Sourav Das

A Long Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:19:00 +0000

Yes, it's been a while. A lot has happened, much has changed and I have had a lot of stuff going on to really notice how time has flown by. Is it just me? Maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel, but for now it seems endless.

Of all the things that have happened, the most exciting was a much needed trip back home to India, after a period of 27 months. We've now moved to Noida in Uttar Pradesh. Delhi has changed a lot, as has India. Everyone's flying -- no one takes the train any longer. There are many more malls and all of a sudden people seem to be spending a lot more money than before.

And tucked within that trip to India was a five-day visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Yes, I went to Bangladesh. Why? Don't ask me. I was supposed to go there for free, but I wound up paying quite a bit due to the bureaucratic setup of Air India where no one seems to be knowing how the system works -- everything is still not that great after all. When an airline company cancels your flight, it is their responsibility to get you to your destination. But Air India still likes to imagine they are doing you a favor by letting you fly. They cancel, and you end up paying for two connecting flights to get to your destination while you could have taken the train and gotten there in 8 hours.

Bangladesh was great! It was quite an experience. I truly felt like a traveler for the first time in my life. And I also managed to get by with Bengali, thanks to the little Oriya that I know. I went around the extremely crowded city of Dhaka, saw the Ahsan Manzil (home of the erstwhile Nawab of Dhaka, now a museum), Dhaka University, and the Lalbagh Fort (though it is no match for the Mughal buildings of North India). The best part though was a trip to Sonargaon -- a small village outside of Dhaka which has the ruined city of Panam Nagar and some small historic buildings and shrines. I am not really sure how old those ruins were, but they were "real" ruins -- very picture-perfect. The shrines weren't something absolutely worth seeing -- in Delhi, they would be like one of the many obscure roadside monuments that no one knows or cares about since there's such a concentration of history. But it was real countryside -- greenery and water everywhere -- and a real treat to go around the village and the fields. A friendly rickshaw driver, a local from the area, showed me around. It was like one of those Lonely Planet journeys. That being said, here is an itinerary I recommend for any ecstatic travelers who may visit Sonargaon. I typed it out on the Dhaka article on Wikitravel.org too.

Frequent bus services to Sonargaon operate from Gulistan, Saidabad and other bus stands in Dhaka. Tickets may be bought on roadside counters. Mention your destination as Mograpara as you might end up at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel instead. The price of the ticket from Gulistan bus stand is Tk 22 (as of December 2007).

The main places of interest in Sonargaon are the ruins of Panam Nagar, the local crafts museum or the Lok Shilpa Jadughar, the tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin, the Goaldi Mosque, and the shrines of Panjpir and Shah Abdul Alia. The first two lie on one side of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and the rest lie on the other side. Once at Mograpara, a rickshaw may be hired for sightseeing. It is best to hire the same rickshaw for a fixed amount (Tk 200-250) for seeing all the places in Sonargaon. Most rickshaw pullers know the more popular destinations like Panam Nagar, the Lok Shilpa Jadughar, etc. Some may not know of the tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin or the Goaldi Mosque and the shrines. Usually rickshaw drivers who are locals from the village know all of these places.

Also note that the Goaldi Mosque, the tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin or the shrines are not huge monuments or structures. Rather, they are lone structures and lie within Mograpara village. Visiting these places also affords a very good experience of rural life which is a very pleasant change from the noise and traffic in Dhaka. Also, the Lok Shilpa Jadughar is the only place where one has to pay an entry fee. It may also be closed just before Eid celebrations. The rest of the places are open and free for the public and do not have any specific openin or closing times.

Hajiganj is another place of historical interest, situated about 10 kms from Mograpara bus stand. However, the above mentioned places usually take up most of the day and it is best to return to Dhaka before evening. Sonargaon and Hajiganj may be combined into a single day if one sets of very early from Dhaka.

Another very interesting place I visited was the Armenian Church in Dhaka. It is located in the Armanitola neighborhood in Dhaka, which I assume means Armenian Settlement. During the 1700's -- that very weird point in Indian history when trade suddenly took people to places you'd never imagine them to be in -- Bengal used to have a community of Armenian traders. There are hardly any more Armenians left. I guess like the Anglo Indians, most migrated out of a country which was suddenly too alien. The Armenian Church is the only remnant and obscure evidence of their presence. There were graves with Armenian inscriptions dating back to the 1700s, of people who were born in places as far as Persia and Russo-Armenia. A photo of the Archbishop of the Armenians hung in the room inside and an old, shredded Bible was kept near the chapel. I rung a church bell for the first time in my life. And somehow, there was that touch of nostalgia that I find with most British structures that seem to belong to a romantic, bygone era.

Surprisingly, the caretaker was a Bangladeshi Hindu who was originally from Allahabad. He couldn't go back to India during Partition. And somehow living among a sometimes hostile community seemed to have made him very assertive of his being a Hindu. He was quite straight-forward in asking me if I was one, and had quite a bit to say about Muslims -- and this discussion was taking place as the entire city of Dhaka was preparing for cow-sacrifices to be made for Eid the following day.

It was good trip overall. Maybe it wasn't worth the amount I ended up paying for it. But it was once in a lifetime, as I will probably not go there again, if at all I decide on a vacation in Bangladesh ever. I would much rather visit Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar -- the eastern limits of the Indian subcontinent where India meets Southeast Asia.

The rest of my trip to India included a visit to Orissa and one-day trips to Neemrana in Rajasthan and Chandigarh. Orissa was short and fairly uneventful from the adventure standpoint, except for a short excursion I made on my last day, to Dhauligiri -- the scene of the bloody Battle of Kalinga and Ashoka's subsequent conversion to Buddhism which made it the most prominent religion in India for the next few centuries. At Cuttack, I visited Naraj -- the place where the river Kathjodi branches out of the Mahanadi. The last time I went there was about 8-9 years back, and it was quite eventful, with the car breaking down and us making a hike back home. Finally, it was a comfortable two weeks at home, enjoying the Delhi winter and watching India play Australia.

If you haven't already noticed the widget on the right side of the screen, I have some photos uploaded on Flickr, which I must say are my first attempts at photography.

Anuradha Pal performs with Prof. Allyn Miner

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 04:45:00 +0000

Anuradha Pal -- one of the very rare female professional tabla players (according to the Limca Book of Records 1991, the first and only one) -- performed with Prof. Allyn Miner in the Irvine Auditorium, University of Pennsylvania on Sept. 28, 2007.

Click on the pictures to view larger sizes.

Taal Pulse -- Lehera, Theka and Drone Software

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:29:00 +0000

This is an excellent aid for students of Hindustani music. It essentially replaces the electronic lehera, tala and drone synthesizers (like these) and combines all the three into one. And the best part is that it's free to download!

Taal Pulse can play a lehera in multiple ragas and across six talas -- dadra, rupak, keherva, jhaptala, ektala and teen tala. You also have great control over the pitch and the pulse. So if you're a tabla player, just turn off the tabla (and the tanpura, if you want) and use it for practicing layakari. If you're a vocalist or a n instrumentalist, turn off the lehera and use it for accompaniment. Unfortunately, the only option in terms of instruments for the lehera is the harmonium -- a sarangi would have been excellent. Also, a tabla is the only option you have for the talas.

The program can be downloaded from here: http://taalpulse.sourceforge.net/. It can run on Windows, Linux and MacOS platforms, and even PDAs. The website also has a short tutorial though the program is very basic and easy to use. The only (very minor) flaw that I noticed is that if you turn off the lehera or the tabla (or both) and then turn it back on, it plays on only one of the speakers instead of both. Also, if you try doing other work on the computer simultaneously (though that is impossible if you're practicing -- unless someone else is using the computer), you run the risk of messing up the cycle. But that's barely comparable to the convenience it now brings for those practicing by themselves.

The Blue Umbrella (Chatri Chor)

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 06:17:00 +0000

This past weekend I saw The Blue Umbrella (also called as Chatri Chor). According to IMDB, the movie was released internationally in 2005, but was released in India on Aug 10. This is the third movie I've seen directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The movie won the National Award in India for Best Children's Film.

The movie is adapted from a short story of the same name by Ruskin Bond. (On a side note, I have a book autographed by him. He visited my high school in 1998.) Bond is one of my favorite Indian authors and his writings, most of which are set in the Doon Valley and Lower Himalayas of Uttaranchal (or rather, Uttarakhand), give you a sense of solitude - so typical of the Himalayan hill-stations. It is as if one is transformed to the hills - anyone who has been to the lower Himalayas would probably agree.

And true to Bond stories, this movie is shot in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh - a beautiful hill town (though somewhat rife with commercial tourism but not like Shimla, or Mussoorie). But besides the scenery, I didn't really find much in the movie - it's only a children's film after all. The story might have suited a short film; but when you expand a short, simple story into a full-length movie, the pace becomes excruciatingly slow and it is often tempting to pause the movie and take a "break" (with chances that you might not resume watching). A little village girl gets hold a blue umbrella from some Japanese tourists, which draws the attention of everyone in town, particularly the village shopkeeper who tries in vain to get hold of it. The umbrella ends up being stolen, and it is followed by the thief being ostracized by the community. The songs are hardly worthwhile, if not bad.

Pankaj Kapoor plays an excellent role though. His character is funny mostly because his dialogs are in the rural dialect. This is something that must be credited to Vishal Bhardwaj - he is quite acquainted with the tongue - and his movies always have choice folk phrases which I find quite amusing.

Other than that, there isn't anything much here. But in cinematic terms, it is quite well made and thankfully it's not stupid, unlike a couple of recent movies that I have seen in the past few months.

A very detailed review of the movie may be read on Rediff.

William Dalrymple's The Last Mughal

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:14:00 +0000

I finally finished reading William Dalrymple's latest book - The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857. And with this, and with much satisfaction, I have also finished reading all of his books. Dalrymple has been an excellent discovery and his works, despite being a product of scholarship, are increasingly accessible owing to his ability of storytelling. In fact, of late, Dalrymple has shifted focus from travel writing to history. Here is an extract from the book.

