if Binayak sen is guilty of sedition, so am I...

Every time i wish to shed the negativism that has crept inside my thinking, opinion, writings regarding the state of my country, every time i wish to celebrate hope, development, something sad, outright disgusting crops up. I am ashamed, not only of my country's castrated judiciary, corrupt politicians but also of the shameless apathy of my countrymen.
67 year old Dr. Binayak Sen, working in rural tribal areas of Chhatisgarh for his entire life, was sentenced to life imprisonment, charged guilty of sedition for his alleged connections with the Naxalite movement. If being sympathetic to the movement counts as sedition, I openly proclaim that I am sympathetic too. I might not agree to the means the movement has adopted, but that does not make me a lesser advocate of the goals the movement began with. If violence is what the Naxalites are condemned for, the injustice and violence on the part of Government and Police are no less condemnable. And if I need to choose, i would choose the Naxalites as the lesser evil of the two.

Meenaxi: A Splash of Colours

Recently I watched the movie Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities. Brilliant narrative and innovative story-telling. But, what appealed the most was a riot of vibrant, bold colours. It seemed as if M.F.Hussain's Canvas has been re-incarnated accompanied with words and melodies...
The gold ochre landscapes of Rajasthan with paintings in black etched on them.And then comes the splash of colours- Azure Blue, Carnation Pink, Vermilion and Scarlet Red, Bright Aureolin Yellow and Emerald Green....as if rose in rebellion against the scorching Sun and carvings in Sandstone. The story returns to Hyderabad where the Colours get saturated...Azure becomes Prussian, Carnation turns Cerise and  a dash of Burgundy added to Vermilion. As the story moves to Prague, the colours become polished, a layer of gloss gets added and the canvas turns Satin.


We can definitely talk about a woman's assertion of individuality, trying to break free from the story and breathe her own tune. We can also talk about a writer's dilemma of knowingly mutating his own creation and watching helplessly as the story revolts within him.We can lament over the fact that the movie was withdrawn from the theatres in the same week as its launch after some Muslim Ulemas protested against it. 


But, let's leave all that for some other discussion...let us just celebrate colours this time...

for Srujanika...yet again :)

'Khelein hum Jee Jaan se', a movie on Chittagong uprising...
Bad acting, certain obvious flaws but still a commendable effort in terms of telling a not so celebrated but important story. A story about unsung heroes, school going children who achieved remarkable feats and youth that plunged into the unknown, without caring for consequences. The story speaks volumes about a generation that pursued the goals it believed in with a single minded focus and a generation for which the term 'calculated risks' did not exist.

'Gandhi was assassinated because he agreed to partition.'...'Chinese are shrewd and cruel people'...'Communism    means to oppose any development initiative'...'Nehru and his policies screwed India'...

At times, it occurs to me that we live in a world where everybody has an 'opinion' on everything, or rather i should say 'an expert opinion'

When I was a child, the first 'big' story book I came across was 'Ramcharitmanas'. When my grandfather handed it to me, he remarked that Goswami Tulsidas decided to pen this epic after 20 years of dedicated research and study of several great works of Hindu mythology. 'He took 20 years to start writing? Must be a really dumb fellow!' Thats what I felt at the age of eight....

I still do not consider 'Ramcharitmanas' a literary marvel, probably because of my antipathy towards Ram or because the style of writing does not appeal to me in the same way as do those of Kabir, Meera or Raheem, the other contemporaries of Tulsidas. However, I can never deny the fact that not only Ramcharitmanas is the most celebrated and revered epic poem of all times but also it revolutionized several facets of religion and literature by making both of them accessible to the masses. Moreover, it is undoubtedly the most loved work of literature in the country. 

Creating any such phenomenal work seeks countless years of perseverance,  seeks a thorough study of the subject and seeks humility to know more, understand better. 

"Swantah sukhaya Tulasi Raghunath Gatha" (I have sung this song of Lord Ram for self satisfaction). These words speak of humility borne out of knowledge and it is this humility where the poet's greatness lies.

The question is, Can we bring about an constant thirst for perfection that does not allow us to settle for something mediocre or shallow? Can we bring about the same urge for knowledge, an eye for every minute detail, a continuous pursuit for excellence, in everything we do, opine or ideate?