e-saahil-o-manzil hai naadaani

jo in raahon main lut jaaye vahi taqdeer waalaa hai

charaagaan kar ke dil behlaa rahe ho kya jaahan waalon

andhera laakh roshan ho ujaala phir ujaala hai)

I have read the above words several times. I have heard Begum Akhtar bring them to life over and over again- a life so eloquent and beautiful wrapped around words so lonely and empty. But in all these years of deriving comfort from her voice, I have taken her taseer (soulful sound) for granted, never once looking into her life beyond that voice.

Until now.

Priya Ramani writes here about Rita Ganguly's book Ae Mohabbat…Reminiscing Begum Akhtar. Ganguly was Begum Akhtar's student and companion, and the book, published 34 years after Begum Akhtar's death, is not only the story of Akhtar's courageous life but also a remarkable and intimate viewing of a woman's life by another woman.

"It’s the journey from Bibbi to Akhtari Sayyed to Akhtari Bai Faizabadi to Begum Ishtiaq AhmedAbassi and, finally, to the name we all recognize, Begum Akhtar". It is also the story of a woman who through each of these stages lived with "a deep vacuum in her life and lived in constant fear of “Ya Allah, ab kya hoga?” (Oh god, what next?). Begum Akhtar suffered several personal tragedies in her life, and many of them as a child. "Her taseer was the result of years of “loneliness, pain, suppression and silence.” Like many female singers of the time, she also tackled her share of abuse. But she bravely grew up to defy and fight every stereotype that surrounded female singers in her days and beyond.

It is strangely sorrowful, that her torment, emptiness, and painful silence is what alleviates mine.

The Forsaken Women of the Philippines: The Hypocrisy of Unsafe Abortion

2010-08-04T13:17:00.113+08:00

In her article- The Forsaken Women of the Philippines: The Hardship, Humiliation, and Hypocrisy of Unsafe Abortion, Marcy Bloom writes about a report on abortion in the Philippines, published by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The report highlights the effect of criminalization of abortion in the Philippines. Before we get to that, a few facts highlighted in the report regarding the laws on abortion in the country.

In the Philippines, the basic status of abortion is that it is illegal, banned by the rule of law in the present constitution that pronounces--among its policies--the recognition of the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation and that the state shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.

Moreover,

The Philippines is one of a handful of countries in the world that bans abortions in all circumstances with no clear exceptions, not even for the life of the woman. Women and girls who obtain abortions risk prosecution and a prison sentence of up to six years. This also applies to anyone providing or assisting in the procedure; medical professionals risk the loss of their licenses.

Is criminalizing abortion, leading to no or "few" abortions in the Philippines? The answer of course is No. So What happens because of the ban?

20 percent of all maternal deaths in the country are due to unsafe abortion. In 2008 alone, there were an estimated 560,000 abortions performed annually in the Philippines, which resulted in 90,000 hospitalizations of women from abortion-related complications and an eventual 1,000 deaths. Most affluent women who need an abortion leave the country to have the procedure. The women who cannot afford it- women from the lower rungs of society have to find ways to have the procedure in the Philippines.

And What does this entail?

Less than 25 percent of these women who have an abortion obtain a surgical procedure (back alley surgical procedures). The rest (30 percent) either ingest herbs, other concoctions, or drugs such as the anti-ulcer Cytotec/misoprostol without medical supervision; insert catheters or other objects in their vaginas; drink alcohol or use hormonal drugs (20 percent); starve themselves or throw themselves down stairs; or find a traditional midwife--known as a hilot--to violently pound/crush their lower abdomens in the hopes of inducing what is an extraordinarily painful and horrific abortion. Most Filipinas only succeed in ending their pregnancies after multiple and dangerous attempts--once again, demonstrating yet another universal truth: That when a woman has decided that she must have an abortion--that it is truly the only choice given the conditions of her life--she will literally do anything and everything to obtain one, even risking her life and health.

And in the Philippines, even when women are able to seek out help for the life-threatening medical complications that are caused by such desperate and brutal measures, far too many are treated harshly by the doctors and nurses who seek to punish them. In fact, pain-killers are often withheld because some “doctors feel that women need to feel the pain [resulting from the unsafe abortions] so that they will remember it and not do it again.”

The catholic hierarchy has insisted over and over that "natural contraception" is the only way. Many women who require an abortion have been using "natural methods of contraception". Making other (more effective) forms of contraception illegal has only led to more and more unplanned pregnancies, some of which are then terminated. The church has also argued that legalizing abortion allows for unmarried youth to engage in reckless sexual activity. More than half of the abortive procedures carried out in the Philippines are on married, Catholic women who already have 2-3 children and cannot afford to have any more.

Criminalization of abortion in the Philippines has not led to the prevention of abortion, but has led to the practice of unsafe, life-threatening abortion that claims thousands of lives, stigmatizes women, and disallows medical care to women who undergo unsafe procedures that go horribly wrong.

I do not wish to venture into a discussion of the "morality" of abortion. Being pro-choice, I obviously feel the "morality" of abortion and its consequences (emotional, moral, physical) are for the person undergoing it to decide and deal with, not the State or the Church.My reproduction of this report was merely aiming to highlight the "moral" hypocrisy in the very "moral-protecting/safeguarding" act of criminalizing of abortion in the Philippines- a hypocrisy that unfortunately leads to suffering and painful death.

Mansukhbhai Prajapati and his Eco-Friendly Products

2010-08-03T01:25:00.008+08:00

Meet Mansukhbhai Prajapati from Gujarat. He failed his tenth standard exams, worked in a brick factory, injured an eye, worked in a tile factory, and then took a loan of 30,000 Rupees (800 $) and began to make eco-friendly products. In 1995 he built a water purifier (what we call a water filter in India) out of clay, in 2005 he made a clay non-stick tava (pan), and in 2009 he made a clay pressure cooker. All products being not only eco friendly but also cheap and affordable for the India that is not "shining".

His greatest product though was mitticool (clay-cool), a refrigerator made of clay.

During the 2001 earthquake, all earthen pots were broken. Some people told me the poor people's refrigerators are broken. They referred to the 'matkas'(pots) as refrigerators. It struck me then that I must try to make a fridge for those who cannot afford to buy a fridge.

It took him almost four years of hard labour and an investment of about Rupees 10 lakhs. The refrigerator can store water, fruits, vegetables for 8 days and milk for one day. The upper part of the refrigerator stores water, while the bottom unit has space for fruits, vegetables and milk. At present, he sells the clay fridges at Rupees 2,500 (~50 $).

His products are eco-friendly, cheap, affordable for the masses, and clearly very very innovative yet simple. He makes some sales, has been given several awards including a National Award, he has been on Discovery Channel, but he is still looking for more avenues to sell his products. Not enough people know about his products.

Read the entire story here.

Violence Against Women: Dawn Editorial - 2 August 2010

2010-08-02T14:20:00.003+08:00

Dawn's editorial today is precise and crisp and echoes a sentiment that must be heard. And although the editorial lists statistics from Pakistan, the rest of South Asia need not feel better- the situation is as bad if not worse. Moreover, these are just statistics based on incidents that have been reported- add to this the thousands of women who suffer in silence and you still may not be close to the actual number of South Asian women who have experienced some form of violence/abuse in their lives.

But while I am glad the editorial has listed out the problem and even reminded us of what needs to be done, how do we do the needful?

In a country like Pakistan where violence is so rampant, can violence against women be singled out as a crime to be treated separately? Every act of violence should of course be condemned. But what is horrific about violence against women is that it is rooted in the contempt in which women are held in our society. Organisations that have been collecting statistics on gender-related violence confirm the singular nature of the violence directed against women.

Take the Aurat Foundation’s figures for the calendar year 2009 that were released recently. Nearly 8,458 cases were recorded from all over Pakistan, with Punjab leading the way with 5,722 incidents. The foundation admitted that in some regions it was not easy to collect data. But it is not just the prevalence of violence, which increased by 13 per cent in one year, it is also the nature of it that makes it so horrible. Abduction and murder top the list, but equally devastating are gang-rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, acid throwing and honour killing. It is the viciousness and vindictiveness of the crime, with some designed to hurt a woman for the rest of her life, that add to the crime’s gravity.

It is not simply strong policing and enforcement of the law — which no doubt are essential — that are needed to provide security to women. It is equally important that efforts be stepped up to raise the status of women in society and instil respect for women in the male psyche. Women cannot be treated as commodities that can be bartered away or destroyed to vent anger on another man. It is ironic that while there are laws to make violence against women illegal, these are not enforced. Unless laws are implemented and measures taken to improve women’s status in society, the violence will not stop.

Editorial reproduced from http://www.dawn.com/ - Direct Link is here.

We the Malaria-spreading Migrants.

