Being in a socially active and conscious university campus is a prerogative that we, a certain selected students have. We have created our own class. We discuss ideas, debate the government policies, raise our voices against injustice that happens to the people across country and world. Our voices that often create a stir. But how all this consciousness that augurs well for our country, translates into a mass consciousness and does not remain in the confines of a few section,  is what disturbs me often.

The recent rape case that had seen people from everywhere coming together and protesting, seemed to have awaken the conscience of the common man. But did it reflect the real awakening? I doubt. I just came back from a talk, held on rape cases that happen in the nearby state of Haryana with Dalit women that go unnoticed. 

To quote Prof. Nivedita Menon's words " rape is not about sexual desire but about power, misogyny and punishment." While she was getting into the flow of her discourse, she presented a point of view on whether death penalty should be awarded to the guilty, a point I had been unable to see earlier. All this while, I had read in the newspapers and heard on TV, people advocating against death penalty because of the low conviction rates. But what Prof Menon happened to stress upon was the fact that rape should be treated as any other heinous crime. It is not a murder. The girl should have the courage move on and fight back against the one who attacked her dignity. This seems easier said than done. That is why we need to erase from our minds the stigma linked with rape victims. We, as a member of society, have the responsibilty to support and create in every possible way a conducive environment for such women. The guilty should be ashamed of his misdeed and not the girl. It then releases the girl and her family from the social pressure that they come under in these situations. 

This has been an issue debated since long. And there are various angles from which it needs to be looked at. We acknowledge that patriarchal ideas that have been prevalent in the society are one of the reasons for violence against women. My mind tries to seek an answer to the question " How are we going to propagate the ideas that we discuss in this academic set up to the common man?" How does the change come about that has to be in the patriarchal mindsets of people?? How do we take them out of these obnoxious crutches, they are too eager to hold? How?

What is it to be an art historian?

"As an art historian, you have to decode the story behind the painting or the sculpture", said the professor while enlightening us with the Buddhist art of ancient India. Art historian, I smiled at myself and wondered, would I be qualified to call myself an art historian at the end of six months, when I would have only touched very superficially in the course of 20 lectures the various art forms of India? The answer would be a strict no. How could I even dare to proclaim a territory as mine when I have not even mastered the fundamentals.

History of art is not just the accounts of various art forms at different epochs but concerns the social history of the period too. It is a way of revisiting the society prevalent at that time through art. Thus, what is art? Isn't it an expression of a personal or a collective consciousness reflecting the society? Atleast, this is what I have learnt within a span of 3 lectures that I attended in Art and Culture class. 

Until recently, and as a student in school, I had a strong dislike for ancient history. I had neither any curiosity nor interest in the empires that ruled for ages in my country. My History books would be fraught with details of innumerable kingdoms in various parts of India that controlled the Indian territory, much to my annoyance. Back then, I had no reason to remember those who might have been my ancestors, they were simply so far and distant. Besides, the factual details bombarded in the books never seemed fascinating. 

This attitude, however, has changed. The seed of interest in ancient past has been sown through my History of art classes. The lectures have been nurturing my interest. I discovered, how beautifully carved sculptures can be used to narrate history of ancient times or of any era. While learning the Buddhist art form, not only do we learn how the sculptures were done but equally essential is to learn its historical context. The moment the piece of art is denuded of its historical context, it remains no more than a piece of art, which could be admired only aesthetically. The historical framework adds a vision to the piece of art which becomes more relevant. It tells a story of the ways of living of people, their beliefs, that created a whole of a civilization. A story, which we have been carrying forward through ages. 

Today, while waiting for the lecture to begin, I overheard my fellow art historian, so to say, she was giving a reason for having chosen this course. She said, " This is wonderful, not just because you are learning about various art forms but it's like going back to the roots and knowing who you are." From then on these last words remain etched in my head. 

Impressions of Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

Finally the Lit Fest could extract from within me the desire ,the intent to write. This is going to be my first entry of the year.

Three years ago, I had read about the Literature Festival that was held in a nearby city of Jaipur. I was quite excited at that time. I had so badly wanted to attend the Festival, but because of this and that, the numerous reasons you create to pacify yourself, I had not been able to be a part of this literary festival. And each successive year as it was held in the month of January, I would make plans but the execution would remain equally elusive. But not this time. Determination, resolve and some motivation from my sister, who happened to be my partner in the Fest, finally led me to the until now heard of the Fest.

The decision was made. We were going to attend two days of the Fest. The speakers to be heard were chosen according to their theme of the session, some were preferred because of their popularity and Gayatri Spivak was chosen , as I had read of her in my book of Translation Studies. She was going to be my star speaker. 