The book is almost entirely based off of the Mutiny Papers, in the National Archives of India, which had previously been lying ignored for almost a century and a half. What makes the work unique is that for the first time, one reads about the Mutiny of 1857 from the Indian perspective (albeit coming from a British historian). For a long time, most sources on the mutiny were rife with jingoistic British racialism towards Indians and portrayed it as the uprising of the evil, uncivilized "natives" against the great nation of Britain and all the "goodness" that it possessed and spread throughout the world. The nationalistic opinion, particularly Savarkar's The History of the War of Indian Independence, represented it as a war of Independence and made a hero out of Mangal Pandey, while in reality, it was a mostly uncoordinated uprising that eventually went on to become the most serious threat to imperialism in the 19^th century. Meanwhile, our history textbook in school in India described it from a socialist viewpoint - a collective uprising against oppressive British policies. The fact however is that it always was an army uprising of an exclusively religious nature and was eventually joined by people with a variety of grievances - land regulations, annexation of entire kingdoms (particularly Awadh), etc. And though it was somewhat coordinated, it was for the most part asynchronous with events happening all over North India, while South India remained oblivious of it. The religious nature was barely ever discussed before in India. But it was indeed a joint Hindu-Muslim uprising against British Evangelical Christianity, which was fast coming into fashion among the British in the 1800's.

The saddest part of story is, obviously, the fate of Zafar. Over his lifetime, he had seen the Mughal Empire dwindle from almost the entire subcontinent to just the city of Delhi. And there was nothing he could do when he ascended the throne in is 60's. Zafar's ill-treatment at the hands of the British following defeat and his deportation to Rangoon, Burma is quite depressing. His beggar-like life towards the end and his burial in an unmarked grave seem ridiculous when one imagines monuments like Humayun's Tomb built for his ancestors. Even more pathetic is the destruction of Delhi and the fate of Zafar's successors and others in the Mughal family and the court. (The BBC has pictures taken in 1858 in India following the Mutiny.)

However, my only point of contention with Dalrymple is his extrapolation of Indian Muslims to Islam in general, even though he specifically uses the term "Wahhabi-like" to describe extremist Muslims. He takes a very important political stand in the end - equating the clash between Evangelical Christianity with the Hindu-Muslim population of India, the ignorance and arrogance of the British as they acquired world dominion, and the subsequent violence and politics with that of the US today and its policies in the Middle East. My point is that Islam in India is like a separate species. Though the gap between Wahhabism and Indian Islam has reduced a lot in the last few decades, the latter has developed over centuries along much different lines - specifically in its interaction with other faiths. The point just doesn't hold. Dalrymple however, presents a very important link here. The radical madrassa at Deoband, that was established after the revolt based on a "Wahhabi-like" interpretation of Islam, multiplied in Pakistan after its creation. And it was these madrassas that the Taliban was born out of.

I would accuse Dalrymple of specifically trying to weave a Hindu-Muslim love story out of everything. He seems to have a fascination with Muslim rulers dressing up as Hindu Gods, Sufis smoking up, etc. For example, in this article, he counters VS Naipaul's views on the demise of Vijayanagar with a similar argument. The pillars that the Hindu-Muslim hybrid culture rests on are people like Akbar, Dara Shikoh, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Wajid Ali Shah, etc. But Dalrymple fails to openly accept or criticize the actions of rulers like Aurangzeb, the implications of whose actions are evident even today. Instead, he argues that the number of temples destroyed were not as many as claimed by the Hindu right. He fails to account for the fact that the community is so much prone to extremism, or its reasons, in more concrete terms. He uses the "Wahhabi-like" argument when discussing extremism, but then extrapolates Indian Muslims to global Islam and makes it into an east against west issue.

I think it would be fair to assume he is a modern, academic avatar of a hippie from the 60's. But what must be commended about him is the quality and extent of his research. It is this that leads him to form his views - the complications of which are generally more than the Hindu right is capable of handling, preferring instead, an overly simplistic idea of centuries of plunder by the Muslims and the need for "revenge".

Sanjay Dutt's Imprisonment

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:46:00 +0000

Actor Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment yesterday for the possession of an AK-56 rifle which he had bought from the perpetrators of the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts. This article on Express India has details about the case against him.

The CBI case against Sanjay goes as follows: Abu Salem and his men went to Dutt's house on January 16, 1993 and gave him three AK-56 rifles, 25 hand grenades, one 9 mm pistol and cartridges.

A couple of days later he returned them two AK-56 rifles, hand grenades and cartridges to accused Hanif Kadawala and Samir Hingora keeping one AK-56 rifle with himself.

After the blasts, Sanjay, who was shooting in a foreign country, called up his friends and allegedly sought their help in destroying the weapon.

On Dutt's instructions, the rifle was destroyed by Yusuf Nullawalla, Kersi Adjenia, Rusi Mulla and Ajay Marwah. The rifle and cartridges formed part of the consignment, which was smuggled into India at Dighi Port on January 9, 1993, in pursuance to the conspiracy, CBI alleged.

The accused confessed to have destroyed the weapon in a foundry. CBI procured a spring and a rod purported to be the remains of the AK-56 rifle.

However, Sanjay denied the charge of possessing weapon and destroying it saying his confession was taken under duress and he was shown the "sach bol" patta in jail (with which policemen apparently hammered accused). He retracted his confession much later and his friends followed suit.

Initially he took the plea that he did possess the weapon and this was to protect his family as communal riots had broken out in 1992-93 and his father was a social worker. Later, he changed his stand and denied possession of the weapon.

Why he had to buy an AK-56 and two hand grenades for personal protection is something that confounds me. He was jailed for 18 months in 1993 for this connection, and has been on bail ever since. Besides, there also exist taped conversations between him and the gangster Chhota Shakeel.

In the meantime, he seems to have changed altogether, personally and professionally. I appreciated his role in Vaastav and Mission Kashmir. And though I haven't seen Munnabhai or its sequel, they started a trend of Gandhigiri; and the sequel was the first Hindi film ever screened in the United Nations.

So is the sentence passed against him still as strong today, 14 years later? The Acorn argues it is not since he as clearly reformed since then. "Justice delayed is justice denied," he claims and the sentence passed today is not as morally sound as it would have been 14 years back. On the other hand, there are those who say the law must be the same for everyone and his celebrity status ought not to be considered here.

I would take a neutral stand on this. He deserves to go to jail for what he did, but I think six years is too harsh. Even two years would have been enough, especially considering that he has lived the last 14 years of his life with the case lurking around - just that is quite a punishment in itself. It is also a known fact that most Bollywood stars have connections with the underworld and are routinely subjected to extortion calls.

Though Dutt's lawyers are filing a plea with the Supreme Court, while he is already in jail, I doubt if he can escape now. Hopefully his sentence can be reduced. Or, he might even be able to get out sooner with some kind of a pardon for "good behavior".

US-India Nuclear Deal - Finally Done

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:04:00 +0000

I am glad the deal has been finalized, despite some earlier disagreements. Besides just addressing India's energy requirements, it obviously carries a very important political message too - that India is in the good books of the US. More importantly, it legitimizes India's possession of nuclear technology and brands it as trustworthy of handling this technology safely, especially after being under nuclear sanctions for almost three decades. Whereas that should never have been doubted before, it is nevertheless a recognition that has rightfully been granted. And along with that is the inferred geopolitical message that of all the countries in the region (though I would probably generalize it to anywhere east of Europe), India is probably the most stable and "intrinsically strong".

More importantly, it also addresses some of the energy requirements for the country. According to the Ministry of Power, coal currently provides about 53.5% of the country's electricity while nuclear energy contributes about 3.1%. This latter is expected to increase to 25%, especially because of our huge Thorium reserves. Assuming that hydro generation maintains, if not increases, its contribution of 26.2%, that would satisfy more than 50% of the total electricity requirements. How far it takes us to realizing the goal of "Power for All by 2012" is doubtful though. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has some interesting info on this - particularly these presentations: I, II, III. The first presentation points out that by 2030, coal would still be addressing most of India's electricity requirements, but nuclear, hydro and renewable sources would be contributing a much higher percentage. The third presentation talks about nuclear energy.

According to the Hindustan Times,

The deal provides for full civil nuclear energy cooperation covering nuclear reactors and aspects of the associated nuclear fuel cycle including enrichment and reprocessing. It also "contains a full reflection of the March 2, 2006 supply assurances, and the provision for corrective measures," the fact sheet said. It provides for development of a strategic reserve of nuclear fuel to guard against any disruption of supply over the lifetime of India's safeguarded reactors, ensuring no repetition of the Tarapur experience.

Underlining that "the purpose of the agreement is to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation," [National Security Adviser, MK] Narayanan said there is no specific reference in the deal to India testing a nuclear device or detonating a nuclear weapon.

"This agreement is intended for full civil nuclear cooperation... potentially most important for energy security," the NSA said. "We are not using it as an excuse to enhance our strategic capabilities," he said. "If we need additionality to our strategic stockpile, we know how to do it. We don't need to use this route for it," Narayanan said, responding to criticism that the deal would fuel a nuclear race in the region.

The BBC points out a couple of arguments against the treaty.

Critics say the pact could encourage India to build its nuclear weapons arsenal, and that it sends the wrong message to countries like Iran, whose nuclear ambitions Washington opposes.

It has also faced opposition from the communists and opposition parties in India who have argued that the deal could undermine the country's sovereignty.

Other countries must understand more about India before trying to put themselves at par with it. Most countries in the region lack a stable political system (albeit corrupt in India's case) kept in check by a judiciary and an independent Constitution. Besides, India's military, unlike both its major neighbors, is not at all politicized and hence the chances of misuse are very little. Besides, India is one of the very few countries (including China) that has a "no first use" policy - we do not use nuclear weapons unless first attacked using nuclear weapons. We are also unlikely to use these weapons inspired by some kind of twisted ideology.

