Sunday, May 30, 2010

Beyond Bread 'n' Butter

Like the little boy in the Charles Dickens novel, when the object of my affection is 'vittles' I'm always on the look out for more, and Mr Bumble be drowned in goose's gravy for all I care.
I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but the epicurean capital of Bihar is actually Bodh Gaya. I'm not into shameless promotions of all things Bihari yet, and I'm no great fan of the ubiquitous litti and chokha that most Biharis usually want to stuff down unsuspecting tourists' throats.
The praises of the litti I shall sing elsewhere, on a blog that is still in experimental mode. This post is unashamedly reserved for the promotion of Bodh Gaya as the best place to sample the food of the world at absolutely rock bottom prices.
I'm handing out five full stars to a small little glorified dhaba called the Fujiya Green Restaurant . Here is where you'll get an impressive bill of fare. So I ordered Macaroni and cheese, Macaroni with Mushrooms, and was amazed at the quality.. for as little as 45 rupees a plate. The Varieties of Thukpa, my favourite Sikkimese / Tibetan  food [mutton, chicken, egg, vegetable], flavoursome, fragrant and with the right amount of soup comes for under Rs 50 a bowl, and the helpings are generous. I recommend the Thai Fried Rice at a mere Rs 45. It can compare with what a fancy restaurant dishes out for Rs 125!
A breakfast with toast and butter, an omlette and lemon tea for two cost us a mere sixty rupees. Compare that with what my hotel was going to charge me: two slices of toast and a sliver of butter at Rs 40. The same menu  at Shashi International would have cost us Rs 180 plus taxes.
The Green has Japanese food, Thai food, Tibetan food, Continental food, and even serves its South Indian customers with well prepared dosas! I counted about eight varieties of teas, six varieties of porridge. If you're a nostalgic Naga, or a frazzled Frenchman, a befuddled Brit or a suspicious Scandinavian, a luscious Latino or an ornery Outlander looking for something that remotely tastes like home, this is it. It's a backpacker's delight. The food is well prepared. It's an eatery, and not a fancy restaurant.
When you enter, the waiter will hand you the menu and a writing pad. You have to jot down your own order. After the meal, the pad comes back to you, this time with the amount to be paid written beside your order. Absolutely no confusion. When in Bodh Gaya, go Fujiya Green. You'll be sure to do an Oliver!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Working Men




A photo-post on the Malhar - the fisherman of Bihar, one of the Maha Dalit groups. I came upon a group of these fishermen while travelling through Muzaffarpur.


Full Moon Rising

The most important festival for Tibetan Buddhism, the 'Saga Dawa Festival' commemorates Sakyamuni's Buddhahood and the death of his mortal body. At every monastery sutras are recited and 'Cham' dances are performed. It is said that good deeds in the month of this festival deserve 300 fold in return and this leads many people to donate large sums to the religious orders, monasteries and to the beggars that gather at this time of year

The township of Bodh Gaya has the flavour of Buddhist Multiculturalism, and nowhere can Saga Dawa be better experienced, except, perhaps in the Monasteries of Sikkim. I have observed the festival in Pemayangtse, and at Lachung.

 Bodh Gaya, however, remains my preferred destination in May every year,  when the full moon of Buddha Purnima rises over the world, commemorating the birth of the Compassionate One.



On the eve of Saga Dawa, the sleepy township jerks awake to the footfall of pilgrims alighting from their chosen modes of transport. Bodh Gaya woken up from its mid-summer siesta, is suddenly bustling again. There are special lighting arrangements at the Mahabodhi Temple, joss sticks to be sold, offerings to be prepared, knick-knacks to be hawked, and of course resting places of every kind to be readied for pilgrims rich and poor.

Bodh Gaya rises early on Saga Dawa morning, when the Buddhists of different denominations gather at a spot [usually the mammoth 80 feet Buddha Statue] to go in procession towards the main monastery. There are the Ambedkarites, the visibly dowdier of the pilgrims, their robes of bright, cheap cotton, some proudly wearing their Maharashtrian topis. There are the well manicured devotees from Korea, in their raiment of white. The robust Tibetans are the most assured, their russet brown robes and measured chants fill the morning air. It’s a festive, noisy, almost carnival like procession, with children from the schools supported by Buddhist charities joining in.

