Art of Lying: The Essence of Hindu Philosophy

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit attrocities.  – Voltaire

Khurshed Batliwala’s video about Technology of Spirituality is not something unique or path breaking but it definitely comes in a package that kindles the sentiments with its astute approach.   It would create a frenzy among the newly globalised, highly suave and increasingly nostalgic Indian.  Both resident and non-resident Indians are starting to lose the vibe of Indianess.  The vibe of superiority enshrined by birth has suffered a major dent and are desperate to show the world that they are not just a bunch of white collared workers.   In their desperation they are giving credence to any gibberish which would not only sound scientific but also help revive their lost pride.

This is where people like Khurshed fill in with their educational qualifications as springboards and their manipulative ideas as paraphernalia for approbation among the ‘educated masses’.  Khurshed and their ilk are savvy enough to gauge the sycophancy of their fellow hindus.  So they mash up their ideas with science, history and copious amounts of hindu fairy tales.  These aren’t mere lies but a constructed notion against the indigenous people to distort their history and their contributions.   In the video Khurshed odiously compares the tribals with the brahmans.  The truth is that the tribals have always been more compassionate and productive than the brahmans or any other caste for that matter.  Even if we were to hypothetically accept whatever he is saying where did it all go without a trace.

Khurshed claims zinc was extracted thousands of years ago before the Europeans stole the idea via the Chinese.  If it was thousands of years old it could have been anyone but the point is if they could extract using their spiritual or yogic abilities why couldn’t they extract pure zinc. The reason being the technology or the knowledge at that stage was limited or to tell the truth no one knew that it was zinc (chemically speaking).  As science and technology progressed and when the actual need/want for zinc was realised pure zinc was extracted, not by any tantric but by a person who intended to do it by real scientific means.

Then he jumps to astronomy/ancient history rambling about varaha avatar, jestha and arundhati stars.  Varaha avatar being referenced to state the fact that the earth is round (in reality it’s spherically flat) is a stupefying statement.  Even if it were true what was the point of discovering or knowing that the earth was round and coming up with a wild story which doesn’t serve any purpose.  When did a boar taking the earth into the ocean become part of history? Those claims about jestha and arundhati are akin to sticking-the-tail game.  Here Khurshed is sticking it with his eyes open as astronomers have already with advent of time and lot of effort established it with scientific methods and empirical evidence.

Then he mentions a sloka about Krishna which is apparently encrypted.  An encryption of the mathematical constant Pi, of all the pressing things in this whole wide world.    Why should that mathematical constant be encrypted and why should anyone care even if it was.  The consistent thing about these are that nothing is straight forward and can be encrypted/decrypted at will.

Soon another Batliwala-alike would come along and say that the iPhone was conceived by Vishvamitra and some dude named Ashasravacharya wrote it in a scroll but the guys at Apple stole it and the ‘educated’ Indian would cheer for that as well.  Welcome to brahmanical philosophy where even the gods are controlled by the mantras then why not claim iPhone to be their invention. The brahmanical mindset of claiming credit to every accomplishment in this world is getting ludicrous by the day.

These are the same people with their metaphysical approach succeeded in creating a hegemonic social order so rigid that it reverberates in every aspect until this day.  This hegemonic order has even taken scientific dimensions and is being questioned in the ever changing socio-political environment.  The need to justify its relevance has risen and it can no way be justified in the current climate as it has become defunct.  So they take the ‘time machine’ and travel back to previous millenniums scouring for anything that can be conjured up with any established fact.

Behind this facade lies the message ‘bring back the good old days’ and the ‘good old days’ that they want to take us back had caste segregation, untouchability, enslavement of women and numerous other social evils as a way of life.  These devious intelligentsias are feeling the heat and are increasingly paranoid of losing their undeserved prominence.  So like always they have started concocting fables and sowing them as facts in young minds.  The brahmanical drivel which for long has controlled the past thereby controlling the present is losing the battle waged to reclaim the past that rightfully belongs to millions of indigenous people of this vast land.

The neo-brahministic class, an offshoot of globalisation is being targeted. The neo-brahmins in their avarice and gullibility are digesting it with no forethought.  These trolls like Batliwala should be resisted from manipulating the people to submit to their wanton ways, the ways which created the despicable caste system discriminating fellow human beings in the most inconceivable manner known to man.

