Red Jihad: Battle for South Asia - The doomsday conspiracy

Dan Brown got inspired to write his debut novel ‘Digital Fortress’ (1998), in which protagonists raced against time to save the world from a possible annihilation, after the thrill he felt upon reading Sidney Sheldon’s ‘The Doomsday Conspiracy’ (1991). 

It is a similar thrill that Sami Ahmad Khan tries to generate in his debut novel ‘Red Jihad’. To a Stanley Kubrick fan, this novel might seem a rip-off of his cult movie ‘Dr Strangelove’ (1964), itself based on a novel, ‘Red Alert’ (1958). 

It’s year 2014; India and Pakistan are moving away from external prejudices and trying to set their house in order by throwing the Naxalites and jihadis within their respective countries into the abyss. To resurrect themselves, India’s biggest threats to internal security come together to take over the national defence agency’s research centre and unleash Pralay, India’s just developed experimental intercontinental ballistic missile, on the subcontinent. Things get murkier as the plot unfolds. 

Sami keeps readers on their toes with a fast-paced narrative. A few interesting ideological discourses, now and then, add weight in terms of substance. Some characters are painstakingly introduced, only to be killed the next moment in order to accentuate the ‘shock factor’. 

The same meticulousness, however, is absent in case of many characters who play much more significant roles. Use of technical jargon, especially related to defence equipment, without proper explanation, also leaves the reader stranded at times. 

Nevertheless, Sami’s sound hold on language and a decent research, other than the underlying suspense and twists in the plot, make 'Red Jihad' a good read on a lonely night or a boring train journey. 

Image Courtesy:

http://karma-and-some.blogspot.in

Murder in Amaravati - A promising start

A murder, a string of suspects and an unlikely detective trying to solve the jigsaw puzzle by putting together the right ‘motive, means and opportunity’ for each suspect; the plot is not new but the way debutant novelist Sharath Komarraju has dealt with it, makes Murder in Amaravati a pleasure to read. It’s that kind of novel that you pick up and finish in one go, thanks to its short length and lucid language. 

The victim in the story is Padmavati, the village hostess, or prostitute if you would like to say, of Amaravati village in Andhra Pradesh. Her body is found in the locked temple of Kali, situated next to the old banyan tree, in the center of the village. Venkat Reddy, the head constable, who would have otherwise dismissed the case as a suicide, takes upon himself to get justice for the innocent looking deceased. 

As he investigates, many skeletons come tumbling out of the cupboard and the list of suspects keeps increasing, frustrating Reddy and absorbing the reader further. 

The priest, Krishna Shastri, the only one with a key to the temple; the village headman, Seetaraamaiah; his son, Kishore; the village postman, Satyam; his wife, Lakshmi; and the wheel-chaired Shekhar along with his wife Vaishnavi, who recently shifted to the village; are all the witnesses and suspects in the case. 

Though it is a suspense thriller, Sharath has left no stone unturned to give it an aesthetic value too. The life in village of Amaravati is described in detail, so have been all the characters. The comparison might seem too flattering, but in parts the story gives a ‘Malgudi Days’ feel. 

Once the reader knows about all the characters and their lives; they can empathise with them, and their respective motives become clearer; only to be falsified by subsequent revelations. 

However, in certain instances, the detailed characterisation also backfires. While the reader knows that a certain person cannot be the culprit due to the details already provided, Reddy is still shown groping in the dark. Such a narrative steals a certain element of surprise, especially in the case of one of the central character. 

Nonetheless, the author needs to be commended for making sure that no loose ends are left as each aspect is explained in detail during the climax. Moreover, the twists and turns ensure that the reader keeps second-guessing throughout the novel. However, Sharath has succeeded in staying a step ahead of the readers. 

Though I got my copy for free, the novel has been priced tad too high for its genre. There is no doubt that the novel is leagues ahead of the novels being churned out by the wannabe Chetan Bhagats, however, its price of Rs. 250 will only make it more unlikely for the readers to try it out. It will be a pity if readers miss out on this promising debut attempt of Sharath because of this sole reason.

Update: Sharath has been kind enough to provide the first two chapters of the novel free for download. I hope this review and these chapters make your decision easier. Happy Reading!!!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Image Courtesy:
http://manjulindia.com

Hindutva's Orwellian Agenda

Control over the past is “more terrifying than mere torture and death,” writes George Orwell ([1949] 2006, p.28) in his dystopian novel, Nineteen-Eighty Four.

Orwell in this novel ridiculed all the ‘totalitarian nightmares’ for manipulating history. He particularly derided the ruling Party’s slogan: 

Who controls the past controls the future: 

Who controls the present controls the past.

“The monopolistic nation states and ‘powers that be’ do not like plurality as it threatens the uniform worldview they want citizens/subjects to hold. Totalitarian regimes were the worst culprits in this regard”. (Yadav, 2002)

According to Heywood (2007, p.217), “totalitarianism is an all-encompassing system of political rule that is typically established by pervasive ideological manipulation (italics mine) and open terror and brutality.”

Nineteen Eighty-Four (first published in 1949) tells the story about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchic dictatorship of the Party. Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. This is accomplished with a political system named English Socialism (Ingsoc), which is administered by privileged Inner Party elite. Yet they too are subordinated to the totalitarian cult of personality of Big Brother, the deified Party leader. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a member of the Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth, which is responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. His job is to re-write past newspaper articles so that the historical record is congruent with the current party ideology.

This novel popularised the adjective Orwellian, which refers to “official deception, secret surveillance, and manipulation of the past (italics mine) in service to a totalitarian or manipulative political agenda” (see Wikipedia, Nineteen-Eighty Four).

