And with the breaking dawn, her breath was blocked forever. She was aborted.
Why? Just because she was a ‘She’ and not a ‘He’?

With this attitude, where does our society stand? Something to think about, Don’t you think!

What happened when years flipped?
What did you do when you failed in an exam? You said that you have a low IQ.
What did you do when you stammered on your first speech? You concluded that you have stage fear.
What did you do when you had great ideas and never worked on it? You decided to hide it and called yourself an idiot.
What did you do when you had the time to choose your career? You decided to follow what everyone did just because people told you it was risky.
Now you tell me, what is the difference between the present ‘you’ and the ‘you’ in your childhood?
You were creative then, you are even now. But with a small difference. You are creative now with fear+insecurity+inferiority and lots of other stigma attached to it!
What distinguishes you from a successful person is just the ‘Action’ put in force! He/She worked on it and you did not. It is never too late. Remember Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Bill Gates, Obama, Gandhi, were not born, they were made, by their conscious effort and decision and most importantly ‘Action’.
Think smart and choose wise. Life does not come with a rewind button

If the above examples are anything to go by, the NaMo mantra doesn’t seem to be a viable one despite the hype. The biggest contribution to the Modi hype has been by the media. Of late,every move of Modi’s and every statement made in favour of and against him has received wide coverage. Irrelevant statistics and facts are often cited in his support. Against him, his role in the 2002 riots is almost always used. Even most of Modi’s detractors take his claims at face value. A closer examination of Narendra Modi’s claimed achievements reveals a better picture.

There is one quality of Narendra Modi that stands out above everything else. The man has amazing PR skills(Yes, even better than Ankit Fadia). Very cleverly, Modi has managed to seep into the consciousness of the average Indian common man. Indirectly and subtly, Modi has managed to convince India’s middle and poor classes that he is the messiah they have been waiting for(The rich need no convincing; Modi is clearly very industry-friendly)

While Gujarat has one of the highest per-capita GDP in the country, a closer look reveals highly exclusive growth. The historian and writer Ramachandra Guha writes, “As a sociologist who treats the aggregate data of economists with scepticism, I myself do not believe that Gujarat is the best developed State in the country. Shortly after Mr. Modi was sworn in for his third full term, I travelled through Saurashtra, whose polluted and arid lands spoke of a hard grind for survival. In the towns, water, sewage, road and transport facilities were in a pathetic state; in the countryside, the scarcity of natural resources was apparent, as pastoralists walked miles and miles in search of stubble for their goats. Both hard numbers and on-the-ground soundings suggest that in terms of social and economic development, Gujarat is better than average, but not among the best. In a lifetime of travel through the States of the Union, my sense is that Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and (despite the corruption) Tamil Nadu are the three States which provide a dignified living to a decent percentage of their population.”(The Hindu, February 8 2013)

The rates of malnutrition in Gujarat are among the highest in the country. These high percentages do not fit in with the high per-capita-income and GDP as it ideally should. Modi, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Modi attributed the high malnutrition rates to the middle classes being more beauty-conscious than health conscious. The data shows that about half of Gujarati children under five were stunted, or too short for their age. One wonders since when toddlers became beauty-conscious.

Mr. Modi is also highly authoritarian. Most of his recent speeches in public have been highly narcissistic and authoritarian in nature. One doesn’t need to be an expert to notice that ‘I’ is Mr. Modi’s favourite word. This, as Guha writes, is “the real reason that Narendra Modi is unfit to be Prime Minister of India.”

Dear God, please save us from Narendra Modi.

The discussion on terrorism are mostly confined to those associated with religion. The need of the hour is to analysing the looming threat to the progress raised by the fringe elements in the society which is increasingly becoming visible in  the horizon. While innocent comments from aam aadmi are seriously dealt with at quick pace, the fundamentalists elements are allowed a free run and are they are literally running over  the unique ideals on which India is built up.

A series of incidents should open the eyes of authorities to reign in the culprits. Hindu fundamentalists asking the organizers to remove nude paintings of Hindu gods  in a Bangalore exhibition,  Muslim fundamentalist  up in arms against Kashmir all girls band Pragash, issuing fatwa which ended up in dismantling the band, Banning Kamal Hassan move Vishwaroopam in Tamil Nadu. Attack on parties, pubs, blackening of hoardings, Call for separate states and the list goes on.

