Spark - August 2012 Issue by Spark Editor

Spark Word.World.Wisdom August 2012 Vol 3 Issue 8 51 pages

India Decoded

Featuring Kutti Revathi, Poet Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, Publishing Consultant

Vol 3 Issue 8|

05 August 2012

AUGUST 2012

Dear Reader, The theme we have chosen for the August 2012 issue is ‘India Decoded’. This is the third time we have picked the same theme for an August issue. Interestingly, in spite of repeating the theme a third time, we have a whole new set of perspectives to India presented through this month’s selection of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography and interviews. Well, so many are the facets of India that exist! Acknowledging this, we would like to let you know that we have brought in a different bunch of interesting issues keeping India in mind, something different from our August 2010 & 2011 issues that also focused on India. We hope you enjoy these interpretations as well as our lovely line -up of articles we have featured in ‘The Lounge’ this month.

Contributors Anupama Krishnakumar Deepa Venkatraghvan Gauri Trivedi Jenny Sulfath N.Shobhana Parth Pandya Philip John Priya Gopal Smruti Patil Sourav Ghosh

All rights of print edition reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Spark editorial team. Spark August 2012 © Spark 2012

CC licensed pictures attribution available at www.sparkthemagazine.com Anupama

Krishnakumar/Vani

Viswanathan Subramanian Yayaati Joshi

Jaya Bhattacharji Rose Kutty Revathi Concept, Editing & Design Anupama Krishnakumar

editors@sparkthemagazine.com

Vani Viswanathan

Coverpage photograph: Sudamshu

Vinita Agarwal

Voices of the Month

Individual contributions © Author

Published by Viswanathan

Vani Viswanathan

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Inside this Issue NON-FICTION The Dilemma of the IBCP by Parth Pandya Dear India, From India by Deepa Venkatraghvan Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Speak Nothing by Priya Gopal India through the Eyes of a Moppet by Anupama Krishnakumar FICTION Mrs. Revolution by Jenny Sulfiath | Translated from Malayalam by N.Shobhana Pramila’s Monologue by N.Shobhana POETRY Textile Homeland by Vinita Agarwal Howl : An Ode to a Lost Generation by Philip John Ngo Te Kher by Shraddha Vinod Kutty VOICES OF THE MONTH Interview with Kutty Revathi, Poet-feminist-activist Interview with Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, Publishing Consultant & Columnist THE LOUNGE STORYBOARD|FILM FREAK The Joy of Watching a B-Movie by Yayaati Joshi THE INNER JOURNEY| Borrowed Existence by Gauri Trivedi TURN OF THE PAGE| Review of ‘The Poetry of Yoga’ by Vinita Agarwal THE INNER JOURNEY| Understanding “Ulladhu Narpadhu” by Viswanathan Subramanian SLICE OF LIFE | When I was Awake for an Hour too Long by Smruti Patil PHOTOGRAPHY | The Festive Spirit of India by Sourav Ghosh

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Poetry Textile Homeland by Vinita Agrawal India is often referred to as a bundle of contradictions. Through her poem, Vinita Agrawal discusses the exquisite textile that her homeland, India, is, while also pointing out some of the knots in this colourful fabric that need to be untangled. A land of tea-scented Malhaar1 mornings Moored to filigree snowy mountains Where monsoons brandish emerald panoramas Where coastal winds caress like a lover’s hands Where deserts raise majestic dunes of pride and valour Where mists - like granny’s wet eyes – veil verdant valleys Ah! Women, tear the veils that bury your spirit. Step out!

Jade cardamom gardens, carnelian saffron meadows, Twin cobalt seas, rain-glazed lagoons – gasps of green Diamond-hard rocky vastness, rainbow corals under the sea Copious turquoise peacocks, topaz mustard, golden wheat All earth’s riches, all world's fame Ah! Clear the black smog of human poverty!

Twenty two languages, four hundred dialects 4

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

A patois sunning on every terrace like pickle Sonorous monks, Vedic banks of the Ganges The calming Azaan2 at dawn, the soothing Gurbaani3 at dusk The pure strains of chapel music, the heart-stirring temple bells... Sound is in harmony here, myriad voices are one Ah! Squash the clamour of communalism!

Poetry

Let a nation of many become one at heart One torch, one fire; one beat, one desire A plateau of dreams, a land of ardour A cradle of compassion, a goodwill harbour With a sparkling heritage and a legacy of charm The warp and weft of warm, exquisite silken yarn This enchanting homeland textile... Ah! Untangle its knots forever!

Let threads of steel take over now And conquer the demons of suppression, illiteracy, communalism Expunge the pock-marks tarnishing a magical weave Ah! Let India's real colours shine, not these shades of grey!

1. malhaar – a sweet strain of music sung or played especially in the mornings. 2.

Azaan – religious prayers of Muslims

Gurbaani – religious prayers of Sikhs

Vinita Agrawal is a Delhi -based writer and poet and has been published in international print and online journals.

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Fiction Mrs. Revolution by Jenny Sulfath & translated from Malayalam by N.Shobhana Ameena is taken by Sadashivan’s commitment to the revolution, the ‘book with the red cover’ and his ideas about the capitalist institution of family – she becomes Mrs. Revolution. Read on to know their story, written by Jenny Sulfath in Malayalam and translated by N.Shobhana. Was it Ameena’s red thattum1, which her ‘gulf’ uncle had gifted her on one of his visits, or was it Ameena’s thattum-less ‘tit for tat’ conversations in empty classrooms that fascinated Sadashivan? These questions stand unanswered and are still debatable. Let us not wander away from the story! The story begins in a B.Ed college. Eldois Valiyathirumeni Orthodox College of Education. The name of the college is insignificant to the story. Its people were aspiring teachers with glimmers of rebellion!

break in the cosy company of her darling. Ameena would mock each one of them with an inborn sense of brutality. It was on one of those days that they met! Sadashivan was engrossed in an old yellowed copy of Das Kapital. He seemed to be deeply involved in intellectual masturbation, grasping every bit of Marx’s ‘Alienation of Work’. ‘Do! Can you shift? That’s my spot!’ It was Ameena. Her words shook Sadashivan from his cerebral transit. Soon after uttering those words, Ameena realized that they sounded a little harsh. Poor Sadashivan, his eyes held a constant look of grief. Ameena could not ignore those sorrowful eyes. His physique showed no sign of flesh, he wore no footwear and a jhola hung from his left shoulder. It was a dismal sight for Ameena. She immediately asked –

During those eventful days, Ameena would ridicule every girl who served her lover lavish amounts of rice from her own lunch box. Often it would not stop at serving him, one could soon find her fighting the mob which walled the solitary college water pipe. On strangling its neck, the pipe would drip hesitant drops of water. Her fight would always be to quickly clean her lunch box so she could spend the rest of the lunch ‘Didn’t you pay the fees?’ 6

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

That was the only question that came to her mind. Sadashivan was perplexed by the question. He had dived deep into the intricacies of Das Kapital. He often dreamt of a worker’s revolution in Third World countries.

Thanks to Sadashivan, she had second thoughts now. May be it’s not all that bad, she supposed. Moreover, a person as weak as Sadashivan, with moist merciful eyes, cannot kill anyone.

Later that evening, when Ameena’s dear sister ‘Do you know that we won’t have to pay any was lamenting over the fact that she had nothing fees if there is thoyilali saravdhipatyam, dictatorship new to wear to her friend’s wedding, Ameena of the proletariat?’ showcased her sadashivanism. ‘Entumma! A communist!’ Ameena exclaimed. ‘Dikoche! You know, when this worker’s revoluShe quickly wore her thattum and left the class. tion would come, you wouldn’t have to cry for After that day, Sadashivan dreamt not just about clothing. After the revolution you can go to any a Third World revolution but also about textile shop and buy anything and everything you Ameena’s enquiring eyes. want for free! Free!’ *** Ameena’s dear sister, Kolsu, also felt that the On their second meeting, Ameena wanted cer- worker’s revolution was not a bad idea. After all, tain theoretical clarifications from Sadashivan. you get free clothing. ‘Is it true that we won’t have to pay any fees in a ‘Ettata, will there be marriage in a communist communist state?’ state?’ Kolsu asked curiously. ‘Yes! Not just fees, we won’t have to buy food It was then that Ameena realised that Sadashivan grains or books!’ had not mentioned anything about marriage. She decided that she would clarify Kolsu’s doubt ‘Even books?’ Ameena asked; she had hidden a immediately after the next day’s assembly. copy of Balachandran Chullikad’s anthology of poetry in her bag. She had misappropriated her *** college fees to get that copy. However he was absent the next day; and the ‘The state, I mean the communist state, will day after. Bakar, the college peon, who would store every possible book on this planet, in huge often give Sadashivan a beedi or two, missed him public libraries. Students and masses will be al- terribly. She missed him too. Ameena decided lowed to access these libraries and read anything that she would refer to that book with the hard they want!’ red cover to expound her question. He usually carried that red book with him. Ameena looked ‘Really?’ Ameena visualized libraries which refor her answers in Das Kapital. The ‘book with sembled train compartments, stuffed with the red cover’, kindled the rebel in her. She came books! She was stunned by the thought. face to face with her revolutionary vigour. She Ameena’s Uppa and brothers would always say had decided. that communism is all about killing people. *** 7

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

When Ameena saw him debating democracy and A few years down the line, when Ameena decidfamily in that old building near the co-operative ed against the choice of white tiles for their new bank, she cemented her resolve. house, which was built using her Provident Fund, Sadashivan marked his protest by leaving ‘My life partner – or more accurately, my life his plate unwashed after every meal. This insocomrade – will be someone like Sadashivan.’ lence continued for five days. It was then that ‘In a family it’s only the man who earns money. she realised. The future of her marriage had He is the bread winner. As a result, women are nothing to do with capitalist forces or economic forced to obey men. Family is the creation of a relations. It was becoming clearer that a seemclass society. Capitalist forces need the perpetua- ingly insignificant piece of khadi cloth would tion of this institution,’ he said. Her doubts were save her marriage and her family by its extraordiclarified. nary ability to mop the white tiles! In the presence of many bearded men and their kasavu sari-clad wives, they declared themselves as life partners. Ameena was suddenly reminded of Kolsu’s question. She couldn’t convey the answer. The thought that Kolsu will have to surrender herself to the capitalist forces without an iota of subversion, saddened Ameena. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

In the years that followed, Ameena ceased to clarify her doubts with Sadashivan. After her school teaching hours she would engage herself in the backyard kitchen garden, improving her productivity. *** Malayalam for head scarf worn by Muslim women 1

***

Jenny Sulfath is a student of Women's Studies in Mumbai. N.Shobhana is a Sociology student. Writing helps him transcend identities. He is interested in urban studies, oral histories, women's studies, informal economy and Dalit studies.

