News meeows - 8

The Allahabad high court’s observation that the Bhagavad Gita should be made the national "dharma shastra" of the country evoked a strong reaction on Tuesday from the government, which said it should be ignored and the scriptures of all religions should be respected by all.

While the Union law minister and the former Chief Justice of India objected to such an idea, a leader from the saffron brigade, Mr V.P. Singhal, came to the rescue of Justice Srivastava (who pronounced this ‘judgement’) and said the remarks were "not made as a Hindu, but as a judge. He has justice in his mind."

How the heck is such an imposition about justice? Was the Bhagwad Gita written as a legal treatise? How many non-Hindus are aware of the contents?

Media personality Saeed Naqvi said the "Bhagavad Gita is part of our culture and they are trying to make it a religious text."

Another poppycock opinion. This culture crap should stop. It is a religious text for a certain community, but it does not have to become a cultural text for the rest. As an Indian I enjoy some festivals, music that is definitely from my soil and epics…but many may not. So don’t thrust this culture down everyone’s throats.

The Allahabad high court had the audacity to state that "it is the duty of the state to recognise the text as rashtriya dharma, which inspired our national struggle for freedom and continues to inspire people from all walks of life".

It must most definitely be inspirational to people but let us not reduce our struggle for independence to religious texts. Some people are inspired by erotica. Others by nature. Still others by LSD. So?

I will not accept the Bhagwad Gita or the Bible or the Quran as a “duty” were I to live in any society.

The ridiculous ruling says that if we recognise the national flag, national bird, national anthem and national flower, the holy text may also be considered as the national "dharma shastra". Get this clear. The others are symbols of oneness. The Gita, like most religious texts, is about war and struggle. We have a Constitution, thank you. Please leave your beliefs inside your homes.

Strangely, in another case, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Ram or the other characters in Ramayan. This assumes significance in the backdrop of the raging political controversy over the Sethusamudram Project.

This, say the reports, is in response to two writ petitions seeking an assurance from the government that there would be no destruction of the mythical barrier Ram Sethu during the construction of Sethusamudram Project.

Is the bridge a creation of Ram? “The ASI said the Ram Sethu is not a man-made structure, but rather a natural formation made up of shoals/sand bars, which are possessed of their particular shape and form due to wave action and sedimentation.”

The court has said it cannot use myths to justify history.

It has become a North versus South battle because the project is in South India and Lord Ram isn’t as much revered there. In fact, some myths deify his enemy Ravana.

I have only one question: What is the ASI doing about the Ram Temple if in this instance it is clearly asking for the existence of the “characters mentioned in the book”?

Why is the government indulging this ‘blasphemy’? Is it because the project ensures economic development and the Babri Masjid does not? Come on, up with the answers…

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Ah, so Urmila Matondkar went to Dubai to be with Imran Khan and raised around Rs 3 crore at a charity event organised by the former Pakistani cricket superstar for his hospital.

A humane gesture. Appreciate it.

Now, why will no one call her a jihadi for funding a Pakistani project?

In June 2005, the godman Sri Sri Ravi Shankar embraced the JKLF leader. The caption read, ‘Hug of peace: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar embraces JKLF leader Yasin Malik on the sidelines of a conference on human values in Srinagar on Monday. Several Kashmiri leaders, including those from both factions of the Hurriyat, attended the conference. Mr. Malik and several Kashmiris have benefitted from the Art of Living programme.”

Would anyone raise a voice? Would Sri Ravi Shankar be called a jihadi? Would it be said he is letting down Kashmir Pandits by hobnobbing with a militant?

Just asking!

They care!

Occasionally, swipes can be delicately spiced. Let me reproduce one here that has taken a potshot at my ID (yes, even that becomes cause for comment) and my response:

Dear Farzana,

We enjoy reading your commentaries in Asian Age and are still enjoying the write up on Pandits from Kashmir. They still want the cake after eating it. So many thanks to you. Please keep writing and any complaints of hurting the sentiments should be brushed aside as this "Freedom of Speech" is again a topic of selective application viz a viz "Secularism" to Islam.

Please accept our offer of using this ID instead of the current. Hope you must have found out the difference between the two. Please reply so that the information on this ID is passed to you on your current ID.