In Sikkim, the occasion is a solemn one. The procession is almost regal. People line up on both sides of the road in reverent silence, some stepping forward to be touched on the head with the holy scriptures that the younger acolytes carry at the head of the procession.

God in heaven is believed to descend to the mortal world on this day.

Saga Dawa is  15th day of the fourth month on the Tibetan calendar. It is the birthday of Sakyamuni, and the day when he died and attained Nirvana. During this period, hundreds of thousands of people turn their prayer wheels on the street in Lhasa, and then paddle boats in the Dragon King Pool, and sing and dance in the afternoon.

 In Bodh Gaya, Bihar, it’s a spectacle, very distracting, and not so awe-inspiring perhaps, but definitely one that’s worth returning to year after year.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Dalits and Education

The term Dalit is synonymous with 'downtrodden' in India. The former 'untouchables', the lowest on the caste rung, haven't earned a great deal of social acceptance yet, even though there have been brilliant chaps like the late Dr. Jagjivan Ram, whose birth centenary passed by unnoticed.

[Dalit Man enjoys something cool in a Gaya village]
The Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar and his government came up with the concept of Maha-Dalit - a brand new term that at first included the seven castes which were the dregs in the social teacup. These 'most downtrodden people' were earmarked for quick injections of development schemes: free textbooks, clothes, even scholarships and so on. But the ink hadn't properly dried on Doctor Nitish's populist prescription, when the crafty politicians got other castes in the dalit recipe book all shaken and stirred, and the poor man had to stretch the envelope to include 20 of the 21 listed scheduled castes.
[The grandmother says that kids have become regular schoolgoers thanks to the young 'community volunteer' who helps them with studies]
As a result of this adjustment, certain schemes which seemed a very good idea at first have simply started flounedring, partly because of the sheer increase in the cost. A very innovative idea, thought up by the bright sparks in the Musahar Community, was to have their own literate youth engage in community service and ensure that the children of their impoverished labouring communities get access to school. A young person, who had attained at least secondary schooling, would donate four hours everyday to collect the kids from the neighbourhood and lead them to the neighbourhood government school, ensure that they were seated with the other students, and later on, in the evening, teach these groups of twenty children, helping them with their homework. This was found to work well and had excellent results.
 [Most dalit kids feel school is an unwelcoming place, like a prison]
That was when the Bihar Government took over the activity, began appointing 'tola sevaks', paying them a small honorarium. The scheme was called 'Utthan' and extended to 'Maha-dalit' habitations. Right now, the scheme has run into financial and administrative roadblocks, partly because the Nitish Kumar government , try as it might, cannot feed the multitudes with a loaf and a couple of fishes. Even though loafing and fishing are common traits specially within the government school fraternity.

These women were resting under a tree, they said that teachers in government schools still shun lower caste kids, and that Dalit kids are often deprived of benefits
The dalits themselves -- at least most of those who have had a taste of the Utthan scheme -- say that it is the one constructive action that had been offered to them since Indian Independence. Those left out blame the government for dividing the lower castes for political gains and vow vengeance in the coming elections.
   

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Madan Tamang - His was A Life


This Sunday afternoon, back from a tour of some of Bihar's impoverisehed areas, I am just beginning to adjust to the world around me, and the news that an old friend of my Aunt Janet Ranger, was brutally murdered in Darjeeling two days ago.

Madan Tamang was a man with a hearty laugh, a love for good grog, and of the finer things of life. The Ranger Family of Kurseong, to whom I am related, was one of the old planter's families, those who had tea gardens of their own, and Madan Tamang was one of the Circle. He was also president of the All India Gorkha League — one of the oldest political outfits in Darjeeling — a fearless and principled man. In fact,a number of hill leaders will say that Tamang is the one who had the guts to treat GNLF lrader Subash Ghisingh’s diktats with utter contempt. His was a dissenting voice that could not be when Subhash Ghisingh was a virtual dictator at the helm of affairs.