 

We reached Jaipur on Thursday. The Festival had been inaugurated on the same day. We had not registered ourselves for the 24th , so we decided to explore the city a bit. The next day was the day of action. We reached Diggy Palace at around 11 in the morning. I had not created an image of the venue in my head before reaching there. And thankfully I was saved. The word 'Palace' always gives me an idea of a sprawling area with an immaculate palace with manicured lawns and which reflects the riches of the Royals. However prejudiced my notion of a palace is, Diggy Palace was nowhere to it. Nevertheless, it covers a huge area. Since, this Festival attracts people from all over, the decoration was emanating the essence of Jaipur and Rajasthan of being the most colourful state of India. The venue was colourfully decorated.

The Fest is one of the most popular fests in India. The crowd swarming inside the venue was a testimony of its popularity. However, I noticed ( I don't know how far it is true ) that the festival not only attracts as audience those who are really interested in listening to the speakers such as academicians, artists, teachers, budding writers, journalists, students, but also a lot of crowd was constituted of those who had come to take a feel of the Fest, have a look at the celebrities or just to have an outing and see the whole world that comes flocking to the city. I remarked that a lot of people, old, young, middle aged were carrying their cameras and not the digital ones (of course some of them like me had their digital ones intact) but the SLRs or the professional cameras. So it seemed to me that the festival presented itself as an opportunity of capturing the moment, practicing one's photography skills or simply showing of one's camera. 

Show off seemed to be another criteria of the festival though not intentionally done. The Festival was a platform for everyone to show their best of dressing available in the wardrobe. Some dressed in silk saris and kurtas, some in their western outfits, some casually dressed. But there was a sense of potraying oneself in the best outfit of their lives.The Nehruvian jacket which has become a trademark of the intellectuals, artists, academicians was to be seen very frequently too.  

Howsoever they were dressed, one could not keep apart their innate self from their beautiful attire. This is in reference to some cases ( and I hope there were only few, but I experienced it more than once) where people showed complete reluctance to behave in a proper way. With us, it happened for a real trivial issue of getting a seat. While I would not get into it, but I earnestly hope there were only a few instances. But there were those too who offered their seats to the elderly. The Festival gave an impression of a mini world where people from different nationalities had congregated.

The most important feature of the Fest is ofcourse the sessions that were held. There were book launches, there were writers who presented their books, there were social scientists, actors, lyricists, professors who created an atmosphere of exchange of ideas that led to a healthy discussion amongst the audience. The most remarkable session for me would have to be the one I attended on my first day that of Shabana Azmi and Prasoon Joshi where they discussed the Sex and Sensibility in Bollywood. It was quite an animated session as the gathering cheered both the speakers for their emphatic views on women's independence, the informed choices that they should make. Given the recent incident of gangrape in Delhi last year in December, this was quite a relevant issue. I wonder, however, while the ideas were discussed and the audience applauded the remarks of the speakers, how many of us have taken back with us these ideas for execution in real situations. Now that is where my doubt stems up. Nothing could challenge the credibilty of the Fest that it engenders so many ideas that wander in various directions. But what is the fate of all these wonderful ideas when the larger public does not really attempt to dig further.

The second session which was to my liking and that created a stir because of a comment by the renowned sociologist Ashish Nandy was that of Republic of Ideas. I reached a little late but when I reached it was Tarun Tejpal who had been speaking on the issue of corruption in our country. Then came the turn of Richard Sorabjee who as he claimed , was not an expert of the Indian context so restricted himself mostly to the United States. But the best part was really the one that Mr Ashish Nandy had fuelled an idea that seemed so out of place and irresponsible on his part. Ashutosh , the editor at IBN 7 , who happened to share the stage with him, was quick to castigate Mr. Nandy's ideas, much to the applause of the cheering audience. I didn't know that a FIR had ben lodged against Nandy until only I came back to my hotel. 

Some of you would be surprised that I haven't mentioned my star speaker's session as one of my favourites. I attended her session which was on reviewers and critics. I listened to her intently, understanding almost everything except when she talked of her work Can the sublatern speak? To be honest, I have not read it. I have read her only in the context of translation where we talk of the postcolonial translations. Because of my ineptitude in the domain of literary criticism, could not have an experience I wanted to have with my star speaker.

All in all, the Festival is an experience which enthuses you, instills in you new ideas, enhances your knowledge in one way or the other and provides you with various points of views which help widen one's horizon and not to forget gives you an opportunity to see, listen and interact with the famous celebrities of art, history and literature. While this was what the Festival was for me, I am sure others who attended would have their additions and subtractions in the list mentioned above.