Kaaghaz Qalam

Dear whoever/s:

I am deeply touched that you took this effort to form an ID for this naacheez. This is an icing on the cake, if I may say so.

I happen to be aware of the difference you allude to. However, since linguistics do not have to bear the burden of "freedom of speech", selective or otherwise, may I point out that 'kalam' is a piece of writing/discourse (in India we use the Roman script in a sparse manner...e.g.khamosh, instead of khaamosh to emphasise a long enunciation). If the meaning is pen, then it would rightly be 'qalm', not qalam. Of course, I have no qualms about these...

The rather democratic 'kalam' works and swings both ways, then.

I am glad I provide enjoyment. About KPs eating their cake and having it too, I believe the waazwaan (sp?!) does not cater to these needs.

For now...mujhse behtar kehne waale...

Regards,

FV

Sunset boulevard

These series of pictures were taken at a park rather late in the evening. I had turned and found the sun looking through the trees, just a hint of it going down. That became my first moment.

The next was when the sky was swathed in the afterglow; the foreground shows the barks of the trees glowing in the artificial lighting in the park.

The last was when the sun had set and the green circle you see is a light outside.

A...B...See?

Today is International Literacy Day. Despite India having the highest number of illiterates in the world – nearly 304 million – I wish to celebrate it.

For, literacy is no guarantee to enlightenment. You know the alphabet, you learn to read and write, you can sign your name with a flourish, but can you ask probing questions? Can you seek answers? Do you make an attempt to accept that there are several ways of seeing?

This might seem like the elitist view of someone who has had the benefit of education. True. I would most certainly want every child to go to school. More importantly, I would like the parents to know how to bring up that child. And for the child to grow up and flourish in an open environment. Merely hitting out at someone whose views you do not like does not reveal any superior talent or even perspective. As a matter of fact it reveals ignorance.

Anyone who cannot fathom a simple sentence like, “On another note, a Muslim friend, yes friend, had told me a couple of months ago that I should find a Hindu rabble-rouser to keep me happy” cannot be literate, leave alone educated. Even a most simplistic reading will tell you that it means a Muslim friend, as opposed to anyone else, is equally biased when he told me to find a Hindu rabble-rouser. How different is this attitude from those asking me to seek jihadis? Is this not why I stated, “I guess there are lots of potential happiness-givers. That is also the reason I will not permit groups to be bracketed, any group”?

But what would an illiterate mind understand of this? That I only have Muslim friends and I am saying all Hindus are rabble rousers! I would say, holy cow, but that too will be deemed an insult to a certain religion…

Okay, from two comments in the mail, one a criticism, the other I am told was appreciation of my 'self-control'.

“The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”

Thanks whoever you are. Heaven can wait.

“I have to say you have a fantastic appetite to take criticism and insults.”

No. I differentiate between a critique and criticism. Flinging pieces of glass is not the same as showing the mirror. Also, my standards for accepting praise as well as critiques are extremely high, and both need to come from a genuine desire for dialogue in a language that is coherent. Well, praise can come just like a dewdrop on a flower; I rather like subtlety.

As for insults…were there any? I say what I always say: if I haven’t received something then it has remained with the person attempting to give it.

News meeows - 7

Alistair Pereira, the Bandra man who killed seven persons due to rash driving was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment, under Sec. 304(2) of the IPC.

In November 2006, Pereira had been found guilty for rash and negligent driving at Carter Road, Bandra, in a drunken state which had resulted in death of seven people and injury of eight others, who were sleeping on the footpath. He was later convicted by the additional sessions court judge to a term of six months of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakhs under Sec. 304(A) of the IPC, for causing death by negligence. Periera had further paid Rs 35 lakhs as compensation to the victims.

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I have written about this - reproduced here.

As always, discussions are now veering towards Salman Khan. So, what do I have to say about it? I have at no point in time condoned Salman’s act of rash driving that led to the death of one person. If the law as applied to Alistair is followed, then Salman should get less than six months RI, if it is three years for seven dead and 8 injured.

And someone might like to recollect the case of Puru Raaj Kumar, son of the late actor, who ran his vehicle over six people. CRPF men were witness to the crime, yet he got out on bail immediately.

We need more stringent laws, not three years in prison. And it must apply to anyone who commits the crime. Anyone.