“தமிழகத்தின் பால் தாக்கரே” சீமான்

இந்த தமிழ் மொழியானது காட்டுமிராண்டி மொழி என்று நான் ஏன் சொல்கிறேன்? எதனால் சொல்லுகிறேன்? என்று இன்று கோபித்து கொள்ளும் யோக்கியர்கள் ஒருவர் கூட சிந்தித்து பேசுவதில்லை. “வாய் இருக்கிறது எதையாவது பேசி வயிறு வளர்ப்போம்” என்பதை தவிர அறிவையோ, மானத்தையோ, ஒழுக்கத்தையோ பற்றி சிறிது கூட சிந்திக்காமல் பேசிவருகிறார்கள். இப்படிப்பட்ட இவர்கள் போக்குபடியே சிந்தித்தாலும் ‘தமிழ்மொழி 3000-4000 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முந்தி ஏற்பட்ட மொழி’ என்பதை தமிழின் பெருமைக்கு சாதனமாக கொண்டு பேசுகிறார்கள். நானும் தமிழ் காட்டுமிராண்டி மொழி என்பதற்கு அதைத்தானே முக்கிய காரணமாய் சொல்லுகிறேன். – அய்யா தந்தை பெரியார்

அனைத்து இந்திய லாரி உரிமையாளர்கள் சங்கம், அனைத்து இந்திய அந்த சங்கம் இந்த சங்கம் என்று இருக்கும். அதில் எல்லாம் மாநிலம், மாவட்டம், மாநகரம் என்று ஒவ்வொரு குழு அடங்கும். அது போல தேவர் குழு, செட்டியார் குழு, முதலியார் குழு, நாடார் குழு, பிள்ளை குழு என்று எல்லாம் சேர்ந்து நாம் தமிழர் என்று ஒரு சங்கம் அமைத்து உள்ளது. சரி எதுக்கு இந்த சங்கமுன்னு கேட்டா எல்லாரையும் ஒன்று இன்னைத்த பிறகு எல்லாருக்கும் அறிவுரை கூறி ஜாதி பற்றை அல்லது வெறியை கைவிட செஞ்சுடுவாங்கலாம். ‘இவன்’ என்ற பார்த்திபன் படம் நினைவுக்கு வருது. அதுல மிஸ்டர் பார்த்திபன் என்ன செய்வாருன்னா எல்லா வில்லன்களை கடத்தி பேசியே திறித்திடுவாறு. நல்ல தமாஷா இருக்கும். அதே வித்தையை நம்ம தன்மான சிங்..ச்சி புலி சீமான் செஞ்சினு இருக்காறு. ஏதோ அவவன் தேவை இல்லாம தேவனாகவும், வெட்டியா வன்னியனாகவும், சும்மனாச்சுக்கும் செட்டியாகவும், டைம் பாஸ்சுக்கு தலித் ஆகவும் இருக்கான் ரெண்டு நல்ல வார்த்தை சொல்லி திறுதருதற்கு. இந்த கூத்துக்கு பின்னாடி ஒரு கூம்பல் வாங்க தமிழரே கொள்கை தேவையில்லை, கூட்டம் தான் தேவை, கட்சி தான் தேவை. வீரம் தான் தேவை என்று இயேசு அழைக்கிறார் கும்பல் கூச்சப்படும் அளவிற்கு சகட்டு மேனிக்கு பிரச்சாரம் செய்கிறார்கள். எல்லா ஜாதிக்காரனும் (சுத்ரவாள்) செந்துக்குன்னு தலித் மக்களை வேற வாங்க தமிழரே என்று தீடீர் பாசம் செலுத்துறான்(ராம ஜன்மபூமி நினைவிற்கு வருது). சும்மா வாங்க பிரச்சனைய அப்புறம் பார்த்துப்போம் என்று எத கேட்டாலும் இப்போ ஈழம் தான் ஒரே பிரச்சனைன்னு ஜார்ஜ் புஷ் 9/11 போல அரச்ச மாவையே அரைக்கிறான். ஈழ போர் ஏன் இப்படி ஆச்சின்னு மட்டும் கேட்டோம் காங்கிரஸ், சோனியா, கருணாநிதி, இளங்கோவன், அசின், விவேக் ஒபரோய் என்று எல்லாரையும் இழுத்து ஒரு கலட்சபம் நடத்திடுவாங்க. சரி இப்ப என்ன செய்யலாம் என்றால் அ.தி.மு.க விற்கு வோட்டு , கனிமொழிக்கு சிறை, மோடி போன்ற ஆட்சி என்று தே.மு.தி.க வின் அடிமட்ட தொண்டனுக்கு உள்ள அரசியல் சமூக அறிவை வியக்கும் அளவிற்கு பேசுவார்கள்.