The Yo Yo phenomenon

Nowadays anyone can be a star. So many have their five minutes of fame. But the question arises, for how many, this 5 minutes last longer. Yesterday, I had been to a birthday party. It wasn't the usual birthday event. The birthday girl had invited her friends and family for the concert of the most recent phenomenon in the Indian music industry, Honey Singh, or should I add YO YO to his name as he is known among his fans. Wherever you go these days, to clubs, pubs, weddings, the event is not enough if they don't play Honey Singh's songs.

Personally, I had heard his name before and his songs too, but they never appealed to me. I was aware of his fame which in my opinion has been contributed majorly by the Punjabi crowd. His songs are mostly Punjabi songs. But it was only yesterday that I witnessed how popular a star he has become. The club which has never seen so many heads in the premises before, was flooded with people. Even if there was no space inside, people were ready to sneak their way in just to get a glimpse of the YO YO Honey Singh. Young girls, boys, kids, uncles and aunties were swooning to his numbers. Not to my surprise, all of them had learnt the songs by heart to sing along with their recently-got-popular star.  We waited outside the entrance since it was actually a herculean task to get in, I heard this girl who had convinced her friends ( who seemed disinterested in the star) to come with her so that she could have a glimpse of the revered YO YO. As soon he was on his way to enter the club ( and we were right there at the entrance with this girl) the girl could have almost fainted. Thanks to her friends who were with her while she was dazed. Nevertheless, she wasn't the only one, with her their were hundreds who were dazzled by the sight. 

The Yo Yo performed for an hour or so and left the crowd wanting for more. While many would have been disappointed but I had a sigh of relief as it started getting less suffocating. People scattered here and there, some left, some still danced on to the songs played by the DJ. This was my first Yo Yo experience, but I just wonder for how long can he retain his popularity, I guess at least till the time Punjabis are there, he would anyways have a following. 

Here's a piece from the rapper Yo Yo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqSL0QgfTQ0

So here I am in the middle of a conference. The prominent theme is Interculturalism. There are experts from all around the world who have come to participate in the sessions. What sews them together is the curiosity to know about the Other's culture and eventually to present theirs.The other link can be the French language too because it is in this language that the sessions are being presented. 

When one comes across the term French, he abounds himself with the images of Eiffel tower, french wines, croissants and crepes. In other words, someone who is ignorant enough allies himself to France the moment he hears french. 

However, the language has no more remained a sole property of the land of its origin. Ever since the French set upon the task of colonising other countries, they propagated their culture and language to these newly discovered lands. While they retreated to their nation during decolonisation, some of them stayed back and they left however an indelible trace, their language. From then on, many countries of the world lay claims to the language. 

French, eventually in all the francophone countries evolved and got mixed up with the local cultures and their native languages. French in Quebec in Canada, in Belgium, in Algeria and even I can proudly say in India ( though a minuscule percentage) has its own colours added to the original langauge. One thus finds out that one cannot ignore this phenomenon of inter/ pluri or multi culturalism which manifests also in the language that we speak. 

I happen to stumble on pleasant things all the time. Today on a poem written in french which very beautifully summarizes the idea of fraternity and says that even if we belong to different countries, we have different colours, races, but above all we are human beings, that's what makes us one. Here it goes

J'ai frappé à ta porte

J'ai frappé à ton coeur 

Pour avoir un bon lit

Pour avoir un bon feu

Pourquoi me repousser?

Ouvre moi, mon frère.

Pourquoi me demander

Si je suis d'Afrique

Si je suis d'Amérique

Si je suis d'Asie

Si je suis d'Europe?

Ouvre moi, mon frère.

Pourquoi me demander

La longeueur de mon nez

L'épaisseur de mes lèvres

La couleur de ma peau

Et le nom de mes Dieux?

Ouvre moi, mon frère.

Je ne suis pas un Noir

Je ne suis pas un Rouge

Je ne suis pas un Jaune

Je ne suis pas un Blanc

Mais je ne suis qu'un homme

Ouvre moi, mon frère.

Ouvre moi ta porte

Ouvre moi ton coeur

Car je suis un homme

L'homme de tous les temps

L'homme de tous les cieux

L'homme qui te ressemble.

                             René PHILOMBE

Post Cards and make people happy !!!!

Little things in our mundane lives can become source of immense joy. Each one of us derives pleasure from different things. For me it could be a simple receiving of a postcard from far off places. I love the whole concept of sending a postcard to a stranger and receiving one from them. Writing whatever you want to make them know about you, your country. The fact that it goes to someone never seen, never known, fascinates me all the more. 