- - -

The VHP in Kerala has said it will not allow the Kerala government to confer the Ravi Varma award on renowned painter M.F. Husain as "it will be a national shame to honour a person who has depicted Hindu Gods in the nude."

They plan to prevent him from landing anywhere near the airport and will hold rallies to protest the honour.

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I do have a problem with the Husain persona and his blatant playing-to-the-gallery tricks. Again, it has been stated and the whole art tamasha thing has been explicated in another column.

I might only like to point out here that Raja Ravi Verma himself made paintings of gods and goddesses that lacked any ethereal quality; there was a buxom siren-like depiction. Perhaps the VHP might like to protest against him and make sure his soul does not rest in peace? And then they might like to visit temples again and see what is on the walls?

And please take Husain somewhere. He really irritates me. The problem is that unlike us poor ‘wannabe jihadis’ who never get liberal empathy, the likes of him do precisely because they are seen as secular. Why? They paint Hindu gods. Heck, will it do if I tell them that I have a cute Ganesha on my shelf?

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Angry Buddhist monks in central Burma have released all of the 20 hostages they seized on Thursday, ending a tense confrontation with the nation’s military government, residents said.

The monks had set four of the officials’ cars on fire. Young monks flipped over their two remaining cars and forced the officials to leave on foot through a back door, residents said.

"It’s good the monks did this. The monks are showing the reality of what’s happening here to the world," one resident said by telephone.

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The reason for this move has been the locking of a monastery and the police beating the monks with bamboo sticks. The monks wanted to handle it themselves.

Great? Will there be a cheep of protest as to how men of god are turning violent? No. Because Buddhism is such a peaceful religion. Visit their monasteries. No sermons, no call to rubbish the infidels. They are only going round and round turning the wheels. And they look seriously cute, most of them.

But, it is time we realised that violence is not restricted to certain groups. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

- - -

The Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week is on. I don’t know what is going on, except for a quick look at some pages in the newspaper. It is covered like some Saarc Summit. The discussions, the trends, the goof-ups, the people-to-people contact, the high-profile versus the lowly…and then there are the models. Okay, the ramp requires a certain walk, so with their pencil heels in a narrow space they have to knock knees and pull their stomachs in, jut their bony butts out and strut. What I notice most are the faces. Is there any particular reason these women must not smile? Will the clothes come apart or will it take away from the couturier’s reputation? Are the models angry about something? Have their lips been glued to their teeth?

If that silly pout is meant to look sexy, it doesn’t work. They look like they are sucking on a lemon to prevent from barfing.

Pavarotti in Paradiso

It would not be quite in the order of things to say I mourn the death of Luciano Pavarotti. But, for an unfathomable reason I feel his absence. The few clippings I watched were a delight as much for the voice as for the heaving of his large belly as he breathed in a note and exhaled it with the force of a typhoon through his mouth.

Opera is not something I listen to, but whenever I have done so it has cast a spell. As a youngster I would try and mimic the style – wide open mouth stretching an aching moment to an eternal longing. I would have tears in my eyes just from the effort. I believe I did a good job of the imitation. Somewhere along, the emotions, in a language I did not understand, did touch me. The way Chaplin in the silent movies does.

It would be disingenuous to compare, but at times some of the singing appears like an alaap that extends right into the body of the raag in Indian classical music. Aficionados will beat me up, but my amateur understanding begs to be permitted the licence of flawed interpretation.

There will be several befitting obits and it would be a learning experience. He was a star, and fortunately in his case one has not heard anyone complaining about dumbing down despite it being the easiest thing to do. His showmanship was a part of his persona, not an acquired trait, though in The King and I, his biographers do refer to the story behind the use of the white handkerchief which started out due to a cold he suffered from. As Herbert Breslin wrote, "Working with opera singers is a recipe for nervous collapse. The more carefully you make your plans, the more likely it is they'll get sick when the big night rolls around." Later, the hanky was used to wave at the crowd, for emphasis in a song, or as a hiding place for throat lozenges.

I smile. Luciano did that all the time.

RIP: Rock In Paradise.

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Picture: ‘L'Elisir d'Amore’ ("The Elixir of Love") with Pavarotti in the role of Nemorino

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Ave Maria Prayer : Music by Franz Schubert. One of Pavarotti's notable performances.