In 1977, he was made the district secretary of the League but resigned in 1980 to join a new outfit called Pranta Parishad. His exit from the League was largely because of differences with senior leaders. Pranta Parishad spearheaded a campaign along with apolitical organisations like the Nepali Bhasa Manyata Samiti to include the Nepali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.  In 1981, as a youngster training with BD Basnet's 'Himalayan Observer', I was priviliged to be present at several meetings and press conferences. Madan Tamang impressed me no end. The Pranta Parishad spoke of Gorkhaland- full staehood for the Darjeelings Hills.
Tamang worked closely with Subash Ghisingh during the early days of Pranta Parishad. The Ghishing  floated the GNLF in 1980 and stole the Parishad thunder. By 1986, the hills were mesmerised with  Ghisingh but Tamang refused to join him. Even at the height of the Gorkhaland agitation, between 1986 and 1988, Tamang never shied away from criticising Ghisingh and the violence he had unleashed. Tamang was then the only hill resident who openly spoke against the GNLF.

The GNLF did not take things lying down. They burnt his ancestral house at Meghma near Sandakphu.

Madan did not stop criticising Gurung. He publicly described the proposed interim council which the GJM was negotiating with the Centre as a “sell-off”.  He crossed swords with Ghishing, when he supported the move ( also echoed by the then Sikkim Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari) to incllude Nepali [not Gorkhali as proposed by Ghishing] for recognition as one of Indias's official languages. At a public meeting at Chowk Bazaar, hordes of khukuri-wielding GNLF supporters surrounded Tamang. But he stood his ground and continued with his speech. In the end, the language was incorporated as Nepali in the Constitution.

After his success with the language agitation, Madan Tamang rejoined the League the League in 2004.

He defied GNLF-sponsored strikes to address public meetings against the inclusion of the hills in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. His vehicle was attacked in Kalimpong, his meeting was stoned in Bijanbari but he never lived in fear. Instead, he headed an anti-Ghisingh conglomeration called the People’s Democratic Front.

When the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha came into being in 2007, he supported it at first. Animosity started to set when The GJM disregarded his call for collective action to demand a separate State. Morcha supporters attacked his house, burnt a League office and prevented him from holding public meetings, but nothing could stop him from voicing his views.

Barely three days before his assassination, Madan Tamang, had met West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan in a deputation, urging him to do everything to restore the rule of law in Darjeeling.


“The issue at the moment is not a separate state, but to safeguard the fundamental rights of the people and to allow them to live freely and fearlessly,” Tamang had told the Governor on May 18.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

On the road again

Yesterday I toured 'Utthan' Kendras' instead of sampling the famed Muzaffarpur Litchis. These ' uplift centres' have nothing to do with what you're thinking right now, [ even if you're reading this with a tall glass in one hand and a tall Bahama mama in the other]. 'Uplift Centres'  are in fact, places where Bihari kids from what we now term the 'deprived sections' are made to sit and study after school hours.

The idea is to encourage those communities who, unlike some of us, are forced live like there's no tomorrow: no job security, no bank accounts, no food in the fridge, no fridge, no electricity, no electric wiring, no roof, no crockery, no anything but their bare hands, bare backs,  bare labour and mostly bare children to call their own - to start recognising that the local government school is in fact, the beginning of the rainbow beyond which lies a pot of gold, a pot belly, or just plain pot [whatever takes your fancy].
The scheme goes like this: a 'tola sevak' [translation: servant of the habitation], who is a local resident sporting the same spots that the rest of that particular 'deprived section' are supposed to show [ probably after a day of toddy tapping, rat hunting, shit carrying, or corpse removal] is appointed by the community [but not paid by them] to round up their dirty kids and to shove them under the shower or duck them under water or whatever serves to wash the grime off the kids' snot streaked noses, and then pack them off to the nearest government school.

These 'tola sevaks' then attend the school with the kids, to make sure that they are not 'discriminated against' and that the kids get their fair share of the mid-day meal whenever it is served to them. At the end of the school day, the 'tola sevaks' accompany the kids back to their village, to see that no harm befalls them on the way.
As the afternoon stretches on, the kids come over to the 'uplift centre' to get help with their lessons.
The tola sevaks, are in fact nannies, from the previously untouchable - now acceptable 'segment', [or PUNA ]; of the PUNA placed there on behalf of the PUNA by the Government of Bihar.
It's a matter of Maha-Dalit pride, the twice-born and very touchy Government officers in charge of the Utthan programme insist.
The 'proud servants' recite words like 'mainstreaming' and 'intellectual poverty' and are beholden to the chaps who pay them their two thousand rupees a month.
Sure, says one, he could earn more at a construction site, but the nanny's job is far easier, and it earns the gratitude of the community as well because they are just too occupied making ends meet to worry about high class things such as child rearing. Jai Ho!
But does UTTHAN stand for Un -Touchable-Then-How- Acceptable Now?

