M F Hussain dies and other observations

The Indian media and a lot of the general public often remind me of Gus Portokalos, the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding who always found a way of attributing everything to having been invented , discovered or originated from the Greeks.  The desire to associate an Indian connection with everything is almost as strong if not stronger.

We have been quick to claim the Nobel Prizes of  Hargobind Khorana and S Chandrasekhar though they did their lives work in the USA. But these are at least direct connections. Sunita Williams  is claimed as one of our own- through a more indirect connection ( her Slovenian roots are not mentioned much). The president of Mauritius  is a local boy from Bihar. Every child of Indian descent winning the US Spelling Bee a national achievement. Neil Kashkari also has an Indian connection and of course Vikram Pandit and Indra Nooyi are our own. 

So one would think that actual Indian-grown-Internationally-renowned talent would be lionized a great deal more. After all one does not have to look for some tenuous connection to go into the throes of Indian- connection induced ecstasy, like with Obama's pocket Hanuman charm. So Salman Rushdie should have statues made in his honor as should M F Hussain.
But the former's book was banned in our land, the second country to do so. While India's Picasso  has died in exile. Both exiled for "offending" the sensibilities of people too ignorant to understand their work. Now, while Rushdie may yet earn his way back into being another Indian-doing-great-things maybe by winning the Nobel- the Booker of Bookers is obviously not enough, Hussain unfortunately has passed on.

What began on 9/11...

... is hopefully over now. I remember watching the twin towers tumble down in the Meghdoot Hostel Common room. It was the most horrible thing I had ever seen on TV. And 9/11 shaped most of my adult life. Finding a job,  moving here to the US.
I have never flown on a plane as an adult without that Orange Alert Security.  Never known a world without DHS and its forms. Without the "... are you a terrorist" question . Or the SEVIS reporting structure. Or almost felt criminal when producing paperwork for every government document here and elsewhere.
I hope  the news of Osama Bin Laden dead changes the world for the better as his heinous acts did for the worse.


And I am so glad my favorite world leader brought the world this news.
This is one of those moments that is defining in world history. And the feeling of relief for being on the side of the good guys, the non-terrorists is very palpable.

Barack Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize.

You know what, Obama won the Nobel Peace prize. And you know what else. Learn to live with it. Gracefully that is. Because when the ultra right side with the Hamas and Taliban loonies to condemn it, they reveal just how envious they really are. When bloggers of the “hum kitne awesome hain” variety who showcase even wedding announcements from the New York Times as an example of how South Asians have gone up the in the world, not to mention claiming ownership for every even fourth generation Indian Child winning a spelling bee, they look ridiculous. And when ordinary bloggers use some very ridiculous comparison to Bush, they exhibit that disease of have-opinion-will-express. (Not a bad thing I am doing it here!!!!!) Which in itself would not be wrong or bad, if only they did not sound as ignorant as they do. And all this dissent or outrage makes the people seem mean spirited. Really, would it kill them to be polite, and not kind of make their envy obvious. The first two categories envy I can understand,( not condone but understand) the last lot, if it is blogworthy material they need, why not remember the age old adage of speaking because of having something to say as wise men do rather than speaking to say something like fools do.
Because, lets face it, The BO is the President of the United States and HE JUST WON THE 2009 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. And made a very nice acceptance speech about it too.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And by the way, “accomplishment “ is not awarded in the Nobel- otherwise there would be no poor dying in the slums of Calcutta ( Mother Theresa ), global warming would be gone ( RK Pachauri- this is a shout out to the “hum kitne awesome hain websites) the Middle East would be an oasis of peace ( Shimon Peres, Yasser Arafat) there would be no racial discrimination ( MLK anyone), it recognizes efforts being made for the process. The Committee spelled it out very clearly their reasons for nominating the BO (In awarding President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian committee is honouring his intentions more than his achievements....). And since you dissenters were not getting it anyhow, just be happy for the guy. Ok?

Veiled menace......