2010-08-02T13:58:00.000+08:00

NDTV reports here that the charming man in the photograph above, our wonderful Raj Thackeray, protector of the lovely Mumbai, has ever so kindly found yet another reason to say nice things about "migrants" in Mumbai. And this time, it's not education or jobs, but the "migrants" are being blamed for the Malaria outbreak in the city.

The article says:

"Dengue and malaria are spreading fast in the city due to dirty illegal slums which are occupied by migrants only," he said during a programme to mark the fourth anniversary of the MNS students' wing.

Earlier also, people used to suffer from the disease in the city, but now the situation is different. Migrants are "attacking" Mumbai and ruining it, he said, adding that all public hospitals are occupied by outsiders while Marathi people have no place to go.

Instead of identifying and solving the actual problems of sanitation, infrastructure, lack of enough hospitals/medical aid/ medicines, zero awareness about diseases like malaria, let's just blame the "migrants".

RSS ideologue worried over term 'Hindu Terror'

2010-08-02T12:37:00.001+08:00

Indian Express reports here-

RSS ideologue M G alias Baburao Vaidya on Sunday expressed concern about the usage of newly coined term "Hindu Terror" appealing Hindu leaders to remove the blot.
"The word Hindu Terror has earned its place in the media and no one knows who invented it. Though somebody gives credit to NCP president Sharad Pawar and others says it was Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh who has coined the concept," Vaidya wrote in his weekly column in a local Marathi daily in Nagpur.
He said the government has accused Abhinav Bharat and Sanatan Sanstha, Goa based right wing Hindu organisation, of being involved in violence and some arrests have been made in this regard but none of the accused have been convicted by the courts till date.
The term of "Hindu terror" was being used to woo Muslim votes in the country and thereby defaming Hindus, he said.

It's quite annoying to hear the term "Muslim terror", and to that end of course "Hindu terror" as a term is equally questionable.

But I absolutely love how the RSS thinks "Hindu terror" is being used to woo Muslim votes! I guess they argue so, because after all they have a strong legacy of framing a discourse that revolves around the idea of "Muslim terror" to woo the "Hindu" community.

And we Head to Paris and Florence... and Come Back Alive!

2010-07-17T14:43:00.188+08:00

It was one fine morning in a month not so long ago, that I received a text message from my Dad. The message was a single sentence- "Please find out the dates of the mass animal migration from Kenya to Tanzania this year." My first thought- okay I had no first thought. What went through my mind next can be perhaps described as a mixture of hilarious fear that my father had succumbed to some form of absurd insanity, and of panic that I was missing some sort of larger/deeper/hidden meaning in this sentence. So I did what anyone would do. I googled. And I realized that there occurs a mass animal migration from Kenya to Tanzania (and back) every year. A short call to India later, I realized my father thought it would be a wise idea to go view this migration as a family.

Sure. With a vegan sister who thought it was "cruel" to observe animals through binoculars (because apparently animals do not like being "watched" while they go about their daily-lives in the wild), and with me who is allergic to all kinds of insects that I am sure would have been found en route this epic migration. So obviously we vetoed this grand plan of becoming one with nature. Instead, after discussing at length we decided we should head to Paris and Florence (yes, we are oh-so-creative with our choice of destinations.).

So finally, after figuring out four different schedules in three different cities, dates were picked and flights were booked and one crowded Saturday night in July we headed to Paris. We spent only two days in Paris and I do not want to bore you with all the details- but let me just say- traveling with your parents (especially after you have travelled to two dozen countries by yourself) is hilarious (although at the time I think I was going for frustrating).

My father, the illustrious engineer from IIT, the pride of our nation, decided that since we could see the Eiffel Tower, it must be pretty close and hence we should walk to it. Of course, the science behind this reasoning was questionable and I made a crisp remark about his flawed time-space perception. But when every second remark from your mouth is dripping with sarcasm, people (even your own family) learn to ignore a lot of what you say. So we began walking- and let's just say the next few hours were not particularly pleasant.

Upon reaching the Eiffel, my sister, protector of all animals, decided that since (apparently) the Eiffel Tower runs its elevators using pig fat, she would not be going up. She wanted to instead sit downstairs with a poster about the rights of pigs and all creatures precious and protest this monstrosity. Of course we did not have the means to make such a poster, so we placed our parents in the queue and sat below the Eiffel (sans protesting equipment) for what seemed like a very long time then.

The following day, we headed to the Louvre to see beautiful art that we unfortunately did not really understand. So of course, my mother insisted we be super touristy and enter the Louvre and head straight to the Mona Lisa. And of course at some point, we got distracted by all the art we unfortunately did not really understand and lost sight of those wonderful English language signs that guide you to the Mona Lisa. At this point, my mother, well known for her abrasive tone, decided to ask a security guard where the Mona Lisa was. To her this meant, looking at him, and asking repeatedly and abruptly- Mona Lisa? Mona Lisa? The Frenchman, astonished and angered by this blatant rudeness, decided to teach my mother a lesson or two in politeness. He launched into a long monologue of which what I could understand was- "Madame, is this any way to ask? You must say Bon Jour. Excuse moi, where is the Mona Lisa?......" As we laughed at the wonderful irony of our mother being told off for being rude in France (!), mother was dealing with her disappointment over the size of the Mona Lisa and was feeling bad for "other" artists who had what seemed like "bigger" and better paintings but were not as famous as Da Vinci.

Florence then beckoned and we hopped on an overnight train to a city we learned to like a lot in the 4-5 days we spent there. I could go on and on about the square near our apartment- the musicians at the square, the beautiful cafes, the wonderful wine, the carousel, the cobbled streets, the lovely Duomo of Florence, the street performers, the absolutely wonderful Galleria Academia and The Tribune of David by Michelangelo standing tall and beautiful in the Galleria, the Uffizi Gallery, the markets on Ponte Vechchio and the wonderful feeling I got when I thought of Florence and how important these very streets were during the Renaissance. But I too am (shockingly) flawed and my laziness insists that my photographs eventually do all the talking for me.

On our last night in beautiful Florence, mother, obviously intoxicated by fine Italian wine, had a semi-existential crisis, and proclaimed that she must live for more than her family and work. Apparently "people" were doing so much in their lives and she wasn't. What are these "people" doing, you might ask (as we did)? Well, as my mother elaborated with much passion that "people" were painting on the road (referring to the charming street artists of Florence). A little while later she wanted me to take a photograph of her next to a sign that in simple blue and red lettering said - Martini. Apparently, alcohol really is her calling and the answer to her quest for a deeper meaning.

To end this disjointed recollection of a holiday wonderful, let me just say- a family like mine is not meant to survive long periods in close quarters (planes, apartments, small cities like Florence!)- but we did! And we all came back alive, and strangely quite happy with the fun 8-9 days we spent in Europa. The key I suppose was laughing at each other's quirks, drinking lots of water (and wine), carrying a good book or a good imagination at all times, disappearing by ourselves every now and then, and figuring out a polite way to inform the parents that being quiet did not necessarily mean we were upset (and they really should try the whole not talking thing sometime). Oh and having a sibling really helps (even if the sibling's idea of going to the Eiffel Tower was to sit with an animal rights banner under it)!

Tu Jaane Na.

2010-07-16T18:06:00.004+08:00

तुम पास होके भी

तुम आस होके भी

एहसास होके भी,

अपने नही

ऐसे है,

हमको गिले,

तुमसे नाजाने क्यों

मीलो के,

है फांसले,

तुमसे नाजाने क्यों

- इरशाद कामिल

(tum paas hoke bhi
tum aas hoke bhi
ehsaas hoke bhi
apne nahie
aise hai,
humko gile,

tumse naajaane kyu

meelo ke,

hai faansle

tumse naajaane kyu

- Irshaad Kamil)

Deriving some kind of unexplainable comfort from these words and Kailash Kher's voice, I was listening to this song on youtube repeatedly. My narcissistic trip into into a world- partly real, partly imagined, but completely mine, was rudely interrupted when I accidently scrolled down and happened to look through the comments below the video. Apparently, in some people the same words planted a need to talk about how India (or Pakistan) was better as Kailash Kher's (or Atif Aslam's) version was better.

Countering India’s Maoist Insurgency: The Need for Strategy not Operations

2010-07-06T14:26:00.130+08:00

Millions of tribal villagers in India are victims of inadequate development and the failure or sheer lack of governance policies of the Indian government. Beneath this myth of "India Shining" there exists most of the nation's population that which does not "shine" in call centers and IT firms. But while these grievances and concerns are more than legitimate, the Maoist insurgency today can hardly be classified as "people's war". The movement commanded by a few educated, middle class men sitting in their luxurious abodes, commanding and arming poverty ridden foot soldiers relies on force and brutality to "scare" the nation and bully its security forces. Is this a struggle for the people or for power for a limited few? Are these leaders really going to eradicate poverty through this collective violence? The Maoists use child soldiers, they rape tribal women in villages that do not join their "revolution", they mine roads, they ruthlessly butcher security forces and even civilians. They destroy schools, hospitals, power lines, telecommunications infrastructure, railway lines, trains, buses- the very developmental infrastructure that is limited in the Maoist affected areas.