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Non-fiction The Dilemma of the IBCP by Parth Pandya As the number of Indian families living outside India increases, there is a new category of parents that emerges. Parth Pandya talks about the IBCP—the Indian Born Confused Parent—whose biggest dilemma is about how to appropriately mix the culture of the homeland and the culture of the place they live in and present it to their children, the American Born Confused Desi (ABCD) being a case in point. Parenting, I believe, is the toughest job in the world. There is no manual that has the five right steps to raising a perfect child, there is no training in the world that can prepare you for it, you don’t know if you have succeeded or not until years into the effort, and while you might start with the aspiration of raising the perfect child, you will come to realise soon that the bar is impossible to meet. If you manage to raise the child to be an improved version of yourself, you can call it a success and call it a day. No wonder they say it takes a village to bring up a child. Anyone who has managed a project of any respectable magnitude will tell you that two people substituting for many, is an ordinary management choice. To add to the mix, if you were to change the environment in which you perform your duties to be far removed from your familiar surroundings, you are left with a tough problem to solve and limited means to execute. Welcome to the world of the “IBCP” (Indian Born Confused

Parent). The IBCP is not to be confused with the ICBM—Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, though both are similar in their efforts to hit their targets in one continent while sitting in another. The IBCP is the lesser-known front to the phenomenon known as the ABCD, or the American Born Confused Desi. ABCD refers to the rather unfortunate prospect that a child born in the U.S. (though I would assume the theory can be extended to other first world countries as well) faces – that of being born in a country not of their parents’ origin and being someone who can be termed as neither here nor there; not fully Indian like their parents and not fully American in the stars and stripes mould. However, the more I look, the more convinced I am that it is not the offspring, but the ones who sprung life upon them who have confusion reigning in their heads. 9

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

My son is three-and-a-half years old. I have taught him the three important facts about India that he needs to know by now. One, Sachin Tendulkar is God. Two, there is no better playback singer than Mohammad Rafi, and three, Lord Rama was a “good listener” to his parents. Beyond that, all knowledge of India that he gets from me is information with no reality to juxtapose against. It might be Kazakhstan, for all he cares. It is only the occasional trip he has made to India, or the fact that our social circle around us is primarily Indian, or the occasional Indian event in the place we live, which sets some familiarity for him. How much of India can you thrust on a child who sees anything but India around him most part of his day? Language education (Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil … take your pick) can’t substitute for the English he hears all day at school. If Hindi cinema is the high point of Indian culture you are trying to proselytize your child with, God help you. The moment he or she moves out of the comfort of your home to daycares and schools, the child is on the path to being as American as apple pie. Most IBCPs try their best to ensure that there is some sheera served along with it. That is the primary clash of cultures – the American culture is foreign to the IBCP and the Indian culture is foreign to the ABCD. The only difference is that while the ABCD can lead his entire life in blissful ignorance of the land of his or her forefathers, the IBCP is suspended like Trishanku –neither here nor there. Neither Rihanna nor Rehana. Neither Terminator nor Turbanator.

vision, India has had 0% inflation in a decade or so. The same philosophy dangerously applies to the manner in which they perceive how kids are raised in India. Children growing up in India are being brought up with American products and American culture in a way that their parents might never have been. From Dora to Thomas, Pokemon to Transformers, chances are that the Indian kid is more in sync with the American landscape than the IBCP has imagined. While he sits and drives his kid to yet another birthday party that is more perfunctory than celebratory, the IBCP imagines that the kids in India are spending their innocent childhood like he once had—watching harmless programs on Indian TV and dedicating their evenings to free play in the building compounds. Trying to bring up your kids with that comparison in mind will never succeed in a world where parents, be it overseas or in India, are essentially their kids’ Private Secretary. You spend your energies trying to set up play dates and driving them around from one class to another. What many IBCPs also don’t realise is that life in metropolitan India these

One of the more common gripes you’ll hear from Indians who have settled for a while abroad and go back to visit India is the cost of everything. This stems from the fact that in their 10

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

days, is not the way they imagine it is—carefree and innocent. If anything, all accounts I hear seem to indicate that they have it worse – preparing kids for interviews to the kindergarten class hardly seems to be carefree. Of course, there are some IBCPs who aren’t confused about one thing—their intent to stay. They fully embrace the truth that the life they strived for can’t be replicated in India and for better or for worse, they are here to stay. Their philosophy is simple—if you can’t be an ideal Indian, be an ideal Indian-American. Go win the spelling bee. Darn it, can’t spell? Go win the geography bee. There are enough bees in the bonnet for the kid to succeed in. Chess, swimming, tennis, debate, ballet—no enterprise would be unconquered. And of course, you had better top the class. You can come second, as long as the first in class is another Indian or perhaps our competitors from the North. By that, I mean China, not Canada. Amy Chua would have been proud—the answer to the Tiger Mom is the Peacock Mom. It is easy to lose perspective in un-

certain surroundings, so you apply the same hyper-competitive juices that others have successfully done before you to their projects—I mean, children. All said and done, the IBCP cannot be blamed entirely for what they go through. Every generation feels suspended in the middle. Our parents straddled the Indian middle class values through a stagnant growth phase of a newly independent country and must feel that they lost out on the boom that came in the form of the economy opening up. The IBCP of this generation must feel suspended in the middle—succeeding in crossing boundaries that their parents never could, but stuck in a foreign land with a foreign culture and kids to rear in them. One wonders what the ABCD generation’s suspension point will be. Mixing the two cultures is a tricky job. Your kids will be removed from you as you are from your parents. The generation gap isn’t vastly different just because you are in a different country.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Vani Viswanathan speaks to well-known Tamil poet, Kutti Revathi, on the stigma that surrounds discussing a woman’s body, particularly in literature, among other things. -> UP NEXT.

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

How do you communicate the meaning of “Indian culture” or “middle-class values” to your children? Explaining what it meant to go through hardships for getting the basic amenities? Emphasizing that family comes above all else, even though you may not get on very well with them at all times? Respect for elders? Tolerance? Patience? None of this can be cited through examples to a child who rarely sees any elders other than his parents or hardly gets to spend an entire summer at a cousin’s place away from his parents or can’t necessarily see the kind of financial hardship that would prevent him or her from getting what they need. The surround-

ings they are brought up in are very different form the ones their parents went through while growing up. This is the essence of the IBCP’s struggle—how does one find that middle ground, that neutral language that puts words to their feelings and values that can be made relevant to their offspring? Leave aside the trace of irony when you teach your child “jhanda ooncha rahe hamara”. Somewhere down the line, you might be singing “God Bless America” yourself. Just don’t confuse the lyrics when you do!

Parth Pandya is a passionate Tendulkar fan, diligent minion of the ‘evil empire’, persistent writer at http://parthp.blogspot.com, self-confessed Hindi movie geek, avid quizzer, awesome husband (for lack of a humbler adjective) and a thrilled father of two. He grew up in Mumbai and spent the last eleven years really growing up in the U.S. and is always looking to brighten up his day through good coffee and great puns.

WANT TO BE PART OF THE SPARK TEAM? GET IN TOUCH WITH US AT editors@sparkthemagazine.com VISIT www.sparkthemagazine.com FOR MORE DETAILS! 12

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Voice of the Month An Interview with Kutti Revathi, poet-feministactivist, by VANI VISWANATHAN

Language is the One Tool that can Liberate Women’s Bodies : Kutty Revathi Kutti Revathi (Dr. S. Revathi) has been an important Tamil voice in the feminist space in India, dealing with the politics of the female body through poetry, her chosen literary form. Some of her poems, such as “Mulaigal” (Breasts), have achieved iconic status all over the world. Mulaigal attracted its fair share of controversy from the conservative Tamil literary society that accused her of being sensationalist and explicit, and threats including that such poets ‘should be burnt’ were prevalent. To offer other young writers a space to air their views, she has founded and edits a feminist journal, Panikkudam, and helps younger women poets to publish their work through her publishing house. Trained in Siddha Medicine, Kutti Revathi is also a filmmaker and engages herself actively in issues of caste and violence against women.

In an interview to Vani Viswanathan, poet-feminist-activist Kutti Revathi opens up on what prompted her to write poetry, her focus on the woman’s body as a means of fighting against the patriarchal Tamil society and her contribution to the Tamil literary space through her publication Panikkudam. 13

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

A poet, filmmaker, activist, and qualified in am able to manage. My focus is simple: we need to Siddha Medicine. How does Dr. Revathi liberate women’s bodies from the constraints that the somanage to do it all? cial set up has created. The present social condition demands us women writers to be a lot of things at once. Earlier, writers had the privilege to be only writers, because they were from the upper class or upper caste, or similar such sophisticated strata of society. No situation would have asked them to be more than writers. For them, writing was just a hobby. But for us, women writers of the 21st century, especially those from the marginalised communities, the demands are higher: many of us belong to the first generation of those communities getting a command over the language through education. So for us, the need of the hour is to write down all the memories, issues, demands and untold stories that were boiling within us all these years, without a way to express them.

What would you say was the most important reason you were inspired to write?

Training to be a doctor in Siddha medicine, for which the syllabus is completely in Tamil, enriched my understanding of the language as a social tool, making it the obvious choice for my poetry. Medicine gave me a complete understanding of women’s biology, and with the help of poetry, I am able to construct the political body that I am allowed to live or to demand in the society.

The reality is that as a woman, you can study well. You can raise yourself to the top-most position in society. But the stigma that is forced on you cannot be erased wherever you go. The need and the urge to fight will be cruising through your body all the time.

The most important reason is the opportunity I got to understand the human body from a medical and scientific perspective, and how the opportunity for me to express the same knowledge of bodily things was denied, thanks to the stigma that surrounds the discussion of a woman’s body in our society. Though I had been a voracious reader of classic and modern literature, I never thought I would be an active writer, because my passion then was in working as a physician to help women understand their body in the aspects of health and illness.