Friday, May 14, 2010

Muslim Televangelists – a film by Thierry Derouet

They’re young, charismatic and they bring the word of Allah, straight to your TV, computer, or mobile phone. These superstar preachers are as accessible as a click of a button and are rocking the image of extremism that Islam struggles to shrug off. Get up close and personal with the evangelist preachers hailed as the future of Islam itself.

‘Islamic religious discourse has stagnated in the last 200 years’ Amr Khaled cries to a captivated crowd ‘It has failed to respond to current issues in society’. He speaks for an hour, with no pauses and no notes and he leaves his audience of mostly young and female Muslims, in tears. ‘It’s mass hypnosis on a satellite television scale’ argues Wael Lofti.

‘Look’ beams Amr Khaled gesturing to his mobile phone ‘I received 1170 calls last week’. But fearing the power of Amr’s celebrity, the Egyptian government gave him little option but to flee to London, from where he continues to preach. Amr’s phone is open to everyone, a modern answer to the Egyptian government’s attempts to silence him. ‘In Egypt I could speak nowhere’ Amr confides, ‘I couldn't even speak with individuals’.

Witty and soft-spoken, Khaled is sometimes described as the "anti–bin Laden," a tolerant accountant turned televangelist whose feel-good brand of Islam calls for dialogue over destruction. His sermons are broadcast worldwide—on YouTube and four Arab satellite stations—and his message of self-improvement through hard work and prayer is more Joel Osteen than Moqtada al-Sadr. But the same Western-friendly style that has endeared him to millions of liberal Muslims has angered hard-liners, who forced Khaled into exile in Britain in 2002. There he has reinvented himself as, in the words of one Arab newspaper, a "Pied Piper" for young European Muslims who are following his conciliatory tune

In London he found a new understanding of the relationship between Islam and the West. ‘If you do things for non-Muslims, it will generate respect for Islam’ Amr tells the crowd. His message of community has inspired millions of young Muslims, sending his talk show ratings above those of Oprah Winfrey herself.

In the cosy living-room setting of his talk show, Amr talks freely with women about Islam today. ‘One day I will be before God and be accountable’ one guest declares ‘I do not like the veil’. ‘We’re not here to judge’ Amr responds but he has inspired many of the women in the audience to take the veil. ‘I know very well that such programmes are made especially to convince Arab women to wear the hijab’ the guest reveals after the applause dies down.

The wave of female televangelists is giving women in Islam power. Lutfia Sungkar earns a month’s average salary for every television appearance and on the hit show ‘The Star Academy’, women and men preach alongside each other for a prize.

 ‘Look my friends, do not fear technology, send me a text and, God willing, I will be here next week’ jokes one contestant. But it doesn’t stop at text-voting, Muslims can now receive the Qu’ran by SMS. ‘A lot of people in Islam read the Qu’ran in Arabic just to have read it, they don’t understand it’ explains the founder of the subscription service.

‘It’s an insult to Islam’ argues an orthodox preacher. Whilst for Lutfia it’s a fact that ‘good preachers aren’t recognised any more unless they’re on TV’. With ‘Time’ magazine voting Amr Khaled the 13th 'most influential person in the world' this documentary charts a phenomenon which is finally bringing Islam up to speed with the modern world.
 
This documentary will be aired by NDTV 24x7 on May 15 [3 to 4 pm] and May 16 [1 to 2 pm]

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Yes Minister, my Sympathies

Sympathy • noun (pl. sympathies) 1 feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune. 2 understanding between people; common feeling.3 support for or approval of something. 4 (in sympathy) relating harmoniously to something else; in keeping. 5 the state or fact of responding in a way corresponding to an action elsewhere.


— ORIGIN Greek sumpatheia, from sun- ‘with’ + pathos ‘feeling’.



