Desicritics Author: Buddha Ram

Rama Sethu: Civilization Vs. Nation State, Myth Vs. History

Buddha Ram — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:55:37 EDT

Once again, the ugly face of politics of history surfaces in the public domain. The last time historians made a major difference to this country was when they were called to give their opinion on whether a certain birth place of a certain God accepted by a majority religion was valid or not. Now the same historians are being asked whether the said character built a bridge with some help across a ocean floor or not. Historians are like our scientists. They go by what is 'factual' science. They cannot obviously accept that a certain king of Ayodhya called 'Ram' ever existed.

Myths in any society are held above interrogation, that is why they are myths and in turn they contribute in both defining the society and holding it together. When these myths belong to a specific religion, then it becomes a matter of faith and carries all the advantages and disadvantages of the organization of that particular religion. The origins of Vedas have never bothered the Hindus, but, none would dispute that their origins were from the Godhead, just as a Mohemmedan would not argue whether the Q'ran's origins cannot be from anywhere else but from God and the Christian would not like to examine whether there is ample scientific proof for the resurrection of the Christ on the third day.

Ramayana is a myth of not merely Hinduism, but an entire civilization. Its influence extends from the southern boundary in the Islamic state of Indonesia to the entire Indian Ocean rim countries, India and into parts of West Asia also. The varieties of the myth, its local significance attached, the festivals and events enjoined with the myth through the year in different ways in different regions provides ample proof of this. The artistic expressions of this myth range from the stage plays performed by fasting Muslims in Indonesia to the palace of the Thai kings to the wide variety of architecture, sculpture and arts strewn all over the Indian sub-continent.

When a political entity of recent origins such as the Indian state wants to assert its right to undertake a venture it may chose to ignore myths that it has not created. Indian historians have repeatedly proved how they are incapable of understanding the sanctity placed upon certain kinds of mythical characters by the common people as most of them learn their histories under the tutelage of Euro-centric teachers and European scholars. Thereby they prove the inability to overcome their own colonial hangover as well as institutional construction. An evidence of this is in the Hindu monuments preserved by Archeological Survey of India. In India, any functional temple, even a small one is indicated by the crowd that visits the temple, the amount of participation of people in the activities of the temple. In a Vishwanath mandir in Benaras and the Balaji temple in Tirupathi, the chaotic bustling and shoving indicates human commotion and orderlessness, yet, amidst that is the faith asserted. It is not romanticizing crowds or uncleanliness, but to highlight the fact that everything that Indians own up to, they engage with it in all aspects of their life. In comparison, the Kailasanath temple in Kancheepuram or other temples under ASI 'protection' have beautiful lawns, well maintained gopurams, make wonderful pictures for the foreign tourists and has very little or no local human participation leave alone any patronage by local communities.

You will not find many Indians visiting a temple under ASI care, because, ASI in protecting the temple reduces its functionality. One would think the sign of functionality in India for anything would be accommodating crowd, we are a nation of a billion people. ASI temples cannot accommodate crowd. Another sign for any temple is the local ownership felt by the community and the organization of life around the temple to go with the functions of the temple and vice versa, this is eminently absent in the ASI 'monuments' or temples as they follow babu-dom designed rules that discourage any such participation and are maintained for foreign consumption. This defines the civilization orientation of the institution of ASI. It is not meant for the Indian civilization as it did not come from an understanding of this civilization or being sensitive to its current condition, it was merely to protect a building from falling apart, any mason would do that, ASI does it for a much larger pay and justifies it by plastering historic information tablets around the building.

Hence when a nation state decides to fight a civilization, history and historians and history centered institutions (albeit Eurocentric ones) such as ASI become the tools through which it decides to organize its fighting. Indeed scholars have noted that the role played by social sciences during colonial period to defame and demean everything that is dear to its people has been continued and their inability to dis-engage with the state is one of their reasons for their inept existence today. It is important to note that the matter is to be settled by a court, another institution of the state that was designed by the colonial masters to control the locals and which is still unable to perform its function for the satisfaction of the common masses.