The fundamentalist elements in the society usually has a generous backing of mainstream political parties. Even though the senseless jibes and dangerous diktats are posing serious challenges to the secular framework and fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. The government machinery remain mute spectators to the fundamentalist rampage and remain ever vibrant to add woes to victims plights.

The Centre and State governments have the duty not to let the fundamentalist forces to flourish. Each new fundamentalist organization shoot themselves to fame by bringing up issues which could be easily tolerated in a secular country. These organizations stir up emotions, misleads people and poisons their mind and thoughts. They are the crucial back ends of major political parties who are responsible for tilting vote backs. Thus they are given a free hand on whatever pervert ideas they subscribe and propagate.

Outright ban doesn’t seem to be a way out but every brainless fundamentalist acts or jibes has to be severely dealt with by the government machineries. The cases registered against them has to reach the logical conclusion. Implementing strict measures would curb the temptation to being new organizations along the narrow mindsets of caste, culture, creed and religion.

India as a nation is a miracle with its mark of diversity and spirit of unity and oneness. The concerted efforts to break this unity should be resisted at any cost. Narrow political interest should not come in the  way of national interest. The media too should not fall to the bait of ‘controversy’ and give un wanted coverage and publicity to fundamentalist outbursts.

Why are we seeing more support for fundamentalist movements  off late? A fundamentalist rigid mentality is a natural tendency to protect and sustain a culture, religion, language et. al which is fast becoming a minority and losing popular appeal. Along with myriad other reasons globalization seems to be the immediate reason which  is fast becoming a melting pot of cultures, languages and traditions.

Migration too has contributed to this phenomena. The pace of migration if increasing in break neck speed. Down in the southern region of India, local buses now display bus routes in Hindi, in nroth India the shops display south Indian languages, the attires and attitudes which used to be the hallmark of a locality is being fast gobbled up the melting pot. This mutual exchange question the traditional power centres in the region or religion. Fundamentalism  arise as a reaction to this phenomena.

The society must be allowed to make an organic transition. Together with controlling the fundamentalist forces, the government machinery must make sure that in midst of transition no one is subject to unjust subjugation and neglect and their rights to uphold and promote their customs, traditions, languages and religions are protected.

(The author is on twitter as @jeffshawn )

Photo courtesy: http://mymysore.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/aug-18-railmuseum-011.jpg

This, the problem of choice, is perhaps one of the biggest problems plaguing higher education in India. While there are definitely bigger problems related to access to education, increasing tuition fees and outdated syllabi, this is the one that will make the biggest impact in the next few decades.One might argue that parental pressure and problems of choice are factors about which nothing can be done by the government and universities. Fortunately, the argument does not hold good, because the solution to this problem lies in one phrase: ‘Liberal Arts’.

For decades, the term ‘liberal arts’ has be used in India to describe the social sciences such as History, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, etc. While a liberal arts education might include the study of these subjects, to restrict the ambit of the term to just these subject is an act of unfortunate misinformation. The history of the term dates back to the Greek and Roman empires. Liberal arts or ‘artes liberales’ in Latin were those subjects or skills a person needed to know or possess in order to actively take part in civic life. These originally included logic, rhetoric and grammar. As time progressed, learning came under the purview of the church and the liberal arts were expanded to include music, astronomy, geometry and arithmetic. The former set of subject, called the ‘trivium’ and the latter, called the ‘quadrivium’, constituted the core of medieval university curriculum.

In modern times, the term has come to denote an education that focuses on the learner and gives him/her the freedom to choose from a huge set of courses, ones that match his/her interest and combine these to form a holistic learning experience. In the united states, most undergraduate college, even if part of bigger universities, are liberal arts college. These colleges give learners the freedom to study a number of subjects as ‘minors’ and one subject as a ‘major.’ The selection of ‘majors’ and ‘minors’ can be done over a period of time as a student begins discovering his/her interests. For example, a student might specialise in economics but also study physics, music and art history at the same time. The biggest advantage of this model of learning is that at the end of the four years of study, well-rounded, broad-minded individuals are formed.