As for the communists, it is not a problem if we buy MiG fighter jets from Russia or have them build steel plants for us.

Islamophobia and Exporting Religion

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 03:18:00 +0000

I recently hit upon a blog called The Acorn whose author Nitin Pai suggests the official promotion of an Indian version of Islam. He quotes an article from The Economist on Britain "using scholarly Islam as a counterweight to the radical, hot-headed sort familiar in the Middle East." He then makes his point about India's own homegrown, tolerant version and why it must be promoted as a global message.

Unlike Britain and the West, India does not need to import scholars or schools of theology. This blog has previously argued (see Should India export its religious values?) that it is in India’s interests to promote the Indian interpretation of Islamic values not just at home, but more importantly, abroad. This may be too much to expect from the current government, whose only response to radicalisation is its policy of creating community-based entitlements through reservations, curbing free expression in the name of preventing religious offence and tolerating intolerance.

Regardless of historical and contemporary religious conflicts, it is unarguable that Indian Islam has export potential, not least because it offers the world a more hopeful narrative than its Middle Eastern variety. Moreover, states like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran use Islam to cloak their quest for geopolitical power (see It’s the State, stupid!). That makes it incumbent upon India to join the battle for the Muslim mind.

The article generated a lot of heated debate, and a follow-up post emerged a few days later analyzing some of the opinions put forward. Of the many opinions brought forward, there were few with the general paranoia of hateful Islamophobia, equating them to Jihad, etc. It was interesting especially with two well-educated Indian Muslim doctors being found guilty of the car-bomb attack in Glasgow.

I generally disagree with the view of an official promotion of Islam "not only at home but abroad" (I am assuming by the Indian government). We are full to the brim with religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Bahai, etc. As if reservations aren't already an issue, there is absolutely no need for it when Muslims hold prominent positions like former Presidents, current Bollywood superstars, etc. One could argue about secularism; but secularism has a completely different meaning in India. It is more of an inherent attribute of society as opposed to an official stand taken by the government. Besides, no government can ever detach itself from religion in India - the serve the single purpose of votebank politics.

I do however, agree that Islam is facing a problem. Even though in India, it isn't "as much" of a problem as it is in the Middle-East, and of late, in Britain, one can't ignore the horrific July 11 Mumbai bomb blasts, and the many other "homegrown" terrorist attacks in India, or the recent bombing attempts in the UK. I have heard of numerous other cases of Muslims in India showing open political support for Pakistan, firing crackers on Pakistan's cricket victory against India, etc. But does this apply to each and every Muslim? Some of the arguments put forward in The Acorn equated Islam to Jihad. Is that representative of 150 million Muslims in India?

Other arguments put forward were that of foreign origins, India's religious identity being only represented by Hinduism, Buddhism and others originating in India, and there being no such thing as an "Indian" version of Islam. I do not deny the foreign origins and I am also aware of temple destructions, the crippling Jizyah taxes, and mass slaughters committed during the reigns of the likes of Aurangzeb. But does every Muslim classify as a hater? Had this truly been the case, wouldn't we have had a civil war far before 1947? Is Islam still foreign after centuries of presence and political dominance in India? It should also be noted that Islam evolved in a much different manner in India, mostly because of its constant interaction with multiple religions stemming from completely different faith systems. If there is no difference between Islam in India and its counterpart in the Middle-East, what about the dargahs of Nizamuddin or Moinuddin Chisti, or the Ahmadi sect?

At the same time, I also realize that distinctive Indian identity of Islam is all but fast disappearing. Starting with the Deobandi sects, the wave of pan-Islamism in the 20^th century and with the growing influence of Saudi Arabia and the Wahabis, Muslims are choosing to identify with the Middle-East as their source of culture. Neither are Muslims in India any less prone to extremism. But does this apply to every Muslim? Is there no room for a different interpretation?

This brings me to Hindutva, which I see as an equal threat to India and whose interpretation of Hinduism is no different than that of the Islamic counterparts. If the Gujarat riots were triggered by the killing of Hindus (which I must admit, is always downplayed by the pseudo-secular camp), is the state-sponsored massacre still justified as a "reaction"? Does the government not have an equal obligation to all citizens? To me, it is a vicious cycle - Hindutva supporters point at the Jihadis, and vice-versa - and both are lethal. I shudder imagining a civil code proposed by Shiv Sena being implemented in India.

So is Islam foreign? It has a foreign origin. But haven't we already made room for it? If not this, what is the alternative? Mass slaughter? Do the Hindutva supporters (not the activists themselves, I know they already do) really hate every Indian Muslim they come across?

"Passport Baba" Gets You a Foreign Job - Maybe a "Green Card Baba" Next?

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 06:41:00 +0000

This is the kind of stuff that might please William Dalrymple. The shrine of a mystic fakir near Jamshedpur, Bihar is attracting people who believe hanging copies of their passports on the pipal tree would get them a job abroad.

Hundreds of passport copies are festooned to the old pipal tree inside the Hazrat Miskin Shah — popularly known as 'Passport baba' — Dargah at the Baredih Kalubagan kabristan in Jamshedpur. Every Thursday, there are serpentine queues of mostly young men waiting with copies of their passports. People of all faiths come here from Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and even as far as Punjab.

[...]

"Going by the donations we receive, it is obvious the Baba who came here from Lahore and died in 1934 answers every prayer," said Pir Mohammad, in-charge of the dargah. All the tiles, furniture, lights and fans have been donated by devotees, the Pir added. [link]

Of course, most of them are not US aspirants - they would have probably sent out flowers to the USCIS. But the way things have been going with H1B visas and green cards, especially with the USCIS rejecting all I-485 applications, a Green Card Baba might be the only savior.

Pakistan's Instrument of Surrender to India (1971)

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 06:25:00 +0000

Somewhere in the depths of my inbox I found this image of Pakistan's Instrument of Surrender to India in the 1971 war which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, that I had saved from The Times of India.

The image is also available on Uttorshori.net, Wikipedia, and Tribune India.

FreeIndia.org has a detailed analysis of the war, and many photographs. It was probably the only war in which the Indian navy saw action, and successfully barred Pakistan from launching attacks from the sea front and providing supplies to its arm in East Pakistan. The FreeIndia site has more details on this, including the sinking of the PNS Ghazi submarine, devastation of Bangladeshi ports by INS Vikrant and the attack on Karachi.

GlobalSecurity.org also has a detailed report of the war, and it delves deep into the geopolitical history of the conflict and the sources and reasons behind the fallout between East and West Pakistan. Having read relevant portions of the report, the one fact that seems the most obvious to me is that regional cultures in India influence people in a much stronger way than religion. A Tamil Hindu would much rather associate with a Tamil Christian or Muslim as opposed to a Punjabi Hindu. And in this case, Bengali nationalism superseded Islamic nationalism.

The partition of Bengal led to the restoration of power to the traditional Urdu-speaking Moslems who had led the Moslem League. However, this elite could only be sustained by the active support of the Urdu-speakers who controlled West Pakistan. While the Moslem League had sustained Moslem nationalism in Bengal during the previous decade, it could not provide a focus and support for the nationalism which continued to be a potent force among Bengali Moslems. 3/

In East Pakistan, the Bengali-speaking Moslem middle-class was an important social force. This class comprised small land owners, professionals and traders. They had a deep loyalty to Bengali culture, and respect for parliamentary tradition and the rule of law.

The Bangladeshis after all asserted their Bengali identity over the majority Punjabi-dominated West Pakistan. Post independence, Sindh (another distinct regional culture), which saw massive immigration from India, too resorted to its regional identity with Sindhis labeling the new immigrants as Mohajirs (immigrants). Of course, this problem is not limited to Pakistan alone. Post independence, India too saw regional and linguistic disputes resulting in the separation of the Bombay province into Gujarat and Maharashtra, the demand for a Punjabi-speaking state, etc. However, this multiculturalism was something that India embraced as an identity and it is something that continues to define the people today. Pakistan, on the other hand, went for the more universal nature of Islam, choosing a collective Islamic identity over a multicultural one. How far that has worked is debatable, but from my impression the homogeneity is more a result of Punjab/Pashtun-centrism than anything else. And I think it is this clash of identities that, more than anything else, brought about this greater feud.

There are of course, more serious aspects of the war, particularly the Bangladesh Liberation War and the subsequent genocide committed by the Pakistani army. The most important aspect of the war seems to have been time since both countries wanted to achieve their objectives to the greatest extent before global intervention brought things to a standstill. On a forum I used to visit a while back, the argument was once put forward that the Mukti Bahini was essentially Indian intelligence agents - though it is known that India openly supported it and allowed it to operate from Indian territory. The Cold War was also at play here with Russia attempting to increase its influence in the region by backing India, and China and the US backing Pakistan. In the end, as the report states, "India prevailed because she was able to maintain the initiative both politically and militarily, guided by a simple but realistic and flexible strategy."

Wikipedia has an interesting cartoon by Laxman on this war.

Update (7/14/2007): The Times of India has an article on the USS Nimitz in the Bay of Bengal invoking memories of 1971.

Ragging in Indian Colleges, Indian Racism, Piracy in Books: Essays by Sujit Saraf

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 06:22:00 +0000

Sujit Saraf is an engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and University of California, Berkeley. He is now a space researcher, plus a play-writer and author - he works at NASA and is also the artistic director for Naatak. (It is amazing how he manages all of them at the same time. He explains how.) His website contains a number of his essays and articles. I did not read the article on Delhi Zoo and the Indian theater in the Bay Area.

The most appealing of the lot is the essay on ragging in Indian colleges. It is on the StoppingRagging.org blog, and a condensed version was published in Tehelka magazine. He starts off with going through how he himself was ragged - which is by no means light, and definitely does not "sound funny" as he claims. Not only is it physical, but also sexual in nature. Having horrified the reader, he digresses into the reasons put forward by seniors and supporters of ragging, most of them needlessly romanticizing something that is horrible and can be done without. It reminds me of the ragging incident of Prakash Rajpurohit in 2003 in - not really a surprise - IIT Delhi.