Orwell writes “The mutability of the past is the central tenet of Ingsoc. Past events, it is argued, have no objective existence, but survive only in written records and in human memories. The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon. And since the Party is in full control of all records and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the past is whatever the Party chooses to make it”. (Orwell, op.cit., p.181)

“[B]y far the more important reason for the readjustment of the past is the need to safeguard the infallibility of the Party. It is not merely that speeches, statistics, and records of every kind must be constantly brought up to date in order to show that the predictions of the Party were in all cases right. It is also that no change in doctrine or in political alignment can ever be admitted. For to change one's mind, or even one's policy, is a confession of weakness”. (Ibid., pp.180-181)

Various regimes have adopted this technique of manipulation of history to strengthen their hold on the subjects.

So, Napoleon entrusted the administration of history writing to his Minister of Police. He is also reported to have told this minister that the past be treated in such a manner that anyone who reads that history heaves a sigh of relief on reaching 'our rule' (Gooch,1956 cited in Yadav, 2002).

Similarly, Hitler declared that the more urgent goal of history lay not in the 'objective presentation' of facts but in instilling national pride and in recalling the growth of the united nation due to the efforts of German heroes like Charlemagne, Luther and Bismarck topped by Hitler himself. Consequently, Hitler also erased the French Revolution from the curriculum to prevent the German students from turning into democrats (Southgate, 1996 cited in Yadav, 2002).

Ideologically motivated history was also the norm in USSR. For example, in late 1920s the role of Trotsky was eliminated from narratives of the Great October Revolution, a historical manipulation satirized by George Orwell in his famous novella Animal Farm (1945). This was the result of his questioning the Stalin regime - whether the policy of the Soviet socialist rule was a dictatorship of the proletariat or a dictatorship over them? (Stern, 1970 cited in Yadav, 2002)

The educational establishment in India under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition rule from 1998-2004 also set out on a similar agenda of manipulating history.

---

This is the introductory chapter of my dissertation submitted at Asian College of Journalism. The whole document can be read here - 

http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/87359157?access_key=key-1sojlhccdpulsjhursb4

You can read George Orwell's  Nineteen-Eighty Four here - http://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/english/en_p_1

Image Courtesy:
http://www.extremetech.com

The King of Dystopia

Originally published at The Mind Blogglers.

Whenever I come across a news report about some new political scam or scandal which is pretty regular these days, I wonder if it is the ignorance of the masses that is allowing the political elite to indulge in such rampant corruption and malfeasance. Is India or even the world at large moving towards the dystopian society envisioned by George Orwell in his novel Nineteen Eighty Four?

In this novel, Orwell had described an Oligarchic dictatorship which borrows its stability from three basic tenets; one of these being - 'Ignorance is Strength'. Through pervasive government surveillance and incessant public mind control, the ruling ‘Party’ is able to subjugate the individual and manipulate humanity, hence strengthening its own domain.

It will be far-fetched to compare the present society with the society projected by Orwell; however the way things are going, the Orwellian conception remains still relevant and is a prism to the ill-fated consequences of a society that lacks democracy and free will.

Born in India as Eric Arthur Blair to a civil servant father in 1903, Orwell found the inspiration for his writings from his own life experiences. These included an early childhood in London, education in a missionary school, policing in Burma, his bohemian lifestyle in Paris, seeing the hardships of economically depressed North England, the participation in the Spanish Civil War and many other experiences which gradually developed in him a “natural hatred towards authority”.

He mentions in his essay Why I Write that “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it,” evidently triggered by the Spanish Civil War and the increasing influence of Nazism and Fascism.

However, even his debut novel, The Burmese Days which got published in 1934, talks of the travails of a British subject in Burma disillusioned by imperialism and white domination.

It was his political satire, Animal Farm published in 1945 that brought him into limelight and for the first time prosperity in a life, otherwise filled with hardships. In a compact piece of fiction, he targeted the Stalin brand of Communism and was well appreciated in the West. The story revolves around a farm where animals take over control under the leadership of pigs but the leader gradually corrupts the socialist ideals on which their revolution was based.

However, Orwell’s concept of free will was not in consonance with the philosophy of another contemporary author hailed by the West, Ayn Rand. Both are known for their belief in individualism; however, while Rand stands for libertarianism, essentially a capitalist model, Orwell stuck to democratic socialism, a model of the welfare state which can be compared to Gandhian and Nehruvian socialism.

Despite this, several critics, particularly from the Left, accused Orwell of exploiting the street-folk, calling him a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing upper class intellectual posing as a revolutionary. However, Orwell withstood these criticisms and remained true to his convictions till the end of his life.

In his seminal work, Nineteen Eighty Four, published just before his untimely demise in 1950 due to an artery burst in the lungs, he once again brought to the fore the struggle between totalitarianism and an individual’s yearning to break the shackles imposed by it. Like most of his other novels, it had an unhappy ending where the individual finally succumbs to the system.

For this reason, Nineteen Eighty Four is usually categorized as a novel portraying political pessimism. However, it will be wrong to term his writings as pessimistic because Orwell preferred to stick to his conceived dystopian structures in order to make his argument against them stronger. Moreover, to consider it Orwell’s forecast of the probable future will be naïve as the author clarified it in a post-publication statement.

Just like the instability portrayed in his writings, Orwell had a rather unstable life. Growing up in the absence of his father, lack of resources in the family, a bitter school life, initial struggle to get his due as a writer, contracting tuberculosis and the subsequent deteriorating health and an unhappy married life, marked the forty seven years of his life.

