Freedom of Expression

Myanmar's military government recently released its opposition leader and democratic icon, Aung San Suu Kyi from 15 years of confinement.Its a real reason to celebrate as this nobel laureate re enters mainstream politics. Lets all hope that under her leadership, people of Myanmar will be able to overthrow the oppressive military regime and replace it with a democratic government.

Talking of Suu Kyi's freedom makes me ponder over the situation back home in India.Freedom of expression and the offense of sedition recently came under the radar after a meeting that was held in Delhi over the issue of Kashmir. The meeting was attended by prominent people like Arundhathi Roy, Geelani, Varavara Rao etc. who expressed their views on a free Kashmir. These not so popular ideas were met with strong criticism and various sections of the society including political parties like BJP demanded a case to be filed against them on the grounds of sedition. Sedition is the offense of doing anything that generates hatred towards government or invokes disharmony in the society. In crude terms its the opposite of freedom of expression. So urging for separating Kashmir from India and slamming government policies on Kashmir does sound like sedition. But then if you cant express your views on a sensitive topic, what is freedom of expression all about? Isn't it blasphemy to say that freedom of expression applies only to trivial day to day issues? The very reason for the right to exist is to empower people to voice their opinions on such sensitive issues. All that these people did was express their views on Kashmir. What is wrong with that? If they had urged the people to take up arms and fight against the government for a free Kashmir, then it would have been a totally different situation.

What alarms me is the readiness with which such issues are taken up by the people and how the government tends to buckle under pressure. The increasing number of book banning and censorship is an evidence to it. A film poster is all it takes to start off a string of burnings and protests. The youngest prodigy of the Thackeray family finds assault on Mumbai University syllabus the ideal way to make a grand entry into politics. Religious and regional sentiments should be given proper attention but it doesn't mean the government should allow any small issue to become a reason for curbing our fundamental right to expression. Censorship should be seen as an extreme step not an immediate remedy.

If these were communal and regional issues there is another more nagging side to the story- money power and influence. The ban on ' Polyester Prince-Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani'  is an example for this. This autobiographical work on  Dhirubhai Ambani written by Hamish Mac Donald lays bare the unholy relation between Ambani and Indian government. An account of how this industrial tycoon got away with non payment of duties, stock market rigging and silencing people who dared to raise their voice against its unethical ways and how he even brought down a central government would have provided for an interesting read. But the government obviously thought otherwise. The book was banned, apparently under the influence of Mukesh Ambani. Its really saddening that corruption has reached such a level that it only takes an influential business man to ban a book.

It will take at least another century for corruption to vanish from our society.But as long as there are people who are ready to raise their voice and fight for their rights, we have a little hope left.

Black Rose

Dark are her eyes,
Darker her curls.
Fair as the frozen snow,
Fast as the dashing antelopes.
Gentle curve of her lips,
The color of raspberry.
The trail of her black gown,
Swishing as she glides,
A sight to behold no mortal will disagree.
Sweet is her voice with a rasping last note.
Touch of a finger and she erases all wound.
Misery and memory of mortal world,
She takes them away and frees the soul.
Glare of her pretty stare,
Poison to the lousy soul.
To merge in those liquid eyes,
To seek those sacred mysteries,
Many a man has gone to the land beyond..
The nectar of life she takes away,
Angel of death, that is her..
Black Rose..

My Big Brown Friend

The first time I saw you,
I was just seven I remember.
You were bright and all new,
And you felt so smooth and smelt so fresh.
You told me many stories,
Of snow white and her seven dwarfs,
How the beast turned into prince,
The way princess kissed the frog.
My all time favourite was sleeping beauty,
But I just loved the long hair of Rapunzel.
My dreams were full of them,
Handsome princes on white horse haunted.
How I wished my little curls,
Could grow like that of fair Rapunzel.
The bright cute pictures had me gazing,
At the big brown book that was you.
I kept you with my favorite teddy
And waited for the prince to wake me from sleep.
I read you time and again, till don't know when,
Time did gallop and here I am,
Holding you in my big long hands,
Dusting off those cobwebs from your skin.
I fumble through the yellow pages,
And it gives me a smile to see my old heroes.
I'll keep you forever with my big thick books,
And read those fairytales long forgotten,
To awaken the sleeping beauty in me...