Ragging forces you to stay up late, they said, and this is useful when you must prepare for difficult examinations. Ragging breaks the ice between seniors and juniors. Ragging brings the freshman – or the ‘fachchaa’ - into intimate contact with peers and seniors, and this turns the hostel into a home. Ragging helps the freshman break out of his shell and lose his inhibitions. And finally, said our seniors sententiously, ragging teaches you humility. It prepares you for the ‘real’ world. Presumably, if you have been insulted a sufficient number of times in college, you will have acquired the virtue of patience when your boss insults you in the real world. Like a well trained dog, you will not bark and lose your job. Instead, you will wag your tail, look the other way, and pretend the abuse was meant for someone else.

A few more narratives of ragging incidents are followed by his view that the anti-ragging committees aim merely to "manage ragging - not stop it - and to prevent incidents of ragging from ballooning into ‘cases’ ". Finally he compares the attitudes he observed among fellow students and seniors in Berkeley, with his experience in IIT. This is also where I completely concur with him - not like I disagree with anything before this, but I have myself not attended college in India (thankfully?) to be able to resonate these views. Apart from a few cases in fraternities, which are not mandatory for students as hostels in some colleges are he says, ragging as a concept is almost unseen. He puts it as an increased sense of maturity and adulthood among American students.

I cannot say this with certainty, but this may be because American college students are much closer to adulthood. Many are already in their twenties, most have to earn their way through college or take loans to pay for their education, and almost all are on their own. Their attitude to college is very different from that of Indian boys, who have been dispatched to the campus by loving parents, borne on a cushion of money and support that they did not earn.

[...]

They do not spring up with a ‘Sir’ when professors walk in, they are encouraged to argue and protest, they live in relatively free environments where the only restricted activity is that which harms others. If Indian students were shown the same respect, they may begin to find ragging juvenile.

I have thankfully, not had to face ragging myself. I did join a college in Delhi University for a month, but only for the fun of it (my fees was fully refunded too). Ragging there was strictly banned and was enforced by police guards all around. It was limited to only asking questions and making them sing, or dance at the most. But the real ragging takes place in the hostels and I was a commuter.

Ultimately Saraf puts forward the view that allowing co-ed hostels and giving students the freedom that adults are entailed to makes them more mature. The lack of this leads them to express it in more sadistic and immature forms.

Having lived in a co-ed dorm myself, I don't think it is a bad idea at all. Much of what happens (or is perceived to likely happen) in co-ed dorms will happen anyway, co-ed or not. From what I have heard from friends in colleges in India, it doesn't really matter. But I don't see co-ed dorms in Indian colleges anytime soon. Besides, engineering is usually taught in technical institutes which rarely tend to be full-fledged universities offering diverse courses. As a result, you have very few girls, in which case co-ed dorms sound silly. From a cultural standpoint too, it is a very bold step.

Saraf has another article on Indian racism titled Big Brother: A Tale of Two White Women. This was following the Big Brother row over Shilpa Shetty facing racism in the UK. The gist of the article is obvious - Indians are also racist, but in ways that are imperceivable to the west.

Indians are mostly treated as a single entity in terms of race and are attributed as brown-skinned. In reality though, we tend to have varying degrees of skin color - from very dark complexion to almost white, Caucasian-like complexion. Culturally and historically, racism is evident in the caste system, or varna (meaning color). He even quotes the 16^th century poet, Surdas describing a conversation between Balram and Krishna:

Gorey Nand Jasoda gorii tuu kas syaamal gaat
[Our parents] Nand and Jasoda are both fair-skinned, why are you dark?

In present times, racism is evident from fairness creams like Fair & Lovely which are always in demand. I remember a controversial advertisement in India a few years back wherein a girl could not find a suitable match owing to her dark skin, and finding one after using Fair & Lovely, though many other such ads continue to be aired (and can be seen on YouTube - from another ad, it seems Fair and Lovely sells in the Middle East too). Finally, he says that Shilpa Shetty, while crying out loud against racism in England, has benefited from her fair skin because of which she is an actress today.

Now, amongst the chocolate-coloured people of India, there are born a few with relatively light skin and Caucasian looks - at least in Indian eyes – because of our complex mix of races. These humans we make into film stars, and we demand racism from them. So the fair-skinned in India are thrust into a Jade Goody role - sometimes against their will, and sometimes only too willingly. When she stands beside her "Paki" Shilpa and engages in self-flagellation before the people of Patna, Jade might sense what is obvious to every Indian - that Shilpa is a beneficiary of racism, not its victim.

Finally, the third article, which be read on the website itself after scrolling down a bit, is about piracy of books in India. Saraf laments about the eviction of the book sellers around the Flora Fountain in Mumbai, and describes the Daryaganj Sunday Book Bazar in Delhi that he used to go to as a student who could not afford to buy British or American print editions, and the attempts of the municipal corporation to close it down but ultimately bowing before the cries of protesters.

I found it interesting because the fact that Asian (particularly Chinese and Indian) print editions are cheaper is now being increasingly realized by students in the US. With eBay doing business in India (through its takeover of Baazee.com) and China, books can be bought for a price lesser than even used books on Amazon. And it is profitable for both parties. The seller sells a paperback for twice, thrice or even up to 10 times the original price, and yet the American buyer finds it to be less than half or even a quarter of what he would have to pay for the hardcover edition at his Barnes & Noble college bookstore. The paper quality is usually not as good and it is printed in black and white - but who cares?

Ry Cooder & Vishwa Mohan Bhatt - A Meeting by the River

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 04:11:00 +0000

This name of this album is both factual as well as symbolic - factual because it indeed was a meeting by a river (which one, I don't know), symbolic because it was themed on a poem by the Persian poet, Jelaluddin Rumi (see below for more on this). Besides, it was completely unrehearsed and was like the confluence of two streams to form a river. From there on, the speed and depth was determined by the artists themselves. The album won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 1993. Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt declares it on his website as "the highest music award of the world" - which I highly doubt, but it is by no means a measure of the quality of the music itself. 30-second samples of the tracks on the album may be heard on the Amazon Music Sampler.

Ry Cooder clearly deserves an honorable mention in this album. Unlike guitarists like John Mclaughlin who have an understanding, and some training, in Indian classical music, Ry Cooder has none. Assuming that he had no knowledge of raga, it was commendable of him to jam with one who has - though he didn't attempt to play any Indian classical music either. But he is quite a roots musician himself and has actively collaborated with many notable musicians since the 1960's. I had previously heard him play with Ali Farka Touré.

V.M. Bhatt is great too, no doubt. But he is playing straight-out Hindustani music - it is what he has been rigorously trained in, and he is doing it well. Accompanying on the tabla is Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari, who does a pretty good job though one doesn't hear any tabla solos - unfortunately there are only two streams here. In addition, Cooder's son Joachim plays the dumbek on the first and third tracks. The album was recorded and engineered by Kavichandran Alexander and released on Water Lily Acoustics.

The album is not completely a deviation from Indian classical music. The opening title track is in Raga Yaman or Yaman Kalyan, I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong, it will be much appreciated), and has a short alap followed by the main gat. The second track, Longing, too is along te lines of the traditional Hindustani format. The third track leans more towards blues and is aptly titled, Ganges Delta Blues. Isa Lei, the last track is a traditional Fijian song. The lyrics and English translation are available here, and a sound recording may be heard here.

The liner notes too are worth checking out. Besides giving a brief background of the musicians, it goes into length describing the structure of the Mohan Veena (V.M. Bhatt's self-designed instrument - a remodeling of an acoutic guitar along the lines of a vichitra veena), and Cooder and Alexander's inspiration from the Persian Sufi poet, Jelaluddin Rumi. The theme of the work was a poem from the Mathnawi, "and is a parable of a frog and a mouse who meet on a river bank to converse in a language unhindered by the rules of grammar."

I was unable to find a video of Bhatt and Cooder playing together. This clip has Vishwa Mohan Bhatt playing with his son, Salil Bhatt and Doug Cox.

China, India, the "Asian" and "Boo-dism"

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:52:00 +0000

It was a pleasant surprise for me today as the Times of India has had a great item as a headline for most of the day today. Call it breaking news or not, but I am glad it points out a very important and relevant cultural issue. The claim for Buddhism is more than just a minor cultural issue. We are yet to be credited for the decimal number system and algebra (currently considered incorrectly by many even in the academia as Arabic numerals), for recognizing that Pi is after all irrational (for more, see Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Madhava); it is yet to be wholly acknowledged that we possessed the oldest system of medicine - Ayurveda, practiced plastic surgery in the 8th century BC (for more, see Sushruta, Charaka), etc, etc.

China seems to have hogged up most of the credit as the Asian cultural stronghold over the past century. Whether it has something to do with melanin-levels or poverty (how could a poverty-stricken people ever have achieved anything anyway?) or massive Chinese immigration to South-East Asia over the past century, might be debatable. Race might also be a factor, as Asian racial features are stereotypically associated with China (as opposed to the Caucasian features of Indians; yet race is another issue for us - are we a separate race or are we Asian?) But it doesn't take much to see that a lot of what is culturally recognized as Asian today is attributed to China. Yet Singapore = Singha Pura, Jakarta = Jayakarta, the temples of Angkor Wat, or Borobodur, the Wayang Kulit of Indonesia - the massive cultural influence of India on all of these countries is abound in their languages, food, and everyday lifestyles. But these countries, judging by the skylines of Singapore or Kuala Lampur or Jakarta, might seem cultural offshoots of China to the ignorant.