However, his life did a great service to the literary tradition of that era and continues to inspire even today. According to Orwell, there are four great motives for writing; sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse and political purpose. He was honest enough to mention the first motive though his way of writing and prose was by no means elitist. However, the other dimension of egoism is to be remembered for our work. Orwell’s legacy can be gauged from the simple fact that ‘Orwellian’ is now a byword for any oppressive or manipulative social phenomenon opposed to a free society.

As far as the last two motives go, his later works that in addition to his novels include a number of essays, literary reviews, linguistic articles, anti-war propaganda and other journalistic endeavours in BBC, the Tribune, the Observer and other journals ensured that they served the political purpose and facilitated the historical impulse.

In fact, many of his observations hold a lot of historical significance as they portray how some of the societal structures haven’t changed much in all these years. For example, in his autobiographical essay, "Such, Such Were the Joys" published after his death in 1952, Orwell describes the education he received as "a preparation for a sort of confidence trick," geared entirely towards maximizing his future performance in the admissions exams to leading English public schools such as Eton and Harrow, without any concern for actual knowledge or understanding. The education reforms in India today are also addressing similar problems in our system of education.

As for the final remaining motive, only the man of his genius could make a twelve line poem Romance written during his stay in Burma and based on the negotiations of a foreigner with a local prostitute, seem so aesthetic. Sample it for yourself.

When I was young and had no sense

In far-off Mandalay

I lost my heart to a Burmese girl

As lovely as the day.

Her skin was gold, her hair was jet,

Her teeth were ivory;

I said ‘For twenty silver pieces,

Maiden, sleep with me.’

She looked at me, so pure, so sad,

The loveliest thing alive,

And in her lisping, virgin voice,

Stood out for twenty-five.

Image Courtesy:

http://www.guardian.co.uk

The Epic 'Untagging' Post - I

Irrelevant to this post, this image talks about my rising popularity. Men will be men, you see!

Jul 7, 2009; 04:45 a.m.

Finally, I decided to untag myself of all the tags that have accumulated since last 10 days or so. There are four in all but I'll be posting them all together; once they are done, in a day, in a couple of days, in a week or in a month, I have no idea! So I'll be applying a time stamp to each of them.

[Update (Jul 11, 2009) : I ended up posting only three in this post]

I hope they help you to know me better, i.e. if you decide to waste your time reading them ;)


Jul 7, 2009; 05:00 a.m.

TAG-I

This first one, rather the latest one is from Subhayan "Wrahool" Mukerjee, who tagged me on Jul 5, 2009.

1. How tall are you barefoot?
Just above 5'11''

2. Have you ever smoked before?
Tried half a dozen times just for fun sake.. Coughed at the very first puff every time :)

3. Do you own a gun?
Not a gun, but a pen. As they say, "A pen is mightier than the gun."

4. If you had a mental disorder, what would it be?
Blogging is one, I believe!

5. How many letters are in your crush's name?
No crush these days. Or maybe, if you consider Deepika Padukone, then the answer is 7. But she's not a serious one, like Kareena was till she chose Saifu over my cousin Shahid. Let it be, no crush these days only.

6. What's your favourite silly song?
My self written song - I wrote it when I was a kid, imagining Govinda and Karishma(she was not Kari's'ma back then) dancing on it- It went like

छोडूं ना, छोडूं ना,
मैं तेरा पीछा छोडूं ना।
मैं तेरा राजा, तू मेरी रानी,
आजा बनाएं इक प्रेम कहानी।

It would have been fun, if I could tell you the tune too:)

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Juice, i.e. if I wake up in the morning, which is rare.

8. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah Time! (Now that was at half past eight after a nap in the evening and TMKOC on Sab TV is on my must watch list.)

9. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
I wish I knew it for myself :(

10. Do you own a knife?
No, we employ our finger nails for cutting vegetables and stuff at home.

11. Name the last thing you have bought today.
Its been just 5 hours since the day started and I do not visit the market that late or should I say that early?

12. Name five drinks you regularly drink.
Water; Orange Juice, Guava Juice, Pomegranate Juice, Mixed Fruit Juice, Litchi Juice, in short any Real juice. Now, if you are waiting for Milk, Tea or Coffee, then I'll have to say that I don't drink them regularly. However when I drink milk, I prefer Cold Coffee. And yeah I drink soft-drinks only occasionally.

13. What time did you wake up today?
I haven't slept as yet! As for yesterday, it was half past one in the afternoon. Hopefully, I will beat it today;)

14. What song do you want played at your funeral?
I'll prefer none.

15. What song did you last hear?
Just went downstairs to watch T.V. Wasted some time watching a useless movie 'Iqrar by Chance' on Zee Premiere. Heard two forgetable songs in the process.

16. Favourite place to be?
Alone in my room.

17. Least favourite place to be?
Out under the summer sun.

18. Do you own slippers?
I neither walk barefoot at home, nor in shoes, nor in Gandhi chappals. In short, I do own slippers!

19. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs?
I have stopped thinking about that.

20. Do you burn or tan?
C'mon I am not a firangi.

21. Yellow and blue?
Sun and Sky

22. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Multitude of Songs!

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
A Ghost from the nearby cemetry. Chandigarh's oldest cemetry is situated less than a minute flying distance, i.e. if the spirits fly at a rate of about 60 kmph.

24. What's in your pockets right now?
Handkerchief on which I just unloaded. Want to see it?

25. Last thing that made you laugh?
I think some scene from Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah.

26. Best bed sheets you had as a child?
I didn't care!

27. Worst injury you've ever had?
Stung by swarm of bees back in kindergarten.

28. Do you wish on stars?
No, I wish on superstars!

29. What were you doing 1 AM last night??
Wasting my time as I am doing right now.

30. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
1 thought, 2 thought, 3 thought!

Cousin Shahid? You are still stuck at that answer, right? Well let me explain.