"தமிழகத்தின் பால் தாக்கரே" சீமான்

தேசியவாதம் அயோக்கியனின் உறைவிடம். எப்படி இந்திய தேசியத்திற்கு கண்மூடித்தனமாய் ஒரு பாகிஸ்தான் தேவைப்படுகிறதோ அதே போல் தமிழ் தேசியத்திற்கு சிங்களம் தேவைப்படுகிறது. சிங்களம் இல்ல விட்டால் வேறு ஒரு தேசியம் எதிரியாக சித்தரிக்கபடும். ராஜபக்சேவும் சிங்கள இனவாதிகளும் எதை எதிர்பார்க்கிறகளோ அதையே இவர்களும் செய்கிறார்கள். கார்கில் பொழுது நம்ப அம்பி அரவிந்த்சாமி ஒரு விளம்பரத்துல சொல்லுவாறு ‘இந்துஸ்தானம் எழுந்தால் எந்த ஸ்தனமும் மிஞ்சாது’ அதே போல் நம்ம சுத்திர குட்டி சீமான் சிங்களவனை அழிச்சிடிவோம் என்று உதார் விடறாரு. பாமர சிங்கள மக்களை இதை சொல்லியே பயமுருத்திவிடுவார்கள் சிங்கள குண்டர்கள்.
எதோ தேசியவாதம் ஜாதி நல்லிணக்கம் பேசுறீங்க சரி, பெரியாரை ஏன் சீண்டனும். பெரியார் தேசியத்தை வெறுத்தவர், ஜாதி ஒழிப்பில் காலமெல்லாம் உறுதியாய் இருந்தவர், பார்பனீயம் அல்லது இந்து மதத்தை வேரறுக்க முற்பட்டவர், அடிப்படைவாதத்தை எதிர்த்தவர் என்று எதையெல்லாம் செய்தாரோ அதற்கு நேர் மாறாக செயல் படுகிறது சீமானின் நாம் தமிழர். வீரமணி பெரியார் பெயரை கெடுத்தது பத்தாது என்று இன்று சீமானும் நாம் தமிழரும் உலா வருகிறார்கள். அம்பேத்கருக்கும் முதுராமலிங்கதிற்கும் மாலை அன்னிவிச்சு ஹிந்து பாசிஸ்டுகள் ரேஞ்சில் அம்பேத்கரை ஜாதி தலைவர் ஆக்கிவிட்டார் சீமான். இதற்கு சப்பை கட்டு கட்டும் முற்போக்காளர்கள் வேறு. அப்போ போய் காஞ்சி பெரியவாளுக்கும் மாலை சாத்துங்கோ என்ற எண்ணம் எழும் முன்பே மோடி புகழை திவ்யமாய் பாடும் சீமான். ஈழத்தில் இஸ்லாமியர்களை வதைத்தார்கள் விடுதலை புலிகள் இப்போ எதிரிக்கு எதிரிக்கு நண்பன் என்ற முறையில் மோடி போலும். வறட்டு தமிழ் தேசியவாதம், ஜாதி சமரசம், கண்மூடி தனமான தொண்டர் கூட்டம் எல்லாம் சேர்த்து தமிழகத்தில் ஒரு பால் தக்கரே உருவாகிவிட்டார். வெளி மாநிலத்தவரை அடிக்காமல் இருப்பது தான் ஒரு குறை.
ரஜினி ரசிகர் போல் தலைவன் வேணும், வழி காட்டனும் என்று சொல்லாமல், சீமான் போன்ற அரசியல் சமூக சந்தர்பவாதிகள் பின் செல்லாமல் பெரியார் அம்பேத்கர் பாதையில் தனி மனித ஒழுக்கத்தினால் ஜாதியை ஒழித்து மதங்களை கடந்து தமிழராய் இல்லை மனிதனாய், உழைக்கும் மக்களாய் ஒன்று சேர்வோம்.

The Swami Syndrome

Another day. Another Swami. Over the last few days, all television channels have been abuzz with news of the Nithyananda scandal, a sting operation which has captured the swami in a compromising position with a popular actress. As expected, this has incensed the general public who have damaged his ashrams and burnt his effigies. A swami getting exposed is not a new occurrence. In spite of this, why do people fall prey to these fraudsters time and again? To understand this, one needs to take an in depth look into this complex relationship.