While there exists an urgent need for developmental reform in most of rural India, there also exists the need to bring about this reform the right way- something that the Indian government needs to recognize and implement. The Maoist insurgency has highlighted the complexity of rural dislocation in India. However the government's operations so-far, have only highlighted disregard for the larger problems of governance and development, and a misguided, shallow understanding of the violence associated with the movement. Both of which have taken New Delhi several steps further away from any viable solution. So, where is the strategy, Mr Home Minister?

Countering India’s Maoist Insurgency: The Need for Strategy not Operations

Akanksha Mehta

Recent attacks highlighted the increasing strength and militarisation of the Maoist insurgency in India. The government, which seems to be faltering, needs to develop a well-coordinated, multi-pronged strategy addressing issues of security, development, and governance in Maoist-affected areas.

WITH ITS spread, mobilisation, organisation and increasing tactical sophistication, the Maoist (Naxal) insurgency has established itself as India’s “gravest internal security threat”. From the rural, jungle operations, the Maoists are now moving towards urban centres with an ever-increasing target set – government, key infrastructure, and even civilians.

Growing Maoist infrastructure

Currently active in 223 districts across 20 Indian states (30 percent of the country); the Maoists are also linked to leftist groups in neighbouring countries through the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA). They are even reported to be getting support from leftist groups outside of the region (such as the Communist Party of the Philippines). In addition to having claimed 2,100 lives between 2005 and 2009, the Maoists are destroying valuable infrastructure including railways, schools, hospitals, policing and government institutions. Moreover, the Maoists have come to run substitute governance structures in their strongholds; making a mockery of India’s core political and judicial institutions, and placing natural resources and economic investments in these areas at serious risk.

The May 2010 attack on a private bus near Gadiras in Dantewada district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh illustrated the strength of the information and structural networks of the Maoists in their strongholds. Whereas, the April 2010 attack, which claimed the lives of 76 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force, highlighted significant loopholes in the government’s counter operations. The Home Affairs ministry concedes in its latest security report that left-wing extremists operate in the vacuum created by weak governance structures and take advantage of prevalent dissatisfaction. They also exploit feelings of perceived neglect and injustice among the underprivileged and remote segments of the population. As such, it is necessary for the government to develop a multi-pronged strategy that counters both the violence and its roots causes.

Inadequacies of Current Operations

The formation of a successful counter-strategy has been difficult, as the Maoists have emerged as a rather diffused enemy. Several sections of the tribal population are ambivalent in this insurgency, leading to a confusion over the different leanings amongst the armed insurgents, tribal sympathisers and innocent tribal villagers. Moreover, within the Maoist movement, there exist several factions (with several strands of Leftist ideology) that often divide and consolidate. This has rendered the “Maoist ideology” and the goals of the movement, rather unidentifiable. It makes it difficult for the government to counter them and formulate an appropriate strategy that would defeat the armed insurgents without alienating the tribal villagers who are not in the Maoist camp.

Recent operations to combat Maoist violence (such as Operation Green Hunt launched in March 2010) have been largely unsuccessful as the security forces are not provided with adequate training and resources to fight the rebels. While units stationed in Maoist areas are given some training in guerilla warfare, their weapons, arms and ammunitions, as well their networks and structures of communication and intelligence gathering are inadequate to counter those of their adversaries. For instance, in the April 2010 attack on a CRPF unit in Mukrana forests of Dantewada district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, CRPF personnel were unaware of intelligence inputs, and were inadequately trained and commanded. This made them commit several tactical errors, rendering them easy targets for the rebels.

Poor Coordination

The poor coordination between local police, intelligence agencies, and the paramilitary personnel in the region is brought about by political differences and related factors. Furthermore, current operations are built on an insufficient tactical understanding of the insurgents. This was also highlighted during the Dantewada attack wherein CRPF personnel, following protocol, headed to take cover in the neighbouring forests after the initial explosion. However, Maoist insurgents, aware of this protocol, had booby-trapped the neighbouring forests with mines, resulting in more casualties.

Owing to India’s federal polity, the Maoist insurgency (classified as a law and order issue) falls under the control of the governments of individual states. However, as Maoists operate on several border areas, a counter-operation in one state merely leads to the spillover of Maoists to the neighbouring state. Political differences between neighbouring state governments have thus further hampered the success of operations against the rebels.

India’s development and governance initiatives aimed at combating the root causes of the insurgency have also been unsuccessful so far. While the failure of these initiatives can be largely attributed to the deep-seated corruption, bureaucracy, and political rivalry that is endemic to India, it is also significant to note that the government cannot develop what it cannot control. The Maoists run parallel government structures in their strongholds, asserting their presence with both violence and political and economic control. This has made it difficult for the government to deliver development projects to these areas.

Strategy not Operations

Because of a lack of proper understanding of the threat, insufficient cooperation and resources, and inadequate implementation of policy initiatives to address issues of governance and development, the Indian government has been churning out largely ineffective counter operations and not a solid, multi-pronged counter strategy.

The Maoist insurgency has permeated a vast expanse of the country, undermining its very core institutions. Long-term initiatives to address the inadequacies of development and governance in Maoist-infested areas along with measures to degrade operational capabilities of the rebels are extremely important. It is therefore, critical that the security forces are provided with adequate training, resources, and a protocol based on a strong understanding of Maoist tactics. At the same time, the Indian government has to reestablish firm governance structures and demonstrate significant political will in the administration of development projects in the Maoist-affected areas.

This RSIS Commentary issue no. 74-2010 dated 5 July 2010 can be accessed by clicking

http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/Perspective/RSIS0742010.pdf

Aung San Suu Kyi: The Unseen Photo Album

2010-06-29T15:37:00.030+08:00

A few days ago, prior to Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday I came across a few pictures of her life before she came back to Burma, published by the Guardian.

I loved every single photograph, but somehow this one stood out.

I love the simplicity and colors of all the shots, but most of all I love the everyday-ness of the photographs and the lives they depict. However, I cannot help but wonder, would these photographs be so beautiful if these everyday, ordinary frozen moments belonged to someone else?

See the rest of the photos here.

Separation Wall turns into a World Cup Screen.

2010-06-29T15:30:00.002+08:00

While we all watch and enjoy the games on our television screens (or laptops if you cannot afford the sports channel like me), and crib about vuvuzelas and disallowed goals; people in Bethlehem gather around the oppressive and overbearing Wall (oh sorry- "security fence" as the former deputy director of Israeli intelligence kindly corrected me) and watch the same games, cribbing about vuvuzelas, disallowed goals, and probably a lot more.

Soccer Fanhouse posts a report by the Associated Press on how local restaurant owner and avid football fan Joseph Hasboun has been projecting every night game of the World Cup onto the Wall facing his eatery, the Bahamas Sea Food Restaurant, located just a few hundred yards away from the city's main checkpoint, turning the Wall into a giant screen.

On a chilly Sunday night, Germans, Austrians, Americans and local Palestinians gathered at outdoor tables to watch Germany beat Australia 4-0... "It lets you forget for a short time about the harsh reality," said Michael Exeler, 61 a German development worker living in Jerusalem. "It's the best you can make of it."

It isn't the first time that Hasboun has made use of the wall, directly across the street from his restaurant, monopolizing the view from its windows. When he decided to reopen the family restaurant two years ago, he used the cement canvas to paint larger-than-life menus in English and Arabic.... "The wall is a very negative thing, so if we can do something positive with it, we will," Hasboun said. "My goal is to bring everybody together. It's good for business, and it's good for Bethlehem."

Locals are hopeful that even once the World Cup ends, the late-night projections will stick around.

"It's a new idea in Bethlehem," said Raneem Hosh, 25, a Bethlehem native who has come to watch the games every night, even though she says she doesn't even like soccer. "I come here for the ambiance. Maybe we can use it as a cinema after, since we don't have one here."

Read the entire article here.

Surge in the Red Tide: India’s Maoist Insurgency

2010-06-24T21:05:00.001+08:00

My article in the Counter Terrorism Trends and Analysis June, 2010; elaborating on the severity of the Maoist threat and highlighting the legitimate roots, grievances, and inadequacies of development and government that led to the rise of the insurgency.

Surge in the Red Tide: India’s Maoist Insurgency

Akanksha Mehta

Recent attacks highlighted the increasing strength and militarization of the Maoist insurgency in India. While the Maoists are getting bolder in their attacks and choice of targets and are now active in almost 30% of the country, the Indian Government seems to be faltering in its counter-insurgency plans and operations. The government needs to develop a well-coordinated, multi-pronged policy that addresses issues of security, development, as well as governance in Maoist-infested areas.