Ave Maria! Ave Maria! maiden mild!
Listen to a maiden's prayer!
Thou canst hear though from the wild,
Thou canst save amid despair.
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care,
Though banish'd, outcast and reviled -
Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer;
Mother, hear a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!

Ave Maria! undefiled!
The flinty couch we now must share
Shall seem this down of eider piled,
If thy protection hover there.
The murky cavern's heavy air
Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled;
Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer;
Mother, list a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!

Ave Maria! stainless styled!
Foul demons of the earth and air,
From this their wonted haunt exiled,
Shall flee before thy presence fair.
We bow us to our lot of care,
Beneath thy guidance reconciled;
Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer,
And for a father hear a child!
Ave Maria!

The original words in Latin:

Ave Maria Gratia plena
Maria Gratia plena
Maria Gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum

Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus
Et benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tui Jesus

Ave Maria
Ave Maria Mater dei
Ora pro nobis pecatoribus
Ora, ora pro nobis
Ora ora pro nobis pecatoribus

Nunc et in hora mortis
In hora mortis, mortis nostrae
In hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria!

Did something happen here?

“Above all things, never be afraid. The enemy who forces you to retreat is himself afraid of you at that very moment.” Andre Maurois

I feel like telling this to those who spend a considerable amount of time challenging me, Muslims and “Pakis” (as though we are all one) to answer their silly queries.

Since they are in such a celebratory mood because we “cowards” did not take up their ‘challenge’, I may as well laud them.

Hail thee, for before thy might, the cauterised, chastised, circumcised “false” and fecund Muslims were breathing the fresh air away from the taunts…it doth surprise us that those of you who look into feeble minds so feeble yourselves be…what vile thoughts sit within you as you intone the same things? Like whiners! Like whiners!

My furrowed brow now seeks to know how you might fare on the couch yourself…what would your minds reveal about you as you shout, “Katlus”, “Jihadis”, and a chorus repeats it after you…

Aye, by my troth I say, this be sheer projection…shout it aloud, utter it again and again, for only then will you be free of the agony that assails you.
- - -

My apologies to those who have had to put up with some ‘reactions’ here. It is unfortunate that on the day I last posted I did not look at the comments. After that I did not get online at all. Now, as I read them, I have no response except pity. Pity that the person is most likely an expat who has forfeited his Indian passport and cannot accept the fact that a person of a certain community does not fit into his stereotype. Pity that he has to try to write bad English, mixing up Caps and small letters only so as not to be identifiable. Had I not been a sympathetic person, I would have laughed at the juvenile attempt. Is it fear that my so-called jihadi comrades will run after him?

On another note, a Muslim friend, yes friend, had told me a couple of months ago that I should find a Hindu rabble-rouser to keep me happy. I guess there are lots of potential happiness-givers. That is also the reason I will not permit groups to be bracketed, any group.

I might add here that I stand by whatever I have written thus far in my career. Every single word. If a few people do not know how to read and choose stray sentences to justify their agenda, I have nothing to say. Okay, I feel pity.

Elsewhere, before I had left, someone had challenged me saying that as a professional journalist I was answerable to her. I am not. These people will not dare to ask any other professional journalist and only when it suits them I become a professional journalist; otherwise, they ask, “Oh, is she one?” Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.

Someone else said, “Oh, she had written something on Gandhi and keeps rehashing it.” Yup. I do. At least I use my own work as my source of research; others use it, so why can’t I? It is my prerogative.

And, what I write is my opinion. I am not saying there was a fire and so many people died. I am wondering why there was a fire and how it could possibly have occurred. It is conjecture based on certain facts. I have the right to state that. So, no one has any business to ask me to provide evidence for what I think. When I state something, I start out believing in it. When you believe in something you think that it is right…that is the basis of belief. If you do not agree, then the onus is on you to provide me with information or a reasoning to prove me wrong and yourself right. Get that very clear.

This is not specific to what has happened here in the past few days.

I have removed the comments of those responding to something. The reason being that I do not intend to stop anonymous posting only due to the actions of one character, and right now I cannot moderate; the person does not deserve any attention, which is being sought; it will now look really silly to see the said person blabbering away into nothingness. I can only request the regulars here to desist from responding to such posts.

Thank you to those who wrote to me; I understand your hurt and wish it wasn’t quite like this.