Sethusamudram project was initiated despite a large amount of protests from coastal fishing communities, many of them feared that the dredging operation would disturb (and this since then has been happening according to reports) the marine life and deprive them of catch and there is no way they will be able to survive. Many of these fishermen have been lured to work for the same dredging operations and have been recruited in and around the Rameshwaram coast. Marine ecologists and coastal conservation people have warned against the pursuit of this programme indicating that there could be consequences way beyond the control of the perpetrators of this project. But, the thick headed, grandiose seeking and corrupt political system of Tamil Nadu cannot step back from what could be a perennial money spinner for their coffers. Hence, all voices have been silenced in the pursuit of this programme, all common sense victimized. Public hearing for this programme was repeatedly disturbed and the 'go ahead' given in a hurry. The press which reported the same then, completely forgot the entire episode when it comes to reporting the current controversy and instead reproduces the 'benefits' tom-tomed by the government regarding the extra miles ships need not travel and the time and fuel that will be saved. All this had been discussed earlier and many claims have been written as exaggerated, but, the memory of our press is shorter than its consumers.

If lack of common sense and grandiose plan represents the programme itself, the defense by the nation state for such a planning at the cost of challenging the civilizational identity can be excused, it utilizing historians to destroy myths is obvious. The system of politics that allows the pursuit of a programme against a people's wish and common sense, the system of history that cannot understand where its limit ends and where that of a psyche begins, deserves a national leadership that does not understand the significance or the importance of a civilization. Gandhiji somewhere says that he is against every attempt to historicize Krishna as he felt that it was far too large to be reduced to a mere history. But, then he was a civilizational leader, not a leader of a political party alone.

Note: since I wrote this, the government has withdrawn the submission by ASI to the apex court and sought further time to examine the case. But this is no promise and whatever mentioned above holds good. The point is why should myths be reduced to validation by a mere historian? Why should myths seek historical validity? what is the connection of the nation state and its knowledge producers / scholars in understanding and preserving the civilizational inheritance?

Will India Have Another People's President?

Buddha Ram — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 11:52:03 EDT

"I did not want to damage the name of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which has been made into a people's Bhavan during my tenure." - President Kalam, bidding farewell to journalists, Saturday 23rd June 2007

I had written earlier how the image of the President has undergone a change in perception in people's mind during Kalam's tenure and how the current development is a step backward.

Every public event provides our leaders with an opportunity to exercise their insight, vision and experiences. It could be a historic event if there is a sense of history at the top. Having a women President will certainly be setting a precedence, but, the process of arriving at such a candidate is based on a habit that is as old as the Zamindari system.

The spin let loose in the last couple of days that tried to portray the image of Kalam as an urban favourite is perhaps another low from the Congress this time. Kalam is certainly not the urban consumer centered image. I have found in very remote villages people know him, there are photographs of his in village community centers (not because he is the President alone), I have seen quotes from his speech painted in the walls of village schools and many youth groups across the country have benefited because of his interaction with them. For many young students who wrote to him and were invited to visit the Rashtrapathi Bhavan because he was impressed by what they had written, it is the first time they have encountered a person so powerful - one power center finally becomes accessible to people. Students can send letters, emails and he has responded to them. Across India I am sure there must be a few thousand students who preserve his hand written small note for them as a treasure, as an inspiration.

Make no mistakes, I am not a fan of Kalam, indeed I was one of the first to criticize his India 2020 as I found some aspects of the book too far fetched. But, he is correct when he says that he made the Rashtrapathi Bhavan as a 'people's bhavan'. The number of people who have voted for him in online polls does speak of his popularity (Rediff 86% of 6000+ votes polled, NDTV 79% of 4000+ votes polled, Week - C poll quoted in Zee has him 75% in a poll, TOI quotes 72% favour him). There was a news that SMS text was being sent by students for an agitation for his continuation. For me all this is an indication of the popularity that has been brought about due to his efforts to make the post of the President mean something to people.

Our common villagers cannot approach the Collector without feeling intimidated, even many urbanites cannot approach a police station and a policeman without feeling somewhat intimidated, any government institution that wields even a small amount of power has been designed to intimidate our people. Just walk into any government office and look at the way the ordinary people are treated to experience this. In this background, when the First Citizen opens doors because he is impressed by what a young village student says or repeatedly quotes his encounter with youth or students in his speeches (by their name), it makes people feel they matter. This is his greatest contribution to the post.