Mahasweta Devi challenged Chidambaram to put her in jail for 10 years, in response to the centre’s newly found enthusiasm for using the UAPA to arrest so-called Maoists sympathizers. As of now, I truly sympathize with the home minister for being humiliated by a gutsy 84 year-old woman.


Yet sympathy is a thought-crime thanks to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and accordingly, ‘any person who commits the offence of supporting such a terrorist organization with inter alia intention to further the activities of such terrorist organizations would be liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or with fine or with both.’

I like to place some emphasis on ‘intention to further the activities’ of the Maoists. Since we have brought public debate on Operation Green Hunt down to the ludicrous and the farcical, I’d like to ask one question: who has really furthered the activities of the Maoist any more than the exploitive economic policies of the state and their counter-insurgency tactics? I mean, what’s more useful to the Maoists, a Writ Petition filed by activists for the adivasis, or the state’s security apparatus that terrorizes the population on mere suspicion and suppresses dissent and civil society?

Maoist sympathizers, or supporters, according to the state, are simply anyone who stands up for the rights of the adivasi. Not long ago in the Supreme Court, an accusation was hurled at just-another-activist who was fighting for the rights of the adivasi, for being a Maoist supporter. The response by the judges was fitting. ‘Suppose somebody fights their (victims) case, so what does that imply? First you say they are Naxals, then you say they are sympathisers, then you say they are sympathisers of sympathisers… Why all these innuendos?’

‘Sympathy is fighting for their cause (victims). Nobody is advocating their cause. They are not saying their action should be condoned.
And who is really advocating the Maoist cause? Anyone with even half a brain would know that even if the Maoists do capture state power, we’d merely be dealing with a whole bunch of clowns, who’d merely shoot the students at JNU, if there was even a single squeak of dissent.


And unfortunately I need to have yet another fashionable pot-shot at Mr. Chidambaram whose policies are single-handedly the greatest support for the Maoists to help ‘further their activities’. First, let’s start with the Salwa Judum, that was given unbridled freedom to do as it pleases – burn, rape, loot and murder in every place that was known to have a strong Maoist presence, and the Maoists had the last laugh – as recruitment was an all-time high. How much did the Salwa Judum help to ‘further the activities’ of the Maoists? Does the centre now know that the Salwa Judum had even burnt down villages that had no Maoist links? And killed people who had no grudge against the state?

No, I didn't write this post. I wish I had. Visit the original blog by clicking on the link.
Read more of this excellent article here

Friday, May 07, 2010

So Ricky Martin's Gay?

I've been a bit preoccupied with life. Then yesterday, somebody expressed a great deal of surprise that Ricky Martin turned out 'Gay'.
Frankly, I was surprised Ricky Boy took almost two decades to get it off his chest, considering that about fifty percent of his fans suspected it. His sexuality has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the music industry for years!

Now the Puerto Rican pop star  best known for the 1999 single Livin' La Vida Loca, has finally admitted that he is gay.

He explained it was the process of writing his autobiography that prompted him to make the announcement.

"Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And this is something worth celebrating... Many people told me 'Ricky it's not important', 'It's not worth it', 'All the things you've worked and everything you've built will collapse'. No doubt, the man would find it difficult to face his rather anti-gay Latin Catholic community, so one can empathise with him on that count. 

"Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth," sais Martin.

The message is that homosexuality is a career-killer when it comes to pop music - that it is more acceptable in the 21st century to be a drug addict like Amy Winehouse or Pete Doherty than it is to be gay.

The music industry in the last 50 years has  supposedly stood for liberalism, equality, individualism, creativity and progression. It is meant to be about breaking down barriers, exploding preconceptions and celebrating a person's right to express themselves in any way that they see fit. Any way, apparently, as long as it doesn't disturb the glorious idyll of the heterosexual lifestyle.

But has the music  industry underestimated the loyalty and intelligence of music fans  by trying to pull the wool over their eyes about their artists' lifestyle choices?

Living in India with the 'G' word quietly creeping out of the collective Indian Almirah and actually sneaking into films .. I would say that the industry is forty percent homophobic and sixty percent hypocritical!

But how does that explain the success of Rufus Wainwright,  Will Young, Beth Ditto, The Pet Shop Boys, Scissor Sisters or the countless other artists who enjoy great sales and critical kudos and make no bones about being attracted to people of the same sex?