Over the past few decades, Buddhism has attracted a fair amount of global attention and has in fact seen a major revival. But what was essentially an amalgamation of certain Hinduistic principles to form an organized religion - as opposed to the confusion of the plethora of philosophic belief systems of India which later collectively became Hinduism, primarily in the face of Islam - was later absorbed into the greater belief system itself and also spread beyond the shores of the subcontinent. And wherever it went, it amalgamated with the native beliefs of the region to form many regional branches. And now, as India is seen as a primarily Hindu country and racially different from the rest of Asia, Buddhism, which has survived in a recognizable form in countries like Tibet, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc, is being attributed as a Chinese influence possibly because of the Asian features of these peoples.

But then, the conception of India among people is also quite varied. Some visualize an Indian as a turbaned Sardarji - making it look closer to the Middle East or Central Asia, to others it might be a "brown-skinned" native of the subcontinent or South Asia; while anyone with Mongoloid features is East Asian. And the link between the subcontinent (I prefer to use this term over South Asia) and the East is not very apparent, though even a casual probe into these cultures should make it very evident. The only factor that we hinge upon is the fact that the Dalai Lama resides in India, which attracts considerable attention to Buddhism's Indian origin.

To me, it is a part of the greater concern of cultural attribution which we already suffer from. And it also puts forward the need for a cultural assertion in order for the world to recognize the achievements of India as a highly advanced culture - something that even a country of the size of Japan enjoys. And Japan itself shows the way. I had previously written about the need to "market" a culture - which Japan successfully did through the medium of anime, and the Chinese through martial arts.

China has been the entrenched Buddhist power in Asia, and even the Communist revolution failed to dislodge it from its perch of being the arbiter of Buddhism.

Beijing hoped the physical control of Tibet would enhance its stature, which is why the Dalai Lama's presence in India is such a sore point.

In fact, it is Beijing's unfinished Buddhist agenda that is behind its loud claims to Arunachal Pradesh. Needless to add, it's for exactly the same reason that India cannot give up its claim on the state.

In East Asia, China's Buddhist pre-eminence resulted in India being regarded as an interloper. India was anyway a latecomer to the south-east Asian region, and burdened with the legacy of British imperialism, the reigning impression of Indians was of "coolies", quite apart from the Chinese elite.

Therefore, when the issue of the east Asian community came up, there were many takers for the Chinese contention that the Indians were "outsiders" and the community could only be ASEAN+3, not ASEAN+6 as India was trying to push. China is trying hard to keep India out of this grouping claiming it was the "periphery" of Asia.

Maybe Ravi Shankar is the way to go after all - as are the hippies.

Indians and Moustaches - the Great Divide

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:53:00 +0000

The Times of India Editorial has a pretty funny article on what is claims is yet another divide between the north and the south. It is called, "A Moustache Divide," and analyzes social trends that have resulted in the prominence of moustaches among South Indians, and their dearth among North Indians. It claims that in South India, eight out of ten males wear moustaches.

The trend is attributed to films. It says that whereas actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor, etc never sported a moustache, their South Indian counterparts like Rajkumar (though I immediately think of Rajinikanth) have always done otherwise. In Hindi films, it was usually the villain who had a moustache, while in South Indian movies everyone had one. It might also be a result of international fashion trends, and with current fashion models being mostly North Indian. On the other hand, even news anchors and TV serial actors in South India sport a moustache. Later, the article attributes it to general cultural traits among both the groups, and compares South Indians with Middle Easterners, who are another moustache-loving people.

There is yet another reason why north and south India respond differently to the international fading of the moustache. It lies in their different history and geography. When it comes to food, dress or moustaches, south India is slower to absorb foreign influences because it's inward-looking and tradition-bound, thanks to a peaceful history that comes from being protected by an ocean on three sides. A moustache on a male face comes down centuries of tradition, so south India sees no reason to shed it.

In contrast, north India has an openness to change and a quick adaptability that comes from facing centuries of marauding invaders. So north India has been quick to reject a moustache because fashionable Europeans and Americans have discarded it. Far more north Indian families also give western nicknames to their children like Binny, Bunty, Tiny, Tony. South Indians stick to traditional nicknames like Thambi.

Coming back to moustaches, south India must be the only place outside Iraq and some other Arab kingdoms where a moustache is visible on so many male faces. But a moustache in south India doesn't denote status, movement, or sub-culture. In Iraq, men grew moustaches to look like Saddam Hussein. In south India, however, just about every adult male has foliage on his upper lip, whether he's a tycoon or coolie.

I think this calls for a visual comparison. It's not totally wrong, but culturally even North Indians like the Punjabis and Marwaris sport moustaches. In fact, the world record for the longest moustache is held by a Rajasthani named Badamsinh Juwansinh Gurjar.

Music and its Cognitive Effects

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 07:11:00 +0000

The top two on the list of Most Emailed articles on BBC News today were on the effects of music on the brain and the heart. Both articles have been researched on independently.

The survey conducted on the effects on the brain (Music 'makes the brain learn better') was done by researchers in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and involved a very basic test that was limited to visual memory and the ability to retain and recall words. It involved a group of children half of whom had received musical training, while the other half hadn't. The basic outcome was that kids who received music lessons at an early age showed significantly better retention capacity than those who hadn't. However, no difference was noted in visual memory.

The researchers, led by Dr Agnes Chan, said giving music lessons to children "somehow contributes to the reorganization [and] better development of the left temporal lobe in musicians, which in turn facilitates cognitive processing mediated by that specific brain area, that is, verbal memory."

Dr Alexandra Lamont, lecturer in the psychology of music at Keele University, UK, told BBC News Online that research into the effect of music on other abilities was often complex and contradictory, and the Hong Kong study was important in adding new information to the debate.

But she added: "Research has shown that children who have extra music lessons often come from higher socio-economic backgrounds, and their parents are therefore more likely to be better educated and take more interest in their children's development."

A very important point that Dr. Lamont also made was that, "Music is an important and enjoyable activity in its own right, and many researchers working in this area strongly believe it would be dangerous to promote music only on the basis of the other skills it can bring."

The research conducted on the effects on the heart (Music training 'good for heart') was a much more focused study which observed the effects of different forms of music on the heart. The tunes used in the study were Raga Maru Behag (Indian classical music), Beethoven's ninth symphony (slow classical), rap (the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Vivaldi (fast classical), techno, and Anton Webern (slow '12 tone music') . It was conducted in the University of Pavia and University of Oxford, and studied breathing and circulation while the participants (some of whom were musicians) listened to the tunes. Interestingly, it was observed that it was the tempo, as opposed to the genre, that had a greater effect.

Faster music, and more complex rhythms, speeded up breathing and circulation, irrespective of style, with fast classical and techno music having the same impact.

Slower or more meditative music had the opposite effect, with raga music creating the largest fall in heart rate.

Indications of relaxation were particularly evident during the pauses between tracks.

The effects were most evident in those with musical training.

[...]

Writing in Heart, the team, led by Dr Luciano Bernadi and Professor Peter Sleight, said: "Appropriate selection of music, by alternating fast and slower rhythms and pauses, can be used to induce relaxation, and so can be potentially be useful for cardiovascular disease."

Music is essentially something that settles or stirs the mind, depending on what state it is already in. There is also a marked difference in how music is perceived and what purpose it serves - something that is noted by one of the researchers in the article too. For example, some people are able to focus better while listening to music, while some find it as a distraction. While it serves only as a mode of relaxation for some, others choose to concentrate on it exclusively. In these ways, it might be very hard to gauge the effects and if at all they are observed because of music or other factors.

Ultimately, what I really question is the purpose of these surveys. Must one choose to listen to or play music based on the side effects it has? Also, what I would particularly be interested in knowing are the effects of ragas at different times of the day. As of now, the classification of ragas as morning, afternoon, evening, etc, does not make too much sense to me and I do not bother about them. Am I missing something?

The Six-Day War, USS Liberty -- 40 Years On

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:22:00 +0000

As the 40^th anniversary of the Six-Day War, which radically altered the Middle-East, is being commemorated, I have come across some interesting articles on the same. BBC News has some pictures of the capture of Jerusalem by the Israeli forces. It also has a Special Report of the Six-Day War wherein it analyzes the day-by-day progress of the war (including positions on maps) and the sequence of events which ultimately led to a thumping victory for Israel, thereby securing its existence in the region.

The pretense of the war was the removal of the UN Emergency Forces from the Sinai Peninsula by Egypt, and a call for "the destruction of Israel", which led Israel to attack the Egyptian forces. This was followed by Syria and Jordan attacking Israel. Israel eventually emerged victorious, and within seven days, had 40% more area than it did on June , 1967. Among the areas that it captured were the Sinai Peninsuala, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.

This was followed by the massive displacement of the Palestinian Arabs who's land fell to Israel. For the Palestinians, the year 1948 which marks the creation of Israel is know as An Nakba, the catastrophe, and 1967 is Al Naksa, or the setback. Syria takes it as a humiliation and prefers to not take note of the war. It might also deliberately be stressing on British and American assistance to Israel to justify the loss of three Arab armies to one. Here is a quote from a school history textbook in Syria: "As the Arab nationalist tide of liberation grew stronger, and some Arab revolutions became victorious, the Zionist aggression on 5 June 1967 had the aim of bringing down the Arab progressive forces with the help of the United States."

Another article discusses the controversy of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, an American battleship, on June 8, 1967 despite it being in international waters. There are pictures of the stricken warship too.

According to Israel, the incident was a tragic case of friendly fire occurring in the fog of war.

It says it believed the ship had been bombarding Israeli forces fighting in the Sinai, and that its pilots did not see any US flags (survivors say there were three) on the vessel before they opened fire.

Sceptics however claim the attack was premeditated and that the truth has been suppressed. The assertion of a cover-up was lent weight by a 2003 independent commission of inquiry which reported that the attack on the Liberty "remains the only serious naval incident that has never been thoroughly investigated by Congress".

Among the most popular theories as to why Israel would take such drastic action against its superpower ally is that the Liberty, a $40m state-of-the-art surveillance ship, was eavesdropping on an Israeli massacre of Egyptian prisoners of war.