"Poor Amina" said my roommate as she peeled off her sweat-stained shirt. "I saw her this morning. She was wearing a burqa to work."

I sat up on the bed. "Interesting", I said not wanting to say anything more revealing of my real feelings and yet wanting her to speak on. It was the summer of 2002 and I had just started my summer internship with Gillette and along with a lot of other students from different B-schools was in the MDI Gurgaon hostel. Amina was one of the many stuents, who lived across the hall from me and my room mate.

"I did not think her to be the type". To be sure neither did I. But I had talked to Amina , at least more than my roomie had, so I did not say anything except a "Hmm mmm" and buried myself in Hercule Poirot.

Amina was certainly not the "type". As the days went by I found her very "normal". Very like me, actually. Full of funny stories, quick to make friends, affectionate. I found myself spending more and more time in her room. The black burqa, hanging on a hook on the wall became less of a presence till I found her ironing it one evening.

"You wear it everyday" I ventured, still not sure if I should ignore it altogether.

"Yes" she smiled."It is very convenient really. No one ever gropes me and I always get place to sit even in very crowded buses. I figured, I might as well as prevent sun tans when I go out to work in Delhi this summer. Shocked my mother in Lucknow big time when I asked her for it".

Of course that changed everything. I thinks she still has pictures of me trying it on

This reminded me of that incident. Honestly, I have had very mixed feelings about the burqa. I do think that the diktat women should cover themselves/be modestly dressed and the religions that enforce it are misogynistic to the extreme. I think it sexualizes children to have them understand the difference between "modest" and "immodest" dress early on and force hijabs on little girls. I find it as much child abuse as I find little boys from sikh families wearing patkas or children from Hindu families speak of kids who have parents professing other faiths as "different" or try to label religious observances as "good " or bad"(I do follow Dr Dawkins in not labelling kids by the religion their parents bring them up in). And let us not even talk of circumcision or other culturo-religious practices.

The veil , however confuses me. I find the basic idea of covering up to prevent others from getting tempted, unadulterated nonsense. But there are those who choose to. I might find that choice stupid, or ill-informed or even regressive. But then so do I find Stay at Home Mothers or Beauty Queens. But their right to remain that way, that I completely agree with. Just as I do not prefer their personal opinions about how I should live my life dictate me, I cannot let my tastes dictate their chices , however poor they seem to me.

So I may (not to say I do!) roll my eyes at woman clad in a shuttle cock burqa , shake my head at a young teen in a hijab , or even snigger at a burqini (Disclaimer: I never laugh at others clothes, am always too busy worrying about my own)- but I cannot understand why a democratic nation would want to impose a dress code. That kind of things are done by the absolutely batshit crazy right (so right they are that side of wrong). I like the sentiment of equality and liberty for women. I appreciate the idea of keeping public spaces as free of religious symbolism as possible (in my version of Utopia there is no religion, but in that land, people realize the idiocy of religion by themselves and not through a state rule). If those be the real aims, they are going about it the wrong way. Because a ban on the burqa, far from forcing these "oppressed"( woe betide me if they are "I am so by free choice" types) women to remove their shackles, would force them out of public life. After all patriarchal families that force their women to dress modestly (provided such indeed is the case) would lock them up instead of letting them go about uncovered. There goes freedom out of the window for you. The fact that "these"(this is beginning to read like so classist, or racist, but I cannot use other words) women are in the public eye should help the "liberte, egalite" to seep down in a generation or so. And then there is the secular part of it. Does France really want to make martyrs out of its religious people? After all the religious love screaming martyrdom for imagined slights. A ban on dress takes on "real supression" dimensions. (Imagine if the US outlawed male circumcisions or made Christmas a working day- the latter would ofcourse give Bill O' Reilly an apoleptic fit -btw I NEVER thought I would reference that man on my blog- NEVER say NEVER). And martyrdom has this way of making religion and its observance all the more attractive, no matter how oppressive it is.