When the late Stephen Gately of Boyzone announced he was gay in 1999, fans were expected to throw their hands up in horror. In fact, they rallied round in support. The same went for Will Young, who came out to fans shortly after winning Pop Idol.
The late Stephen Gately

Eight years later Young has had nine top-10 singles in the UK and has been nominated for 10 Brit Awards - hardly the achievements of a man who is loathed for his lifestyle choices. More recently, when Mark Feehily from Westlife came out of the closet, few even noticed.
Will Young
So does anyone care whether their icons are gay or straight? And is it any of our business anyway?

The truth is that fans care about an artists' sexuality just as much as they care how big their house is, who they're dating and what they buy in supermarkets. In the era of celebrity magazines, we are interested in every facet of a musician's or actor's or reality star's existence. Sexuality is just a part of the picture.

By the way, I heard somewhere that Imran Khan is the new Indian Gay pin-up? Now how does his girlfriend take his statement that it's nice to have men admire him as much as women?

Monday, May 03, 2010

Adivasi-ism - not Mao-ism or State-ism

"I deliberately do not read about any ideology because I know that Maoists teach the Adivasis about Maoism, Gandhians preach them about Gandhism and Marxists ask them to walk on Marxism but no one bothers about the Adivasism, which is the best ‘ism’ among these, which perhaps leads to a just and equitable society. I have been raising the questions about how the Indian State has deliberately destroyed the Adivasism. The Adivasi religion was not recognized by the Indian constitution, traditional self-governance was neglected, culture was destroyed, lands were grabbed and our resources were snatched in the name of development. But what do we get out of it? Should we still keep quiet? Are we not the citizens of this country who need to be treated equally? Do they care about our sufferings?"

These are the words of Gladson Dungdung, an Adivasi journalist and human rights activist.
Here is an extract from his story:

I’m one of those unfortunate persons, who have lost everything for the so-called development of the nation and struggling for survival even today. When I was just one year old, my family was displaced. Our 20 acres of fertile land was taken away from us in the name of development. Our ancestral land was submerged in a Dam, which came up at Chinda River near Simdega town in 1980. We lost our house, agricultural land and garden but we were paid merely Rs.11 thousand as compensation. When the whole villagers protested against it they were sent to Hazaribagh Jail. Can a family of 6 members ensure food, clothing, shelter, education and health facilities for whole life with Rs.11 thousand?

After displacement, We had no choice rather than proceeding towards the dense forest for ensuring our livelihood. We settled down in the forest after buying a small patch of land. We used to collect flowers, fruits and firewood to sustain our family. We also had sufficient livestock, which supported our economy. Needless to say that the state suppression continued with us. When we were living in the forest, my father was booked under many cases filed by the forest department (the biggest landlord of the country) alleging him as an encroacher and woodcutter. There was no school building in our village therefore we used to study under the trees and when there was rain our school was closed. But my father taught us to always fight for justice. Though he was struggling to sustain our family but he never stopped his fight for the community.


Unfortunately, on 20 June 1990, my parents were brutally murdered while they were going to Simdega civil court to attend a case and 4 kids were orphaned. Can anyone imagine how we suffered afterwards? The worst thing is the culprits were not brought to justice. Can anyone tell us that why the India State did not deliver justice to us, who snatched our resource in the name of development? Why there is no electricity in my village even today? Why my people do not get water for their field whose lands were taken for the irrigation projects? Why there is no electricity in those houses, who have given their land for the power project? And why people are still living in small mud houses whose lands were taken for the steel plants? It seems that the Adivasis are only born to suffer and other to enjoy over our graves.


After a long struggle, we all got back to life but my pain and sufferings did not end here. When I was working as a state programme officer in a project funded by the European Commission, a senior government officer and an editor of a newspaper (both from the upper caste) questioned my credentials saying that being an Adivasi how did I get into such a prestigious position? Similarly, when my friend had taken me to meet a newly wedded couple of the upper caste in Ranchi, I was not allowed to meet them saying that being an Adivasi if I meet the couple, they might become unauspicious and their whole life would be in a stake. Was I a devil for them?