Shahid Kapoor's ex-step father; with whom his mother got married when Shahid was a kid and hence Shahid lived with them since childhood till he moved out and later his mother again got divorced; happens to be the son of my mother's sister's husband's mother's sister. So you see, Shahid is my cousin;)


Jul 8, 2009; 08:15 p.m.

TAG-II

Now coming to the second one, The 15 Books Tag. It was indeed the first tag I ever received. It is from Shilpa Garg from Jammu, who tagged me on Jun 26, 2009.

[Update (Jul 11, 2009) Shilpa has graciously included me among her bunch of F.B.'s, an abbreviation for Fellow Bloggers or as she puts it, Friends from the Blogosphere. Thanks a lot, Shilpaji.]

As an extra bit of information, Jammu is like a home away from home for me, being my maternal home-town. One thing I love about being in Jammu is hopping from one home to another; having so many uncles, aunts and cousins staying there in close vicinity. However, the thing I hate about the city is the long power-cuts which used to make my childhood summer vacations a hellish experience at times. Now, its been around three years since I visited but will be making a trip soon, hopefully.

Now coming back to the tag, the rules are;

"Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag up to 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose."

Here I go:

1. My Life - Bill Clinton (My favourite Non-Fiction)
2. Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Madela
3. Unfinished Revolution - Ajit Bhattacharjea (Biography of J.P., a great socialist.)
4. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown (My Favourite Fiction)
5. Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
6. Indira Gandhi - Pupul Jayakar
7. The Insider - P.V. Narsimha Rao
8. The Children of Cherry Tree Farm - Enid Blyton (My favourite Childhood Novel)
9. The Children of Willow Farm - Enid Blyton (Second in the series)
10. More Adventures on Willow Farm - Enid Blyton (Third in the Series)
11. Kalam Effect - P.M. Nair (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's days as the President.)
12. My Bleeding Punjab - Khushwant Singh
13. Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
14. Five Point Someone - Chetan Bhagat
15. Deception Point - Dan Brown

I jotted down the books randomly as they occurred to me. I might have failed to include some which I like more than some mentioned here. Moreover, I failed to mention the numerous Hardy Boys and abridged English Classics, I read in my childhood.
Read my post In the World of Words to know more about my love for books and a brief review of all the non-fiction books I possess (six of them have been mentioned in this list).

Jul 11, 2009; 11:30 p.m.

TAG-III

Now this happens to be the latest one, My Wishlist Tag, not one of the original 4 with which I started off this post four days ago. Since then, I've been tagged twice; luckily, one of them being the same as a pending one, hence, an effort-saver. This one is from Shilpa again and she tagged me just about 6 hours ago. The rules are;

So what you need to do is….Show us something you want, but would never spend the money to buy.

An easy one indeed. Of course, I want an intelligent, educated, beautiful and loving wife and I'll never spend money to buy her. I am quite unmaterialistic you see; so don't have cars, bikes, mansions, freaky gadgets or world-tours on my wish-list.

Now coming back to my wish, the next line is specially meant to impress my feminist readers; 'Women are not a commodity that can be bought or sold in the market.'

And now to impress my anti-feminist readers, I'll add; 'In the Indian society, its the men who have been reduced to a commodity, sold to the highest bidder.'

Anyways social jokes apart, if anything I'll spend to 'buy' such a prospective wife, then that will be my love and not money. So mushy mushy, right? As I am getting quite filmy now; I should end this tag here.
But before that, let me clarify, that unmaterialistic stuff was just for fun sake. In case you want to send any gifts, do not hesitate; you are most welcome.

Jul 11 , 2009; 11:45 p.m.

As I try to untag myself further, I have decided to post the three completed ones first. The other two (three pending with two of them being common) will be posted soon. After all why should I miss such an opportunity to increase my post count. Moreover, with two separate posts, there is a possibility of someone reading atleast one ;)

As for tagging further, I tag all those in my blog's followers list who end up reading this post because I believe these tags have been revolving within our bunch of F.B.'s for long now. So, if you haven't been tagged by any other mutual F.B. then consider yourself tagged by me.

For those who are not following me, start following and then get tagged;)
You can take up any one of the tag and do leave the link to your post once you publish it, in my comments' section.

Image Courtesy:
From Personal Collection created on http://www.photofunia.com/ (edited)

Parasitic Politics of Polarization

"A polarized city isn't necessarily a bad thing for a politician. Black or White."

These words are spoken by Marty Kaufman¹, a character in Barack Obama's 'Dreams from my Father' (the book I am reading these days), in context of Chicago of early 1980's.
However, isn't this statement true for the socio-political nexus of any place at any given time? Lets take a proximate example, that of India. Here the 'Black or White' can be substituted by 'Hindu or Muslim', 'Upper Caste or Lower Caste', 'Outsiders or Native' or by any such polarization and we are instantly reminded of the politicians and parties which made the best out of it.
Its not necessary that in a society polarized into two groups A and B, the politician has to be the member of the group A to win its loyalty. Even a pseudo-support can do. However, even if the support is genuine, it cannot be denied that the polarization helps him to create a vote-bank.
It is hard to find a much needed polarization along the lines of political ideology and we end up having elections fought on the platforms of Hindu Rashtra and Marathi Manoos among others.
Moving back to U.S.A., they have elections fought between the Democrats and the Republicans on the broad issues like 'for/against gay rights', 'pro-choice/pro-life abortion laws', 'progressive/regressive taxation', 'diplomatic/belligerent foreign policy' and 'gun-control/gun-rights' respectively. However, these issues remain epidermal and on seeing beneath, one can notice clear polarization based on socio-economic conditions.
So, while Democrats have a huge support of Black and Hispanic populations; the main-stay of Republicans are Whites. However, within Whites too, while religiously orthodox and the richer sections stick to Republicans, the educated liberals and lower-income voters converge towards Democrats.