And then there is the other thing. A little thing called Islamophobia. The "otherization" of people based on their dress observances and the overarching assumption that "this must be misogyny" seems to be at the root of this. I do hope it is not, I would like to think it is not, but right-leaning governments use patriotism/ respect for values as thinly disguised form of xenophobia. And Europe does have this uneasy history with Islam. I cannot help but wonder what really is provoking this dress code idea.

Religion is a powerful (though inherently useless) meme. Like a disease it spreads by human contact. It perpetuates by discussion, by public discourse, and by paying attention to it. Bans, or overt displays too often have the same impact. The best resistance to the disease probably is exposure, then indifference. It will eventually go away if it is not over emphasized. Attention positive and negative will both make it as powerful- after all ideas travel through minds.

As a final thought, I wonder about the whole religious symbol thing. If no overt religious symbols are to be allowed in public spaces in France, does this mean they are closing ALL the pasta places?

EDITED to ADD: And here is another view. From a non-burqa wearing Muslim female. Makes me think. About how evils like Sati were removed from Indian society, b a blanket ban. But of course, that was from the root at the place where it flourished, not in any foreign country where the practice was alien and probably not carried out.

And yet another piece. Thank you Inferno.

And while I find the "banning of the burqa" in the West very Islamophobic, I will not completely disagree with what she says either. But again, its personal choice, no matter how socially ingrained.

Incidentally I find it very funny that people who follow other traditional religions get so up in arms at the burqa being repressive. Sure, it would appear so, if it is a social requirement, not a personal choice, but then so too are the million and one requirements of all paternalistic religions, the taboos, the do's and don'ts regarding women, their dress their inferiority to men, their "uncleanliness". I wonder why it is easy to "accept" those things, repressive as they be, is it because their presence is not that manifest. And lets leave religion aside, isn't the portrayal of women either as sex symbols or goddesses as repressive too? Just wondering why we rarely notice those social conditionings, just the ones that seem to be "oppressing the other"?

WTF1

Ever since Keith Olberman started the WTF segment (even before that, but one looks for legitimacy- like big firms do), I have wanted to incorporate that somehow in the things I read and do a double take on. You know the "Is this REALLY what happened?"Not "What were they thinking?" but things that induce the "Were they thinking?" effect.

I think it is but appropriate that this news should have the honor of being the pioneer post in what will undoubtedly be a long running series.

Let us not even go into the whole "We do not ask for it" deal. We do not, but you know what, no one gives a damn for what we want. Women, let us face it, fair and square, are not human enough to feel that these sort of policies in , irony of ironies, Women's Colleges (maybe those should be called Woemen's Colleges, they do seem intent on making women woe-ful) push women firmly into the thriteenth century- or a more unenlightened time. Let us forget that "They cannot control themselves" is not a very flattering argument for men either. Because in some kind of warped mentality, this idea makes sense to these very respected Principals of these women's colleges. As does "Let us lock up the girls, it is good for them" does to parents, teachers, law makers the country over. After all it is their fault, their dress, their looks, that poor men cannot "control" their unquenchable lust. It is "immodest dress" that makes a man a wild animal on the loose wanting to screw anything and anybody in sight. Poor men. They cannot help it.

However, this is a time of great economic uncertainty. People are losing jobs- and homes often unable to pay their mortgages or bills. Consumer confidence is down. '09 and a year or so after is bound to be bad for everyone. So, it is rather difficult in times like this for women to change their wardrobes, just to continue their education. Something that someone like me, with a wardrobe for four jeans and 13 teeshirts( those were my undergrad clothes), would have to do, spending on salwar kameez's and saris, maybe lehenga's and cholis . Anything but those figure revealing evil bits of clothing like jeans and teeshirts (those evil influences of the corrupt West). But that can cost money. Money that hard working parents are probably saving up for lavish weddings- after all , all good girls need to "Settle down". The other alternative- changing the college is there too, but who is to say it will not get enlightenment in the shape of rules of dress of the same sort. After all high heels do cause moral women to falter in a literal and figurative sense ( the colleges are banning women from wearing, jeans, sleeveless shirts, high heels, "revealing clothes"- I guess anything revealing more than a burka will do- no, but that is what they do in backward countries, not enlightened ones where women are empowered. In women-respecting, empowered sociei=ties like India they just ban them wearing some clothes, to protect them.....) .