Though I was engaging in many kinds of social activities, I realised that only writing could subside the aggression in me and make me calm Currently, I am also working as the scriptwriter enough to derive strength to penetrate into the for a film that is going to be released in Decem- constructs of society to expand the space for ber. I think I need to go beyond this to fully real- women. This made me focus on writing more! ise the demands of various women’s issues and Your poetry is bold, and you do not shy away how I can address them. There is still a long way from openly talking about a woman’s body. to go! I could make my career out of being a What prompts you to take this approach? medical practitioner, poet, filmmaker and activist all at the same time as I believe they are all inter- Lots of things, but most importantly, it was the connected, directly or indirectly. That is how I studying and travelling I did around the country 14

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

to understand caste violence against women. It is become stronger. It helps me unravel society's a form of violence that is more hurtful and prev- hidden agenda behind their opposition. It enalent than domestic violence and others forms of courages me to continue writing. violence against women. Your poetry did certainly conflict with many And it mostly goes unrecorded. I could see every writers’ opinions on what should and should layer in society engaging in guilt-free violence not be covered in Tamil writing, by a woman against women, saying that women belong to the that too. One such opinion came from a well lower caste. But their bodies are exploited for -known lyricist in Tamil cinema, himself the welfare of the country the most. Their physi- reputed for the risqué nature of his lyrics. cal power and beauty of their body are all amaz- Why is there such a conflict in Tamil—or ing sources of energy. But they are used only as should I say Indian?—society about how labour! That inspired me to take this approach to women are perceived vs. how women (are write and talk about women’s body. allowed to) perceive themselves? Why is our society so intent on controlling sexuality— While people have misunderstood that you be it in writing or the way women dress or write ‘shocking’ things to attract attention to their access to public spaces, among other yourself, what are your thoughts about using things—when we are ok with seeing it ooze shock value as a reminder that women ought through our media and cinema? to have their rightful space in society? Men—and that particular lyricist you have menPeople can call it 'controversial' or 'shocking'. tioned—are against women writing because they They call it so because our society's patriarchal think we are against culture, Tamil culture in structure is very much a Hindu construct. They particular. Ironically, Sangam poetry and literapraise the country with the words Vande Maature, and women poets of those times, were taram (I bow to thee, Mother), but they will not open about sexuality. Also, they saw their body respect women; they follow the writings in Manu as the door to the universe and their only asset. Smriti blindly or uphold aspects of Hindu reliIronically, the Dravidian political leaders and gion that declare women untouchables by birth. writers who glorify those poets with a political Over centuries, women have not been allowed agenda are against the contemporary writing of to utter a word in public, not to learn anything, women. celebrate their sexuality and body – not to perceive themselves as human beings at all. It is Cinema and print and visual media have exploitvery much a strategy of men of the upper caste ed the female body in all possible ways and made who are very used to inculcating Hindu values it a highly insensitive and sexualised object. Our and practices into the people of the soil. Over writings claim the sexual power of women that time, I have come to understand the various has been lost through these highly exposed and strategies they employ to this end. Using tags wrongly-expressed forms. We live in a period such as 'shocking' is also a part of this strategy. where images are extremely important. Images As the attacks, abuses and conflicts increase, I convey highly important information, but they 15

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are also very poisoned. Images are given to the society as opium, as Deluze mentioned, so that the society is not awakened. It is the same with dress codes. The country changes culturally as man changes. We cannot wrap eight feet of cloth around our body all through the day and manage our chores or give in to the demands of creative work. I strongly feel that chauvinistic men are alright with exposing the woman’s body in ways they want, but not in the way we want to express. There is a lot of difference between these two.

and mind mean to a woman like me. Again, I still have a long way to go!

to evolve or to be utilised for the welfare of mankind. Our thinking has to be allowed to grow by liberating the body from social constraints. There is actually a strong political role to women’s creative writing. It is not direct and immediate. It is very indirect, and very serpentine, but very impactful! I am not who I was when I was not writing. I realise now what happiness is for a woman and what a healthy body

Finally, do you see a change in attitudes towards women’s writing in Tamil Nadu since when you began?

Could you tell us more about your publishing house and your magazine Panikkudam?

I started a publishing house, which I am happy to say has published more than a dozen poetry collections of upcoming poets, as well as from the popular woman poets of Tamil. In addition to this, I am publishing a magazine called 'Panikkudam' (Placenta). Through this magazine, I want to engage young women writers by publishing their early works that are not given space How do you see your writing as helping you and respect in the public literary floor. negotiate through our society and its strucI find publishing itself a form of activism for the tures of oppression? writers who write about their bodies. After my Writing definitely helps any woman because lan'Breasts' anthology, I couldn't get my poems guage is a very strong tool for the fight against published anywhere. But the urge to write and this oppressive society. It can help her discover, publish was so strong in me, and I was desperexplore and construct her own body with all its ately looking for an empty white space to fill my strengths. Our body is an expanse with abundant poems with. Panikkudam satisfied both my perpower, which women are not allowed to enjoy sonal and social need. and experience on any level. This oppression has been driven in subliminally. With language, Actually, it was like planting paddy seedlings in a which can help us find the strength lodged in vast wet field. I always feel rejuvenated when I our own bodies, we can root this oppression out publish a new, young poet's collection. It makes entirely. I maintain that language is the one tool me feel connected to the contemporary linguistic that can liberate women’s bodies. Also important world and makes sure I am not dog-eared and is women’s intellect, which is not at all allowed worn out.

Yes, very much so! A decade of our poets' struggle has changed a lot of things in the social and the political domain. Women have been coming into modern writing continuously and they take its values more seriously. Though male writers continue to be against our notions about our

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

body, I can see that the coming generation's realisation of women’s body and its sexuality are changing in a broader way. Women writers have introduced a political vocabulary that is capable of engaging common women in interpreting oppressive social customs. They will always function like keys to doors that lead us from darkened perceptions that our body is mysterious and evil, into illuminated perceptions that our

முலைகள்—குட்டி ரேவதி

body is actually an intellectual, biological space. Even a few days back, I got an anonymous letter threatening me to stop writing. But for us women, once the body is awakened through the power of intellect, there is no stopping the creativity, is there?

With me alone, always:

மகொண்மேழுகின்ற

Of Love,

சதுப்புநிலக் குமிழிகள் பருவத்தின் வேப்புகளில் மமல்ல அவவ மபொங்கி மலர்வவத அதிசயித்துக் கொத்ரதன்

Rapture, ஆலிங்க

ப் பிழிதலில் அன்வபயும்

சிசு கண்ே அதிர்வில்

To the nurseries of my turning seasons,

குருதியின் பொவலயும்

They never once failed or forgot To bring arousal

சொமறடுக்கின்ற

During penance, they swell, as if

எவரேொடும் ஏதும் ரபசொமல் என்ர

ொரே எப்ரபொதும்

straining ஒரு நிவறரவறொத கொதலில்

பொடுகின்ற

துவேத்தகற்ற முடியொத

விம்மவல

இரு கண்ணர்த்துளிகளொய்த் ீ

To break free; and in the fierce tug of lust, They soar, recalling the ecstasy of music

ரதங்கித்

கொதவல

தளும்புகின்ற

ரபொவதவய….

மொறிடும் பருவங்களின் நொற்றங்கொல்களில் கிளர்ச்சியூட்ே அவவ மறந்ததில்வல

From the crush of embrace, they distil

The essence of love; and in the shock Of childbirth, milk from coursing blood

Breasts | translated by N. Kalyan Raman

Like two teardrops from an unfulfilled Love

Breasts are bubbles, rising

That cannot ever be wiped away,

In wet marshlands

They well up, as if in grief, and spill over

I wondrously watched- and guardedTheir gradual swell and blooming

தவத்தில் திமிறிய பொவவ

At the edges of my youth's season வயயும்

கொமச்சுண்டுதலில்

Heartbreak

Saying nothing to anyone else, They sing along

Kutty Revathi’s “Mulaigal”, the original in Tamil and translated to English by N.Kalyan Raman

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Poetry Howl : An Ode to a Lost Generation by Philip John

Philip John attempts to capture the disillusionment and confusion that seems to be characteristic of men in their thirties in urban India. A poem on and for the ‘lost generation’. The bartender places my glass On the table and begins to speak:

Your job holds you to ransom every morning But you refuse to jump off the gangplank Your wife absorbs all your confusion like earth swallows rain But you won’t lean across the bed and kiss her goodnight You think of how lonely your parents are and it makes your heart sink But you call them on the phone and your blood starts to boil You want to hit the road and keep driving till you touch the horizon But you worry about a flat tyre stranding you on the highway You write your heart out, page after page after page But you avoid publishing like the plague You say if you ever have a daughter you'll call her Ashley But your five-year-old niece exhausts your patience in under a minute You confuse desire with love 18

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

You also confuse guilt with love Then you confuse love with tedium You don’t even know what love means You have been searching for something for the last twenty years But you wouldn’t know it if you found it or you wouldn’t care.

Poetry

You are all a lost generation The bartender says Then he downs my glass and takes it away I look at the jagged circle of water it leaves on the table Outside the wind begins to howl.

* “Lost generation” quote attributed to Gertrude Stein, 1926 * Last line taken from “All along the watchtower” by Bob Dylan, 1967

Dave Philip John is currently a marketing executive with a consulting firm. His passions include literary fiction, jazz, movies, vintage art, comics, poetry and twentieth century American culture. Writers he admires include Michael Ondaatje, Philip Roth, George Orwell and J M Coetzee. Philip lives and writes in Bangalore.

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Non-fiction Dear India, From India by Deepa Venkatraghvan Deepa Venkatraghvan talks about ‘The Story of India,’ a PBS-BBC documentary that leads her to discover sides to India she never knew about, and what we as Indians can learn from our own history as our country grows in clout internationally. If India needs to learn a few lessons to revive her journey toward becoming a superpower, she only needs to turn to her own glorious past. And that past is beautifully described in ‘The Story of India’, a PBS-BBC documentary by historian Michael Wood that changed me forever. The series packs in so much about the history of India—the culture, habits, lifestyles, philosophy —that you will know why India is the way she is and more importantly, what we can do to take India back to her path of glory. In six episodes, the extremely passionate Michael Wood taught me so much about my country and left such a deep impression; I don’t think any other book, movie or medium has managed to impact me as much. And for that sole reason, I urge you to watch it. And because you can watch it for free on the Internet, you can start right now. Wood begins at the ‘Beginning’. And that beginning does not begin with British India or Mughal India or even the Guptas, Mauryas, Greeks or Aryans. It begins with the beginning of mankind. And for me, this was the most enlightening of all six episodes.