The rest is here- http://bit.ly/9sabdB

Back Again.

2010-06-24T20:48:00.001+08:00

In the last few months:

I finished (and aced) the Nationalism class I was taking.
I did extensive research on the Hindu Right Wing and women who participate in the violence of the movement. I spent days at the offices and centers of the VHP, RSS, and Durga Vahini in Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune.
I spent a lot of time at home in Mumbai.
I traveled through Rajasthan with Roy and others- Jaipur, Pushkar, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Khuri in the cold cold December- January.
I watched a video of Roy jumping off a plane, and wondered if and when I would be able to do the same (currently I can't even get on a plane without a minor panic attack)
I booked tickets for me and Aparna to Penang, and then got swamped with work and decided not to go.
I spent 4-5 days with a certain Kent Babin who flew all the way from Azerbeijan (Baku) to this tiny island, bringing with him funny stories, his excellent cooking skills, and memories we shared of Cairo!
I wrote my dissertation/thesis. Sleepless nights. Writing. Rewriting. Editing. Trying to bring together more than a year of research, field work, and ideas. Submitted.
I went on a field trip across India, investigating Surrender and Rehab Schemes for militants in India.
Singapore-Kolkata-Agartala (Tripura)- Dhalai Hills- Kolkata- New Delhi- Haridwar- New Delhi- Srinagar- Kupwara- Sopore- Baramullah- Srinagar- New Delhi- Mumbai- Singapore. 2 weeks!
I went to the remotest part of India- Dhalai District of Tripura- to interview former insurgents and visit insurgency hit areas.
I met Dr. Kiran Bedi in Delhi and visited Jail Number 6 and Jail Number 2 of Tihar Prison. I was forced to eat Jail food by the prison officer.
I took the weekend off and with Roy and Sahil went to the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. Interesting it was.
I then hopped on a flight to Srinagar and spent a few days doing some research in Kashmir.
I went to Sopore and Rafiabad in Baramulla district with a former militant and met several more former militants.
I went to Kupwara to meet one of the most interesting people I have ever met.
I interviewed Sufi Saints, Rikshawalas, Kashmiri Pandits, Political leaders, former militants, lawyers, human rights activists, Military officers, policemen, researchers, journalists in Srinagar.
Aparna, Ava, and I took a short trip to Yogyakarta to see Borobudur and Prambanan temples and it was a great trip except for the bed bugs.
I finished my last class- the one on Discourse of Politico-Religious Actors.
I unofficially finished my Master's Degree, signed on a work contract for the next year, and began thinking of the "future."
I began planning all the travel that awaits me in July-August.

So that's about it. That was a lot of I, I know. I apologize.

Bali

2009-10-29T13:15:00.012+08:00

While in Bali, my parents and I went for a sunset performance of the Ramayana at Uluwatu Temple. The temple is by the sea side on a cliff and is quite beautiful at sunset. At one end of the temple, an open-air performance of the Ramayana is held every evening. The performance is special because no music or instruments are used. Instead a group of dancers known as Kecak dancers provide the background score, which is essentially chanting of sounds "chak, chak, chak" with different intensities and tempos, as and when required. The performance is also called the Kecak Fire Dance.

Some of my photographs are below:

The Kecak Dancers

Rama

Ravana attempting to kidnap Sita

Garuda trying to stop Ravana

Sita Apharan

Hanuman setting fire to Lanka

The entire set is here on Flickr.

It is very interesting to see how the main characters of both Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as Hindu Gods and Goddesses are depicted in South East Asia. I bought a few paintings for myself and Appu of their depiction of Saraswati and Ganesha. While the main elements look the same, there is something very different about the way the faces are sketched. You can see that difference, with the depiction of Hanuman and Ravana in the pictures above.

Also very interesting, is the Hinduism in Bali. I could go on and on about it, so let me just talk about two or three things I found interesting. First, the caste system. The Balinese are distinctly aware of their caste, and mention it without any hesitation. Our Driver/Guide introduced himself and then immediately proceeded to tell us he was of the Shudra caste. He then of course asked our caste, and my parents who have no clue about any of this, shrugged and said they don't really know and have never bothered to know. But even though the Balinese are aware of their caste, they have no issues with marrying into different castes. I find it funny that although caste does not have much relevance in their daily lives, they are always identified by it.

Second, the offerings and ceremonies. The Balinese make offerings at several times of the day, they pray several times of the day, they build houses in a way that one-fifth of their house is a temple, and most of their life is in and about the temple. Every birth, every death, every festival- has an expensive ceremony to be done. And yes I know, this is common in India too, but the intensity of it all is simply a lot in Bali. Spend a few days in Bali and just count the number of times your driver/guide/hotel guy mentions the word "ceremony."

The third thing I wanted to talk about is linked to the previous one. Our driver/Guide told us that in most villages in Bali, people were quite poor to afford ceremonies, that each cost a thousand US or two (about 5-10 million Indonesian Rupiah). So they have come up with ways to make them cost effective. Instead of toning down a funeral ceremony- what they do is bizarre. After a person dies, they bury the person the next day. Then they begin to save money. After about two years, when they have saved enough, they remove the body from the ground and hold a cremation ceremony in all its grandeur. (Funerals are occasions of celebration- as now the person can be reincarnated- so there's lots of food, music, and grandeur). Sometimes, the entire village has a joint- funeral ceremony, where they cremate all those who died in the last two years. Sounds a little creepy right? But then cultures where there is a strong emphasis on the after life- reincarnated life, have always seen such rituals. Remember the ancient Egyptians who began building a tomb the minute a new King took the throne?

Knock, knock. Who’s not there? Balasaheb

2009-10-13T23:40:00.005+08:00

Reproduced below is Aakar Patel's column on the Thackerays, published in the Hindustan Times on October 11 2009. (Original here) (I have italicized some gems in this column)

Few stand-up comics have been as good as Bal Thackeray, and none has cashed in on his talent more profitably. Armed with his lines, and little else, he built a party and made and spent billions. Elections are no fun without him, and he’s absent from the one in Maharashtra tomorrow, a dull event.
Eighty-four in a few months, Thackeray has been keeping indifferent health. He hasn’t spoken in public for two years. This year he skipped the annual Vijayadashami rally he has held since 1966. To last year’s rally he came but did not speak.
This is a loss for those who know Marathi and can enjoy him. He’s a truly great performer: understated in slapstick, always deadpan and with a rapper’s sense of rhyme. His response to why so much was being renamed after Shivaji: ‘Shivaji nahi tar kai Quattrocchi?’
From his Vijayadashami pulpit he revealed his view, often arrived at mid-speech, of Enron, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Friday prayers and atomic bombs.
On September 28, the Shiv Sena released its manifesto. It promised to finish a proposed Shivaji monument off Marine Drive in five years. A week later, in his newspaper Saamna, Thackeray described the idea of the monument as foolish. ‘Was one needed’, he asked, ‘when another stood just down the road at the Gateway of India?’ After Shivaji we have already renamed the Prince of Wales Museum, Victoria Terminus and the airport. As word spread, his son Uddhav said Thackeray had been misunderstood. But what’s possible also is that he wouldn’t have read the manifesto.
It is quite unfair to judge the Shiv Sena for its policies. It’s not that sort of political party. It has no caste base; it only has Thackeray and his utterings.
Most mornings, the news service PTI is kept busy with translations of Saamna’s editorials and interviews — the man most interviewed in Thackeray’s paper is Thackeray.
Thackeray demands this; Thackeray blasts that. It’s good copy, and easy to get because Thackeray has an opinion on a lot of things from the habits of middle-class Mumbaikars (always drying undies in their balconies, embarrassing Thackeray before his foreign guests) to diplomacy (why haven’t we obliterated Pakistan?).
Though these lines are delivered ex cathedra, they aren’t to be taken seriously. We know this because often the opinion is in street language and includes calling people names, like bhadwa (pimp).
People get fired up by this, but that’s only because they misunderstand Thackeray. In 2001, Shiv Sainiks burnt down the 400-bed Singhania hospital, killing two including a baby. The Sena hasn’t rebuilt it, but it did indicate that it was sorry.
The evidence shows that Thackeray doesn’t hate much. He dislikes Muslims, but sips warm Heinekens on his roof with Dilip Kumar.
He’s angry about Marathis being under-represented, but gives his Rajya Sabha tickets to Bengali Pritish Nandy, Bihari Sanjay Nirupam and Gujaratis Mukesh Patel and Chandrika Kenia. He rants against Western culture, but is ecstatic that Michael Jackson used his toilet (whether Jackson graced it with a Number 1 or a Number 2 we do not know).
Of late the joy has gone. The Sena has been out of power for 10 years. That’s a decade without cash, and it’s tough to nourish a political party without the income that ministries bring.
Parties cannot run on one-liners alone.
People who realise this bolt. His first deputy Chhagan Bhujbal left him in 1991, a second deputy Narayan Rane left him in 2005. When he put son Uddhav in charge, his nephew Raj left him in 2006.
Thackeray’s larger sorrow must be that his son doesn’t have his talent. Uddhav is what he appears to be: boring. He cannot speak lucidly, and is introverted. He likes to photograph wildlife, but hasn’t the patience of National Geographic. There’s a terrific picture of him shooting close-ups of a tiger that his chamchas are holding down with ropes.
Raj, on the other hand, is funny and charismatic.
A fine caricaturist like Thackeray, Raj is less surefooted on knowledge. On his site he has sketched Yeltsin and called him Brezhnev. He likes the gently menacing language of Ram Gopal Verma villains. His letters to shopkeepers warning them to change their boards from English to Marathi show this unexpected side. You could be taught a lesson, Raj says, ‘I will personally supervise this special tuition.’
We know that he certainly carries a big stick. When he was arrested last year, his party went berserk and killed people. Raj apologised, clarifying that these weren’t planned assassinations. So that’s OK then.
The Thackerays have communicated to India the image of the Marathi as sullen and hostile. This is incorrect. The Marathi is hardy, cheerful and relentlessly high-culture.
There isn’t reason for him to be resentful. Outsiders have helped built the economy of his great city. In the 19th century, Gujaratis built the stock market and in the 20th North Indians built Bollywood, employing lakhs of people.
They were able to do this because the British state guaranteed the trader rule of law, the filmmaker protection from moralists, and the citizen a monopoly over violence. We democratised violence and now any group can profess hurt, and beat up and kill.
The British built this city. Their talent was building institutions. Our talent is renaming things others built.
Our politics have always been rubbish. But with Thackeray at least we got entertainment. We don’t even get that now.
Aakar Patel is a Mumbai-based writer and businessman.