My Room-mates

There are two people with whom I share my room. One is a baby lizard and the other is a hyper active spider.

When I used to read about people keeping toads (Neville Longbottom for instance), spiders and other officially ugly creatures as pets, I’ve wondered how they can bear looking at those slimy and hairy bodies and caress them. Yuck!! But now I think I’ve started getting the picture.

I spend a lot of time in my room in the pretext of studying or simply to get some peace of mind from my shouting parents and troublesome sister. And once in my room, I open up some textbook and start daydreaming. It was on one such day while daydreaming that I noticed something small moving on the wall. A closer look revealed that it was a baby lizard. If you thought only dogs and cats could look cute then you should see my baby lizard, he is so damn cute! He can fit in my little finger and has such tiny legs that it’s a marvel to watch him climb the wall. My initial amazement changed to anxiety as I started thinking what will happen if he slips and falls? Where the hell has his mother gone? What a careless mother she must be to let such a tiny baby to wander around? As I watched, he tried to get to the top but stopped midway, turned around and vanished. I looked around but couldn’t find him. Next day the baby lizard reappeared and this time he was contended with climbing the lower portions of wall. It wandered around pointlessly, once moved close to a small fly, paused for a minute, turned around and vanished! Then it became a routine for me to look around for him and gape at the way he moves. I haven’t seen him catching a fly yet. I’m looking forward to the day my baby lizard catches a fly in front of me. I’m sure he will grow up and become a very good flycatcher and make me proud!

The second inhabitant of my room is a spider. I’m scared of spiders (owing to those horrible spider movies I guess) but cockroaches are scarier. My simple theory of comparing both the creatures in scare meter is based on the fact that, if a spider and cockroach both decide to chase us and inflict us with pain, then we will be able to run away from the spider faster than it can scuttle but cockroach can still catch up as it can fly! So cockroach is a bigger villain. Now the spider in my room is a medium sized creature and is unusually fast and hyperactive. The first time I saw it, I was sitting on the floor and reading. Suddenly something came shooting into the room. My danger instincts worked super cool and I jumped on to my bed, throwing down the book I was reading. From that safe post, I looked down to see the creature that had caused the panic. There it was, our spider, inches from my book, standing still. Suddenly it turned around and shot back the way it had come. Now I knew it was no longer safe to sit on the floor and shifted to bed. The next day around the same time, our hero came back the same way, scuttling so fast that I was amazed by its agility. There was no book on the floor to cause hindrance to its path and it went straight for the wall. I’ve seen a variety of spiders before and they always paused for 5 minutes before moving for 5 seconds. But this one was different. It paused for 5 seconds and moved for 5 minutes. Within no time it had climbed up the wall and back down disappearing behind a shelf. The next day it came out again. This time it went for a tiny fly sitting high up on the wall. Now our spider as usual was over excited as it leaped at the fly extending two of its legs towards the fly. Unfortunately, spiders are not made for aerobic performances or so I learned as it went hurtling down the wall and crash-landed on the windowsill. I dint have the courage to go up and check on it. But later on when I did muster the courage, I couldn’t find it there. I never saw the hyperactive spider again. But I just hope it’s still alive and active somewhere in the unexplored nooks of my room.

Happy New Year...

Another year has passed by and now its time for a brand new beginning. Its a time to look back at the bygone year, learn from mistakes and move on. 2009 was fun and I'm sure 2010 is going to be even more fun.