I propose something simpler, cheaper too. A plan breathtaking in its simplicity.

Just BLINDFOLD THE MEN.

Easy- it just takes a large handkerchief or bandana or scarf.

Economical- that costs about much less than an entire wardrobe- and bulk buying would certainly make the costs drop.

And Effective- 100% ( not even abstinence gives you that assurance). Because they will not be able to see women, and so will not be incited to lust against them. Simple. No hassle, no new wardrobes, no, "reduce the incidence of" , simply a blanket ban of sorts.

Of course blinding the men would be even more effective, but it would tie up precious resources in the form of doctors, and would work out to be just a little bit detrimental to a workforce. Blindfolding would be just as effective.

Indeed, I propose we could each start a fund to collect the money for the scarves. Lets take up a collection.

Any takers?

No??? I thought not.

EDIT: Come to think of it, Castration would be even more effective( a shoutout to Pragya- thank you for that suggestion). So if the blindfolding fails, lets do that.....

And since there is no point raising a wtf issue without protesting, here is the contact email for one college contact@dayanandgirlspgcollege.org . One could direct some ire there.

I sent this email

"To

The Principal

DGPC College

Kanpur

Dear Madam

I send this letter to you as a concerned woman citizen of India. I recently discovered that your institution instituted a policy banning women students from wearing of jeans and high heels, “to prevent eve teasing” the logic goes. I find it very ironic that an institute that celebrates “enlightened feminism” ( this is from your website http://www.dayanandgirlspgcollege.org/principal.htm) should engage in a classic “Blame the Victim” game. Women do not ever “ask for it”. No matter what they wear or do. Harassment is a crime- with the harasser not the victim being the perpetrator. And an education institution that tries to perpetuate the myth that in the case of sexual harassment it may be the victim’s fault, is not only failing in its duty to its students but to society as a whole. You mention developing “confident women” in your website. It is a noble goal. But restricting women to dress in a particular manner is not going to help them become confident, or even equal. Indian law recognizes women as having the same rights as men. Why, then do you want to abrogate that right and allow anti-social elements the freedom to use their victims as an excuse for the crime. Your policy saddens me as a woman, as an Indian and as a human being. It makes me feel sorry for my sisters who have to follow these almost Talibanical dress codes, to struggle hard just so that they can get an education and become equal contributing citizens of our country. We have long way to go as a nation to achieve perfect equality between the sexes, but policies like your own, only firmly kick us further back in the past. Don’t teach your girls that it is their fault if they are harassed. Don’t give the criminals who harass them free run, don’t let these anti-social elements terrorize our streets. Teach your girls to take a stand, to become the “enlightened feminists” you want them to. I appeal to you as a woman, a citizen and a fellow law abiding human being.

Regards

Alankrita Pandey"

The other colleges are ( still looking for contact emails and things)

Acharya Narendra Deo College,

Sen Balika College

Johari Devi Degree College.

Just wondering

... if people who oppose abortion rights and gay marriage( considering how very often they are usually the same people-very often DOES NOT equal always) do so, not because of very religious reasons, but simply because they have a strong disease of not minding their own business. Because religion is not a selective "love they neighbor" and pro-life would not condone demonizing some while deciding to get rid of others. It comes from a desire to control and dictate others.

This came from:

Dr George Tiller, a late term abortion provider was shot to death in a church this weekend.

And gay marriage rights has become very contentious in public discourse.

The political and the personal

It has been quite a week for thinking. Between Indian Lok Sabha elections, the ever-resurgent abortion debate, the end of the LTTE, crusade-like dispatches for the Iraq war and The Reader. The last is personal- but all too often the lines between the political and personal blur- all too strongly indeed.