***

However, who is to be blamed for this polarization, Politics or the Society?
It is like asking, "Who came first, the hen or an egg?"
Polarization has always been there, thanks to 'God' and 'Men' alike. So while God² decided to send his creations to the Earth in all sizes and colours, susceptible to polarization; His creation, the Men decided to compartmentalise themselves further on the basis of their belief system, occupation, birthplace, etc. This polarization is itself an act of Politics³, i.e. the competition between individuals or groups for power and leadership.
With time, Politics, i.e. the art and science of winning and holding control over a Government, was born and it very conveniently clung to this already polarized society like a parasite⁴. So while it fed upon it to prosper, it used all the resources available to aggravate the polarization and hence kept feeding itself and prospering in turn.
However, why couldn't the Society remove this parasite and throw it away? It was because the various sub-systems of the Social System like religious factions, economic groupings etc. benefited from this politics of polarization while the overall Social System degraded.
This is an ideal antithesis to the principle of Synergy⁵ where 2+2 becomes -5 instead of 5.
So Society at large allowed the Parasitic Politics of Polarization (the 3-P's) to prosper while some concerned individuals and groups sulked.
Continuing with this symbiotic⁶ analogy, we have an ideal example of Mutualism⁷ in politics of polarization too. It is the recent election drama enacted in Pilibhit constituency of Uttar Pradesh. While Varun Gandhi, the BJP candidate tried to garner Hindu support through his shameful vitriolic against Muslim brethren, the BSP government under Mayawati went overboard and booked him under N.S.A. to gain the appreciation and votes of Muslims. However, this turned out to be an antithesis to mutualism as Congress, another pesudo-secular party turned out to be a net-gainer in U.P.
Sadly, the distasteful concoction of these 3-P's seem perpetual. However, education can act as a great tool to erase polarization from an individual's mind and hence check the further degradation of Society at large. One hopes that a day comes when the reverse process of depolarization begins. However, to hope that this polarization will ultimately end one day is nothing but wishful thinking. Nonetheless, a dose of Empathic Libertarianism will definitely help.

Footnotes:

1. Marty Kaufman was the man who hired Obama to come to Chicago to work as an organiser in 1980's. In 2004, Obama revealed his true identity as Gerald Kellman.
2. By God, I mean the Source of Origin without any religious connotations.
   
3. The word politics can have two interpretations as already elaborated in the post. Firstly, in general terms, it stands for the competition between individuals or groups for power and leadership, without any specific relation to governance and public policy. Secondly, it stands for the art and science of government, of guiding or influencing governmental policy, or winning and holding control over a government.
4. Parasitism is a form of symbiotic relationship where one member of the association benefits while the other, known as host is harmed.
   
5. Synergy is a term used to define a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of individual parts.
6. Symbiosis describes a close and often a long-term relationship between different biological species.
   
7. Mutualism is another form of symbiotic relationship where both the members of the association derive benefit out of it.

Image Courtesy:
http://www.wvwnews.net/ (edited)

Of wars and awards

In brief..
In the last couple of weeks, busy with the preparations for my upcoming examination, I have being craving for some time to blog. Here 'some' can mean anywhere between 2-4 hours for a single posting. The previous post on Satyam took below half an hour as it had a very narrow scope. But the ideas which were coming in my mind these days needed more elaborate analysis and hence more time.
For example, my incongruent views on Palestine, Tamil Eelam and Kashmir issue. War has been raging in Sri Lanka and ceasefire was recently declared in Gaza but humanitarian crisis in both the regions are abundant. In the crossfire between the warring armies and the militant outfits, the price is paid by the innocent civilians. However, while I find myself sympathizing with the Palestinian cause, I am at least agreement with ‘L.T.T.E.'s struggle for Tamilian cause’ in Sri Lanka or for that matter coming back to India, Jihadist's call for azaadi in 'our' Kashmir.
At a first look these three issues seem very similar but on a closer look at the causes of origin, related ideology, methodology employed, overall organization and the leadership, one may unearth the differences. Even when such a deep analysis is undertaken by various persons, views bound to differ. On my behalf, with a caveat that neither my analysis is amateurish nor highly professional, I stand by my views that while the Jewish state of Israel is the real culprit in the Middle East crisis for last half a century, neither the present Sri Lankan establishment nor the Indian can be indicted on the remaining two issues respectively. However, my case is not that the Tamilian grievances or the Kashmiri grievances don't hold any weight but it is that those who claim to represent these grievances are only aggravating them.
Moreover, in the case of Middle East, Israel is being very adamant and with the backing of U.S. has chosen the path of belligerence instead of attending to the Palestinian grievances in an honest way. On the other hand, while Indian Government has been making democratic strides in Kashmir despite all the hurdles being placed by those from across the border, even the present Sri Lankan Government is waging the war to uproot the LTTE which has been fighting a loosing agenda having no connection to the genuine Tamilian grievances in the emerald island. Any work of reform is only possible when LTTE is wiped out of the the Northern and Eastern provinces.
What makes me say this needs a long explanation, a journey through the history of these three intriguing issues, for which I presently don’t have the time. So let’s keep it for sometime in future.
Now coming to another very hotly debated topic these days. What is it about India that the Westerners want to see? If the Bookers or Oscars are any indication to this, then definitely they love to see, read and thence award the wretchedness of India. Of course, I am pointing towards the two pieces of art, one literary which goes by the title 'The White Tiger' penned by Arvind Adiga and the other from the world of cinema which goes by the title 'Slumdog Millionaire' adapted from Vikas Swarup's 'Q&A' and directed by British director Danny Boyle.
People may accuse me of being too critical and ultra-nationalist, but believe me, I liked both the novel and the movie. The best thing about both is the way they have been woven. While the former is in the form of letters written by a 'rags to riches' Indian entrepreneur to Chinese premiere telling him the story of his journey from 'Darkness' to light, the latter shows the journey of a 'slumdog' from 'rags to riches' through a quiz game show. Both show the different shades of Indian reality like the caste system, communalism, shining metropolitans but ‘dark’ slums and villages, brothels, beggars, dirty politics, mafia, booming call centers, etc. in a unique fashion. Both are praiseworthy indeed.
However, my only question is why the Westerners only like to award the wretchedness of India. Again, I am not saying that they have no right to portray these realities. Danny Boyle as a British or Adiga as an Indian, both have the freedom to create whatever they want. Moreover what they have created portrays the truth. So my case is not against them. They are being awarded for their pieces of art and they do deserve it. However, I just get this feeling that Westerners tend to get very narrow about their view of East when it comes to appreciating its realities.
So they award a 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Last King of Scotland' when it comes to Africa, and 'The White Tiger' and 'Slumdog Millionaire' when it comes to India. They tend to have this impression that real cinema needs to be awarded, which is a good criteria indeed but why does the reality have to be wretched when the subject is India or Africa.
Again, I agree 'Slumdog Millionaire' is more about hopes and destiny of a young child and Boyle tried to capture that feeling through this portrayal. However, still I am apprehensive about the criteria used by the Westerners. Is it simply the quality of the art or the particular quantity, i.e., content that they like to see. Anyways keeping my apprehensions on hold, I must congratulate those behind the movie and wish them luck for Oscars.
It’s time to get back to some serious studies. I hope the next time I blog, I have ample time to treat my post in a better way. Adieu.