As we bid adieau to Kalam it is the National duty to understand his contribution. With the election of the Madam President now almost a certainty will the aspirant understand this and try to follow his model?

Gandhi's Birthday Declared as International Non-Violence Day

Buddha Ram — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:05:38 EDT

News:

"Mahatma Gandhi's birthday has been declared as the International Day
for Non-violence.

In a tribute to Gandhi's philosophy of brotherhood and peace, the UN
General Assembly declared October 2, his birth anniversary, as the
International Day of Non-Violence on Saturday....

The resolution, which urged member States to observe the day each year
in appropriate manner to disseminate the message of non-violence, was
co-sponsored by 137 of the 191 members and was adopted without a vote."

Source: CNN-IBN

Comment:

In the recent avatar of Munnabhai, the very well informed Circuit tells Munnabhai that October 2nd is 'dry day' and it is a holiday, when bhai first enquires what is the significance of that day. Circuit could be forgiven as many Indians would perhaps live with similar sentiments.

October 2nd doesn't touch our lives, just like Independence Day or any other National Holiday. Apart from the 'government' celebrations and compulsory celebrations in education institutions, there is nothing to provide meaning and significance to the national day. So, if you are not a government employee or associated with an educational institution, you may as well take it easy or plan your outings on those days because the traffic in the roads will be less.

In this backdrop comes the UN resolution on celebrating Gandhiji's birthday as the global Non-Violence Day. It is an honor for India and Indians that a day honoring global non-violence has to be on the birthday of an Indian. So, how can a nation celebrate the day of 'non-violence' in an 'appropriate' manner and 'disseminate' the message of non-violence?

Violence permeates our life whether we like it or not. There is violence all around, in the media, on the roads, in politics, work place, homes...how does one become non-violent on a particular day? Perhaps that is why the key word is 'appropriate'. To practice peace is one of the toughest things to do, to practice non-violence is not the same, but, similar. However it is easy and closer as many of us today are closer to violence in our life than peace. So, is it possible that Indians set an example to the world by practicing non-violence or rather by stopping whatever violent activity they are involved in for just the one day?

What can ordinary Indians do to stop violence on that day? How do they practice non-violence? How can this be more participative (without political polarization which is one form of violence) by ordinary people? Are there some ideas? Please leave your comments for an effective celebration of a 'Day of No Violence'.

Living through the Sivaji and Rajinikanth Mania in Chennai

Buddha Ram — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:36:17 EDT

Chennai is currently going through an experience like never before. Every available wall has the movie posters of Sivaji plastered over them, every other bus has the stills hung from it's rear, there are large hoardings, Rajnikanth walks towards you or looks at you from everywhere! Every newspaper and magazine in the city has probably done a dozen lead stories on the movie if not more all through its production and reaching a crescendo last week as never before seen. The radio and visual media (and indeed the Internet, with blogs following every stage of production and blogs in Japanese and French about the film!) went hoarse literally with spot reports screaming about the movie amidst the din of the theaters ensuring their bit in history of sorts being created.

Sivaji is the single point in every conversation. That the movie is a never before kind for any Indian movie has been documented well enough. Some of the numbers are astonishing to say the least. It has opened in more than 300 theatres across the world (>200 in Tamilnadu alone), the movie opened in nearly 20 theatres in the city alone, and the first two days were supposed to have fetched business close to Rs.2 Crore. Rajnikanth reportedly got paid close to Rs. 20 Crores for the movie, the director, music director and everyone else involved have come out and said that this is as big as it gets!

The media in particular has never been given such a treat of an entire linguistic group going up into a mass hysteria about one movie, hence as somewhere else reported, the kind of media treatment to this movie has been another milestone. Never before has one seen the print and visual media spend so much time on a movie release.

We have read reports of the movie's first day first show from Mumbai, Karnataka, USA (where reportedly Indians bought tickets for 21$) and Malaysia. The film will be dubbed into Mandarin Chinese and released in the rest of South East Asia according to its distributor and he is confident that it will be released in more than 30 theaters in that language! The Consulate General of USA in Chennai attends the first day first show and thinks it worth penning his experience for a national daily!