A country like India has never been in dearth of religious gurus. From the usual street corner tantrik or fakir to high profile gurus such as Sai Baba, Amrita, DGS Dinakaran etc, the gurus are many. In fact, the gurus would probably outnumber the different gods of all religions put together. Traditionally, their roles were mostly restricted to performing gimmicks such as vomiting lingams and necklaces, giving out oracles (arul vaaku) and spewing out some Sanskrit mumbo jumbo which no one can make any sense of. People like DGS Dinakaran made their riches by organizing miracle gatherings where ‘acts of god’ were performed. This included things like people suffering from incurable diseases being cured instantly, the physically challenged being able to walk etc. In addition to making millions out of people’s misery, these people often wielded powerful political clouts which gave them elite status. Most often, the people who were followers of these gurus were poles apart. They were either the super rich or the very poor. But this trend took a change during the mid 90s. With the advent of globalisation, not only did the society in general begin to evolve, so did the gurus. With a burgeoning middle class, the swamis adopted new techniques to tap this new market.

Though globalisation has been a bane for many, it has also been a boon for some. With more and more multinationals setting shop in various metros, the young and educated middle class benefited the most from the job opportunities created by these new ventures. Though their new careers helped them procure the material comforts which they have always dreamt of, the stressful work life left them burnt out with little time or energy to enjoy those riches. Instead of introspecting into the reasons and system which has led to such a situation, more of these ‘educated and knowledgeable’ people went in search of gurus who will be able to rid them of all these worries. The gurus capitalised on this need and came up with different fancy ideas to make money. Programs such as ‘The Art of Living’ by Ravishankar, ‘LifeBliss Foundation’ by Nithyananda, “Transcendental Meditation movement” by Mahesh Yogi claim to show us how to lead a better life through Yoga and meditation.

A closer look at all these programs and discourses will show all that these gurus preach are basic facts of life known by everyone. But each one claims that their program is the only means by which one can achieve happiness and peace. And these programs do not come cheap. They are specifically designed for the corporate world and cost thousands of dollars. Naturally, the participants feel rejuvenated at the end of the program. If someone is housed in a serene environment with all facilities for a few days and does nothing but relax and enjoy clean and fresh air, they are bound to feel good. There is nothing spiritual or magical about it. But this temporary escape will vanish when reality returns. When these gurus get exposed, it obviously aggravates the followers because all these days they were being fed with crap that ‘worldly pleasures’ are bad and one needs to rid themselves of such ‘pleasures’ in order to achieve ‘true happiness’. When they see the same guy who said such things indulging in those ‘pleasures’, they feel cheated. Their misery is analogous to that of people who lose money by investing heavily in chit funds. They are not angry that they have been foolish enough to let themselves be cheated by someone who only told them those things that they wanted to hear; they are just angry that they didn’t choose the ‘right’ guru.

Even when these swamis get defamed, no doubt some people will still continue to stand by them. Others will continue their quest to find a ‘more effective’ guru. Its almost as if they need one guru or the other to tell them how to lead their lives. Unless they realize that the real reason for their miseries is the capitalist fueled economies and that these gurus are actually encouraged and supported by the very same biggies who exploit them, there will be no reprieve from this syndrome. Today, it is Nithyananda. Tomorrow, it’ll be someone else.

Inter-Caste Marriages: A sham?

A recent episode of the talk show ‘Neeya Naana’ had an interesting topic. As most Tamil television viewers would be aware, Neeya Naana is a weekly talk show being telecast on Vijay TV. Each week, a topic is introduced by the show’s host, Gopinath and people argue for and against the given topic. The topics mostly range from being silly to plain ludicrous. But now and then, some interesting topics get discussed as well. These give us a good snapshot of the current society’s opinions and thoughts. This week was one such.

The subject of discussion this time around was people who had inter-caste/ inter-religious ‘love’ marriages. The moderator discussed various aspects starting from how the people found their spouses’ caste to how they faced their parents’ ire when they married and most crucially, the belief system under which they bring up their children. The opinions voiced by the audience make us wonder if the whole concept of inter-caste marriages has had any impact at all on curbing the impact of caste on the society.

Today, many people are of the opinion that caste is not as prevalent in towns and cities as in villages. With people moving to new places in search of greener pastures, it is widely believed that the different castes have truly amalgamated in the hustle and bustle of the city’s busy lifestyle. Nothing can be more far from the truth. In comparison to the open practising methods followed in villages, the folks in towns and cities adopt a more contemporary approach in establishing their hegemony. Theirs is an approach of making selective compromises that would make their life easier in a big city but not any that would affect their caste pride. In this way, they create an impression of having amicable relationship with others in the community but also retain the respect of their caste brethren. This is probably more sinister than the practices adopted in villages as the hatred is concealed in the guise of co-existence.