This year as usual, I've made a new year resolution. I'm hoping that at least this time around I'll be able to keep it till the end.( I can't even remember last year's resolution) I've made two resolutions this time. Firstly, I'm going to explore my culinary skills. My knowledge in cooking is very limited and I've always wanted to try out new recipes but I keep postponing it.This year, I promise to try out one new recipe every month. My second resolution is that, I'm going to do some kind of exercise everyday, whether its running, jumping or dancing. Now this is one resolution that I'm sure won't last even a month but I'm going to give it a try. :)

I hope everyone has made good resolutions and are planning to keep them. Best of luck with that. Hope 2010 is going to be a great year for everyone. Wishing you all a rocking year...!!

The Last Time They Met

This is one book that needs you to read it twice to get the complete story registered. After reading it once, I felt as if i had missed out on something. When you read it for the second time, knowing the climax, you start getting the real feel of the story and find yourself getting attached to the protagonists. The author, Anita Shreve has used a method of telling the story of Linda and Thomas from end to the start, moving back in time. Its more like connecting a series of events with a narrow thread.

The story begins with Linda and Thomas, both in their fifties, meeting at a hotel. The author gives us a small peak into their relationship and then takes us to Kenya where they had last met, about 30 years back. The story of the two lovers who nurture intense passion for each other is further revealed through the events that took place during their first meeting at high school. The story is intricately constructed and made me wonder about the weird ways of life. It is very apparent that the two were made for each other. But they were not able to make it together in life. The first time they got separated, we could blame Linda's aunt for going out of her way in ensuring that they remain so. Second time , the commitments that they had already made posed a hindrance to their union.By the time of their last meeting, it was too late. Linda was already a mother of two grown up children and Thomas was nursing the wounds of a daughter drowned in her early age. One could call it fate or an opportunity they had failed to utilize for which they paid with their life. What would have happened if they had just reached out, breaking the distance between their lives?I can't stop myself from thinking about that. The story ends tragically when Thomas commits suicide, lamenting over the life that could have been his.
One of the worst things that can happen to a person is when he looks back at life and feels that it was a big zero. When he starts realizing how many opportunities he had missed, decisions that could have changed his life for the better. Thomas is the victim of the same. 

Love Jihad

'Love jihad' is the term coined for Muslim boys 'trapping' girls of other religions in their love and forcing them to convert to Islam. It got into the news in Kerala when some Hindu organizations started complaining after two girls escaped from 'Love Jihad'. Now even the Christian organizations are coming up with the complaint.

I think the whole thing is a blow up by some anxious and conservative parents. One or two random incidents shouldn't be mistaken and enlarged to such proportions that they generate hatred towards the entire Muslim community. Posters claiming to be from 'Shiv Sena' have surfaced in many parts of Kerala warning Hindu girls against 'Love Jihad'. This is the first time that Shiv Sena activity has been reported in Kerala and I'm not very happy about it. Shiv Sena has always tried to restrict the growth of women in the name of Indian culture and takes pride in spreading communal messages. How can anyone forget the Bangalore bar incident? Girls were beaten up by Shri Ram Sena Activists for having a drink in the bar along with their male friends. Excuse me, but i thought this was India! Indian culture always stood for respecting women and what are they trying to preach by going around beating women? They have their parents and other elders to correct them if anyone feels that the girls have done some horrible sin. Advising them would have been ok, but beating them up publicly in front of TV cameras cannot be justified in any way! Rise of Shiv Sena and other similar 'Senas' in Kerala is definitely going to lead the society into the pit of communalism.
The inquiry commission appointed by the High Court has come to the conclusion that there is no racket involved in the whole 'Love Jihad' episode and the fears of the same are unnecessary. But not everyone is happy with the report it seems!

Its interesting to note that parents of children having inter caste marriage worry more about their children converting to other religion than about the idea of them living with someone of another religion. Our society has changed a lot but there is still a lot of things that need to be shaken off. I wonder when people will start realizing that love is beyond religion and should not be weighed down by it. Religious belief is a good thing but forgetting that the religion was made 'for the wellness of the people', and not 'people for the wellness of religion' will only demean both religion and love.