When man first migrated out of Africa, 70 or 80 thousand years ago, he first landed in India and from there, spread to the rest of the world. And fascinatingly enough, Wood tells us how India is the only country to have preserved the unbroken thread of the human story. That story is in the form of sounds from the beginning of human time. An ancient clan of Brahmins in Kerala has, over generations, passed on oral recitals of some sort of verse. And since these sounds are incomprehensible, there is no written record. Only recently, the clan permitted outsiders to record the recitals to try to understand the origins. And the results were astonishing. They found that the sounds followed rules and patterns but had no meaning. There were no parallels to these sounds in any human activity, not even music. The nearest analogy was from the animal kingdom—they resembled sounds of birds—from a time much before language developed. While historians came upon this finding, scientists made another discovery. The M130 gene, which is the marker of the first human migration that

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

migration that took place in India, is found even India has been the birthplace of four of the today in the people of Tamil Nadu. world’s religions – Sikhism and Jainism, in addition to Hinduism and Buddhism. While Jews With that explosive beginning, Wood takes a and Zoroastrians were discriminated in other leap of tens of thousands years to the beginning parts of the world, India welcomed them with of civilisation. The process of civilisation began in India in 7000 BC, but came to the light of archeologists only in the 1920s. Before the discovery it would have seemed incredible to think that the ancient civilisation of India was far older than the Bible, Romans or Greeks. The Europeans saw India as a primitive, backward place. They believed civilisation was a product of the classical world for which they were the modern standard bearers. But all that changed in 1921 with the discovery of the Harappan civilisation. The Harappan civilisation was the hallmark of a sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture. To my mind, it was obvious then to conclude that infrastructural planning, strategy and efficiency are not traits of the western world alone and certainly not something only Ivy league schools can teach. It is simply inherent in us. open arms. Ancient Indians have proved it; we only need to Traditionally, we were liberal enough to encourrevive that magic to make smarter cities. age and allow the birth of these new religions. Part two of the series, ‘The Power of Ideas’ Dynasties that managed to achieve a balance looks at the changes in the religious ideals of between religious tolerance and economics were India. For centuries, until the 5th century BC, successful. The rest were challenged anyway. In India had been following the caste system that our recent history, religious intolerances have fixed jobs and a person’s place in society. It was been fuelled by political misgivings rather than believed that salvation only came from following any conflicts of essence. And that is why it is this order and following rituals. But these beliefs important for us, as electoral citizens of India, to started getting questioned around the 5th centu- understand our history, so that we can challenge ry BC when ethics became the centre of the these politicians and pave the way for a peaceful world. Thinkers arose, as did rationalists, skep- India. tics and atheists – and among them emerged the Part three turns the corner in India’s story. It’s Buddha and Buddhism. Over a period of time, 21

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the rise of the wealthy Roman Empire and inturn the advent of India’s trade with the world – ‘The Spice Roads and Silk Routes’. Three things changed the course of Indian history – silk, rice and pepper. The Silk Route was controlled by a new tribe, the Kushan Empire, whose capital was Kabul. By the 2nd century AD, the Kushan Empire had conquered most of North India. The Kushans brought peace and religious tolerance and with this peace they could foster the arts, literature and science. They were behind the development of Sanskrit as the language of international scholarship in the East. Medicine, specifically Ayurveda, was also an important area of their patronage. Part four is called ‘The Ages of Gold’ – 4th century AD. It was a dark period in the West as the Roman Empire had fallen and people feared the end of civilisation. But in India the Gupta dynasty had brought in a golden age of arts, culture and literature. The Gupta age is also a mark of technological advances – the hallmark being the 35 foot iron pillar in Delhi. Indians were the masters of metallurgy, that too, about 1500 years before the industrial revolution. Gupta scientists pioneered the use of zero; a Gupta astronomer around 500 AD, Aryabhatta, proved that the earth went around the sun; Aryabhatta also came up with the concept of Pi. All this was driven by the curiosity to understand the cosmos. The most famous product of the Gupta dynasty is the Kamasutra; that, at a time when sex in the Western Christian civilisation was associated with guilt. As Wood explains, the Kamasutra was a product of an age where there was freedom of thought and that, was a mark of a high civilisation.

Part five, ‘The Meeting of Two Oceans’ takes a modern turn and tells the story we have all learnt in great detail in our history books – that of the Mughal Era (1000 AD to 1500 AD), and the coming of Islam that wrote the next story of Indian history. While the legacy of any invasion is often destructive, the Mughals, at their best created a fusion of Hindu and Islamic culture. And this integration would be the key aspect of a successful Mughal Emperor’s rule. Under Akbar’s rule, India enjoyed much cultural and economic progress as well as religious harmony. Akbar in fact brought together the religious learnings of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. The reign of his son Shah Jahan was the golden age of Mughal architecture and the arts. But many of these policies were rejected by Aurangazeb whose prime focus was ruthless expansion of his regime. This was one of the main reasons the Mughals began facing resistance. As their might reduced and as the British came to India, we enter the final chapter in India’s story. The concluding part six, ‘Freedom’, then goes on to talk about the final invasion in India’s history—the British Era. We all know that British primarily capitalized on India’s resources and pool of skilled labour of weavers, farmers, artists etc. and more often than not, quite ruthlessly. But the greatest legacy of the British was to give India a new idea of India itself. India at the time of early British rule was divided into various colonies and kingdoms. The British showed India this map which got the people of India united as one nation. In the early days of the freedom struggle, Hindus and Muslims joined together against the oppressive British rule. But complete

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

integration took a long time in coming because many Indians saw British rule as progressive while others saw it as oppressive. And finally when the idea of independent India started to form, religious differences arose and finally marred the freedom story, which would otherwise have been a romantic one.

In the last few decades, India has also been wary of forging international ties, whether it is foreign investment or economic deals like the India-U.S. nuke deal—understandably so, after being subject to so many invasions, the most recent being the ruthless British rule. But wariness must be used as a strength to blend with the global scene. We must proceed, with caution. No point in The last 50-60 years in India’s history have largesaying no. After all, India’s silk and spice routes ly been grey with a few recent decades of promtoo developed because of the wealth of the Roise, confidence and a sense of the possible. What man Empire. lessons can today’s India learn from her past to forge ahead? A few common traits run through And as Wood says, ‘Commerce is never just all of India’s dynasties and eras – peace, religious about commodities. It is about the way civilisatolerance, a high focus on arts, literature, science tions grow and adapt, discover new ideas and and culture and innovative thought driven by new worlds.’ curiosity to understand the world around us.

Deepa Venkatraghvan, a Chartered Accountant, loves to write. She works in the media and when she is not writing about smart investing, she pens her thoughts about life's experiences. You can check out her personal finance blog at http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/moneyhappyreturns/

We speak to publishing consultant and columnist, Jaya Bhattacharji Rose on the trends in the Indian publishing industry -> UP NEXT.

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Voice of the Month An Interview with Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, international publishing and literary consultant by ANUPAMA KRISHNAKUMAR

The Indian Publishing Industry: Matured, but Still a Long Way to Go Jaya Bhattacharji Rose is an independent international publishing consultant and columnist based in New Delhi. She has been associated with publishing since the early 1990s. Her responsibilities have included guest editing the special Children’s and YA Literature of The Book Review, and producing the first comprehensive report on the Indian Book Market for the Publisher’s Association, UK. Her extensive editorial experience includes stints with Zubaan, Routledge, and Puffin. Her articles, interviews and book reviews have also appeared in Frontline, The Book Review, DNA, Outlook, the Hoot, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Brunch, LOGOS, Business World, Housecalls and The Muse. She also has a fortnightly column on publishing in Businessworld online and a bi-monthly column in Books & More. She is also advisor to Publishing Next and was advisor to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for their conference “Business of Publishing” (Sept 2011).

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

In an interview to Spark, Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, publishing consultant and columnist talks to Anupama Krishnakumar about interesting trends in the Indian publishing industry including the popularity that commercial fiction is enjoying in India these days, the growing trend of buying books online and the advent of e-books in the Indian market. You have been associated with the publishing industry for about two decades now. How would you describe the journey of the Indian publishing scene from the early 90s to today?

First it is always important to assess the parameters of the "bestseller" charts. But assuming that these bestseller charts are an accurate picture of the market, then yes, it is true that many firsttime authors are doing exceptionally well. Ravinder Singh has crossed the 200,000 unit sales in seven months with his Metro Reads title. But literary fiction or ’proper literary writing,’ as you term it, does still exist. It is simply snowed under with the deluge of first-time authors who have never had it so good—so many publishers. Within a few years this too will settle down. Right now the finer distinctions in the lists are not very apparent, but a) you never know where and when the gems are hidden and b) these books, many of which have a plot that is conversation driven, are catering to and discovering markets so far unheard of. Maybe in a few years we will see a pattern emerging in reading tastes and distinct markets being created.