But, my primary aim of this writing is an ode to the die-hard Rajni fan, to record the experience of the ordinary people of Chennai who have elevated their humble Rajini to a new phenomenon with this movie release. My chief source of information are the largest visible Rajini followers in Chennai, the omnipresent autorickshaw drivers.

Here is a summary of my interaction with some of them:
- 'I will be there for the previous evening show (special shows were arranged for the previous evening for the fans association members alone) and then I have tickets for two more days during the first week' declared my regular auto driver. A member of the local Rajini fans association, he stayed up late the day before his first sighting of the movie to get the wall besides auto stand painted with a larger than life portrait of Rajini in what else, Sivaji pose!

- Another young autodriver whom I met on the second day, 'I went for the night show on the first day, paid Rs. 500/- for a 50Rs. ticket, I also have another ticket for the next week'. Rs. 500/- is as much three days earning for an autodriver, how could he spend so much on a movie ticket? 'How can one think about all that for a Thalaivar movie?' he shot back. And, how was the movie?, 'Great, there has been no other movie before like this, the first half is comedy and the second half is full of Rajini'.

- A third autodriver said he had the opportunity to watch two shows back to back on the first day. So, how was the experience, 'they did all kinds of 'abhisekham' for thalaivar cut-out in the morning, from milk, beer to Coca Cola! the noise of the movie itself was high, but, the noise of the crowd was deafening. The experience was electric, I will go back later to watch the movie peacefully. The fans also behave badly inside the theatre, they insisted that the songs be played again and when the theatre authorities refused, some of them threw up the chairs, etc. But, all this part of a Rajini movie release and the theatre owners are prepared for these things'.

- Another auto driver, an middle aged family man, 'I don't understand all this tamasha going on, people are going mad, spending so much on a movie', so, will he not watch the movie? 'I will go with my family after the first month is over, after all this euphoria dies down'.

Meanwhile back in our office, the young man who supplies coffee has requested for an afternoon off later in the week, he has managed to get ticket for the afternoon show! The chap who delivers the courier beamed when he heard us discussing the movie and said, 'you can watch it once, nothing more to it!'. A cousin calls my colleague from USA and chides him for not yet watching the movie, he had managed the first day first show!!

Sivaji is a phenomenon of a movie. Such attention to a movie, a tamil movie at that is new in India. That the national mainstream media cannot comeup with a comparison in Hindi movie history, talks much about the state of Hindi cinema. One is tempted to opine that while Tamil is seen as a regional language in the mainstream media, it has stealthily marched on to gain a global language status now. But, the language issue aside, the primary reason for such a success is (according to my friendly autorickshaw drivers):

1. Rajini movies are getting few and far between and he commands the largest single following among not just Tamil speaking, but almost all Southern language speaking population

2. The magic of 'thalaivar' (leader in Tamil) is that there is always a social and political message in the movie; 'he should have come to politics in 94', said another auto driver, 'he wasted the chance, at least now with all the attention, he should go for it'.
3. Perhaps the one reason that everyone gives, 'he is a good man!', 'He has done much for people silently', 'he doesn't talk about how much charity he does', etc.

Ultimately in all Rajini movies, the good triumphs over the evil and there is a happy ending. That is important for his fans. 'Thalaivar' should triumph! And in his victory is their few hours high of a sense of transient victory, to be shared, laughed about, repeated endlessly. The ordinary Chennai citizen will go to any extent, spend much for this high, that the good will triumph! Until they have to wake up the next day and face a world that asserts otherwise.

The promise of success for the good that his movies provide are the intoxicant of the ordinary masses which sustains their sanity and provides hope and speculation, maybe 'thalaivar' will come to politics after all, maybe things will change like it does in the movie, maybe there will be heroes like thalaivar amongst us - if none of this happens, there is always the hope of another Thalaivar movie next year!