[...]

Perhaps the most sinister motive is that put forward by journalist Peter Hounam in his 2003 book "Operation Cyanide".

Mr Hounam claims secret elements within the US and Israeli governments colluded to bomb the ship and blame the attack on Egypt and their superpower ally, the Soviet Union, triggering massive retaliation which would ensure Israeli victory.

"The attack on the Liberty was pre-planned, perhaps from at least a year beforehand," Mr Hounam says.

[...]

"It was a series of blunders by both the United States and Israel that resulted in a terrible tragedy and nothing more," says Jay Cristol, a federal judge and author of the book The Liberty Incident.

This article looks at Jerusalem from the religious standpoint, and the substitution of the confluence of Judaism, Islam and Christianity exclusively with Judaism. It also notes a drastic decline in the population of Middle-Eastern Christians who now face extinction. It reminds me of William Dalrymple's book, From the Holy Mountain, which I wrote about here.

This New York Times article looks at Israel from the perspective of the 1967 war and analyzes the country 40 years later. It notes the gradual diminishing of Israel as a romantic, idealogical concept, and the split between the right and the left as to the attitude and course of action the country must take.

But having made her life here, Ms. Harris said, “for the first time ever I’ve allowed myself to think that Israel may be a passing phenomenon.”

The point for her is not simply the fear of a nuclear Iran, but the banality of much of the debate and the “regurgitation of the same failed leaders,” she said. “The question is not whether we’ll be here, but what will we look like? What will we look like in 20 or 30 years?”

[...]

The war brought great benefits, he added, including “the beginning of, if not the peace process, then the acceptance process” of Israel as a permanent reality.

“But just as there are no free lunches, there are also no free miracles,” Mr. Meridor said. “This idea that we could settle all the land and somehow absorb all the Arabs into Israel, it has cost us a lot, morally and politically,” he said. “You can’t have occupation as a permanent state. That’s why Israelis say: ‘No more messianic ideas. Let’s divide the land.’ ”

The Arab-Israeli conflict is, like the India-Pakistan conflict, something that is an unsolvable mixture of politics and ideology. What is essentially required is an idealogical compromise from both sides. What may also be hurdling the peace process is the sympathy of the US and Europe towards Israel, which makes the Israelis and the Arabs far from equals to be able to negotiate a solution. Attacks of the kind carried out against Lebanon make a solution seem like a distant dream as of now though.

World's Fastest Growing Religions

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:10:00 +0000

Through A Reader's Words I found an article on the magazine, Foreign Policy, published from Washington, DC, titled "The List: The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions." It lists -- you guessed it -- the fastest growing religions in the world. The one thing I noticed is that India figures in each of them. Maybe it shouldn't be that surprising after all, but it seems like India now shoulders the burden of advancing almost every religion invented, and yet to be invented.

Islam tops the list. Surprisingly, or maybe not, it isn't conversion but immigration and "High birthrates in Asia, the Middle East and Europe," that is cited as the reason. Among the countries factoring into this are Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Egypt, and Iran. "High birthrates in India," puts the Baha'i Faith in second place followed by Sikhism, Jainism and Hinduism. This is followed by Christianity, and finally conversion is cited as a reason. "The fastest-growing individual church in the world is Misión Carismática Internacional in Colombia," and, "Orissa Baptist Evangelical Crusade in India, which reports some 670,000 adherents."

But my question is, how does one determine these figures? Who qualifies as adhering to a religion and who doesn't? This is probably based on familial religious background - which makes it something like being born into a specific race. I am also surprised Buddhism isn't on the list - despite all the romance and exoticness, the countless Buddha-themed lounges and bars, and the recent mass conversions of Dalits in India, etc - and is in fact, beaten by Jainism. Maybe the hippies don't count as religionists after all.

In my opinion, it is probably agnosticism that should top the list.

Yuppies vs. Bhaiyas, and Desiring Lower Caste Status

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:25:00 +0000

I came across an article on Kafila by Shivam Vij, in response to Hindol Sengupta's on CNN-IBN about Mayawati's election victory in Uttar Pradesh. Politics is, for the most part, dirty business in India and is not something that I follow. Sengupta writes about how there are no longer any leaders who represent the "middle-class, educated, metro-bred, Christian-education raised, young" people like him, while leaders of the likes of Mayawati, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, etc, hailing from uneducated, rural backgrounds have taken over politics.

Vij fires back by claiming that Sengupta and others like him (he uses the term "yuppies") are what they are since they belong to a higher caste, while Mayawati and team indeed represent the rise of the lower castes and the shifting of the tide towards equality for all.

But no one can dispute that the Indian middle class is composed of the upper castes. Yet they choose not to admit this. Sengupta honestly admits that his convent education, metropolitan upbringing, class status are the causes of his dismay (and ‘fear’!) over Mayawati’s victory. I wish he’d extend this honesty to admitting that his caste is responsible in the first place for his MEMCRY yuppie status.

He detests the heartland politicians because they don’t speak his idiom. But the heartland politicians are who they are largely because of their caste.

Though Vij claims it as being debateable, his general tone suggests an overall favoring of caste-based reservations - a form of affirmative action - which is currently a heated debate in India as the Congress-led government proposed to not only increase reservations, but also extend them to include many more institutions. It might be notable to mention that as of now, the form of reservations in India provided is possibly like none other anywhere else in the world. There are reservations in all government jobs and institutions; they are allowed to taken the Civil Service Exam (one of the most competitive exams in the world) seven times as opposed to three; and much more. But then, the caste system is also like nowhere else in the world, though discrimination of some sort has existed in every society.

As a result of this, there are candidates who gain admission or secure jobs based on caste as opposed to merit. And it puts forward the general argument as to whether affirmative action ultimately serves the purpose or works against it in the long run. In India, where the ratio of the number of quality institutions to that of students is very low, resulting in cut-throat competition, such measures are disastrous and provoke extreme reactions (like self-immolation).

But perhaps Vij is correct in stating that most of the urban "yuppie" groups that denounce reservations are generally unaware of what a lower caste distinction really is like, though his use of the term 'objectivity' seems to mean much more.

When Youth for Equality / United Students / other ‘anti-reservationists’ oppose reservations, and speak about Dalits/OBCs, they claim to be doing so with a claim to ‘objectivity’, that is, they do not admit that the viewpoint(s) they are putting forward are of a certain section of society that is influential in shaping public opinion despite being in a minority.

But the middle-class is expanding. Is it better to squash it by artificially thrusting forward the lower class, or waiting for an economy to shape itself (though where that is heading and how long it will take is again debatable).

On the other hand, there is currently a protest by the Gujjar community in Rajasthan demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meanwhile, the army has been called in to confront a raid by a rival Meena community against them. Whereas this might be a genuine concern, especially because Gujjars are classified as ST in some other states of India, it could also point at a deliberate attempt at hogging the benefits of reservations, and vote-bank politics. The BBC article explains it well enough.

The Gujjars are currently classified as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and are entitled to quotas in state-run education centres and in government jobs.

But the community wants to be listed under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

In states such as Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh they have been given ST status.

But in western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat they are more settled on the land and more involved in agriculture, which is why they have been categorised as OBCs.

The Indian government offers places in jobs, educational institutes and other privileges to people in three categories, as part of its affirmative action policy.

[...]

In 1999, the government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) included the Jat community on its OBC list. The Jats are a relatively prosperous community in Rajasthan who form nearly 15% of the state's population.

Some allege that the real reason why the BJP made such a move was because it wanted to win their support in state elections in Rajasthan. The community had traditionally backed the Congress party.

"Once Jats were identified as OBCs , the Gujjars who were already placed in the OBC category felt threatened. They felt the better-off Jats would corner the benefits of reservation," said Professor Sheth.

The demand by the Gujjars is also fuelled by the success of the Meenas, a large community in the state who were granted ST status in 1954.

"The Meenas were basically a borderline case who used their political influence to be classified as STs.

"The community has benefited immensely in the last 50 years under the reservation policy.

"The Gujjars are now trying to put pressure on political parties to allow them to reap similar benefits," said Dr Sheth.

It doesn't look very good right now, and events like these could turn easily turn into bloody massacres - Bihar being an example.

Siachen: India's "Cold" War

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 08:21:00 +0000

While reading about the failed US-India nuclear deal on BBC News, I was inevitably taken link after link to the Kashmir conflict. One of the articles, Q&A: Kashmir Dispute, contained a link to a special report on the conflict, shot on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). It was filmed just after the nuclear tests in 1998, but prior to the Kargil Conflict in 1999.

The report starts with the Siachen Glacier and then enters into the heart of the conflict in the valley itself. Whereas the true depiction of the conflict may be debated (as is with anything related to Kashmir), what was surprising to me was Siachen. It might be notable to mention that the region contains some of the highest mountain peaks in the world (including the K2 - second highest peak in the world).

What keeps India and Pakistan from retreating is fear of the other taking over. As a result, you have soldiers fighting one another under extremely tortuous conditions at altitudes of almost 6,000 meters. What is more interesting is the fact that the border was never negotiated in this region because it was simply never conceived that humans would inhabit this area. India currently holds two-thirds of the glacier which it took over in 1984 under Operation Meghdoot, after Pakistan started claiming the area in its own maps and issuing trekking permits. Even though more die of the cold than at the hands of the enemy, soldiers in the Indian army choose to go there for advancing their careers. The withdrawal of troops from Kashmir in 2004 did not include Siachen.

Interestingly, Siachen has the world's highest helipad and telephone booth - besides being the world's highest armed conflict. This article on CNN covers the issue briefly and mentions some notable facts.

At 6,300 meters (20,700 feet) India controls these breathless heights at an estimated cost of up to $1 million a day and is reluctant to back off for fear Pakistan might walk in. [...]

Toothpaste freezes in its tube, speech can be blurred, frostbite and chilblains are common and plummeting temperatures can leave scores dead.