In two decades the industry has transformed considerably. There is a significant amount of professionalism that has come into the industry. It is immaterial if it is a big or a small or an independent publishing house, all of them have recognised the need to have departments for specific requirements, rather than expect one person/ department to multi-task. Processes are better organised. The quality of books has improved. The range of publishing services—printing, editing, typesetting, translations, transcripts, design and layouts, self-publishing, vendors offering digital publishing services, book publicists, social media marketing—have increased tremendously to cater to the domestic and international markets. Historic fiction is fast becoming an extremely popular genre in India now, with works of So, definitely, it has matured, but we still have a Ashwin Sanghi and Indu Sundaresan being long way to go. some fine examples. What do you think There are many books, particularly works of could be the reason for this interesting fiction, flooding the Indian market these trend? days. Many publishing houses have come up Historical fiction is not a new trend. Like science and we see young first-time authors climbfiction, speculative fiction and graphic novels, it ing to the top of bestseller charts. Amidst all is an eco-system that has always existed with a this, a section of book lovers feel that 'proper steady base of readers. It is only now that Indian literary writing' isn't getting its due. What authors like those that you mention are coming are your thoughts? into their own. 25

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

While works of fiction seem to be selling like cheated at having spent my money on something hot cakes, what are your thoughts on the that is not worth it at all. The grammar should non-fiction scene in India? be perfect. Even if you make allowances for minor errors, the characters and plot lines should Indians writing non-fiction is not exactly on the be satisfying and not insipid, weak or flat. Creatupswing, at least in my opinion. It is yet to grow, ing a weak character in a book is actually quite a but there are enough indications to say that the tough task, but a flat character is easily achieved, future will be brighter in this segment. Having if not much thought is given to the process. The said that, I think this genre will take a while to internal logic of the plot should hold together come into its own, given that it requires a fair well. Today it is quite easy to verify a reference amount of research, determination and an aptiby checking for it on the Internet. tude for analysis, as well as strong skills of storytelling to produce a fine piece of non-fiction. A Does the Indian book market differ in signifstodgy book (although well-documented) is in icant ways from the book market in say, the equal danger of sinking as much as a poorly- U.S. and the UK? Could you tell us how? researched but well-written one. For me a fine Yes, it does in many ways. Most significantly, benchmark has been set by Shefalee Vasudev's those are purely one language (English) speaking ‘Powder Room’ and Ruchir Sharma's ‘Breakout and homogenised markets, whereas India conNations’. Hopefully there are more in the pipesists of many markets within one. This holds line. true even for the sale of English-language books. The readership for Indian non-fiction is definite- You cannot have the same blanket strategy aply on the rise, tremendously so. But if all the cat- plicable to all regions of the country. These need egories of fiction are clubbed together then they to be tweaked according to regional tastes and outstrip that of non-fiction. The readership for appetites. Plus, this is a country that consists of non-fiction, specifically business, comes second readers who are at least literate in two (if not by value (after general fiction). But in terms of more) languages. Hence, they can access literavolume, it is probably the MBS (Mind, Body, ture in whichever language they are most comSpirit) genre that tops the list, even surpassing fortable in. Another point of difference is that fiction. Yet it remains low on the classification the Indian book market is growing rapidly in by value since these books are very reasonably print and electronic formats. In the U.S. and the priced. The market will only allow these books UK, the print market has reached saturation levto be priced at an average of Rs. 50-60. els. As someone who reviews books, what are Online portals in India are making great the important characteristics you look out progress, helping customers order books for in a book to mark it 'worth a read'? with the click of a mouse and shipping the books to their doorstep. We have recently For me a book should be readable. It should be also seen some bookstores shutting down in sustained, good reading till the last page. I want the wake of this development. Do you feel to be satisfied with what I have read and not feel 26

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that the growing popularity of online India too had recently announced its foray bookstores signals the end of the traditional into e-books. What do you feel is the scope ones? for the e-book market in India and what is the sort of impact you feel e-books will have No. An online retail service is not an online on the print book space? bookstore, for I think buying books online is not akin to buying books in a bookstore. The two The scope for e-books is tremendous in India. experiences are diametrically opposite, although The recent announcement of the Young Creathe service is the same. In fact, recent studies say tive Entrepreneur Award by the British Council that the brick-and-mortar stores are a necessity, for publishing being given to Jagdish Repasawal since customers like to immerse themselves in for mangoreader.com merely confirms this. Ethe experience of browsing and discovering books are scheduled to take off in a big way. books (this is not the same thing as searching There are already many people/publishers exonline via Google Books.) But then they prefer ploring this option. The readers are there. The to buy from online portals (after checking the point to ask is does India have the requisite inprices) since these offer discounts. And yes, tra- frastructure? Do we have sufficient smartphone ditional bookstores and even recent chains will or iPad penetration in this country to facilitate shut down. This is not to be linked completely the boom for e-books? More importantly, at to the emergence of online retail. Other factors what costs are these services being offered? Will impacting the poor performance of bookstores, the apps, the books, etc., for the immersion in especially the chains, are the high rents to be digital publishing be cost-effective? Studies paid, salaries, ill-informed staff, poorly stocked abroad have shown that creating a digital experishelves with haphazard display of titles, shoddy ence means a huge investment for the publisher, information retrieval from computer systems but there is reluctance by the consumer/reader and the sheer lack of knowledge, enthusiasm and to pay even 30% more to avail of the experience. passion for books, genres etc., among the staff. Plus, in a country like ours where we have a Hence recommendations are not easily forth- "special Indian price" on the printed book, coming. This is quite unlike traditional which is a reasonable price, would a consumer bookshops where it is usually the store owner actually avail of the digital experience? And this who knows his customers and their literary in a country where reading for leisure is only just tastes, is able to recommend titles and establish- about taking off. Maybe the scenario will change es a rapport. So in a sense these "corrections" or once Flipkart makes its e-book programme availshutting down of stores in the supply system are able country-wide. Also with the entry of Amainevitable. But some of the traditional landmarks zon, it is being said that in all probability an Indiin bookselling in India have shut down because an edition (read cheaper version) of Kindle may the younger generations were reluctant to enter be launched here soon. All these factors may the business. So it is a tough question to answer. make the environment conducive for an accelerated growth in e-reading. Another interesting story when we talk about publishing is the advent of e-books. Penguin 27

Sparkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;August 2012 | India Decoded

We have moved away from times where there were just three or four prominent publishing houses. Today, there are a host of new publishing houses that have sprung up, throwing the doors open to more authors and more reading content. I would like to know what your thoughts are about the editing standards of such upcoming and lesser known publishing houses in India. A mushrooming of publishing houses does not mean an improvement in editorial expertise. The editorial standards are still not 100% perfect. But in any case many publishing houses (whether in India or abroad) prefer to work with freelancers rather than in-house staff. Hence to monitor and enforce quality is not always easily done. Finally editors cannot be trained in the job. Many actually are required to have an inherent feel and

passion for their subject. A lot of their editorial skills depends on how much they have read (and continue to do so), how sensitive they are in listening to others, especially their authors, and how willing they are to be a part of a constructive engagement with the author. Lastly, where do you see the Indian book market heading from here, say over the next ten years? Oh! No one can even predict what is going to happen six months down the line. The industry is in that much of a flux. So ten years is really far too long. But in a decade hopefully there will be a streamlining of operations from evaluation of a manuscript to production, distribution, selling and marketing etc.

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Sparkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;August 2012 | India Decoded

Poetry Ngo Te Kher by Shraddha Vinod Kutty An expression of the complicated relationship that the "mainland" shares with the northeast, sparked off when Ngo te kher - a bracelet of beads - travelled to the mainland and found itself a place, first at a mela and then on the wrists of a few tens. Beads-on-a-string is a metaphor,

Thread of white, thin and taut,

An ideal, a drumbeat, a lighted camphor!

A tiny circle, quick firm knot,

The string must be strong,

Around this wrist, not one that fought.

Life of beads it must prolong, Or so they sing, marching a furlong. I am the bead, I am being keyed. I am the drum, I am being strum. I am the camphor,

Shraddha Vinod Kutty is ‘studying’ Development (or underdevelopment, depending on your perspective), through the lens provided by the city of contradictions, Mumbai. Coming from a small town in Kerala, she loves her mother’s sambhar-choru-pappadam. When not enjoying her sound sleep, you will find her listening to jazz, reading or writing. One who prefers to be left alone, her abiding fantasy is to be able to meet Rodya Romanovich Raskolnikov.

Opened to tamper. (Or was I that metaphor, Built to fill the coffer?) I am still a riddle, Forced to look ideal. The string was strong, But oh, not so long. 29

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Non-fiction Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Speak Nothing

by Priya Gopal Priya Gopal laments the abysmal levels of censorship in our country and wonders what our kids will turn into if we encourage them to only see, hear, speak and think as we want them to. We are serious, we are opinionated, we want Nationwide protests against the bill ensured that only one idea and one perspective and yes, we it was not passed, but the media was still under don’t like to laugh at ourselves. We are India. the attack of the politician. Foreign journalists who were investigating the Bofors scandal were The National Council for Educational Research not given visas to enter the country. and Training (NCERT) recently deleted cartoons from its textbooks which it felt was politically India’s intolerance extends to art and artists too, insensitive. Did the biggest educational body of with a number of books and authors being our country not realise that before the books got banned in India. Salman Rushdie’s ‘Satanic published four years ago? Oh, wait – it’s not that Verses’ to Joseph Lelyveld’s ‘The Great Soul’, a the NCERT suddenly came to its ‘senses’. The book that claims to expose Gandhiji’s sexual life action was a result of protests from certain pow- and his racist views, are banned either nationerful sections of the society who lacked the sprit wide or in certain states. ‘Nine Hours to Rama’ to laugh at themselves. by Stanley Wolport is banned as it exposes the lack of security given to Gandhiji the day he was Let’s travel back in time. The year is 1988. Rajiv assassinated. Salman Rushide was not granted a Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, was visa to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival. under severe criticism for his involvement in the M.F.Hussain died outside of India as the Indians Bofors Scandal. Feeling the heat of the media wouldn’t tolerate his art and didn’t want him revelations, Mr. Gandhi sought to get the Antihere. Defamation Bill passed in the parliament. This bill sought to create ‘new’ offences, and the me- The electronic media too has not escaped the dia would have to be very careful of what they censor’s scissors. Time and again directors are said because now every statement could be inter- asked to make changes in their movies. Movies preted in a way that could be held against them. like ‘Fire’ and ‘Water’ by Deepa Mehta are 30

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banned due to their controversial topics. The National Award-winning movie ‘The Dirty Picture’ cannot be shown on television because it has what the government believes is ‘adult content’. Internet giant, Google, has revealed in its transparency report released in June 2012 that it received 101 requests from Indian authorities to delete 255 items from its content. This marks a sharp rise of 49% from the second half of last year. Authorities feel that some of the sensitive content posted online puts national security at risk and needs to be removed. Innumerable instances such as these force us to think: where are we heading? Or, at times: where are we coming from? Why is there so much censorship in India? Why doesn’t the government want our kids to think, discuss and argue about the political situations that arose in history? Why do we believe that something doesn’t exist if we can’t see it? I believe this attitude comes from our history. The Aryans who settled in India brought in the Varna system. This system divided the society

into four castes. These castes couldn’t intermingle with each other. They had a pecking order just like the animal world did. The vedas were the prerogative of the Brahmans. The military skills had only to be with the Kshatriyas. We all know what happened to Ekalvya and Karna. Withholding information from other people meant power, control and supreme authority. Power play isn’t original to the T20 matches; our gods had begun it a very long time back. Devdutt Pattanaik has analysed the story of Bahubali, brother of celebrated king Bharata, and elaborated very clearly how the instinct to dominate is so strong that even people who renounce the world take pride in the fact that the rest of the world bows to them. Power play and censorship exist even at very individual levels. Parents of adult children decide careers and life partners for them. In many families finances are not personal but part of a bigger kitty. Adults do not have the right to take decisions. The Khaps in Haryana will not let young people decide whom to marry. They have gone to the extent of banning mobile phones for people below the age of 40! devilsworkshp.org