Images Courtesy
1. http://www.au.af.mil (original)
2. http://www.apha.org (edited)

In the World of Words

A flashback and the review of my humble book-collection

Reading has been my passion, if I might not be exaggerating, since I learnt how to read. Moreover before I learnt to read, I remember insisting my sister to read stories for me from ‘Chandan’ , 'Chandamama' or fairy tales kind of stuff, to much of her disappointment for she never liked reading anything outside her course books. My parents saw this zeal in me and introduced me to ‘Tinkle’. Growing up with Supandi, Shikari Shambhu, Tantri the Mantri, et al was great fun. Uncle Pai was a true hero for me. Alongside this weekly, my father also used to get S.Chand’s European Classics abridged versions for me from the Second Hand bookstalls. So I can proudly claim to have read Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and others extensively though in petite abridged form of course. This was definitely a great learning experience. Lives of 'Tom Sawyer' and 'David Copperfield' fascinated me, I sympathised with 'Huckleberry Finn' and 'Oliver Twist', and got saddened when 'Don Quixote' and 'Hamlet' died. Sometimes, I ventured out on the ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ and at other times I had to be content with going ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’. Well, I also hunted down the treasures of ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ and the ‘Treasure Island’ with quite an ease and a lot of fun.

Enid Blyton and her children stories, which I read in original form, were too mesmerizing. She had the ability to take you into that world of joy and adventure from where you never want to return. Her ‘Children of Cherry Tree Farm’ trilogy is definitely one of the best collections of children books.

Meanwhile as I was moving close to secondary school, I got another source for quenching my thirst in the form of my School library. Here, eventually my interest grew in the suspense and thrill genre when I lay my hands on Hardy Boys. I identified myself with Chet Morton, the closest buddy of the brothers and hence was always part of their adventure in the world of my imaginations. I remember returning home with the newly issued ‘Hardy boys’ novel having already read a chapter or two in my bus ride back home, gulping up the lunch and getting back into the reading mode till my mother pushed me out of the house, to play in the evening. Till, I got through my Matriculation, I had devoured dozens of Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Famous Five (Enid Blyton), Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Three Investigators’ et al.

My years in Senior Secondary never gave me a chance to develop my reading skills further, for in those two years, I was stuck in fat and ugly books of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Moreover, during the first year in the engineering college, I was so busy enjoying the new found freedom that I lost touch with that joy I used to have with Frank and Joe Hardys and others.

It was only when I brought home Hitler’s 'Mein Kampf' one day; out of curiosity of knowing the tyrant better, I finally had a reunion with my old passion. And with this I also had a major shift in taste from Fiction to Non-fiction. The book consists of two volumes (I have read only the first) written by Adolf Hitler in captivity during early 1920’s. It gives you a first hand experience of what was going through the mind of fuehrer which made him the man he was. There are parts where you are amazed at his intelligence and analysis through which he can convince you on things which are abhorable. No doubt, the book served as his propagandist tool in brainwashing thousands of Germans and arming them with guns pointing at their compatriots. However, if it were not for this autobiography, it would have been difficult to know him that well. I don’t think that a biography could draw such a picture, for it would have been totally subjective depending upon the author’s inclination.

So a question arises that what source should one refer to, in order to know a person better, a biography or an autobiography. As far as the former is concerned, I have read those of Indira Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narayan. Both, ‘Indira Gandhi’ and ‘Unfinished Revolution’ have been written by their close associates Pupul Jayakar and Ajit Bhattacharjea respectively. Moreover, I purchased both of them together. I got interested in knowing about these two antagonists of history on watching ‘Biography of Nehru family’ on ‘History Channel’ some years backs. In it there was reference to the Emergency period which made me yearn to know more. For me the rule of Indira Gandhi was quite foggy for all the developments like Emergency and Operation Blue Star tended to converge as I could not distinguish between them. After having read the two books, I was saner and I saw how, even a democracy can turn into autocracy thanks to the strong will of a person and her son, and the poor will of her sycophants. It was a disturbing but informative account. Pupul Jayakar though a close friend of Indira Gandhi is very objective in her narrative. On the other hand Ajit Bhattacharjea sticks to a positive narrative of his lead protagonist. Hence, it seems there are no dark shaded in JP’s life. That thing apart, life of JP is indeed inspiring. It is quite revealing that this true Gandhian had also taken to violent means to attain independence, earlier in his life. Though today, very few youngsters may know about him, but his legacy remains in the vast breed of politicians who nurtured under him. It has been aptly commented about him that he was the best Prime Minister that India could not have.