These colleges are mainly found in the USA, but can also be seen in other parts of the world. While the concept still has not many takers back home, it is catching on. There exist a few liberal arts colleges in India that have come up in the past decade. Notable among these include the Foundation for Liberal And Management Education(FLAME), Pune, Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts, also in Pune, School of Liberal Studies at Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar.

The most promising, however, looks the proposed ‘Ashoka University’ in Haryana. The university is expected to start functioning in 2014. The core members of the founding team successfully set up the Indian School of Business(ISB) in Hyderabad a decade ago. If the reputation and quality of ISB is anything to go by(It was ranked 20th worldwide in the latest ‘Global MBA Rankings’ by The Financial Times), Ashoka University will be able to deliver on its promises. The union HRD ministry has proposed the creation of the ‘Tagore University for Liberal Arts’ in Pune. While the future looks bright for liberal education, there is a need for more such universities.

Pope Benedict XVI will go down in the history as a model leader who realistically vacated his chair reading the signs of the time, when there was no pressure on him to do so.  The Catholic Church should give Pope Benedict a standing ovation for such a bold and unprecedented move. The last Pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415. The decision to resign would be turning point in the history of the Catholic Church. His act sends strong message to the Church leaders that namesake authority can be dangerous to the Church in the modern world. They have to be responsible and capable leaders who has to be fully fit in discharging their duties.  One of the most striking statement in Pope Benedict XVI ‘s resignation announcement is, “ However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.

Pope Benedict XVI a great theologian and scholar in the Catholic Church, knew better than any body about the state of affairs in the world which is heading in break neck speed. As the head of Catholic Church, he had all the freedom and mandate to continue in his position as the Pope without being questioned by anyone till his death. But what makes Pope Benedict XVI different is his awareness that a symbolic or a name sake Pope would be let down the Catholic Church in the modern world. Eventhough, Pope Benedict XVI has been mostly tagged as belonging to old school of thought, but with his resignation from the  highest office of the Church,   he has made a strong statement that he is a visionary leader with modern outlook.  This bold act has to trickle down to the structurally strong layers of the Church. The time of symbolic authority in the Church is over. Those entrusted with power has to be pro active for Christ and his people. The retirement age set by the Church should not be the norm. But as Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “ After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.”  It is not the external influence but self examination before the presence of God should be guide the Church leaders if the Church has to stay alive in the modern world.

The whole world and Catholic Church in particular are yet to come in terms with such a sudden announcement of Pope Benedict XVI ‘s resignation. But the rumour mills are working over time to spread spicy interpretation to such a visionary act.  Ed Husain tweeted, (@ed_husain): A Vatican observer tells me Pope resigned b/c of doubts about God. Insider rumors. Will ever know? Church secrecy shrouds much.  Bert Turner tweeted (@Bert_HappyDog):  Could benedict’s resignation have anything to do with the fact he participated in the massive cover up of child sex abuse in thechurch?” This and many tweets,  blogs and status messages are bringing up a plethora of senseless reasons for Pope’s resignation.  The real reason for the resignation as outlined the Pope namely his old age which makes him unable to proclaim the Gospel in the modern world with strength of mind and body, should be an eye opener to the Church leaders and the message should not be drowned in the  midst of these wild theories doing the rounds.

(The author is on twitter as @jeffshawn)

If only our politicians were educated(by education, I mean education in the true sense and not just academic degrees), they would realise that the exercise of such extra-ordinary powers should be given more than just a thought, for the basic fact that such decisions to ‘ban’ people, books, movies, pit India in the league of authoritarian states such as China and put our very status as a democracy at risk. The founding fathers of our constitution made it very clear that the fundamental rights of the country’s citizens must precede anything else. Put simply, nothing is higher in the eyes of law than the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.

And yet, under the pretext of maintaining law and order, the right to freedom of expression is being continuously suppressed by the government. I think that the government should be more concerned about the people who may turn violent upon the release of a book, film or the presence of a person. Why not ban these anti-social elements and put them in jail? If they express their displeasure in a peaceful way, then they are definitely within their rights. But threatening to violently protest is a gross violation of law.  If a certain section of society is not civilized enough to accept and accomodate something or someone that offends them, should the government react drastically by banning the offending work or person?