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

And it is from this power play that the urge to censor stems from. As the major educational body of the country, instead of standing up and questioning why the cartoons that never rankled in the ages of their publication should be deleted, the NCERT succumbed to the power of the ‘other’ forces and removed them. When loopholes in our systems are pointed out in the media, as a nation do we have the guts to say that we erred? Oh no! We try to dumb down the voices. We ban a ‘Nine Hours to Rama’ because the author dared to show this country that we lost the Father of our Nation due to our own lack of security systems. But we don’t want to listen to these voices. The governments think that the matter is sorted out by banning the book. Generations grow up seeing and learning only what is portrayed to them. It is said that history is always the story of the winner; history, I believe, is always the story of the censor. What students are taught to believe is our history, what they grow to feel proud of, what is taught time and again in our classrooms, is sadly the perspective of the government and people in power. Politicians, past or present, have always tried to stifle voices. Aditya Thackeray, the rising star leader of the Shiv Sena in Mumbai demanded that the University of Mumbai ban Rohinton Mistry’s 1990 Booker-nominated novel ‘Such a Long Journey.’ The demand came after certain

sections of the party brought it to his notice that the novel made some anti-Shiv Sena references. What shocked most was that the University obliged the very next day! When institutes of higher education pander to the demands of political fledglings, it is time for us to fear. We need to fear the future we are handing over to our children. As a teacher I have constantly motivated my students to think for themselves. But when they go out in the world, out of the cocoons of a classroom, does anybody care for their voice of dissent? When we don’t teach our kids to think and act but want them to solely follow what we are trying to indoctrinate, isn’t there something seriously wrong? The resignations of Prof.Suhas Palshikar and Prof.Yogendra Yadav from their positions as advisors to NCERT after this incident indicate a loud and clear YES to that question. Our constitution states that we are a democratic country and one of the fundamental rights of a citizen is the right to free speech. Oh yes! We truly are a democratic country. We are full of honourable people! We truly believe that if the younger generation sees, hears and speaks what we want them to, then we will surely create a shining India in the future. How long will we hear nothing, see nothing and speak nothing?

Priya Gopal is the Section Head (CBSE) at the Curriculum Department of Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd., Mumbai. An educator by choice, teaching and interacting with kids is something that has enthused her over the last 16 years. Priya lives in Mumbai with her husband and two children. She blogs at http://keepsmilinginlife.blogspot.com

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Fiction Pramila’s Monologue by N.Shobhana Pramila, mother of convent-educated and Engleesh-speaking Jyothi, often goes down the memory lane in her extended monologues. N.Shobhana pens a story that touches on the role of English in upward mobility for Indians, the concerns of urban, nuclear families and the pride of a parent in her child. ‘...Honey, you have no clue, she keeps irritating me! No!! I have tried talking to her, she never understands. How long will I bear her? It’s not that she is a burden. But Unni should also be responsible enough. She is his mother as well....!’ A phone conversation was in progress. Pramila loved the sound of English, especially when it was her daughter speaking. It’s true that she did not understand a word, but that really did not matter. A sense of pride filled her on such occasions. Her eyes would smile behind those thick glasses and would often turn moist in happiness. Mera chokri engleesh bolta ye!1

should be sent to a convent school. Pithambaran was not very keen. He used to discourage her. ‘How will we manage the fees? We have no assets to sell. And who will guide them with Engleesh?’ ‘We will manage somehow. They should go to that convent school in Akurdi. Look at me; if I would have known Engleesh would have I married someone like you?’ Pithambaran had laughed out loudly, and Pramila had joined him. ‘Pithambaran was a good man!’ Pramila thought.

The conversation continued in the drawing room. In the kitchen, Pramila was comfortably seated on her armchair. Her fingers were busy sorting garlic. Pramila paused and placed all the sorted garlics, crowding her lap, on a plate. She was in deep thought. Thoughts which took her down the memory lane.

‘He would not spend a single penny without my knowledge. He would place his family over any of his personal needs. All his life he worked in that Rahul Bajaj’s company. He was lucky; he died when he was working. He was a human machine.’ Pramila was engrossed in her monologue. She was used to such monologues. When She was the one who had insisted that Jyothi her daughter and her Marathi husband were 33

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away at work, she was forced to spend the entire her mother, 70–year-old Thankamani. day in solitary confinement. Thus she developed ‘Ammachiye, ole graa-ch-uateayi! 2 She is a B.A.!’ this unique skill of talking to herself. ‘Ente deviye!’ 3 ‘Jyothi was in a Malayalam medium school during her LKG. It was after her Junior KG that we The first graduate in Pramila’s family. Her pride shifted to Pune. Unni was just two years old. We had reached its brim. Not just any B.A.! B.A. had a cycle then. I still remember how Pitham- (Engleesh) baran used to take us for cycle savaris. What fun! Coming back to the point, convent education was a must, so we needed an Engleesh teacher to tutor Jyothi. It was Bhavanedathi who told me about Lakshmi Miss. God knows where she is now!’ Pramila continued. Suddenly there was an interruption.

‘Okay I’ll talk to her, one last time. I’ll be direct this time. Bye, Honey!’ Jyothi put the receiver down. She entered the kitchen with a serious demeanour. The sight of her daughter side-tracked Pramila’s silent monologue. She smiled at Jyothi, her pride. But there was no response.

‘Amme, can you stop? I am on a call!’ Jyothi Jyothi sat on the kitchen platform and said, shouted from the drawing room. ‘Amma, we need to talk!’ Pramila muted her conversation. But she contin- *** ued. She could not silence her memories. They 1 My daughter speaks were perennial. They would never dry up. English! Every day at 3.30pm Pramila would take little 2 Jyothi to Lakshmi’s house. She would carry Unni Mother, Jyothi bealong. She would wait outside Miss Lakshmi’s came a graduate. house till the class got over. She would bathe 3 My Devi! Jyothi just before the afternoon classes. ‘They are Brahmins, we need to be clean!’ Pramila would often say. During those days Pramila and her baby boy Unni were a common sight outside Lakshmi’s apartment. Jyothi was very intelligent; she grasped the foreign language very quickly. She always stood first in her convent school’s elocution competitions. She did her graduation in Engleesh. Pramila’s dreams flowered.

N.Shobhana is a Sociology student. Writing helps him transcend identities. He is interested in urban studies, oral histories, women's studies, informal economy and Dalit studies.

When she first held Jyothi’s graduation certificate, her fingers trembled in joy. She called up 34

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Non-fiction India Through a Moppet’s Eyes by Anupama Krishnakumar For many years, Amul ads and the Amul girl have been loved by Indians – both young and old. For Anupama Krishnakumar, the ads are brilliant examples of word play and versatility. Interestingly, the Amul ads have, over the years, also traced the journey of India in many spheres. Anupama discusses why she loves these ads and points out how they have represented the story of India in interesting ways. I have always liked that girl with the blue hair – yes, the one who wears a red polka dress. And what I have liked most about her are those big eyes that brim with childish innocence. There’s something utterly cute about her and the way she stands up and speaks her mind out from billboards on busy roads. Yes, something utterly, butterly delicious!

years, conquering fans across all age groups. She has proved, time and again, that innocent though she may be, she is witty, intelligent and extremely adorable. And more importantly, even though she is witty and intelligent, she has lived up to the fact that she can never be cunning. And that’s why her followers love her and adore her, so much so that her creators, daCunha Communications, have refrained from giving her any image makeover in all these years.

Welcome to the smashingly creative universe of the Amul girl and Amul ads – an ad campaign Just like how the little girl has been a favourite, that has been running for close to 50 years now the ads she has been part of too have had a solid and is undoubtedly one of the most successful in following, clean reputation and undying charm, the world. reflecting, like a blemish-free mirror, all the evoThe Amul Girl lutionary changes that this country has seen, in If a carefree kiddo announces her opinion on all the process, serving to boost the brand image of things interesting happening in the country, the Amul. condescending adult in us may question “what Bringing that Smile On does she know?” But this is the Amul girl –so I don’t remember when exactly I started follownobody really asks because she has waved her ing the Amul billboards. But what I do rememmagical wand and charmed one and all over the 35

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pics (“Door Gagan Ke Wow Mein”) and the phenomenal expectations amid which Christopher Nolan’s concluding film of the Batman trilogy, ”The Dark Knight Rises”, released (“Bat Got Butter, Cat Got Cream”) . I especially liked the one they came up with following Time Magazine’s cover showing a photograph of Manmohan Singh and calling him “The Underachiever”. The Amul ad, taking from this, showed a bespectacled Amul girl, posing just like Dr.Singh, with the words, “The Wonderachiever”, written over her image. The Two Line Saga

ber is that these ads have made me smile whenever I have run into one on the road. It’s the sort of smile that spreads across your face as a result of two things – one, a realisation of how true what you are seeing is, and two, an admiration of the creativity that made this realisation possible. I have always been impressed with the brilliant word play at work in these ads, the versatility in the implementing style, the cartoons in particular, and the thought-provoking take they present on very relevant current affairs. And of course, I have been in awe of how, in recent years, the team has quickly lapped up issues that have caught public attention and won their awe, and in some cases, provoked their ire too, and given it the perfect Amul treatment. From one ad that used to come out every week, the frequency of Amul ads per week have now started going up.

Rahul da Cunha, Creative Director, daCunha Communications, Manish Jhaveri, popular copywriter, and Jayant Rane, artist, form the creative force behind the Amul ads. Those who have followed the hoardings closely will realise that there are two parts to the wordings in an Amul ad – one, a one-liner (in most cases) that stamps the issue out and two, Amul’s connection to the episode. These are perhaps why, as a writer, I love Amul ads so much – it really isn’t easy to compress and present the magnitude of an issue in three to five words, particularly when it is something that concerns a nation of one billion people! The concepts in the ads thrive on amazing puns and Hinglish and spell magic at the slightest tweak of a word.