Coming back to the question raised earlier, I believe it depends upon the reader what he/she wants to know about the person. If you want to know all the facts about his/her life and are content with accepting his/her personality as drawn by the author, you may go for the biography. However, if you have the zeal to draw that picture yourself, only an autobiography with suffice. The difference may seem simple: In order to draw someone’s portrait, will you like to depend upon a portrait drawn by someone else or will you like to draw it with that person posing in front of you. However, it is not that simple. When you have to draw the portrait of someone’s personality and character, you don’t just depend upon the visible features. There is a lot that’s buried inside that person. Hence, a biographer close to him/her may throw light upon those parts of his/her personality which he/she may decide to conceal while writing an autobiography. So the answer is still unanswered and I better keep it like that.

Moving onto the other autobiographies, my prized possession is ‘My Life’ by Bill Clinton. It is an encyclopedia for a person interested in knowing about the political, economic and social aspects of contemporary American history. It was after reading it that I developed an interest in American political process and fondly followed this year’s Presidential election. This baby-boomer takes us on a journey through his life from 1946 to 2005, always keeping a balance between his personal life and the developments taking around him in both domestic and international arena. He has talked of all the American Presidents from Truman to George W. Bush and the wars fought by them, major legislations brought by them and the role they played in shaping post-World War II America. Bill talks extensively about his life in administration, be it as an Attorney General, Governor or the President. He doesn’t hesitate to introduce Monica Lewinsky too though I understand this account cannot be cent percent true.

Nelson Mandela’s ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ is another gem of a book which spans the story of whole 20th century South Africa. However, it keeps to the main theme without discussing much about other developments like freedom struggles of other nations in Africa or Asia. Mandela draws a fine picture of his life from his early childhood to being elected as South Africa’s first black President. We see the dark realities of apartheid and the various means employed by those fighting for the freedom from this life of indignity.

Moving back home, Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘An Autobiography’, which is still to be completed by me, is a testimony to his command on English language. It was also written in captivity in early 1930’s. The best part of the book is the critique of Mahatma Gandhi done by him. Though highly fond of Mahatma, he did not hesitate from questioning his intentions at times, and putting forward his counter view. The book also gives a vivid account of the life of Motilal Nehru, so much so that, it can be regarded as his biography too.

Another Autobiography-cum-Biography in my collection is ‘The Kalam Effect- My years with the President’, which happens to be the latest entrant. As the name suggests it’s an account of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s Presidentship as given by his Secretary, P.M. Nair. The book is petite and presents some unique aspects of Kalam’s personality. There is reference to some historical moments and their real stories behind the scene. Nair sticks to his job even while writing this book as he maintains an element of anonymity and neutrality, the true virtues of a civil servant. He doesn’t refrain from criticizing Kalam for his unpunctuality too.

Moving away from these personality based books to other non-fiction, two books by Indian diplomats of high reputation adorn my collection too. ‘India’s Foreign Policy’ by late J.N.Dixit is a must read for an aspiring civil servant. While the initial chapters take us through the phases of India’s foreign policy from 1947 to 2003 in a chronological manner, the later part consist of issue-specific chapters. Of these the one on Kashmir problem deserves a special mention. The way the author has described the Kargil War from the perspective of both the Indian and the Pakistan establishment is commendable. So is the picture drawn of General Pervez Musharraf and his miscalculations in the war. There are a lot of repetitions throughout the book, which is acknowledged by the author in the introduction itself. This prevents the readers to turn pages to get the facts right, hence saving time and cementing them too. Analyses are brilliant and done point wise as expected by a diplomat of his caliber.

Shashi Tharoor’s ‘India: From Midnight to Millennium’ is an essay-type account of the evolving India from 1947 to 1997 which also gives glimpses of the author’s life. As most of his articles in the columns of ‘The Sunday Times’, the central theme of the book is also taken from Swami Vivekanand’s famous speech in Chicago which talked about the India’s vast diversity but tolerance to all such diversities. Reading his columns after reading this book seemed quite repetitive. However, leaving this fact aside, the book is a testimony to the diplomat's love for his nation and firm belief in its principles.

While these two books talk of India after 1947, one of the best sources to know the India of British times is ‘India’s struggle for independence’ by the eminent historian Bipin Chandra and his team of associates from J.N.U. This book not only presents the facts regarding India’s freedom struggle from 1857 till 1947 but also analysis the major trends during this period. For example, three chapters dedicated to rise of communalism in India are worth reading. The book is quite exhaustive; a great source to know the personalities and the events that shaped the freedom struggle, and also breaks many myths of the time. For example, two chapters dedicated to the formation of Indian National Congress, breaking the myth behind ‘safety valve theory’ are intriguing and highly commendable.