Although as I mentioned earlier, this column is pretty funny to read, and Aakar is pretty damn sarcastic, lets not get totally flippant about the politics of the country. Yes, caricaturization of our politicians is great fun, but dismissing Indian politics completely and saying that all our politicians are crap but oh well Thackeray was at least entertaining, and hence his "retirement" is such a loss, is a bit much. Its good to laugh at yourself when others are surely doing so, but its also good to keep in mind that the joke is on you. There are still stories of inspiration and good governance in this country. They maybe few and not so entertaining, but they exist.

And Mr Patel, as much as I like your humor and the way you bring out the sheer hypocrisy of the Thackerays and what they represent, I wish you would not enjoy it so much and forget that these people are out there campaigning for office, and THEY, themselves are the reasons why the politics of our country are, as you say, 'rubbish.'

Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali

2009-10-13T18:35:00.001+08:00

I have been informed that apparently I bring out emotions in Monkeys. Such fun.

See for yourself-

Since I only have the kit lens (thanks to being poor student on scholarship as opposed to soul-selling banker), I have pretty much no zoom. So all these photos were clicked at VERY close distances. I was pretty much within getting-my-nose-scratched-and-bitten range. Oh and it took like 30 minutes, a hundred shots, and like a thousand snapping sounds made by clicking fingers, and not to mention a lot of cooing sounds- to get these monkeys to emote and look at me and my camera lens.

On the other hand- the lady in the picture below was easy to click. All she did was sit down in the monkey forest. And I just happened to be there.

The rest of the photographs from Bali are slowly being uploaded on flickr here.

2009-10-02T23:44:00.000+08:00

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.

- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

2009-09-24T21:15:00.000+08:00

I have been meaning to write about this for a few days. So let me quickly make my point(s).

First, yes even I was shocked by the news. I thought I was reading the Onion. I agree he doesn't deserve it, its too soon, what has he done so far? But the Nobel Prize Committee has faltered before and will continue to do so.

Second, winning the Nobel puts Obama under more pressure, much more than he already is submerged under. He is cleaning up a mess, agreed, but now he is pressured not only to clean up the mess without making a new one, but also to look beyond just cleaning up. He now knows that in order to live upto his name and fame, he really does need to make a difference. His opponents of course scrutinize every move he makes and every word he says, but now his supporters are also watching, intently.

Third, a lot of comments (of the supposedly humorous kind) were circulating on the Internet pointing out that now getting a Nobel was so easy.
Example: What is the difference between a Google Wave Invite and a Nobel Peace Prize? Answer: Getting a Google Wave Invite is difficult.
Yep, funny I know. But also incorrect.

Obama winning the Nobel over ordinary people- who stood up against dictatorships, protested in Iran, fought for Burma's democracy, spoke and worked against human rights abuses all over the world, worked with refugees and victims of climatic catastrophes, went into Gaza during the Israeli offensive with aid and relief, or simply have spent every single day of their life helping others live better-; simply shows that praise, help, acknowledgment and acclaims such as the Nobel for the ordinary you and I- who might do actual things making a difference in small but real ways- is hard to come by. Whereas if you are the President of the United States, just plans and words of a better future are deemed enough to honor you with the greatest honor in the field that there is.

Put simply, Obama winning the Nobel just shows how much harder it is for the ordinary man, working for peace and a better life for those around him, to be recognized in a World full of flowery diplomacy and powerful figures.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

2009-09-24T21:13:00.000+08:00

The plan was to catch the author John Boyne at the Singapore Writer's Festival. However, they rescheduled events and I missed out. But I did manage to catch the free screening of the movie made from his book- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Based during the Second World War, the story looks at the holocaust from a child's perspective. Eight year old Bruno's father is in the Nazi military and as he gets promoted, the family has to move from Berlin to the countryside. What is never said, but is understood, is that he is to be in charge of a concentration camp (presumably Auschwitz).

Bruno is a funny, intelligent child who is bored within the four walls of his house, and in one of his "exploring" trips wanders to the fence of the camp meeting a Jewish child, called Shmol, imprisoned in the camp. A friendship forms between the two, and they meet regularly at the fence, where Bruno brings Shmol food, and they talk, and even find ways to play across an electric fence.

Although yes, historically this was not possible (as children that young were usually not working in concentration camps), the movie looks at the entire issue of the holocaust, of war, of death and the brutality human beings are capable of, from the innocent perspective of a child.

At a point in the movie, Bruno, who is a bored, restless eight year old with an active imagination, tells the Jewish child Shmol that he thought it was pretty unfair that he was out there alone, while Shmol had so many others to play with at the other side of the fence. You can't help but smile at the absolute innocence of his words and later his actions.

But between some heartfelt, funny moments; the severe and dark undertone of the movie and its tragic ending makes you shiver and shudder, repeatedly, and you feel both, thankful and sad, that children see things so differently from adults.

We all need a Hobbes, don't we?

2009-09-19T17:36:00.004+08:00

Worli Seaface, Bombay

2009-09-15T01:16:00.001+08:00

I took some photographs at Worli Seaface on my recent trip. I didn't think at the time that out of all the photographs I have ever taken, some of these would become my favorites. So I share =)

More photos are at Flickr.

2009-09-11T02:24:00.005+08:00

24 August 2009

People don't dance on these streets everyday. They don't drown themselves in color, and push idols of Ganesha in pick-up trucks to their homes, and eventually for immersion into the Arabian sea. Vehicle drivers do not stay silent, holding in their curses and their need to honk, everyday. But during the days of Ganpati, while a colorful procession passes by, with devotees singing, dancing, and taking their time as they head towards the sea, the traffic patiently waits and watches. If you visit Bombay during Ganpati, you see a dressed up city. You see a chaos that is distinct from the fast-paced everyday chaos where every hour is a rush hour, and everyone has not a minute to spare. You see a chaos where almost every person in the city, rich or poor, steps outside of the push and pull of everyday life, and either dances on the street, or patiently waits in his car for the dancing to finish.

Its funny how on one hand Bombay is not Bombay during Ganpati, but on the other, Bombay would not be Bombay without Ganpati.

View more photos on Flickr.

Is good Multiculturalism idealist nonsense?

2009-09-09T22:06:00.001+08:00

Multicultural (with respect to States, nations, societies) is an adjective that says that there exists a difference with regards to identity that exists within the noun. Multiculturalism then becomes the policies of the State that cater to the management of these differences or multi-cultures.

Countries such as France, have policies that ask an immigrant to meet the country half-way when he moves there. From immigrants to France, assimilation is expected. Different cultures and different immigrants must dissolve themselves into the State, and the State's culture (dominant culture) will exist as their culture. The State's history is their History. On the other end of the spectrum lie States like South Africa in the time of apartheid, that believe(d) in complete separation or segregation. Where not only policies but everyday society existed with definite boundaries between cultures. (I could also take this further and talk about Nazi Germany which believed in an extremist segregation turned into planned mass executions of the 'other' culture).