Teen din ka Mela - Abhivyakti 2010

[Abhivyakti 2010 : Reaching out to Bihar's Youngsters]

The Third day of Abhivyakti 2010, the 9th Bihar Low Cost Video festival featured ‘Do din ka Mela’ by Ankjali Monteiro and KP Jayashankar, as well as a selection of student films and films made by children. Certificates and mementoes were presented at the closing ceremony. While the Abhivyakti festival does not have a ‘competition’ section, awards are announced to encourage student productions.

352: Remembering Emergency [Director, Camera work, Script: Sanjay Pratap, Ashwani Falnikar, Nandita Thomas, Nikhil Titus TISS, Mumbai] won the ACT-UCP Sarnet award of Rs 1,000 for best student film under 20 minutes on a Human Rights issue.

Banjar Mann [Director : Tanushri University Of Allahabad] won the ACT-UCP Sarnet award of Rs 1,000 for best student film under 10 minutes on a Human Rights / Development issue. the film showed that women work as hard as men in Indian society, but aren’t valued as much.

Beautiful People [Film by: Manoj Kumar Class XI Mass Media student, Open School , Patna ]won the ACT-UCP Sarnet award of Rs 1,000 for best student film under 5 minutes on a Human Rights / Development issue. The film shown on the third day, drew admiration from the house because of its simple , yet unique treatment of inclusion in education.

The Ravi Bharati Abhivyakti 2010 Convener’s Choice awards for the best student or Amateur work from Bihar were announced.
[Anupam and Ashwini answer questions and comments on their production]
The first prize went to Mera Astitva [ 2 mins 9 secs; Director, Camera work, Script: Anupam , Shivani, Ashwini, Advantage Media Academy]. The short film was an appeal for conservation from a tree’s point of view, and was widely appreciated by the audience for its simplicity and clarity of approach. The second prize went to  Children’s show , a programme made up of eleven films by 24 children aged 9 to 16 from Bihar Bal Bhavan. The third prize went to Dowry ‘Heavier Than Life’ [ 5 mins; Director : Mehrazun Neesa Haque Patna Women’s College Department of Communicative English] The film was about malpractice and ‘the dowry harassment’ in India.
[Young directors face the audience at Abhivyakti 2010]
Present on the occasion were students and film buffs, including Dr Shanker Ashish Dutt, Chairman Sangeet Natak Academy; Ms Vibha Sinha, Asst Secretary, Bihar Sangeet Natak Academy; Mr Rajender Dash, President Patna Cine Society; Ms Jyoti Parihar, Director Bihar Bal Bhawan, Ms Neerja Lal, Dean of Studies , Advantage Media Academy; Mr Gautam Dasgupta, Secretary Patna Cine Society, Dr Muniba Sami from Patna University.
[  Mr RN Dash,  Ms Jyoti Parihar, Ms Vibha Sinha.]
 Above: Ms Neerja Lal, Dr Shanker Dutt, Mr Gautam Dasgupta, Mr Frank Krishner]

The three day grassroots video festival screened a total of 23 films, of which three were invited films, 7 were regular entries, and 13 were student films.
[ A section of the audience .. Young directors interact wth the audience]

Ravi Bharat Director, Fr Benny Moolan SJ proposed the vote of thanks to all those who contributed to the festival, especially the film-makers who sent their films.  
As Convenor, I would like to thank Yashna, Nihal, Alok, Chandan, Ravi, and all the young people who volunteered to help with the arrangements. Yashna, Nihal, and Manoj did a good job with the announcements and introduction of movies and guests. Alok Kumar looked after guests, and handled on the ground coordination of hospitality.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Abhivyakti: Second day ka Manohar Kahani

The second day of Abhivyakti – the 9th Ravi Bharati Bihar Low Cost Videofest – saw animated discussions, questions and answers from the very first session. The sweltering afternoon heat didn’t deter the seminar participants, who countered the heat with ‘cool’ discussions.
[Prof. Shanker Dutt, Chairperson Bihar Sangeet Natak Academy, makes a point. Also in the picture - seated- are Dr Muniba Sami and Ms Neerja Lal]

The mini-seminar ‘Broadcast Yourself’ on citizen journalism featured a selection of films downloaded from the Net with samples from the One world project [Just a piece of cloth], and WAVE enthusing the student audience. ‘Just a Piece of Cloth’ a six minute film on the Goonj project, stirred the young audience. Mughda Singh, a media student, expressed her mixed feelings of shock, sadness and guilt – “I hate to part with my old clothes, and out there, there are thousands of women in need of a simple piece of cloth to lead a more hygienic life. This film is a wake up call to me.”