P.S.: The author is yet to watch the movie:(

Selecting the Indian President - Loyalty Above Pride

Buddha Ram — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 08:39:41 EDT

Still remember the day Dr. Kalam was suggested as a candidate for the President's post. It was almost a foregone conclusion that he would be the popular choice despite a token resistance and an opposition candidate fielded by the Left.

One thing that has been changed by Dr. Kalam is the image of the President. I am not sure whether there was another President before who engaged so much with the ordinary people, be it just the student community. K.R. Narayanan had tried to do it in his own way, the historic visit by a President to a village in Rajasthan to honour a village community for its effort in water conservation perhaps emphasized a national agenda. But it was Kalam who has really made the post of President a visible and engaging one. His quest for meeting as many students per month as possible, his often repeated line on asking Indians everywhere to 'think / dream big', his humanism in penning a poem in memory of a legendary singer (M.S. Subalakshmi),his passion for gardening, music, etc., one could go on.

He has changed the expectations and the impressions of the President of India. He has finally made the President not a stiff shirt and a protocol head only meant as a decoration during the republic day. The nexus of Politicians-Bureaucrats-Academicians who owned and kept shifting the post of President amongst themselves all these years had finally been broken. Despite being a bureaucrat-scientist, the creative human being in Kalam took the primary position and I think majority of Indians are proud to have him as the President. That is his contribution, I remember many earlier Presidents were either called 'rubber stamps' or something even more derogatory during Mrs. Gandhi's times.

Now with the most eminent qualification for the only candidate being highly discussed seemingly his loyalty to the Congress first family, looks like we are back to the days of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, now we have Mrs. Sonia Gandhi placing the loyalty of the individual above the pride of the country men.

Most people will say, 'Shiv-who?', 'achcha Congress-walla', 'Delhi-walla' maybe even better. That is about it. He will be decorating the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Republic Day parade, stiff shirt, well trimmed (oh! we will miss those Kalam locks), protocol smiles and ability to read the written speech and agree to the government as and when required to will be the deciding factors. Of course, people will come up with him 'being a scholar' (perhaps the most abused term in India, every President including V.V.Giri and Zail Singh must have been at some point called a scholar), that has a 'clean' image (which means he wears the protocol whites well pressed), that he has been around in Lok Sabha and Delhi forever,etc. These are always there for every candidate.

Loyalists have a way of getting paid for their loyalty in Congress, they become Governors, Ministers in the Centre without having to win an election. But, the President post at least ought not be compromised. It has finally become something that the ordinary people can relate to. The ordinary person on the road can look at President Kalam today with a smile and say, 'achcha admi hai' and it is true that children across the country have said, 'someday I would like to be a Kalam'!

I don't think this could have happened with any of the rubber stamps Presidents earlier. None of them could have made people either relate to them or want to emulate them. Their success in their chosen life, though adequate in the eyes of the power players in Delhi is not something that the ordinary people can understand. Kalam changed it. Now Congress in all probability is about to take us back to the old ways again.

The hopes of a Colonial institution, redesigned to suit a developing Nation forever remained 'tame', Kalam provided the personal strength required to challenge the 'tame' image that stemmed from the Colonial hangover. His personal strength and vision modified and provided a new purpose for the post, it made the post more Indian if not in structure at least in spirit. The ordinary people watch an indecisive leadership settle to comfortable ways out of old habits. Will the Pride of the Nation will be surrendered to The Family Loyalty?

The 'Drunken' Political Leaders of Tamil Nadu?

Buddha Ram — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:05:17 EDT

The recent round of political debate in Tamil Nadu has been centered on the liquor consumption habits of the top political leaders. Some time ago it was Jayalalitha's turn to accuse Vijayakanth, the actor turned politician of being drunk even in the assembly. More recently, the wordsmith that he is, Chief Minister Karunanidhi has used his dexterous use of language to hint that Jayalalitha herself is somewhat inebriated! In the meanwhile, Ramadoss of PMK, Tamilnadu's periodic conscience keeper has gone all over town to 'bring down' the number of alcohol shops run by the government.The state of Tamil Nadu does not recognize prohibition. Liquor has been sold through government licensed shops all over the state and most of these shops are managed by the political party functionaries. The state generates much revenue through this sale and probably the government cannot run without this revenue (indeed one of the earlier finance ministers has said as much in the Assembly once, if my memory is correct) being generated from the sale of alcohol. There are also private shops selling alcohol and large bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