But in the middle of the spectrum lie states whose policies are those of integration. Integration is often referred to as liberal multiculturalism, and can be further divided into liberalism I (mild liberalism) and liberalism II (hard liberalism). Mild liberalism is often spoken with reference to America, where cultural differences are recognized but the State makes it clear that it will treat everyone equally, and it will not go out of its way to ensure the survival/preservation of a particular culture. Yes it sound perfectly nice, but I agree with Kymlicka (a scholar of Multiculturalism) when he points out that certain communities have been disadvantaged (for instance, the African Americans) and discrimination against them in recent history puts them behind others, right at the starting point of the race. In other words, a State cannot ignore the fact that there exist minority communities that might require more attention, simply because they were ignored (or even discriminated against), hampering their adequate (and equal) development.

Which then brings us to Hard Multiculturalism or Liberalism II, which States like Canada, Australia, and Singapore follow. A State with liberalism II policies ensures the survival of different cultures and makes policies keeping cultural differences in mind. It asks for the different cultures to preserve their uniqueness and allow for a system where cultures can be mutually tolerant and respectful, complementing each other and benefiting from each other. In States like Canada, a system of checks and balances installs itself giving every individual the right to exit his culture/community, which puts pressure on politicians and representatives of that culture to work not for themselves but for the people they stand for.

So if a State believes in integration, and implements Liberalist (Hard) Multiculturalism, it can allow for differences to exist, to prosper, and for a certain State Nationalism to exist alongside Multiculturalism, allowing for a conclusion that says good multiculturalism is not idealist nonsense.

And this is how the presenter in my Nationalism and Multiculturalism class concluded her monologue.

After which the professor looked at me, and asked me if AS ALWAYS I would like to point the rosiness of the argument in the theoretical and show that empirically the argument doesn't hold. And I did. I pointed out that firstly hard multiculturalism would hold if and only if a State was a properly functional democracy, and all cultures were represented well. Secondly, it would only work if the democratic system involved politicians who worked for their community not themselves. In other words in a system with minimal corruption, bureaucracy and a lot of transparency. Thirdly, if a government does make concessions for certain communities, the system would only work if these concessions would be implemented properly and effectively (for instance, instead of actual disadvantaged Scheduled Tribe members, middle class and even well-off people should not be flaunting their real or fake SC/ST certificates to get into colleges and jobs). Lastly, although the government might make good policies to deal with the differences, and say figure out ways to implement them well, there will always be people with grievances, who will go the "communal" route to gain support of fellow grievance-holders (because it IS a simple route!); and some culture or the other, at every point, will scream about the government's partiality to another.

So then is there anything called good multiculturalism? Will there ever be?

As I finished, my professor said I was much too cynical, and I must look at not what a State is today and how some idiot politicians have implemented perfectly good policies in perfectly terrible ways. But I should look at the principles on which a (my) State was founded, and what is aspires to be. Because with a solid foundation, things can change and they will. And although all backward classes may not be getting the opportunities that the government puts forth for them (thanks to both the non-backward classes with their fake stamps of backwardness and economically well-off "backward" classes who are not in any need of extra aid, but magically find their "backward" certificates whenever needed), the fact that some do is enough for us to not give-up and aspire for a system that gets better by the day.

I, however, am not sure I am convinced.

A year.

2009-09-02T18:25:00.004+08:00

Yesterday I completed a whole year at my current (first ever) workplace.
Yesterday I also had a sort-of breakdown about wanting to LEAVE this country. When I say leave I do not mean leave today, next week, or even next month. For me to leave in a year, there would be a need to apply to schools by the end of this year, and to think tanks by early next year. And for that I need to make up my mind now and figure out a plan now.

This job has its issues (and God Knows there are many), but this job has been a stepping stone, that has connected me to an entire pool of possibilities and has channeled my interests by letting me realize both- what I want, and what I definitely do not want. And now that I do somewhat know the direction, it is entirely upto me to step out of a comfort zone I always said I would never create, pack up and leave.

So here's to a year full of events/people that have on the one hand allowed me to find and define a comfort zone, and on the other hand made me hate the creation of that comfort utterly, leaving me in a state, where I am always looking to leave.

Surge in the Red Tide- Rise of Maoist Militancy in India

2009-08-31T18:54:00.003+08:00

Republished below, is a commentary I coauthored almost a month ago. The commentary went through a series of dramatic and annoying incidents during the writing, approval, AND publishing- and is finally out for circulation today. It can also be viewed at the RSIS website here, and the centre website here.

RSIS Commentaries are intended to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy relevant background and analysis of contemporary developments. The views of the authors are their own and do not represent the official position of the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU.

Surge in the Red Tide: Rise of Maoist Militancy in India

Sujoyini Mandal, Akanksha Mehta &. Kunal Kirpalani

31 August 2009

For eight long months prior to June 2009, members of the Communist Party of India- Maoist (CPI-M) ran a parallel government in Lalgarh, West Bengal with 1,100 villages under their control. Following their expulsion by paramilitary forces in an insurgency war, a formal ban has been imposed on the Maoists. Is India prepared to fight a long war?

FROM JANUARY to June 2009, India has witnessed a total of 1128 incidents of violence related to the Maoist insurgency affecting thirteen states in Central and Eastern India. The Maoist insurgency has, in these six months, claimed 455 lives of security officers and civilians.

Maoism or Naxalism (as commonly termed in India) started as a peasant movement in the 1970s, its namesake being a small village called Naxalbari on the border between West Bengal and Nepal. Today it is a movement aimed towards liberating the tribal population (who comprise approximately 9% of India’s population) from many years of oppression and current exclusion from modern India’s growth story. The Maoists, who unified under a single banner as the Communist Party of India-Maoist on 21 September 2004, have emerged as a formidable militant force and aim to form a Red Corridor through the heart of India --extending from Nepal in the north to Kerala in the south, covering 155 districts. Their most recent attack in Lalgarh, West Bengal has reignited efforts to counter the Maoist threat in India.

What fuels the movement?

Modern India represents two very different faces of development. India, the world’s second fastest growing economy, ranks 66th among the 88 countries surveyed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in the Global Hunger Index (2008). This is below Sudan, Nigeria and Cameroon, and slightly above Bangladesh. One of the worst hit in this ladder of deprivation is the tribal population belonging to the Maoist belt that faces stagnantly poor or barely improving standards of living. Unlike the better developed states, states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and others have not initiated effective land reforms, wide-scale industrialisation policies and poverty alleviation programmes.

These states are highly feudalistic, with landless peasant villagers comprising the bulk of the labour force, their numbers being greater than those in other states. Although these states are resource-rich and thus teeming with economic activity, socio-economic exploitation by the state governments and various business enterprises deprive the villagers of any economic benefits from these resources. There have been cases in which several employees of local state-run agencies are in cahoots with the Timber mafia (who control much of the timber industry in these regions).

The Timber mafia, alongside renowned business houses, is known to expel peasants from their land, extort money from them, and enslave them as bonded labourers. This exploitation is not limited to the timber industry; it is also present in the mineral mining industry and in agriculture. Many times, the local police collaborate with these parties, inflicting human rights abuses on the villagers instead of protecting them from these injustices.

Consequently, these states have become the most backward, underdeveloped, and impoverished States in India, with more than a third of their populations living under the poverty line.

What is the current conflict?

The Maoist insurgency captured headlines with the Lalgarh incident in West Bengal recently. In November 2008, the foundation for a Jindal Steel plant was laid at Shalboni in West Bengal. The convoy of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Central Minister Ram Vilas Paswan was attacked on their return from the foundation ceremony. The CPI-M took responsibility of this attack, saying that it did not support the construction of a steel plant on tribal land. Since then, the Maoists have stood alongside tribal villagers and have formed a “liberated, anti-capitalist” zone in Lalgarh, West Bengal. In June 2009, the central government of India launched Operation Lalgarh to reclaim the areas infested by Maoists and to flush out the Maoist militants from Lalgarh and its surrounding areas.

Response

One of the earliest responses to counter the movement was introduced by the Chhattisgarh government. Termed as Salwa Judum (literally, ‘purification hunt’; euphemistically referred to as ‘peace campaign’), the movement was introduced by the Chhattisgarh government in June 2005 to arm local tribals against the Maoists. However, since the Maoists were also arming the tribals to gain tribal support, the result is a pseudo civil war in Chhattisgarh, leading to large-scale denouncement of the movement.

After the Lalgarh operation, the central government announced its plans of a coordinated and organised operation in all the states affected by Maoists, so that Maoist militants do not find escape routes in neighbouring states.