Yet plenty of volunteers file along the roads of Jammu and Kashmir up to Siachen in the belief that after serving -- and surviving -- a three-month stretch on the high front line they can expect a boost to their military career. [...]

On the edge of the glacial moraine soldiers live in igloos called Bana or Bhim in Hindi and are served an extravagant menu whilst clothed in the expensive high altitude gear.

Mirza Aslam Beg, head of Pakistan's armed forces a decade ago, told Reuters news agency that supplying troops with a loaf of bread costs India two rupees (four U.S. cents) in the plains and 200 rupees on Siachen because it has to be taken by helicopter.

It is quite ridiculous for not just India, but any country with whatever economic might, to have to maintain troops at that altitude. But as the soldier in the special report says, "It doesn't matter if its a rock. If it's a part of India, it has to be protected." Surprisingly, the Pakistani soldier claims his reason as the Hindus being the enemies of Islam and the advantages of fighting and sacrificing his life for this purpose - the usual propaganda.

On this note, it is also worthwhile to mention that whereas the special report covers the viewpoint of the Pakistan-backed Jihadi and the Indian army general (who doesn't really do much in bringing the Indian view forward), it doesn't include the Kashmiri Pandits who have been victims of ethnic cleansing in their own country. I think it goes a long way in "de-legitimizing" the terrorism. The reporter also presents India simply as a "Hindu majority" in the face of Islamic Pakistan, as opposed to being the leftover of what is not Pakistan (which isn't just all Hindu). In fact, I would blame the reporter of even sympathizing with them. Of course, this was before any of this even remotely affected the west and such views were regarded as a serious threat. However, it was interesting how he followed the Indian army general in an operation, the subsequent exchange of fire, the plea of the father and the ultimate surrender of the terrorists.

I also came across the article, Sparring in Siachen, in India Together. The author, Pavan Nair, a retired army officer, makes some interesting points and also brings forward the ecological threat that the region faces. And, he even proposes solutions.

But then soldiers are expendable. How can we not defend every inch of our motherland? Never mind that the Chinese have occupied many thousands of square kilometres of our sacred territory next door in Aksai Chin which incidentally also formed a part of Jammu and Kashmir when it was ceded to India by Hari Singh. We have accepted this occupation (shown in shaded lines on the map) without sacrificing a single soldier. In Siachen we now need to look at the cost benefit ratio in human terms. [...]

The stated claims of the countries are so far apart that the only possible solution is to freeze existing claims and create a human exclusion zone. A similar situation was encountered in Antarctica where several countries had overlapping claims. The claims still exist but have been frozen under the Antarctic Treaty and the entire area has been declared a science park and is monitored by observers who ensure that member countries are not violating environmental norms.

We have a model in the Indus Water Treaty which was negotiated under the auspices of the World Bank. Even during the wars fought between the countries, the terms of the treaty were respected by both parties. It is now time that the Siachen dialogue be facilitated by a third party. India is averse to this, however it is suggested that the United Nations should take this role. After all, the Karachi Agreement which is at the core of the dispute was signed under UN auspices and lies in a safe vault in New York. This could be the only way out since any prudent observer will agree that that the Simla Agreement was violated when we occupied Siachen in the first place.

Material - Hallucination Engine

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Mon, 28 May 2007 23:06:00 +0000

It took me a while to really understand and appreciate the album. Material is an experimental jazz group, led by bassist Bill Laswell, which plays around with funk, dub, electronics and a variety of world music. Hallucination Engine features a long lineup of guest artists, quite a few of whom I've been listening to a lot over the last two years. The list includes Liu Sola, Fahim Dandan (spoken vocals); Nicky Skopelitis (guitar, electric sitar, baglama, Fairlight synthesizer); Simon Shaheen (violin, oud); Jeff Bova (synthesizer); Zakir Hussain, Trilok Gurtu (tabla); Vikku Vinayakaram (ghatam); Jonas Hellborg (bass, fretless bass), Wayne Shorter, L. Shankar (electric violin), Williams S. Burroughs, Bootsy Collins, Sly Dunbar, Bernie Worrell and many others. Obviously, most of them are artists I hadn't previously heard of. This also tends to create too much a mix as a result of which it is impossible to figure out who is playing when. Also, sometimes it is hard to distinguish between a sound that is synthesized or played real time. It therefore, makes sense to even ignore the artist lineup as it doesn't really count for much.

The music is for the most part genre-defying. However, as this Artist Direct review correctly notes, "Laswell has been accused of turning too little music into too much track length, and there's some justice to those criticisms; [Some of them] plod along for far too long with far too little development." Black Light and Words of Advice specifically fall into this league, as do the others to varying extents. My favorite track would be the third titled, Ruins (Submutation Dub) which has some nice violin and guitar with Laswell on the bass and a slow beat in the background, though it again tends to stretch out a bit later along with the ambiance in between.

The ones with an Indian touch are Mantra, Cucumber Slumber (Fluxus Mix) and Shadows of Paradise. Mantra features a raucous Nadaswaram tune with folkish tabla and a Bally Sagoo kind of beat in the background. Cucumber Slumber is a remix of the original by Weather Report (which I haven't heard) and includes a tabla. In fact, this to me seems like a precursor to Tabla Beat Science and later tablatronics. Shadows of Paradise features L. Shankar playing semi-Carnatic violin. The Hidden Garden/Naima features Middle-Eastern music, with the same ambience towards the end.

Overall, the album is pretty intense and takes a while to digest. Its primary merit is, I guess, the fact that it was recorded much before the Asian Underground and Tabla Beat Science kind of stuff surfaced in the late 90's. But for those with a taste for jazz and some patience, its an excellent buy.

"Matrubhoomi" - Quite Radical

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Mon, 28 May 2007 01:41:00 +0000

I have stayed too aloof from Bollywood to have noticed it myself. From the blog of Amardeep Singh, I got to know of Matrubhoomi - A Nation Without Women - a 2005 movie based on the gender imbalance in India as a result of female infanticide and the preference of male children. Matrubhoomi translates into "motherland" in a variety of Indic languages. The movie shows a very extreme consequence of this trend - a society wherein there are simply no women left. A concept as abstract as this gives the movie the ability to steer its way in any possible direction, as there really is nothing like a proper storyline. I think that is where it is up to the director as to what he or she wants to convey.

With no marriageable women left in or anywhere around the village, a wealthy villager pays a huge amount of money to the one man who does have a daughter, to have her marry all his five sons. She ends up being shared between not only the sons, but even the father himself and is abused by all but the youngest son, who she develops a liking for as a result.

It isn't hard to guess the idea is loosely based off of the Mahabharata. Arjuna (who was the best archer of the five Pandava brothers) wins the hand of Draupadi in a swayamvara. On bringing her home, he tells his mother, Kunti, that he has a present for her. Kunti (without knowing what Arjuna really means) asks him to share it with all his brothers. From then on, Draupadi becomes the wife of all the five brothers though it is Arjuna who she truly considers as her husband. However, the movie doesn't use the epic specifically to point at society (as was done with the portrayal of Sita in the movie Lajja). The only parts in the Mahabharata (of what I explicitly remember) which might hint at the subjugation of women is when Yudhistira gambles Draupadi in a game of dies which he loses. Draupadi is subsequently disrobed by the Kauravas who are the victors. Towards the end, after the Battle of Kurukshetra, when the Pandava brothers and Draupadi climb the Himalayas and ascend to heaven, it is Draupadi who falls first since she was partial to Arjuna despite being the wife of all the five brothers.

The concept is interesting because it is a reversal of the usual trend in many ways. Though polygamy isn't really a problem in India, one usually expects to see polygyny (one man with multiple wives); in this case though, one sees polyandry (one woman with multiple husbands). Instead of the usual practice of the bride's family paying dowry, it is the grooms' family that literally buys the girl. Also, in another marriage ceremony that is shown, it is the bride (I won't reveal everything) that arrives with a baraat at the groom's house and not the other way round. However, as noted by Amardeep Singh, this does not improve her position in any way, as she continues to be abused and mistreated by the menfolk.

The concept, though abstract, is quite radical in itself. Female infanticide is particularly a problem in north India - specifically in Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana (as indicated in this Rediff special report). An article that I read in India Today a while back reported that most families in these regions tend to have businesses which they ideally want sons to take over. Also, far from being confined to rural areas, dowry deaths are as much an urban phenomenon. Female infanticide as a problem in fact applies more to China, with its state-sponsored One-Child Policy, which though effective in the short term in controlling the rapid expansion of its population, has resulted in preference for male children and many other problems.

The movie tends to lose focus in the end when it diverts to the caste issue - which I think it should have kept away from since it is an entirely separate albeit not insignificant issue in itself. The ending is pretty standard, with a note on female infanticide statistics in India. However, it definitely is one of the more radical movies that I've seen in a while.

Talvin Singh Gets Bottled

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Wed, 23 May 2007 19:32:00 +0000

The lack of respect and appreciation among Indians for Indian classical music is something which has often bothered me too. As amateurs (I can speak for my group here), for us the only avenue for performing is at Indian events on college campuses which are typically flooded with Bollywood music and Indipop, and an audience, mostly Indian, that does not understand or care for classical music. Often are the times when we have aren't given enough time for sound check because some average dance group needs to rehearse.

In this case, Talvin Singh performs in the Bradford Mela before a crowd comprising mostly of confused 2-gers. The Bradford Mela usually features artists like RDB, State of Bengal, etc, so it's definitely not the ideal location to play classical music. But regardless of that, it was wrong and immature to react by throwing stuff at him. Besides, from the clip it doesn't even seem it was purely classical; and a bit of a change isn't a bad idea after the endless stream of Bollywood and pop music.

You don't necessarily have to understand something inside out in order to appreciate it. And from personal experience, I know that all those Indians who act like that tend to shut up and listen when it comes to a non-Indian act (which they certainly do not understand either). And in most ways, it applies more to Indians (read FOBs) than the 2-gers. Maybe it's not surprising, but it's usually non-Indians who end up appreciating our performance more than the desis.