One of the main occasions when this caste pride comes to the fore is during marriages. All hell breaks loose when a boy or girl chooses to marry someone from a different caste. But nowadays, it seems like the people who get into these kinds of inter-caste relationships themselves know where to draw the line. This was quite evident from the opinions of the audience in the program. Just to give a glimpse, there was this woman who wanted her lover to either to be from the BC or the MBC category. Then there was this lady who went through her future partner’s certificates to figure out which caste he belonged to. Another woman told of how she knew of her partner’s caste even during her schooldays and the time when her parents threatened to kill him on knowing that he was from a different caste. This lady and many others apologised to their parents on the show for the grief the parents had been put through. The fact that those parents were prepared to kill another human being just to keep caste honour didn’t seem to bother these women. It was indeed sad to note that there wasn’t a single person who said they loathed the very system called caste and wanted to prove a point by marrying someone from a different community.

Another aspect which comes to our attention is how the offsprings of these relationships are brought up. In most inter-caste marriages, the lifestyle adopted by the couple will mostly adhere to the higher caste amongst those from which they hail from. This was also evident from the opinions voiced in the show. Examples such as the lady belonging to the Mudaliar caste giving her son a Brahmin upbringing (‘We have even performed the Poonool ceremony for him’, she said) and the Christian woman who converted to being a Hindu after marriage prove this point. Interestingly, it was mostly women who had made the compromises. It seems like the only instance where the couples make an exception is when they get a community certificate for their children!

Caste is definitely a social evil which needs to be exterminated. What’s required is a change in mindset of the society and awareness about the negative impact it has had on people’s lives. Marrying someone from another caste doesn’t serve any purpose unless there is a concrete effort to change one’s opinions about the evils of the system. Until this happens, these marriages would be no more than mere sham exercises which only serve to help programs like Neeya Naana garner more TRPs.

Maestro of Opportunism

Ilayaraja – A name synonymous with the Tamil music industry. An incomparable genius who totally transformed the role played by music in films and the perception of people towards film music.

The mid 1970s. It was during this time that Rasaiyya aka Ilayaraja entered films. It was the period when listening to Hindi film songs was considered fashionable and tamil film music was looked down upon. The fate of tamil folk music was even more worse. It was virtually non existent in tamil movies. Only Carnatic music was considered to be ‘quality’ music. Ilayaraja would forever change this trend. His style rediscovered tamil folk music and experimented with nuances of music which were totally unheard of till then. The purists who initially dismissed his music as worthless had to eat their own words. Today, his music has reached a stage where his contemporaries pale in comparison.

Raja has always had an interesting relationship with the ‘elite’ of the tamil society. His eagerness to be in their good books is a known secret to anyone that has followed him over the years. In this light, the recent conferring of the ‘Isai Gnana Mani’ award on him by the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam gains interest. The award was given away by the Jayandera Saraswati who is currently on bail for murder charges. It was apparently in recognition of Raja’s Thiruvasagam and his services to tamil music. During his acceptance speech, Raja revealed that he was asked by Chandrasekaran (Jayandera’s predecessor, now deceased) to work on the Thiruvasagam album. This is an interesting comment considering the fact that the gurus of the Kanchi mutt have never considered tamil to be a ‘pure’ language. They have gone to the extent of branding it as ‘neesa baashai’ (the language of the shudras). Also, the Kanchi Mutt follows the Vaishanavite approach of the Hindu religion and doesn’t approve the Saivite way to which Thiruvasagam belongs. All this is relatively unimportant. Our main point of concern is why would a genius like Raja stoop so low time and again.

Ilayaraja was born as Gnanadesikan (but known as Rasaiyya) in a Dalit Christian family. During his early years he was exposed to communist ideals by his elder brother ‘Paavalar’ Varadarajan who was involved with the Communist party. As a budding music composer, he assisted his brother during propaganda tours where music was used as a mode of protest. But once he started making attempts to enter the film music industry all this started to change gradually. Raja found it pretty hard to make an impression in an industry which was dominated by influences of Carnatic music. The purists refused to accept his style of music, branding him as ‘thavil party’. Needless to say, the fact that he came from a lower class background also added to this dismissal. Steadily Raja did begin to make progress and was accepted by the general public. But in order to be accepted by the so called custodians of music, he was rather compelled to change his personality. The mid 80s to early 90s saw the gradual shift of Raja towards the ideals of Hindutva. You can see this change in a lot of songs he composed during that period. A notable example is the ‘Janani Janani’ song among others. His personality also took a sharp change with the constant shaved head and beads around his neck and what not. He started doing concerts to collect funds to donate to the temple at Srirangam. It is a pity that he failed to notice that his fellowmen were still struggling to enter the very same temple! This change in attitude of his has been written about by many. A excerpt from an article about him in the Outlook magazine:

‘…despite his achievements, Ilayaraja is uncomfortable with the truth of his origins. When K.A. Gunasekaran wrote Isaimozhiyum Ilayarajavum (The Language of Music and Ilayaraja) in 2002, the composer was offended by the fact that Gunasekaran had discussed his Dalit origins. Ilayaraja sued the publisher and author for defamation. He has tried ceaselessly to merge himself into all that Hinduism holds in high regard. He is an ardent devotee of Ramanan of Thiruvannamalai and also planned to start a music research centre with the aid of the Kanchi Mutt’

It is a widely known fact that inspite of his generous donation to the temple at Tiruvannamalai, he was barred entry into the temple’s sanctum sanctorum during the religious ceremony held there.

As a composer, Raja has undeniably revolutionised music. But as an individual, he has completely failed in many respects. Why he tries to ape a group which has for centuries subjugated his own fellow beings is a mystery only he can answer. He may be excused for doing so during his initial days, but to do it till this day just baffles our understanding. Is this a case of sheer opportunism gone too far?

Unnaipol Oruvan – Selective Amnesia

The heroes of Tamil cinema have always displayed utmost sincerity when it comes to changing the society. On one hand we have the likes of Vijay and Suriya playing moral police and lecturing on how women need to dress and behave while on the other, we have Shankar’s heroes like Rajini and Vikram who cleanse the system by their superhuman acts. But these films are for the lesser mortals. For the ‘thinking’, elitist, net savvy crowd, there is Mr Kamalhassan, the ‘intellectual’ who is hailed as a great thinker and filmmaker. So, for his part in changing the society, he has come out with Unnaipol Oruvan, a movie which sparks with nationalistic fervour. And, going by the reaction the movie is receiving in the web and visual media, it looks like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

UPO as many may be aware is a remake of the Hindi movie ‘A Wednesday’. It tells the story of an unnamed common man played by Kamal, who,angered by the problems caused by terrorism decides to take on the terrorists singlehandedly. The rest of the film revolves around how he goes about doing it and the explanations which he gives for his actions.

The common man’s apathy

The film’s protagonist highlights the problems and sufferings faced by the common man as a result of acts of terrorism and suggests that the only way to end terrorism is by using terrorism against people who perpetrate these crimes. He seems to totally absolve the common man of any role or responsibility in such acts. As Martin Luther King once remarked, ‘The greatest threat to democracy is not the people who commit acts of violence but the silence of those who proclaim themselves to be good citizens’. Most of the Hindus in Gujarat did not approve of Narendra Modi’s goons massacring Muslims across Gujarat, but they remained silent. The central government elected by the people also remained silent. Even when they did have a chance to do something, what did they do, they re-elected Modi. If a Muslim affected by all this,takes to violence to avenge the injustice meted out to him, would that be considered terrorism? If that is terrorism, then aren’t the people and the government elected by the people responsible for making him a terrorist. How different are his actions from what Kamal does in UPO? Acts of terror don’t happen overnight. It takes years of exploitation and subjugation of one sect of people over another before the oppressed react in the way they do. The common man’s understanding of the happenings around him is appalling.

Cowards who don’t vote

Our common man also comes down heavily on the people who don’t vote calling them cowards who have no trust in democracy. The whole concept of democracy is a farce as far as India is concerned. Here, it is actually the parties who contest the elections who have no faith in democracy. If they did there wouldn’t be so many cases of booth capturing, illicit voting and other criminal activities happening so freely. The people who have been cheated and exploited all these years have at least now realised this and are boycotting the polls in some areas. And our hero wants the people to support such a system. What a joke!

Indifference to everything

Kamal and his writer E.R.Murugan seem to be so upset that people in the South don’t react enough to killings in the north. What is his take on the Maharashtrians’ reaction to hundreds of suicide deaths of farmers in Vidarbha which is only a few hundred kilometres from Mumbai or the North Indian’s reaction to regular deaths of dalits in Bihar or Keezhvenmani? He wouldn’t have even heard about all these because these are all ‘regular’ events. They don’t need such an adverse reaction as one warranted by bomb blasts though the loss of lives from such events are far more than those from terrorist attacks. What does he think about the Indian government’s reaction to the genocide of Tamils in SL. Selective accusations are aplenty in this film.