The Union Home Minister then imposed a formal ban on the Maoists under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in West Bengal. By this act, the CPI-M joins the 30 banned outfits among which are Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Student’s Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). Thus the current government has classified this highly complex issue as a law and order problem. By doing so and by clubbing the Maoists as “terrorists”, the government has infested these Maoist areas with state forces, paramilitary forces, and police, further isolating the people and their problems.

With increasing militarisation of the problem, one gets a sense of déjà vu as the Indian government seems to be prioritising hard measures rather than a healthy combination of hard and soft measures to tackle the roots of the crisis. Soft measures are especially important as the Maoists enjoy considerable public sympathy and support.

Not just that, the main opposition party in West Bengal -- the Trinamul Congress (TMC) -- is also supportive of the rebels’ cause. Simply banning the outfit would imply giving a free hand to the ruling political party to curb dissidents in the state in the name of rooting out terrorism.

Termed as the ‘biggest internal security threat’ by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as far back as 2006, the government has witnessed increased sophistication in the Maoist attacks in terms of tactics, targets and area of operation -- from the rural to the urban areas. While the Indian government focuses on combating Islamist terrorism, this ‘people’s movement’ is getting increasingly bloodier by the day. The time has come for the Indian authorities to wake up to the reality of red militancy in India and devise a comprehensive solution that includes both hard and soft measures to combat the roots of the violence, not the violence alone.

Sujoyini Mandal is an Associate Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University where Akanksha Mehta is a Research Analyst. Kunal Kirpalani is a student of International Relations at the Australian National University (ANU) and is currently interning at RSIS.

District 9

2009-08-28T19:41:00.004+08:00

District 9 is the best alien movie I have ever seen. I guess mainly because it wasn't really about aliens but was more of a social commentary touching upon issues of racism, violence, class, and the evolution of any given society into something with both good and bad segments.

With evictions, settlements, concentration camps, detention, torture, weapons, illegal trade, medical experiments, violence, being repetitive themes, I couldn't not think of Israel- Palestine, treatment of Muslims today, of Iraq, of the Holocaust, of racism, of so many other incidents of violence, and of how many people die in these conflicts and more, every single day.

It is both, tragic and brilliant, that it took aliens and space ships to create a hard hitting social commentary that brings out effectively what man is doing to man, and as the ending shows, what man will continue to do to man.

Full Circle

2009-08-26T23:29:00.009+08:00

I visited Delhi properly after five years. When I lived there I was a child, and when I visited I was a foolish, young, college student, who had no answers to questions about her "future" that relatives who fussed over her asked. But here I was, all grown up, with a job and such, somewhat clearer of the choices I had made, and the choices I plan to make, visiting the grandparents whilst I was in the city for a conference on Regional Security and research work on Hindutva and the Naxals.

Delhi seemed strangely the same as it was years ago. I guess when your grandparents have lived in the same house for 40 years, with the same neighbors, the same maid, the same lady who irons their clothes, it is but natural to feel like you have walked into something you have known all your life. Everything about their house felt familiar. I could see the showpiece that my sister had chipped in the corner, still lying on one end of the living room, right next to the Krishna-Radha idol that the neighbors had given them so long ago. I could still see the pigeons outside the window in the corridor, and I could still hear the voice of Chaudhary Aunty who still lives downstairs. My grandfather still called everyone "bhoodambedal" (Persian for "ullu"), and he still repeatedly muttered to himself, "kis kis ko sunaoge, kaun sunega?" while insisting that he never learned how to write Hindi, and stuck to Urdu and Persian. My grandmother also was still the same, talking of the same things, with the same friends, in the same living room.

Caught in that familiarity I did not quite understand how big the changes had been. How old my grandparents had become, how tall my cousins had grown, how Chaudhary Aunty's dear dog Shampi had died, how Aarti Aunty had become the Mayor of New Delhi, how the neighbor's grandkids- Manu, Tejasva, Akanksha, and Arjun had all become so grown up and were studying outside of Delhi, how the park across their house (where my aunt got married!) had lights and a brand new gate (courtesy dear Mayor Aunty!), how casually my aunt offered to fix me a drink, and how easily my grandmother spoke to me off my live-in relationship and where it was headed, and attempted to understand why I had chosen to study "social sciences" and "politics" when I had the "brains" to study science.

Between the familiarity of my grandfather's stories of his days in London and his migration to India from Sialkot, Pakistan, and my days full of work and such, I understood one afternoon the comfortable enormity of how much familiar-things had changed. On that afternoon, I stood in the kitchen attempting to show off my cooking skills, while my grandmother who no longer cooks, sat on the steps opposite the kitchen, chit-chatting and keeping me company. The same steps, where as a child I sat, chit-chatting and keeping her company, while she, on hot summer afternoons, tossed cumin and mustard seeds into hot oil.

Ramadan at the Big Picture

2009-08-23T20:55:00.002+08:00

As usual The Big Picture on the Boston Globe has some excellent photographs of the beginning of this month, from all over the world. Some of them from Palestine and other places are below, while the rest can be found here.

The Dome of the Rock, or Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah, one of the holiest sites in Islam, is seen on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem through festive lights for Ramadan on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A man takes a nap in between prayers at a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 22, 2009. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)

A Palestinian woman walks near the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's old city where traditional festive lights are displayed ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on August 20, 2009. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

A cannon fires as part of the ceremony that ends the second day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, outside Jerusalem's Old City Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A Palestinian boy plays with a sparkler on the eve of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Gaza City on August 21, 2009. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

62 years of an Independent Nation-Sate

2009-08-20T00:56:00.006+08:00

"Everywhere young people are talking about independence. About the struggles of the nation during independence. The biggest of them all was the partition. It is us, the people of Punjab , who lost everything we owned, who lost our family, who avoided being killed by hiding, who walked hundreds of kilometers to be in this new free country, and listened to the All India Radio's announcement of names of people who had safely made it to India, counting our family members and blessings. It is us who struggled."

- My grandfather on his migration from Sialkot to Jammu and then Jalandhar in August 1947.

The question of why Pakistan was created is complicated. There was an element of Hindu Nationalism, there was some Muslim solidarity, and the rest was power politics. But the histories, especially oral histories of the people who saw it and lived through it, are the most important, because that one migration has affected everything, and we need to know what they saw, and what they felt."

- Dr. U.B. A famous scholar of Women Studies, Partition, Hindu Right in South Asia, now leading a feminist publishing house.

"Look at what is happening today. The left wing feminist types are isolating the Hindu Right as their case study. What about women in Naxal violence? What about the three women who hacked their rapist to death outside the court? Is that violence okay? Violence in any form is a crime, and this country needs to identify that. When the poor kill, or when the naxals kill it is just as not okay as when the hindu right wingers kill"

-Dr. M.P.K. A famous scholar of development studies, gender studies, violence in South Asia, now working with a development think tank.

"RSS, VHP did not destroy the Babri Masjid. They went with hammers. They had no plans to do that. It was Lord Hanuman who asked them do it. He made the support structure weak, such that the mosque fell. It was the High Court's delay in ruling about the Janabhoomiand Lord Hanuman."

-A family friend, who has been in the RSS since he was 12, and is very highly involved with both VHP and RSS, a pure Hindu Nationalist.

"We talk about Development, about changing things. How are we to do that? The deficits in our defence, our education, our civil services are so high that where do we even begin? Development has become a theoretical idea. Some say security is only 10% important, others say it is 90% important. The point is whether it is 10 or 90, it is the FIRST 10 or 90. percent Development will only begin to happen when there is security."

-Dr. A.S. A philosopher turned journalist turned famous policy, security analyst.

"No one can understand what we went through. No amount of reading and listening will tell you how we felt when this nation was created. How looking at trains full of dead bodies, and leaving your home and belongings, and running with your family felt? And how it felt to be free of the British inspite of all the blood around us? No one will ever know. Only those who lived through the partition will understand what happened when India and Pakistan became free nation-states"

- My grandfather

Note: All of the above quotes are parts of longer discussions which will eventually be developed into both academic and personal writing.

No, it doesn't matter where you have been.

2009-08-18T00:41:00.000+08:00

The two days at home have made me realize how thankful I am that no matter how many months or years pass, and no matter how infrequent the phone calls and emails become, there exist people, with whom I can pick up where I left off, and continue to have the closest and deepest of conversations, without any notions of the time in between.

Leonid Afremov

2009-08-17T00:00:00.000+08:00

Leonid Afremov is a Belarus born, Israeli modern painter who creates unique landscapes, cityscapes and figures using a palette knife rather than a brush to paint.

I think the pictures will do the rest of the talking.

More work by him can be found here.