“Kha – na Hazare” with the Amul tagline “Lok Priya Makhan” worked intelligently on Anna Hazare’s name, while trying to urge Hazare to end his fast. It’s also interesting to see how the ad pitches on the word “Lok” (keeping in mind, Lokpal) to declare that Amul butter is people’s Take, for instance, the incredible speed with favourite. Take a look at this ad “Nonsensex” which they came up with ads for Gagan Nathat cleverly nailed the miserable performance of rang’s bronze medal win at the London Olym36

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the stock markets by merging two words “Nonsense” and “Sensex.” And the puzzled moppet with “I have no clue what’s happening” expression on her face is just what the ad needed. Of course, the ad went on to claim that Amul was indeed “safe investment.” Another one of my personal favourites is “Swad Dish” that was a very interesting pun on Sharukh Khan’s “Swades” with the Amul tagline reading “Eaten by we the people”.

has opened doors to controversies. One of the campaigns that stands out was an ad that came in the 1970s – during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency period. “We’ve always practised compulsory sterilisation” was a smart take on the mass sterilisation program that was on during those years. More recently, another very interesting billboard spoke of “Radia-active disclosures!” in the wake of the 2G scam, with the Amul tagline saying “in leak proof packs.” In yet another instance, after Mamata Banerjee’s sharp reaction to cartoons, Telling the Indian Story the Amul ad aptly said “Kolkartoon.” And those An interesting truth that emerges from observ- are just few examples! ing Amul ads ever since it first came out in 1966 What’s also noteworthy is that many of the is the way it has mirrored the workings of a dihoardings are region-specific too. In an article verse and happening country like India, spanning that appeared in Mid-day, Rahul daCunha reveals a wide range of topics from politics to issues of that there are four Indias as far as their target social relevance to sports to Bollywood. Amul audiences for Amul ads are concerned. These are billboards have also focused on important interMumbai, East India, South India and the Hindi national events but a significant share of its atbelt, which includes the predominantly Hindi tention has been given to the affairs in this mulspeaking states. Down south, Jayalalitha, tifaceted subcontinent. . Karunanidhi and Rajinikanth are the show stealPolitics, no doubt, has remained an interesting ers while the Hindi belt is attracted more tospace to explore and perhaps, is one domain that wards political views. The Mumbaikars, under37

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standably, love Bollywood! As we discuss the journey of Amul ads, tracking India as it moved on, it has to be pointed out that young, urban India’s growing affection for social networking and technology also hasn’t missed the Amul girl’s scrutinising eyes. And so came in a series of ads that reflected this trend. “i-Fun, “Face bhook” and “eeek-mail” (based on the virus) were promptly up for Indians to see and smile. For an Amul ad fan, no space is quite enough to discuss the sparkling creativity in those billboards. And that is because creativity in this case has assumed an unbelievable number of dimensions and well, it doesn’t stop with that. Each of these dimensions is unique and renders itself beautifully to the chosen concept. The nuances in almost all of the ads need to be picked and rejoiced slowly and carefully. For a mind thirsty for creativity, Amul ads are a sure refuge.

But beyond all this, what truly stands out is the very reason why the journey has come this far – what has sustained this campaign? The answer is not very tough to arrive at. There is this something – honesty, steadfastness or a certain forthrightness – call it whatever you want, that people acknowledge knowingly or unknowingly about the Amul ad campaign, so much so that these ads are taken for granted – as a part of the everyday life of an urban Indian. And for all the joy and food for thought that these ads and the dear moppet have given Indians over the years, let’s just hope that this saga continues for many years to come. In fact, as a mother, I look forward to the day when my son and I catch each other smiling and exchange a twinkle in our eyes in mutual agreement, seeing another timely Amul billboard on yet another ordinary Indian road. That, I really think, should be fun. Real fun.

Anupama Krishnakumar loves Physics and English and sort of managed to get degrees in both – studying Engineering and then Journalism. Yet, as she discovered a few years ago, it is the written word that delights her soul and so here she is, doing what she loves to do – spinning tales for her small audience and for her little son, bringing together a lovely team of creative people and spearheading Spark. She loves books, music, notebooks and colour pens and truly admires simplicity in anything! 38

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

The Lounge

August 2012 39

Sparkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;August 2012 | India Decoded

Storyboard| Film Freak

The Joy of Watching a B-Movie by Yayaati Joshi

Yayaati Joshi discusses the film, Today’s Special, and says that it is one of those commercial movies that is classified as a B-movie, only because it is made on a low budget. It’s a well-made film, he explains, but has remained that sort of movie that goes unnoticed, because of the general lack of appreciation for such B-films.

In discussions about films, I often find people segregating films into “high art” and “commercial”. I myself have, at times, for the sake of an argument, done so. In the former category, the likes of Godard, Bergman, Ozu, Kubrick are placed, while for mass entertainment you have Speilberg, De Palma, Luc Besson and purely because of the financial grandeur of his films, Christopher Nolan (although it might be of interest to know that Nolan’s first film, called Following, was shot in black and white, which would exactly fit the description of a Bmovie, albeit a good one). A large subset of the so-called “commercial” films is the kind of movies that have been made on a low budget, and

perhaps that is the only wanting aspect of the film. The direction, the act, the locales, and even the marketing are all A grade. These films, by virtue of their low budget, fall in this B-movie category, and unfortunately, go unnoticed, because of the general lack of appreciation for such films. David Kaplan’s Today’s Special is one such movie. This film appealed to me in more ways than one: the first and most obvious reason why I could relate to it was that this was the story of a Chef, which I once have been. I’ll discuss the second reason shortly. Today’s Special is about an Indian-American, Samir, who is in the business of professional cooking, but ironically, cannot cook Indian

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

food — thus depriving him of the chance to revive his father’s dying business. Just when he plans to go to Paris, to seek better cooking opportunities, his father has a heart attack, and he is forced to stay back and look after the failing restaurant. At first, he tries to apply his highbrow, Michelin-starred practices amongst the staff members, and soon finds one member getting annoyed and leaving. From there on, things

to Samir: “Despair is the solace of fools.” This message, far from traditional culinary wisdom, helps Samir overcome his uptight attitude towards Indian cooking. In a short time, the restaurant which was supposed to be sold, as it was running into losses, becomes an overnight sensation with aficionados and food critics alike. Also, like a traditional Indian movie, in which ending a film on an all-encompassing good note is mandatory, Samir finds the love of his life, in an ex-colleague.

This simple plot is just one of the many things that make this low budget film a joy to watch. There is the usual “outsider perspective” which is shown, in moderation, when Samir’s father feels that he is in a foreign land, far away from his “roots”. But throughout the film, one never quite feels so much at home—there are Kishore Kumar’s songs playing in the background, Indian film posters, Shah’s anecdotes from his cooking days in India. Never have I felt more “Indianness” being gently thrust upon the audience. Like a good cook, who knows that too much masala can spoil the dish, the director here manages a fine balance between referencing and force feeding an idea. The film’s ambling pace is a nice contrast to the time strapped reality television cookery shows that make it seem like cooking is almost a mechanical process, look to go downhill, but Samir finds a taxi drivwith no room for personally bonding with the er, who was once a Chef, to help him. This taxi process—the kind of cooking that eventually driver (a cameo by Naseeruddin Shah) is a brings fame and success to Samir. skilled Indian Chef, but as is customary in Indian cooking, does not used weighed and scaled Despite being a fine film, there is no doubt that recipes, much to the confusion of Samir. Like because of the water tight compartments into The Legend of Bagger Vance, here too, the saviour which films are nowadays divided, the film is a disappears long before his protégé tastes suc- B-movie. Yet it is of immense pleasure to know cess, and before leaving gives a word of advice that this is a very successful film; almost all 41

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critics have found the film to be decent—a notch above the average, passable “feel good” film. At a more personal level, as a closeted writer, it’s very comforting to see an almost independently produced film (it would be quite a Venn Diagram, if one were to draw it— depicting films as commercial, “arty”, “B-films”, “C-films”, and Indie productions), with little fanfare about it, being well received. It further deepens my belief that there is scope for creative

works that do not come from mighty brand names—like a self-published book. And for that reason alone—I recommend watching Today’s Special. It will never be the kind of film, the Bluray DVD of which will be collected by many people, but it definitely deserves a place on the shelf of someone who is willing to appreciate good films.

Yayaati Joshi is a man with simple tastes and intense beliefs. Contrary to the bling associated with the capital city, he prefers the company of close friends, an engaging book or an Alfred Hitchcock movie. His placid demeanour is often mistaken for reticence; Yayaati is a self-proclaimed loner, whose recent pursuits include his foray as a budding writer. Yayaati blogs at http://rantingsofadelusionalmind.wordpress.com.

Do you own a copy of our anthology, ‘Sparkling Thoughts’? Order it now at http://pothi.com/pothi/book/anupamakrishnakumar-sparkling-thoughts

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

The Inner Journey by Gauri Trivedi Two people who have absolutely nothing in common share a seemingly similar fate – they both escaped death narrowly only to die a few days later in another mishap. What is there for us humans to deduce out of these two events? Gauri Trivedi shares her point of view.

Borrowed Existence Jessica Ghawi, an aspiring journalist, narrowly escaped a shootout at a food court in a mall at Toronto on June 2, 2012. She was shot dead on July 20, 2012 at a movie theater in Denver, Colorado as she watched the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises”. On May 31, 2009, Johanna Ganthaler, retired, and on vacation, missed her flight from Brazil to France. The said Air France flight 447 never made it to its destination and everybody on board perished when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. A couple of days later Johanna lost her life in a road accident when her car veered across the road and crashed head-on with a truck in the city of Kufstein, Austria.

ingly have nothing in common, except for the deadly outcome. Jessica and Johanna, lived and died a world apart, an invisible thread of (mis) fortune connecting them. Makes one wonder if it is fate? To be saved from one disaster and killed by another? Were these people destined to die? They first made news with their miraculous survival and then in their horrific death, a paradox if you look at the short span of time in between.