Most of these banned works, i.e, films and books, are fictional. For purposes of the plot and story, the writer often has to portray a person as belonging to a certain religion or community. This is repeatedly and deliberately misconstrued as hurting the sentiments of a particular group of people. If it is offensive, these people might as well boycott it and restrain themselves from watching or reading it. Why create a brouhaha by demanding a complete ban, thus denying other people the chance enjoy the book of film?

Last night, I was watching ‘The Newshour’ on Times Now, a show that has undoubtedly emerged as being host to entertaining and thought-provoking debates(More on the show in my next post). The issue being debated was the ban on Salman Rushdie’s entry into Kolkata. Among the panelists were representatives of Muslim organisations who were in favour of the ban and quite likely, the reason behind it. Their absurd arguments included the very common one that Rushdie has, in the past, hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims through his book ‘The Satanic Verses’ which is banned in India, and that his mere presence was anti-muslim. Even if for the sake of understanding their argument, one assumes that the book hurt Muslim sentiments, there is no logic in banning him from undertaking a visit that has nothing to do with the book in question. Another panelist argued that Rushdie is a publicity-hungry author and that he would have supported Rushdie if he had gone ahead with his visit. Only Rushdie himself knows the trauma he has undergone in the decade or so he spent in hiding, constantly fearing for his life. Readers of his autobiography, ‘Joseph Anton’ would agree. Calling him a publicity monger is a grave insult. And then, the claim of supporting Rushdie if he had gone ahead with his visit is also absurd. Any sane person will not visit a place if the authorities governing that particular place tell him/her that he/she would be put on a plane back home as soon as he/she lands in the city.

Banning something is a very serious matter, especially in a country that is the world’s largest democracy. It is time the government puts serious thought into this because this is no trivial matter. Not doing so might see our country taking a plunge into a modern version of ‘the dark ages.’

Kamal Hasan’s much-anticipated movie Vishwaroopam was banned this week by the Tamil Nadu government following claims made by Muslim organisations that the movie portrays Islam and its followers in poor light. This, despite the censor board having cleared the movie with almost no suggested editing much before the release of the movie.This incident reflects poorly on India’s supposed democratic and secular nature.

We, as a country, have a long history in censorship of free thought. It began in 1975 when the Indira Gandhi government imposed censorship of the India Press during the emergrency. This prompted the ‘Times of India’ , in its obituary column the very next day,to carry  “D.E.M O’Cracy beloved husband of T.Ruth, father of L.I.Bertie, brother of Faith, Hope and Justica expired on 26 June”. The next most famous case of censorship that took place in India is also perhaps among the most famous cases in the world. In 1989, Salman Rushdie’s book, ‘The Satanic Verses’ was banned by the India government following widespread outrage over the book’s purportedly ‘anti-muslim’ contents. In the 1990′s, eminent painter MF Hussain was attacked by Hindu nationalist organisations for allegedly depicting Hindu gods and goddesses in sexually provocative  poses in several of his paintings. He subsequently was forced to flee his own country following death threats that were growing by the date.

Several films, books, songs and even websites have been banned by subsequent websites for hurting the ‘sentiments’ of certain sections of Indian society. This, if left unchecked, could soon acquire dimensions of witch hunting. Last time I checked, we live in a free democratic republic where the freedom of expression is guaranteed. Agreed that some of these films and books hurt the sentiments of certain sections of society, but then, isn’t it a paradox to deny someone’s right to expression because someone exercises their right to expression by opposing it. Sounds confusing, but look at it this way. Sentiments and comprehension differ from person to person, society to society. One man’s good is another man’s bad. One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. One man’s masterpiece is another man’s ‘sentiment-hurting-work’. The best for one’s sentiments not be hurt by a piece of art, be it a movie or a book or website is to simply not partake in it, either by reading, watching or visiting. That is the best part of democracy. While one definitely has the freedom of expression, an individual also has the freedom of rejecting another person’s thought and expression, albeit in healthy, meaningful and non-violent ways, a lot unlike those being adopted by publicity-hungry organisations. Your sentiments being hurt gives you no right to stop someone else from watching or reading a movie or a book.