It was some two years back that by sheer luck I got myself to the webpage of postcrossing.com. I always liked writing letters. When I was in school and my sister had joined university, we used to write elaborate letters to each other, sharing the happenings of daily lives, gossiping about people. It used to be almost like a diary maintained of a week, sent to her, with all the intonations intact. Excitement would drown me completely while waiting for her letters. Then came the age of emails and now we have social networking sites. Communication is done so much more faster, who has the time to wait for a letter? Whatsoever it may be but no emails, no text messages can replace the lovely feeling of receiving or sending a handwritten letter or a postcard. It implies that the sender has at least taken the pain to write it, which makes it so much personal, find an envelope and then get it stamped at the nearest post office. 

So I stumbled on this website where complete strangers exchanged postcards. Wow, I thought. I could send postcards to people from countries I have never visited and tell them about my story. I could not wait to get myself registered on it. I had much appreciation for the founder of this website. What a wonderful idea! It is not surprising to see that there are plenty of people who still believe in the traditional old ways of contacting people. This however doesn't mean I would not want to have postcards or letters from my near and dear ones. 

Yesterday while I was busy with my regular work, a postcard got slipped under my door. The swooshing sound of the card made me know instantly that someone in the world had addressed to me his/her postcard. And the yesterday's one was that from Russia, depicting the various types of Russian bread they eat. I was delighted by the new postcard in my collection. I am waiting for many more moments of happiness sent from around the world.

An evening in Paharganj

Having been stayed in Delhi for so long, I still haven't been able to discover and explore the whole city. Yesterday lady luck was on my side and it so happened that I discovered one of the most preferred locations by the tourists (for food and accommodation). And it had only been for our French friends that we stepped into the bylanes of Paharganj at the hour we generally prefer to avoid stepping out alone. It was so much fun. The whole alley bustling with life. Shops, small eateries by the sides, juice shops, the cafes and the people of course, had everything moving.

In the evening, I got a call from my friend to come to CP to hang out with her French friends. I agreed with the plan, thinking all this while that we would be frequenting a bar or a restaurant in CP. Well, I had been taken by surprise when I heard we were heading towards Paharganj. And what a pleasant one! Excitement rushed through me. I had heard so much about the place; both in negative and positive terms. 

Well, we got down at the metro station and walked through to reach our destination. As soon as I got into the area, vivid memories of my Chennai-Pondy-Mahabs trip came alive. It felt as if I was strolling through the  Triplicane High Road in Chennai which is also near the railway station. Or it could be identified with the Mahabs main street where we have all the hotels, restaurants. It all made me feel like a traveller in my very own city where I have been staying. I enjoyed the very feel of it. 

If you are a traveller, you happen to know more about the place than the residents of the city. We had an advantage of our French friends, who love exploring the city as it is without any prejudice or bias. As we were moving ahead, I still had no inkling where we were heading to. We finally stopped ourselves at Sam's Cafe, which it seems is quite popular among students and tourists. We climbed the stairs all the way to the fifth floor to make ourselves comfortable on the rooftop restaurant. This kind of arrangement is generally done in Indian cities to cater to the tastes of foreign travellers, but I would say it panders to every traveller's tastes be it from any region of the world or the country. 

Settling down comfortably in our chairs, we ordered food. In the meanwhile, chats, conversations, giggles ensued. The dinner cam after a very long time. Though we didn't mind that at all, having been engrossed in ourselves. From where I was sitting, I could see a not-so-full moon rising above in the sky. It seemed so beautiful. I savoured this sight along with the pizza I had ordered. After having finished our dinner, we then decided to head to a bar.

We descended back on to the street leaving Sam's Cafe behind. We walked a bit further ahead and I saw something I had never seen before. A shabby looking guy came up to the French guys asking them to get their shoes polished without anticipating any monetary returns. When he seemed to sense they were really not interested, he came downrightly to the point he had been wanting to make. He asked if they wanted to buy hash from him. Had I been alone, I would have got a bit nervous and scared to see these kinds of people. Since we were in a group, I was comfortable. After a bit of hassles with this guy, we finally decided to go to some place, I don't recall the name very well. We sat in front of the TV screen, football playing on it, Arsenal vs Swansea and the male friends automatically got glued to the screen for a while. We got our drinks , bouts of laughter came along. It was getting late for us ( my friend and i) so we decided to leave the French friends and get back to our place. 

What an evening it was! It brought my traveller's spirit alive. It felt so not the Delhi, I have experienced so far. A big thanks to the French group who made it possible for me. I am certainly going to Paharganj again with my group whenever I feel the lack of travelling in life. At least, it would boost up my spirits in a way.