Probably every fifth man in Tamil Nadu must be an occasional drinker and one in every twenty people must be an addicted drinker (these are my guess-timates), the crowds that throng the TASMAC (government licensed liquor shops) every evening would be seen as a mini carnival in any other part of the world. The number of cases of drunker driving, drunken accidents, illnesses and death due to addiction, etc are quite high in the state. The number of able bodied men in any village is less than 50% in some parts due to the unhealthy eating and excessive drinking habits of the inhabitants.

Any political leader who confesses of having an occasional drinking habit in such a backdrop must be considered a true representative of the people of the state. In fact I would go as far as to say that if the leader is a man, he should have at some point thrown a liquor party to his colleagues and party men. One doesn't see why the leaders are so hell bent to portray themselves as teetotallers where all of them have concurred on the policy that the state is better off without prohibition.

I happened to be at the venue of a rally organized by one of the front organizations of PMK recently. The leader had just left around lunch time and the entire group of partymen trooped out for lunch, as I had a few friends from other parts of the state attending this rally, I decided to chat with them and tag along. The entire group went out of the venue in the general direction of the restaurant nearby and halfway through almost in unison took a turn and disappeared into a TASMAC shop. Now, PMK leader Ramdoss has announced that anyone known to be a drunk cannot be a party functionary!! One should see how he manages to do this without eliminating large number of his followers. It would be a real test for the leader's popularity as to how many of their supporters actually will find adequate words to support them in a sober condition. It is a known fact that many roadside political campaigners need their 'high' for them to campaign supporting their leaders.

Tamil politicians are no monks just like anywhere else in India. They have as many vices in their personal lives as there anywhere else. It has been an unwritten rule till recently not to broach upon each others' personal life and habits. This thin line of decency and respect for the personal life of the other seems to have been brought down by the recent space of accusations and counter-accusations. One really doesn't know whether this will lead, wherever it does, soon Tamil channels can replace their evening serials with the interviews from the political leaders (many news channels already do so).

Leaders of Tamil Nadu political parties are well and truly leading their state into the next generation of 'infotainment' where they are the subjects and they are the producers.

On Tax Holidays and Growth Holidays

Buddha Ram — Wed, 7 Mar 2007 09:51:32 EST

While the Chinese Government gives a holiday for the growth of internet cafes fearing that it would create cyber addicts and juvenile crime, our own NASSCOM chief prefers to talk about how the government's refusal to extend further tax holidays will deter Indian IT growth, particularly as news of Orkut being used as the means for the drug party in Pune is just out.

I know these two sound rather unconnected, but the pundits of this country who compare China with the Indian economy at the drop of a hat, particularly those belonging to the technology world need to take a closer look at the kind of lifestyle they are perpetuating.

Internet as a medium of opportunity results in much commercial return while the medium as a social factor results in many undesirable consequences. The Pune drug issue is the most recent, but there has already been an increase in the number of divorces, a consumerist lifestyle at an early age thanks to the large dispensable income promised by ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) industries, and increasing cases of white collar crimes (in many cases these victimize the companies themselves, upon which too many companies have only resorted to increasing the security in their establishments rather than explore the root cause).

When and how have the corporate taken responsibility for this? Do they see the lifestyle perpetuated by their tools and methods of technology that is promoted by them as their responsibility? While they claim the credit for 'creating wealth', can they absolve themselves of the incidental side effects of the wealth they are creating?

The NASSCOM Foundation, which is the CSR wing of NASSCOM seems to prefer the further perpetuation of computers as its responsibility; the prime programme of their website talks only about 'rural ICT' an easy mahamantra CSR programme with instant publicity nirvana guaranteed for a lazy corporate.

What do our IT 'leaders' have to say on the negative social impacts of the technology, do they think it is worth talking about? Initiating action on? They want to contribute to everything; from Narayanamoorthy to the small time software chap round the corner, the IT professionals' opinions are sought on all things.

They express their opinion about everything except the genie of a lifestyle that they have let out.