[A student from Patna Women's College responds to a film]
Pranav Motion Pictures’ Bhagalpuri Silk ki Kahani was an informative documentary on the Tussar silk industry at Bhagalpur in Bihar. The subject was introduced through the ‘eyes’ of a young man invited to Bhagalpur by his friend. The film was appreciated for its informational content, but criticized for its rather ham-handed handling of the docu-drama angle, and the wooden acting of the two characters who playing college going men. The film was produced by the department of Arts and Culture, Governent of Bihar.

Khadaan, a film by Soeb Mohammed, produced by the MGO REAP in Sasaram spoke of the conditions of the people working in the illegal quarries of the area, and filmed through the interwoven narratives of three children. The participants praised the aesthetic beauty of the film. Dr Muniba Sami said that such films remind urban people that horrific conditions continue to be a part of the lives of many children, and prompt us to get involved in social causes. Dr Shanker Dutt said that the pity is that films such as these are confined to festivals.
Manoj Kumar, student, NIOS,  introduces a film at Abhivyakti
Arzoo, the story of a young Muslim woman, post Gujarat Communal Riots of 2002, captivated the audience with its simplicity of narrative and the persona of real life protagonist Sulekha Ali, an ‘ordinary’ girl with extraordinary perception, willpower and the overriding desire to heal the psychological wounds that fascism masquerading as religious bigotry has inflicted on the children of Gujarat. Definitely the most significant and hope-filled documentary of the evening, echoed the young audience.

Still from Arzoo
 “If the film From Hindu to Hindutva shown yesterday left us dismal and depressed, Arzoo fills us with hope, because it shows us that there is a way to heal the rifts, to go beyond ‘religion’ and evolve towards humanism and spirituality,” said a participant.

[Nehal says that if we don't look out, we'll find ourselves sitting in the middle of a Police State]
Paromita Vohra’s Morality TV aur Loving Jehad — Ek Manohar Kahani, raised more than a few hackles, and brought about much confusion and questions. A member of the audience objected to the title of the film, and said that while the film attempted to make a point about issues touching the media, women, and morality, it ended up saying nothing much. Nihal Prasher, a student, said that the film showed how fascism was creeping up all over India, and if we sat still doing nothing, we’d be sitting in the middle of a police state. Yashnashree, a media student from Patna Women’s College said that the film raised questions about the way women and girls continued to be controlled within the patriarchal system. The media and its hunger for TRP over ethics stood exposed, said Sudhir from Advantage Media Academy.
Frank Krishner, summing up the discussions, remarked that the title ‘Loving Jehad’ was based on the ridiculous rumour being spread by the Right Wing in Meerut [as shown in the film] that Muslim boys are being sent out to woo and ‘convert’ Hindu girls to Islam. The pity is that not just the simple-minded, but the media, our so-called guardians of democracy and human rights promote such dangerous folly.

Student films shown were: Where is Kishore? [ Nikhil Titus, Shaira Shetty, Sneha Anand, TISS] The film explored the various spaces in Koliwada, Dharavi through the photographs taken by a young resident named Kishore who attended a photography workshop but did not attend the final workshop of the works. Through these pictures the film tries to put together a child’s image of little fishing village now surrounded by the city. The film was well received, and generated some lively discussion on content, form, and on who Kishore really was!

Banjar Mann [Tanushri, University Of Allahabad] This music video represented the life of those Indian women who struggle for livelihood. Though they perform all the tough tasks, they are always considered less then men. Everything is barren (banjar) for them but even knowing they perform their duties with full dedication. It was widely appreciated.

The film which captivated one and all was 352: Remembering Emergency, [Sanjay Pratap, Ashwani Falnikar, Nandita Thomas, Nikhil Titus TISS]. In the largest democracy, ironically a period of 19 months is missing from public memory. It was during this period that internal emergency was instituted in India. The film was enjoyed by the audience, partly because of the skilful use of collage, cartoons, and images, and more imporatantly for the information that it contained for the younger generation.