Anti- Muslim rhetoric

The movie is filled with anti-muslim rhetoric conveniently ignoring the actions of Hindutva fascist forces which lead to most of these events. It cleverly camouflages this by showing the central character as a Muslim. Also, to show him as being secular, Kamal makes one of the terrorists a Hindu. Even when a Muslim character explains his stance, the scene is reduced to a comedy. When he says that his 16 year old third wife got killed in the Best Bakery attack, the other guy says, ‘you still have the other two, why don’t you manage with them’. Kamal need not be courageous enough to mention the forces behind the attack but he would have done well by at least not ridiculing the whole episode. Apart from sparingly mentioning about the attacks by Hindutva forces, the film hardly makes an effort to shed any light on the background of any of the attacks. It seems like the protagonist is obsessed with the idea of India and doesn’t want to know about anything else. All he wants to do is finish off the terrorists and everyone will be happy.

UPO is a half baked effort which tries to look at things from a superficial point of view. Watching the audience applaud it only goes to prove that they are willing to accept whatever gets dished out to them in the name of nationalism and democracy.When even the so called literate and knowledgeable crowd consider this to be a great film, it makes us shudder to think what kind of impact this film would have on the ‘common man’.

என்ன கொடுமை இது!!

ஜனநாயகம் பொங்கி வழியும் இந்த நாட்டில் ஒரு மனிதன் தனது சொந்த‌ விருப்பப்படி,தனது கொள்கையின் படி தனது திருமணத்தை நடத்திக்கொள்வதற்கு கூட உரிமை இல்லை.பர்ப்பன ஆர்.எஸ்.எஸ் மதவெறி கும்பலின் அடியாள் படையாக‌‌ இந்த நாட்டின் ஜனநாயக நிறுவணங்கள் அனைத்தும் மாற்றப்பட்டு வருகின்றன.குறிப்பாக போலீசு கும்பல் இந்துவெறி பயங்கரவாத கும்பலின் சட்டப்பூர்வமான,ஒழுங்கமைக்கப்பட்ட ரவுடி கூட்டமாக மாறி வருகிறது. தருமபுரி மாவட்டம் ஓசூரில் இயங்கி வரும் எமது புதிய ஜனநாயகத் தொழிலாளர் முன்னணி எனும் புரட்சிகர அமைப்பின் தோழர்கள் பார்ப்பனிய சடங்கு முறைகளை மறுத்து ஒரு திருமணத்தையும்,ஏற்கெனவே பார்ப்பனிய முறைப்படி திருமணம் செய்து அதன் பிறகு அமைப்புக்கு அறிமுகமாகி தோழர்களான பிறகு தற்போது பார்ப்பன அடையளங்களை அகற்ற விரும்பிய‌ பெண் தோழர்கள் தமது தாலிகளை அறுக்கும் ஒரு விழாவிற்கும் இரண்டு நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு ஏற்படு செய்திருந்தனர்.இந்த விழாவை தெருவில் நடத்துவதன் மூலம் பார்ப்பனிய சடங்கு முறைகளை புறகணித்த ஒரு புரட்சிகர மணவிழாவை மக்களுக்கு அறிமுகம் செய்ய தோழர்கள் திட்டமிட்டனர். இதற்காக மக்க‌ள் மத்தியில் விரிவாக பிரச்சாரம் செய்தார்கள்,திருமணத்திற்கு அனைவரையும் அழைத்திருந்தனர். தமது முச்சையே நிறுத்தும் வேலைகளை செய்தால் பார்ப்பன‌ பாசிச‌ வெறி நாய்கள் சும்மா இருக்குமா ? தனது அடியாள் படையான போலீசை ஏவி விட்டு திருமணத்திற்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்த பு.ஜ.தொ.மு ஒசூர் பகுதி அமைப்பாளர் தோழர் பரசுராமனையும் தோழரின் துனைவியாரையும் கைது செய்துள்ளது. பார்ப்பன பயங்கவாத பாசிச கும்பலை அடியோடு ஒழித்துக்கட்டாவிட்டால் அனைத்து ஜனநாயக உரிமைகளும் புதைக்கப்படும். இது மாபெரும் ஜனநாயக நாடு என்று புளங்காகிதமடைபவர்கள் இதற்கு என்ன விளக்கமளிப்பார்கள்? எதற்கும் வாயை திறக்காத ஒரு வர்க்கம் இருக்கிறது, அவர்கள் இனி மேலும் கண்களையும்,வாயையும் திறக்காவிட்டால் நாளை தனது பிரச்சனைகளை,தனது விருப்பப்படி,தனது வயால் கூட‌ புலம்ப முடியாதபடி இந்திய‌ ஜனநாயகம் மேலும் பல மடங்கு அதிகமாகியிருக்கும் !