So, moral of the story. If you don’t like Vishwaroopam for some reason and feel it is hurting your sentiments, don’t watch it. Simple!

Note: The author of this article is religiously neutral and does not belong to any religion. The views expressed in this article are of the author alone and not necessarily those of mutiny.in. Healthy feedback and criticism is invited at nikhil.ravishankar@gmail.com

To feed the pervert imaginations of a film crazy nation, it is a common and profitable phenomenon in India to serve a heady cocktail of spicy stories bisecting the personal lives of bollywood stars. Ethics and professionalism are slaughtered at the altar of sensationalism to skyrocket the readership. But here is a book exclusively dealing with bollywood but without any traits of such bugging malwares. Anna MM Vetticad has carved a space for herself in the bollywood genre with her debut book The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. From the luxury of press preview to demanding journeys to suburban theatres, the author’s firm new year resolve made her watch all the 121  movies released in the NCR (National Capital Region) during the year 2011 which obviously becomes the focal point of  The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic.

Unbiased and articulate, lucid and profound, critical and constructive The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic consciously avoids the usual pitfalls of focusing on only those movies that have topped the charts. The book pans across all the movies in 2011 and brings to the fore those movies and actors which the mainstream media have swept under the rug.

The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic, while being appreciative of films starring children, also makes a case for better treatment of children. The author quotes Amole Gupta who states, ‘…a representative of the Animal Welfare Board mandatorily sits on shoots where animals are being used. But there is no one to supervise the way children are used in films.’ The author also gives a checklist of assurances which has to be insisted while doing films where children play the lead role.

With the wealth of experience as a journalist behind her, Anna Vetticad makes sharp observations and showcases promising stars in disappointing movies often singing along Bob Dylan, “But what’s a sweetheart like you doin’ in a dump like this?”  She does some plain talking against the hopeless cases frequenting the screen with the hope of replacing Shah Rukh Khan. The author neither forces her opinion nor imposes harsh judgment. But by publishing the interviews which she had with the person in focus, the readers cannot but agree with her.

In a situation where Critics are also being critiqued and their identity is challenged, Anna doesn’t run away from criticisms but takes it head on. Through the conversation with Rohit Shetty, who emotionally yells ‘to hell with reviews,’ she puts forward logical and reasonable arguments to make a case for the film critics. The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic brings before the readers a number of films which sank without trace for no reason for its own. The author convincingly identifies the reasons ranging from social stigma to marketing strategies.

The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic has the pace of a Salman Khan starrer and the depth of Aamir Khan productions. Giving rich insights to a student of Indian cinema and challenging the weekend movie goer to do a rethink on benchmarks set for watching a film, Anna MM Vetticad has set the ball rolling for a paradigm shift in Bollywood.

Ever since an announcement about Yann Martel’s Booker winning ‘Life Of Pi’ being made into a movie by Ang Lee was made, anxious readers were waiting to see whether the book would meet the same fate as several others: Being made into a horrible movie.

However, Ang Lee fails to disappoint as the Academy Award director churns out what could be perhaps be ‘the visual spectacle of the year.’ The touching tale of a young boy stranded at sea, on a lifeboat, with a royal Bengal tiger named ‘Richard Parker’ on board is something that people of all ages will enjoy watching.

Not since Avatar has a 3D movie been so visually appealing. Right from the beginning of the movie set in Pondicherry, one finds himself completely engrossed in the colourful and vibrant settings. If computer graphics has been used in the making of the movie, one can’t make out, such is the sophistication of technology used.

‘A movie is only as good as its actors’, they say. Despite the amazing cinematography, computer effects and settings, the movie wouldn’t have been half as good as it is without some stellar performances from its actors. Debutante Suraj Sharma, playing the lead role of Pi Patel, deserves special mention for showing tremendous potential in his very first movie. The Delhi lad has arrived, and has a long way to go. Tabu as Pi’s mother and Adil Hussain as his father do complete justice to their roles.

It is indeed hard to find flaws in a movie so visually enchanting with a touching story. This movie is bound to sweep next year’s oscars.

Star Rating: 5/5