 

The Congress won the elections in India. With a pretty hefty majority. Good solid democratic proof of the fact that people shunned extreme left-wing and overt right-wing politics for once, selecting the most stable configuration for a government. A government, which with a mild mannered Manmohan Singh should last another 5 years.

Despite their unfortunate forays into dynastic politics, a not-so-squeaky-clean corruption and development record, they are the best choice for India. Because unfortunately the others are just that much worse. The Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan touting Right is way too wrong- while the Left with strange communist utopia visions are as out of touch. India is a mélange of cultures and ideologies- to reduce it to one particular version of one particular religion is wrong- it does the all-embracing nature of that religio-social tradition a great disservice by reducing it to the caricatured talking points of a few ignorant people. And let’s face it, socialism is not really the way to go- the Socialist state has not really paved the way to development for India. A good market is required(not an ungoverned free market, but one freer than under a State-sponsored yoke).

 

On May 17^th, 2009, Barack Obama, the president of the USA was asked to speak at the Notre Dame commencement ceremony. For the Catholic University to have a president with decidedly pro-choice views as their invited guest, was the cause for several pro-life protests. Personally my views have been “No uterus no opinion, my uterus, my opinion”- as pro-choice as you can make it. But Obama’s words made me think. He talked about finding middle ground and proceeding with ideas that people can agree on, like reducing abortions, making it easier for women, making contraception and adoption easily accessible, reducing child care costs, even while keeping to ones ideologies. He said “we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.” It is not a fight between abortion clinic bombers and people who use abortion as a resort to inadequate contraception. Of course those elements may exist, but they are not the ONLY sides this complex issue has. No one is callous, or unthinking with decisions like these and reducing it to a black or white plan is just irresponsible. It takes moral courage to look at something- hold strong views and then understand that people with opposing views are just as right as one is.

 

Which issue of complexity, I felt as I watched The Reader. I have never before viewed the Nazi camp guards in this light before. I always thought of them in terms of pure evil, consumed with a blood lust to destroy everything. Not as people who could have been as fragile and by another turn of fate on the wrong side. Weak people, unable to stand up to evil orders of a soulless machine, the product of a deranged madman and his supporters. Were they wrong, yes, a million times so. But as people they do deserve, if not sympathy, a thought of what mindless obeying of orders can do. The realization that it does not take too much of a push to cross the line between acceptable and totally unacceptable behavior. And it is just a small thing at worst or best- which can make all that difference.

 

The Rumsfield memos with their over-the-top Biblical imagery to report portions of the Iraq war are very clear signs of what was used to manipulate a God-fearing Christian president. But that president also got manipulated, if not by the crusade-like imagery, by the very basis of the belief that what he was doing was right. Religion is a great force, and can move mountains- or bring down skyscrapers- depending on whether it is used to inspire good or evil. But it does tend to reduce things to a black or white with no room for the several shades of grey. Surely, the leader of the free world knew better than that. Maybe at times, it is better to approach something with doubt, rather than plunge right in and cause immense harm, no matter how righteous it may seem.

 

And today, the newspapers reported that V Prabhakaran has been shot dead. Bringing to an end one of the most bloody conflicts that has ravaged South Asia. Twenty six years of fighting for a Tamil homeland. Now the Emerald Isle can probably heave a sigh of relief and go back to being the beautiful place it is. History, is like memory, one remembers what one wants to. And the rights and wrongs of people over hundreds of years is one such thing. Minorities need to be treated like people. But a cause remains just only as long as there is a difference between the oppressors and the oppressed. Once suicide bombing or child soldiers enter the picture, it becomes terrorism.

 

What did I learn from all this? That things events and people are way too complex from Black and White definitions. That the Golden Rule is the one thing that helps tide over differences and make moral and value judgments. Sorry, Barack Obama, but you got that part of your speech from my professor.

 

The circling vultures…..