News article

நன்றி : Superlinks

Religious ‘freedom’ in India

It is a known fact that in Hindu majority India, minorities have always had it hard. Among the people who convert to other religions, mostly it is the dalits who form a significant percentage. The main reason they do so is to escape the oppression they face from the so called upper castes who refuse to treat them even as humans let alone as equals. But even this doesn’t seem to have alleviated their situation. From anti-conversion laws in TN to genocides in Gujarat and Orissa the obstacles they face is beyond words. A recent report from U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has confirmed this.

Excerpt

“It is extremely disappointing that India, which has a multitude of religious communities, has done so little to protect and bring justice to its religious minorities under siege”

The report has only reiterated only what most of us know already.As expected, the Indian government has termed the report ‘regrettable’. This is not the first time the Indian Govt has turned a deaf ear to such findings. When the issue of caste based discrimination came up at a anti-racism conference in South Africa some years ago, India refused to accept that the caste system was a form of racism and went on to proclaim that the practice was fast declining when the actual facts showed exactly the opposite. The first step to rectify any issue is to accept the fact that there is an issue. It seems like the Indian goverment is totally oblivious to this fact.All it wants to do is to paint a rosy picture of its multilingual, mulitcultural heritage, conveniently ignoring the travails faced by millions of its own citizens.

‘India Shining’

‘Why care about these ppl…lets build more nuclear submarines and show the world what a powerful country India is…BTW, don’t forget to ask these guys to make sure our shithouses are clean – bharat mata ke jai’

Nadodigal:Corny as Usual

‘Love’,  the only thing that has kept the Tamil film industry afloat.  There have been numerous stories revolving around this thing called ‘love’ that we have been convinced it is the only human emotion/feeling that is worth living for.  But the irony is that this concept of love which is a deity in all these movies is nothing but superficial.  The characters popularly known as ‘hero’ and ‘heroine’ are forced into it no matter what their personal takings are with respect to relationships, education and so on.  The other thing that has always been emphasized in all these kind of movies is that ‘love’ is a constant just like the universe which begs the question ‘Why should or would it have to be a constant?’  Unlike the scientific explanation to universe being a constant this one doesn’t have any sort of explanation as it has been proclaimed to be ‘divine’.  Movie after movie is being churned out around this concept and the people just don’t seem to grow tired of this stale concept. Every movie being made is claimed to be something different and the only difference that one can find is its difference to reality and ingenuity.

On this note came another movie revolving around ‘love’ called ‘Nadodigal’ which was dubbed as a path breaking movie and there is word doing the rounds that its going to be made in various other languages.  The cliché in all these movies is that if it had to have ‘love’ then it should have ‘friendship’ which goes beyond anything is another story all together.  Now in a lot of movies we all have come across these groups of friends who nominate someone in their group to ‘love’ who apparently is the ‘hero/heroine’ and act as an advisory committee in this regard.  This ‘friend’ analyses the lover and recommends and to an extent persuades them to fall in ‘love’ which sometimes quite intriguing.  But this gives rise to another predicament wherein the lovers are forced on to a relationship which would even jeopardize their ‘friendship’ as they were persuaded, aided or coerced into it by their ‘friends’. Would this happen in real life is another question altogether but is this reel life being forced on into the society is a question worth pondering on.  Anyone would agree on the impact of movies on Tamil society and this is the cause of concern as the movies do not depict the reality of life and even the depiction of reality is totally lopsided.  This has created and is creating a generation of youngsters with shallow thoughts on relationships and emotions which would or has already created a phoney society which embarks itself on a load of platitudes to assuage its short comings.

The movie on the whole is realistic in its representation of its characters and their life but fails in its mission by justifying their immature understanding of love.  True that they went a long way to secure their friends’ relationship but they should have the maturity to understand that ‘love’ is a human emotion which can also fail. ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’ is a popular adage which can apply to this movie and the ‘friends’ should have the capacity to understand that just because they were part of the ‘unification of lovers’ shouldn’t compel the lovers to paint a rosy picture for eternity.  To cut to the chase the movie lacks any kind of maturity with regards to its approach to ‘love’ and ‘friendship’ which are relative terms in their own right.  To glorify this movie or to celebrate it as an eye opener is just a sham that is being promulgated by the media whose only interest lies in exploiting the sentimental nature of the rustic audience to reap profits with minimal effort and concern.