It has been a while since I posted any Sargam recordings. This one is a sitar-tabla piece in Raga Piloo and Teen Tala, followed by a vocal piece. We did not have time to practice (everyone says that), and considering that it was downright decent. Again, I guess the long alap bored the audience (judging by the murmur), but I thought the later bit was fine. The recorder was in the audience, and one guy comments about how we should have had a bass - I smell a desi metal-head here.

Raga Piloo - Teen Tala (Feb. 4, 2007)

Behind my Grandparents' House in Cuttack, Orissa

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sun, 20 May 2007 08:53:00 +0000

Behind my Grandparents' House in Cuttack, Orissa
Originally uploaded by souravdas.

I took this picture on my first trip back home, a year after came to the US for college. I remember I was bored to death since I no longer have any cousins or uncles and aunts living in Cuttack anymore. Most of them are married and/or have jobs elsewhere. So I headed out with my camera and walked all the way to the backside, and was simply mesmerized by this scene. It was post-monsoon so it was green and wet all around. But the amount of greenery here surprised me - and it's something that you don't find as much in the interiors of India as on the coastal plains which are hit by the monsoons directly.

But for some reason, it reminds me of Southeast Asia - Burma isn't really that far from here if you come to think about it. I remember John Keay - pretty sure it was him - in Into India talking about the Southeast Asian feel of Bengal, Assam and other parts of Eastern India. There's bamboo growing all around, and very green. Orissa isn't strictly east, but it does tend towards it. At least the monsoon make sure the coastal plains are green.

It's a different story in the interiors though - it's climatically, geographically and culturally different. I haven't been into the interiors much, but it's mostly tribal and seems more akin to Chhatisgarh than really the east.

I tend to get into the missing-home syndrome every time I see this picture, though I haven't spend too much time in Orissa itself. Of course, you don't see fall colors in India like you do in the US (haven't seen the best of those yet either). But, I miss scenes like this - the coconut trees, the dampness of the air and the roadside food. It's been three years since I was there last - I did not go on my last trip in 2005; it was generally a very unproductive trip. It is sad that my grandparents will be moving into an apartment soon, or maybe already have.

Kavita Chhibber Interviews Shujaat Hussain Khan

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Sat, 19 May 2007 07:02:00 +0000

A while back, I had stumbled upon this interview of Shujaat Hussain Khan on the website of Kavita Chhibber. I liked it because it was simple and down-to-earth, and enlightening. Unlike most musicians who tend to make a point of the painstaking rigidity of their practice and strictness of their teachers, Shujaat Khan wasn't pompous. And what I like about him is that he is mostly self-made, despite having Vilayat Khan (the hands-down God of sitar) as a father, and does not possess any of the vanity or pride. Of particular interest to me is the fact that he walked out on Vilayat Khan - that takes guts - after being fed up of his strictness. He then played music for movies, and even played in marriages in the US. It was out of his own interest (and out of desperation, as he says) that he returned to performing professionally.

I have a few albums of his, and most of them are semi-classical and folk songs. Apparently, Lajo Lajo was a big hit and he followed with many more albums. I personally like Sur Aur Saaz the best, since it tends more towards classical music. I am not sure who accompanied him on tabla, but it was after listening to the first song in Raga Yaman Kalyan that I developed an interest in playing Ektaal. I have heard a bunch of other Ektaal solos but something about the taal being played with that song has stuck in my head since then. It also has an amazing tarana in Raga Mishra Khamaj. But I tried listening to an album of Sufi songs yesterday titled, The Stillness of Sound, and found it too pop-ish for my liking. It sounded too much like Jagjit Singh, with extra emphasis on singing than the sitar.

His best work though is probably with Ghazal - a duo with the Persian kemanchah player Kayhan Kalhor. It would be incorrect to call it fusion, since most of it is an alap-like jam where they improvise on a basic set of notes. I know some people who dislike it, particularly because of the musical limitations of the kemanchah. But it is by far the only Indo-Persian musical collaboration of late.

Getting back to the interview, I don't think there are too many Indian classical musicians who would make a remark like this:

I don’t want to play 300 concerts a year, and I have no interest in rewriting musical history. My father doesn’t like my laid back approach to music, but while music is an intrinsic, very beautiful part of my life and my soul, unlike the statements you hear from other musicians, I don’t eat and sleep and crap music!

I personally hate it when artists go on and on about how painful their practice sessions were. In my opinion, it only discourages people, and is useless for people who are not born to be full-time musicians. Personally, I like to kind something that inspires me. I do not really have the time to practice 20 hours a day, and I also lack the classical training. I made a post about this last year when I came across this in George Ruckert's Introduction to the Classical Music of North India:

The rigors with which the young Ali Akbar [Khan] was trained, and the restrictions that his father made followed his father's ascetic principles: he was frequently made to get up before dawn and practice for four hours before a light breakfast, then take a lesson and practice again before lunch. After a short nap, more practice, another lesson until late at night. Then a light supper, and short sleep. And this stern regimen went on until Khansahib was in his twenties, frequently up to eighteen hours a day.

He also talks about of his "gypsy living" in the US when he worked as a telephone operator in Florida for a couple of days and was tricked out of $90 by a millionaire Indian doctor at a house concert.

I did play the guitar and sing at Spanish restaurants. The Americans thought I was singing Spanish songs, but actually I was singing Hindi songs! It was funny! I made money doing odd jobs. In Florida I worked as a telephone operator for two days at a friend’s farm. No one would ever allow me to do that in India!

I also remembered being taken advantage of. People would invite me and underpay me. There was a doctor from Florida who is one of the most affluent and well known men in that area. He asked me to come and perform in a house concert, for $500, which was a big amount in those days. [...] I opened the envelope to pay my accompanist and I saw it had only $410. I said to the doctor, “There must have been some misunderstanding, the money is not the right amount.” He said “Oh well, you are such a great artist and every one wanted to hear you. There were more than the expected number of guests and I had to arrange for tea and samosas for them and that cost 90 bucks. This is a man with millions and four fancy cars standing outside his palatial home!

I think it is a very good read overall, particularly if you are an Indian classical musician. He doesn't talk in superlatives, and gets across a direct point. There are a bunch of other interviews on Kavita Chhibber's website. The one with Ravi Shankar is pretty good, as he talk his dislike for fusion music, the degeneration of the hippie movement in the 60's and his own Playboy kind of lifestyle.

Article on Outlook: The Miracle that is India

noreply@blogger.com (Sourav) — Fri, 04 May 2007 04:27:00 +0000

As India is about three and a half months away from its 60^th year of independence, Outlook India has an article by Ramachandra Guha that is very romantically titled, "The Miracle that is India." A very detailed profile of Guha may be read here, but Wikipedia spares one the long read. Over the last two-three years, I have come across quite a fair amount of nationalistic stuff on Internet media, mostly from Indians beaming with pride - an example of which may be this Powerpoint presentation. I believe it was propelled by Thomas Friedman's book: The World is Flat. I haven't read the book yet, but it essentially brought forward a pro-globalization view with a lot of emphasis and support towards India for it's democracy, truly secular society, etc, much of which its competitor China lacks.

A lot of the same is reflected upon in this article - democracy, pluralism of religion, linguistic diversity, romanticizing Bollywood, etc. However, what I liked of the article was his counter towards Arundhati Roy's labeling of the government as "fascist" in the context of the Gujarat riots. Whereas I too was shocked by the violence, lawlessness and particularly, the deliberate inaction of the government, I feel movies like Parzania and Final Solution, and a lot of other [somewhat hypocritical] individuals that I have come across, have been overly critical and one-sided and have in the end undermined the secular nature of the Indian government and society - something that is either entirely missing in other countries, or has to be specifically implemented as a policy in other liberal countries.

Thus, in a lecture delivered in the university town of Aligarh, the writer Arundhati Roy went so far as to characterise the BJP regime as 'fascist'. In fact, she used the term 'fascism' 11 times in a single paragraph while describing the actions of the government in New Delhi.

Here again, Indian events and experiences were being analysed in terms carelessly borrowed from European history. To call the BJP 'fascist' is to diminish the severity and seriousness of the murderous crimes committed by the original fascists in Italy and Germany. Many leaders of the BJP are less than appealing, but to see the party as 'fascist' would be both to overestimate its powers and to underestimate the democratic traditions of the Indian people.

[...]

Finally, despite all their best efforts, the BJP was not able to disturb the democratic edifice of the Indian polity. A month after Arundhati Roy delivered her speech, the BJP alliance lost power in a general election that it had called. Its leaders moved out of office and allowed their victors to move in instead. When was the last time a 'fascist' regime permitted such an orderly transfer of power?

Guha finally goes on to quote from the unpublished letters of biologist J.B.S. Haldane, who moved to India in the 1950's and became an Indian citizen, in support of the Indian model of nation and society. It is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. In addition, I believe that India has achieved to a much larger extent what Europe is only striving to achieve by means of the European Union - a linguistically and culturally diverse economic unit. But in addition to linguistics (which are far more diverse than the European languages) and culture, we also have a natural pluralism of religion to an extent that imposed policies in other countries have not - the best example being the current President (Muslim), Prime Minister (Sikh) and leader of the ruling party (Italian-born Roman Catholic). I think this line sums everything best.

As a modern nation, India is simply sui generis. It stands on its own, different and distinct from the alternative political models on offer—be these Anglo-Saxon liberalism, French republicanism, atheistic Communism, or Islamic theocracy.

Of course, I do not deny the many problems that we also face, notably corruption of the bureaucracy and government. I think the judiciary is the only non-corrupt functional entity of the three pillars. Other than that, I am not a very big fan of the Indian work ethic and the mutual disrespect that most of us have among ourselves. But its not a bad idea to get a pat in the back once in a while.