Actually there is nothing that can or will ever shake the somnolence of the "system" in India. I have felt this for a while, but now I am only more than sure of it. Of course I am referring to the Bombay bomb blasts ( hell, yes the city was named Mumbai in 1995, after another set of bomb blasts in 1993- somehow renaming and re-claiming city pride was more important that ensuring a more secure city- but I am an ordinary person , what do I know of political strategy). Well Bombay or whatever they will call it now had a spate of bomb blasts in 2002, then 2003 January, March, July, August, 2006 and finally a three day hostage drama that unfolded over a million television sets.

But of course these are always terrorist activities, unleashed to dampen the spirit of the Mumbaikars who set about rebuilding, as soon as one is over. And lately they have been joined by the Delhiites, the Hyderabadis, the citizens of Jaipur and wherever else. And in between when things have been peaceful for too long, the resilience is exercisd by the communal and regional tensions that are incited in the name of an identity (which I would assume only someone very mediocre would want to associate with). And of course the outright "terrorist" activity, that of the hand grenades and bombs is put on Islamic terror, on Pakistan, on the foreign hand.

And it becomes an excellent photo-op for politicians. Because that is what they do. Attend photo-ops. Accompanied by relatives, sons, producers- after making embarrassing gaffes( though the statement, this is a "minor" ting is not such a gaffe- considering the magnitude of what India is subject to- but I digress). With an incompetent (token woman) President- not that her predecessors have been particularly competent. And strangely shameless( what else can you call them) Home Ministers who resign probably because the foreign media starts to criticize them. And still the photo-ops continue. With regret expressing and "deepest condolences" to the families. It is an amazing tableau. And of late it has become more evident what a sham it really is.

Because the "citizen" reactions are of a very scary kind. "Those (insert religion/ region/ country here)". "We are not buying anything from (insert country/ community/ region) because my husband said we should not support any of their business." And so on. Just an excuse for everyone to vent out their ugliest prejudices and stereotypes in the guise of mourning the tragedy. And blame the "system". Because Big Brother like it is omnipresent and yet, as anonymous. Also it is always "someone else's fault" someone else's problem- well maybe not.

What did we do to become thus. India shining, India growing, but India all the same? Why do we allow the circling vultures get closer, ever closer even as we struggle in the death throes of everything that modernity, sanity, normalcy would have us hold on to? And what did we do to deserve this?

EDITED TO ADD: And of late the "common man" has discovered a  new-found passion of trying to address this problem. So there are marches and protests and impassioned bloggers write about "breaking off ties with pakistan" and of war and of 49-0 and other sundry things. I am inclined to feel it is all a fad. Becuase the bomb blasts in Assam after that do not get covered- anywhere- the Orissa homeless are left to their own devices and a stupid politican makes more stupid gaffes and "resigns". And we get back to the daily bickerings that make our lives.

It is a fad of course, and a new way of expressing just how bigoted and nonsensical we have got. "We will not take it. Tolerance, you say, we have been tolerant for 61 years" someone writes to me- have we Really? We still know what religion we are, what caste and subcaste we are of. We still do an "us" vs "them" in daily life and get on. And then blame everyone else except our own selves for the problems. Pakistan is at fault now, later Afghanistan will be, then maybe Somalia and Chad- the whole world is wrong except India of course. 

Oh yes and one more thing, stop blaming the Prime Minister, he is just reaping the seeds of the nonsense the "informed" voters have sowed. And as a PM, he is more qualified than most people are. More than that geriatric face of the communal party specially. Oh and as India goes, a dynasty rule is pretty darn goo din the name of democracy- that dynsty is what has kept us  from slipping down to the military ruled levels of our favorite bete-noir Pakistan- and also maintianing a sense of democracy.

And another thing. The elite may talk all they want. They are not the real India. The real India is poor, uneducated, illiterate and living in abject poverty. And everyone manipulates it. including the doyens of India Shining who have discovered a new Love for their motherland these days.