I’ve talked of Indira Gandhi and her reign earlier. A very important part relates to the Operation Blue Star. Visiting Amritsar last year, I noticed the portrait of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale adoring the museum inside the Golden Temple complex and his posters, portraying him as a martyr, outside the Complex. Until now, I had only heard about him in negative, and all this portrayal of positivity around him made me anxious to know more. This made me pick ‘My Bleeding Punjab’ by one of India’s most prolific writer Khushwant Singh, at a book shop outside the Temple. It is an objective account of developments which took place in Punjab since the British rule in 20th century, through independence and green revolution till the growth of tensions, the Operation Blue Star and the beginning of terrorism later in the century. If at any time subjectivity creeps in, it only enriches the account and by no means makes it unpalatable. If grievances of some sections of the Sikh community with regards to the Delhi pogrom post-Indira Gandhi assassination are totally justified, their making a martyr out of Bhindranwale is totally preposterous. I am confident that my enumerable Sikh friends will agree with me. As for Indira Gandhi, she reaped what she sowed. I hope that the culprits behind the Delhi crime are brought to justice before a generation of descendants of those who got killed in 1984 perishes. Sadly that is how, our politics works and that is how our judicial system crawls.

Despite developing this taste for non-fiction, two authors pulled me back to Fiction during this time. These are Dan Brown and Chetan Bhagat. Chetan is lucky for I’ve taken his name in the same league as Brown for while the latter is a true example of consistency, the former has lost his momentum. Though, the first novel that I read of Dan Brown, as many others was ‘Da Vinci Code’, the one I like the most is ‘Angels and Demons’. While Deception Point is at par with the former, his first novel ‘The Digital Fortress’ could not impress me. In total contradiction, Chetan Bhagat’s first novel, ‘Five Point Someone’ was his masterpiece. The way he plays with the words in the novel is laudable. However, his next two novels failed to make a mark. I read ‘One night @ the call centre’ in one night only but got so disinterested while reading the latest ‘The three mistakes of my life’ that it took many days to complete it. Indeed the novel is also a big mistake of Chetan’s life and if he doesn’t mend his ways and skills, he’ll perish in oblivion. Coming back to Dan Brown, he has the way to merge suspense and thrill with a lot of important and interesting information. World may have realized the existence of CERN for the first time during ‘Large Hadron Collider Experiment’ in 2008 but the readers of ‘Angels and Demons’ know about it since many years. That’s just one example among enumerable. This mix of fiction with non-fiction makes his novels very enriching. All the Brown fans have been waiting impatiently for his next novel. Let’s hope it comes out soon.

I may have preserved my small non-fiction collection very fondly as evident in the picture, but get clumsy when it comes to non-fiction. While most of the earlier collection has been distributed among younger cousins or got misplaced somehow, even the Dan Browns and Chetan Bhagats are adorning someone else’s shelves. I believe my copy of ‘Da Vinci Code’ alone has been read by half a dozen people. That’s definitely a noble cause to work for, spreading the message and the material for reading good and healthy to keep your grey cells active.

Image Courtesy
Self-Photographed (original)

"It was due to want of intelligence, somehow we moved in different ideological grooves"

Reflections of EL in the Mahatma and his protege

Here I discuss the glimpses of EL to be found in two personalities who, between themselves, steered Indian consciousness for nearly half a century(1915-1963). Their ideologies condition many minds till date, not just in India but world over. I am undoubtedely talking about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
I take the liberty of quoting Gandhi once again, "Before we dare think of freedom we must be brave enough to love one another, to tolerate one another's religion, even prejudices and superstitions."
Here Gandhi has directly associated freedom or for that matter liberty with ones tolerance for the norms, values and cultures of others, be they superstitious and irrelevant in our eyes. The essence of liberty cannot be felt till we adopt an outlook of acceptance and tolerance. However, this never prevented Gandhi from starting the Harijan Movement, hence attacking the prejudices of upper caste Hindus. Here the prejudices of the so-called upper castes were negatively effecting the socio-economic condition of the lower castes, they being relegated to the periphery of the Hindu society and economy. One should be neutral to only those prejudices which are themselves neutral in nature. One can not accept a prejudice which has non-acceptance as its own foundation. Non-acceptance of the basic human rights of equality, equal opportunity and no discrimination on the basis of ones lineage, in the given case of Hindu society.
Nehru, a proponent of the socialist philosophy, writes in his autobiography, "It has been my privilege to be associated very closely with a large number of Congress leaders and workers, and I could not wish for a finer set of men and women. And yet I have differed from them on vital issues, and often I have felt a little weary at finding that they do not appreciate or understand something that seems to me quite obvious. It was due to want of intelligence, somehow we moved in different ideological grooves. I realized how difficult it is to cross these boundaries suddenly. They constitute different philosophies of life, and we grow into them gradually and unconsciously. It is futile to blame the other party. Socialism involves a certain psychological outlook on life and its problems. It is more than mere logic. So also are the other outlooks based on heredity, upbringing, the unseen influences of the past and our present environments. Only life itself with its bitter lessons forces us along new paths and ultimately, which is far harder, makes us think differently. Perhaps we may help a little in this process."
Nehru shows ones helplessness in choosing his/her ideology, outlook or value system. We may regard ourselves individualists but still our surroundings play a decisive role in conditioning our mindsets. There are few who are able to break the shackles of the norms and values, and hence think independently. However, even this independence is nothing but just fiction. As Nehru says, its not our intelligence but the lack of it that shapes our ideologies and make them different from others. It is the limitation on our part that we are not able to comprehend the ideologies of others. Hence the onus lies on an individual to remove the layers of indifference which gradually accumulate between us and open ones mind and intellect to polemics of others. Maybe through our receptivity, we can set an example for them too and the polemic gets moderated to a healthy discussion which goes on to fill that lacunae of our intelligence. Further moving on the steps of Nehru, I too acknowledge that it is not easy to bridge this gap. However, the try is worth it.

Image Courtesy
http://www.gymnyon.vd.ch (original)