The Wrestler

2009-06-25T00:28:00.002+08:00

Have you ever seen a one trick pony
In the field so happy and free?
If you’ve ever seen a one trick pony then you’ve seen me
Have you ever seen a one-legged
Dog making his way down the street?
If you’ve ever seen a one-legged dog then you’ve seen me

Then you’ve seen me,
I come and stand at every door
Then you’ve seen me,
I always leave with less than I had before
Then you’ve seen me,
Bet I can make you smile
When the blood, it hits the floor
Tell me, friend,
Can you ask for anything more?
Tell me can you ask for anything more?

Have you ever seen a scarecrow filled
With nothing but dust and wheat?
If you’ve ever seen that scarecrow then you’ve seen me
Have you ever seen a one-armed man
Punching at nothing but the breeze?
If you’ve ever seen a one-armed man then you’ve seen me.

These things that have comforted me,
I drive away
This place that is my home
I cannot stay
My only faith’s in the broken bones
And bruises I display

Have you ever seen a one-legged man
Trying to dance his way free?
If you’ve ever seen a one-legged man
Then you’ve seen me.

When Randy-the Ram leaps over the ring, performing his "Ram Slam," his arms widely outstretched, his face full of pain, anger, and excruciating effort, the screen goes dark and we hear the above lyrics in Bruce Springsteen's voice.

Did he die? Was that a final leap of death? Did his heart, whose beat echoed alongside the cheering for Ayatollah, his competitor, give up on him? Or did he win and live? And if he did live, how long could he have gone on living the way he was?

The Wrestler leaves you staring at the screen, asking for another glimpse into Randy's life, while at the same time, sitting heavily grounded, numbed by what you have just seen and hoping that this was it. As Bruce Springsteen sings about the One Trick Pony, the ugliness of Randy's existence is summarized.

But even as I think about the selfishness of a wrestler who made it big, whose youth and fame gave him an excuse to sever all emotional ties with the few who cared about him, and to abuse the very body that gave him the power to make that excuse; I can't stop myself from pitying the old man that he had become. The crippling drug filled body, the loneliness, the penniless-ness, the homelessness, the need for him to connect with his daughter, to seek companionship, and to come back to wrestling- which was the only thing that gave him the centre-stage and made him who he was- all were a product of his choices and the reckless self-abuse of his fame. Yet when I saw him suffer, I cringed. When children in the trailer park surrounded him, full of awe, when he met and connected with his daughter, I felt like he deserved this happiness. When he worked in the supermarket- a fallen hero- only to explode in frustration and fury that inflicted physical wounds to himself and symbolized the mental wound that he had become, I understood his violence and the turmoil behind it. And when things begin to fall apart, I hoped sincerely that they wouldn't.

The Wrestler chillingly tells you the tale of a broken man, who woke up one day to realize that he was old, alone, and no longer had the luxury of a life that awaited him. It tells you the story who a man who kept making mistakes without realizing that he was running out of time to correct them. It tells you the story, of the one trick pony, the one legged man, who had in the exhilaration of his fame, and the promise of the many years to come, severed the other leg- and was now caught with one last twisted but needed chance to show the only trick he had ever known.

And thus Randy-the-Ram, in his last chance stood on the ropes of the ring, larger than life, and then disappeared into the darkness of the screen- into nothing, as if the answers to the questions about the outcome of this leap were of no consequence- to him, or, to me.

Does Amir Kasab deserve a fair and free trial?

2009-06-20T23:01:00.001+08:00

Reproduced below is a commentary I co-authored in April about Kasab's then-impending trial. It is also available at the RSIS website, here, and at the Centre website, here.

41/2009

RSIS COMMENTARIES

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

THTHE MUMBAI ATTACKS

Does Amir Kasab deserve a free and fair trial?

Akanksha Mehta and Arabinda Acharya

28 April 2009
The trial of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has begun after a series of delays that stemmed from the continuing debate on Kasab’s right to a fair trial.

THE TRIAL of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist involved in the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai in India, has become embroiled in a series of controversies and legal impasse. Since his capture, there has been a nation-wide debate as to whether Kasab deserves a fair trial or even a trial in the first place. The lawyers willing to defend Kasab, including those appointed by the court, have faced much anger, protest, and even intimidation from the members of the public.

However, such emotional outbursts should not be stretched to undermine the criminal justice system in a country. India must ensure that Kasab gets a free and fair trial. A fair trial is the only way to ensure transparency, which will uphold the highest traditions of justice. It is also in the interest of the country as India gets the opportunity to vindicate its claim of involvement of elements across its borders in the attacks.

No trial for Kasab

In November 2008, ten militants attacked several targets in Mumbai in a siege that lasted over 60 hours and killed 185 people, including 26 foreigners. Kasab, being the only perpetrator captured alive, became an integral clue in the investigation of the attacks. His testimony, documented in the official police reports, outlined the involvement of militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), and delved into the details of the planning and execution of the attacks.

Claiming that he is a Pakistani citizen, Kasab requested the High Commission of Pakistan in India to provide legal aid, a request that was not accepted. Under the Indian judicial system, as in many other countries, if the accused is unable to procure a legal counsel on his own, the court is required to appoint an advocate to represent him. During the remand proceedings, the court appointed Dinesh Mota to represent Kasab. Fearing public protest and outcry, Dinesh Mota withdrew from the case even at the risk of losing his licence to practice.

In December 2008, when advocate Mukesh Deshmukh offered to represent Kasab, workers from the Shiv Sena – a Hindu rightwing organisation- attacked his residence, forcing him to back out. Anjali Waghmare, the court-appointed advocate was also similarly intimidated. As Waghmare was removed due to a potential conflict of interest, the court then appointed Abbas Kazmi as Kasab’s counsel. Although the trial has now begun, emotions continue to run high, which may lead to further delays and disruptions.

Unlike in previous incidents, the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai have incited a significant amount of anger all over India. The modus operandi involving a 60-hour long battle during which the whole nation was traumatised, fuelled anger and hatred towards the perpetrators, buttressed by photographs of Kasab shooting indiscriminately at the railway terminal. Some in the public demand that Kasab’s crime was far too heinous to deserve a fair trial and that he should instead be “hung in public”.

Right to Defence

Although the anger and hatred towards Kasab is understandable, India, like any other civilised country has a functional judicial system in place, and it is expected that due process is maintained in the administration of justice. Under Article 22 (1) of the Indian Constitution, no person arrested in India shall be detained in custody without being informed of the grounds of his arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner. This provision has been reiterated in the national legal aid scheme.

Article 22 (3) of the Constitution says that clause 1 of the article does not apply to “enemy aliens”. Opponents of Kasab’s trial, therefore, argue that he does not require legal representation, or even a systematic trial. However, as India and Pakistan were not at war at the time of the attacks, Kasab cannot be classified as an “enemy alien”. Moreover, Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the right to life and personal liberty even to “non-citizens”.

Miscarriage of Justice

In a democratic country with an independent judiciary, denial of a fair trial even for a hardcore militant would result in miscarriage of justice. The militants who attacked the city behaved in a lawless manner. This does not mean that the victimised country and its institutions must behave in the same manner, which is what a denial of due process would mean. It must be understood that a fair trial does not decriminalise the serious offence that Kasab is accused off, but is an illustration of the correct establishment of internationally-accepted principles of natural justice.

The protestors also miss the point that it is absolutely necessary that Kasab gets a free and fair trial. In the absence of defence, the trial of the criminal would be one-sided leading to a denial of justice. As pointed out by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, if Kasab goes unrepresented in the trial, then the entire justice delivery system would be vitiated. This could provide Kasab with an opportunity to contest an adverse verdict on grounds of inadequate legalese and increase the likelihood of his acquittal by the higher courts on that ground.

Vindicating Cross-border Implications

The “evidences” that the Indian investigators have obtained from Kasab form the basis not only of the charges against him, but also of India’s claims of involvement of elements from Pakistan in the attacks. Perhaps for the first time, New Delhi has the opportunity to substantiate the cross-border implications of terrorist attacks. Even though India has provided documents evidencing the involvement of Pakistani citizens in the attacks, there is still an air of palpable deniability about the same across the border. If the trial is not seen to be fair, it would enable the skeptics to reinforce their claim that the whole Kasab issue is nothing but India’s smear campaign against Pakistan.

Kasab’s statements, recorded by the investigators, need to pass the judicial scrutiny in order to be acceptable. Already, there are indications that Kasab is likely to retract his statements and claim that these were obtained under duress. It is now left to the court to determine the probationary value of these statements. That is possible only when due process is observed during the trial. Failure to do so would subvert justice and undermine India’s diplomatic offensive against the “sponsors of terrorism”.

Akanksha Mehta is pursuing her Master’s in International Relations at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University where Arabinda Acharya is a Research Fellow. Both are Indian nationals and were part of the research team that visited Mumbai in the aftermath of the November 2008 attacks.