Their escape was deemed a miracle, a stroke of luck and believers would even claim that a guardian angel looked out for them. Their death brought out the contrary. It was as if their time had run out and the blessings bestowed upon Both tragedies, almost three years apart, seem- them earlier were snatched away abruptly by a 43

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cruel twist of fate. The jubilance as short lived as something not everybody gets. A new lease of their assignation with luck. life; a second chance; a rare opportunity to live again. And for the briefest period of time, they Jessica left the food court minutes before the escaped the inevitable. alleged shooter opened fire. Later, she checked the map and figured she would have been a The transformation in perception after the surprobable victim, had she still been in the food real feeling of being alive must have been an court. Unknowingly, she stepped away from a unparalleled experience. The fortune and the tragedy only to walk into another just a month tribulation of these two women cease to be and half later. mere news if you can read the spiritual implication between the lines. Weeks before its release, fans started buying tickets for the premiere of “The Dark Knight The same force that took their lives also saved it Rises”, the much awaited Batman movie. Across once. There has to be a reason. Maybe an unfinthe U.S., long queues formed outside theatres ished business or something they were destined that were scheduled to hold midnight premieres to do before finally leaving this earth. And beof the movie. Jessica and her friend were cause I am a believer in God, I suspect it was amongst the many movie enthusiasts who went His way of making them value life and their to watch the first show. As the movie pro- loved ones even more before he finally took gressed, reel action turned into real horror. A them away. In a way they were blessed to have gunman wearing a gas mask and body armour realized the gift of life before it ended. For many opened fire, randomly killing 12 people and in- of us, that never happens. juring 59 others. Jessica was shot first in the leg Sources Jessica Ghawi, Johanna Ganthaler and then in the head. Her injuries proved fatal. Johanna was on vacation with her husband and was probably disappointed when they missed their flight to Paris on account of late arrival at the airport. Four hours later, they must have thanked their lucky stars for being alive. Not bogged down by the flight’s disaster, the couple decided to continue with their vacation to Europe. Unfortunately for Johanna, she missed the doomed flight but could not flee her destiny. Couple of days later, she died in a car wreck in Austria, colliding with a truck head on. Their death, just like their borrowed existence, made news. And as you connect the dots you see that Jessica and Johanna got a precious 44

Gauri Trivedi is a former business law professional who makes the law at home these days. A mom to two lovely daughters, her days are filled with constant learning and non- stop fun. All of her “mommy time” goes into writing and finds itself on her blog pages http:// messyhomelovelykids.blogspot.com / a n d h t t p : / / pastaandparatha.blogspot.com/ and if she is not writing she is definitely reading something!

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Turn of the Page by Vinita Agrawal

Review of ‘The Poetry of Yoga’ “The book attempts to recreate a modern day renaissance of Hafiz, Kabir, Rumi, Lalla, Mirabai and Tagore at least in intent,” says Vinita Agrawal, in a review of ‘The Poetry of Yoga’, a collection of the works of 150 poets from over 16 countries. Read on. The Poetry of Yoga :

peated only after a thousand years, when not one of us present on earth today will be alive! To commemorate this esoteric juncture in time, Onecommonunity.org has released a specially compiled book of poems called The Poetry of Yoga – Vol. I – a book of shared numinous experiences that have snowballed into something spiritually momentous.

A Contemporary Anthology Vol. I 333 pages Edited by HawaH Publisher: One Common Unity Price: $19.95

The pioneering anthology is a collection of poems stemming from man’s quest for spirituality and mysticism. It contains the works of 150 poets from over 16 countries and has contributions from Lilias Folan, Rod Stryker, Swami Ramananda, Eric Schiffman, Aadil Palkhiwala, Krishna Das, to name a few. The book attempts The unique date 11.11.11 is intrinsically attuned to recreate a modern day renaissance of Hafiz, to the unity of number 1 mirrored in the conKabir, Rumi, Lalla, Mirabai and Tagore at least joined number eleven. Such a date will be rein intent. Effectively speaking, the poems are “The book attempts to recreate a modern day renaissance of Hafiz, Kabir, Rumi, Lalla, Mirabai and Tagore at least in intent,” says Vinita Agarwal, in a review of ‘The Poetry of Yoga’, a collection of the works of 150 poets from over 16 countries. Read on.

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

too modernistic and individualistic to justify Swallowed whole comparison with such stalwarts. Undeniable power of her swift sword That said, the reader can look forward to readShe holds me ing some good, divine, soul-stirring poetry and find a few inspirational anchors which might Its total fierce love” help tide over treacherous times. In the book, God and his ethos are found woIn Devotion to the breath by Millicent Accardi, ven around cities and countries. Britany Policastro’s poem on Cambodia called Full Cambothe poet writes: dia Bellies is a gulp of guilt in the face of “I love you shallow wretched, starving children in a poor country. I love you deep “...how those little fingers I love you in three parts and when you come in like a lion Once scavenged for recyclables And leave like ice” In football fields of people’s unwanted particles...” The poems are broadly categorised under five and headings – Compassion, Desire, Freedom Transformation and Service. The editor, Ha- “Love can exist like the lone lotus waH, apart from sharing his aspirations behind In the wretched filth of infested swamp...” this project in a rather tender Prologue, has contributed three poems on the theme of Transfor- In another poem she writes about India – the proverbial, universal spiritual destination. mation. “But I am afraid.... “There is nothing more that I want to do Than to join you in the cocoon...to know the dreams that ...when I am feet away from the majesty of the Himalayas grow wings...Butterfly what is your dream?” In her poem titled Yogini on Fire, the poet, Plunging my toes in the courage of the Ganga Sianna Sherman, writes on the theme of surren- I know I may never return.” der thus: Yoga tennis, Attachment, Inner Encounter, Si“Naked in my truth lent Surrender, Divine Signature, The Inward Journey, Surya Namaskar – Some of the titles of Raw in my honesty the poems contained in the book are indicative Nothing to hide of what is on offer. In a poem Sunset Sandhya, Shiva Rea, who has also penned a prayer-like No shame to wear invocation for the anthology, describes the movAnything can happen now ing impact of a spectacular sunset in these In the womb of Kali words – “no-thing is left. Only the breath dances in 46

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everything”. The book is indeed for readers who into the hymns, songs and sutras that were the poetry of enjoy indulging in existential expressions, who the Vedas. Upanishads, Gita and Tantralokas” grope for something beyond the obvious and who search for words that are food for the soul. The project will be releasing volume II of the collection on 12.12.12 the next noteworthy date. Paula Hayes, who has contributed three poems to the collection, adopts a uniquely philosophical perspective on impermanence. Everything is ephemeral, she says in her poems. However there is no trace of bitterness in her views, they are simply a statement of facts dredged out from the depths of human realisations about life and love. In one of her poem titled, Relinquishment, she writes “And I am left open and alone And not I, even I, will remain upon this earth Except in spirit and bones... Love between the husband and wife will extinguish Beneath the big moon’s rising and setting Against the ocean waves, What stays, my dear What is the word forever for?” HawaH, the editor of the book, is an artist, alchemist Everlutionary and an ardent promoter of solutions to non-violence. He is a special representative to the United Nations and the World Conference against Racism and writes in his Foreword: “This book is a great victory

Vinita Agrawal is a Delhi based writer and poet and has been published in international print and online

a celebration for the cells who carried the creative spark through time for the sages who poured the nectar of realization 47

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

The Inner Journey by Viswanathan Subramanian

Understanding “Ulladhu Narpadhu” In the first part of his series discussing memory (in the July 2012 issue), Viswanathan Subramanian spoke about how we have misplaced the role of memory in our lives, which in turn is causing so many misunderstandings in our relationships. Continuing to share his thoughts on memory, Viswanathan discusses Ulladhu Narpadhu or the Forty Verses on Reality by Sri Ramana Maharishi in this article. Discussing memory and intelligence is the starting point in our introspection of our own nature. But why should we know our nature, if at all? Because, if our basis, the place where we start, is basically not right, whatever we do from the wrong base will lead to misleading perceptions. The perspective we had on memory in the previous issue is a side light in our initiative to know the reality. Forty Verses on Reality (Ulladu Narpathu) by Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi is one of the interesting pointers to understanding ourselves. The Tamil title “Ulladu Narpathu” can be best translated in English to “Forty and Forty alone and nothing more and nothing less.”

Every one of these forty verses (each running to four lines) is a focused, intensive, in-depth contemplation of facets of reality. Intellect is dominant in us and given the sort of importance we give to knowledge and memory, our intellect has grown from strength to strength. Hence the barrier of intellect is all too strong and unless this is overcome, one is bound to miss the perception of reality which is beyond the realm of intellect. Reality is simple and straightforward and does not demand a sharp and refined intellect at all. A simple mind – heart – can grasp reality faster than a mind riddled with intellectual questions and doubts. Let us understand the touchstone of beauty of Forty Verses.

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Verse 15 has the following to convey: “The past and future stand (only by) depending upon the present, which remains always. While occurring, they (the past and future) are both only the present. Therefore, the present is only one (time). (In other words, there are not three times, the past, present and future; there is only one time, the present). (Hence) trying to know the past and the future without knowing the truth of the present (that is without knowing the truth that the present is not existent as one of the three times, and that the sole reality underlying the sense of present time is the ever-existing self) is like trying to count without knowing the value of Unit One. The present is found to be truly non-existent and hence, past and future will also cease to exist. If the present is experienced as one’s mere being “I am”, devoid of all thoughts, it is real. But if the same present is experienced as one of the three times in which thoughts of other two times (past and future) occur, it is unreal (as the thoughts can only be about past or future).” (Source: Sri Ramanopadesa Noonmalai- Word by word in English by Swami Sadhu Om). It is the memory – thoughts – that creates the past, present and future. When you are in deep sleep, do you have the sense of time? There is nothing like past, present and future in deep sleep. When consciousness is interrupted by thoughts, time is created. So, memory is the creator of past present and future.

Put differently, the present that we record in our minds becomes the past. Our notions, opinions and conclusions of a person or a thing are but thoughts. Thoughts interfere in our perception when we interact with the so-called world. These thoughts cause hurt, the resultant sadness and what not! The backlog of memories is too heavily with us, creating more hurdles and problems. The future too is nothing but past in the sense that they are nothing but our thoughts. Why do we talk of all this? We discuss this because thought is an imaginary bridge which brings in dimensions of past, present and future. When such divisions are understood as illusion and the underlying truth is one with us (as different from an intellectual understanding), we are really consciousness (not my/your/their consciousness) and we are in harmony. In such a state, thoughts have their own place and function efficiently in the impersonal way, with total absence of ego. There are no personal memories haunting us and creating conflicts and confusions in us. Remember, mind breeds on memory and mind has to cease for life to be.

Only when “I” as an entity steps in, the moment one wakes up, the inventory of memory gets accessed. In other words, the creator of source of time – past, present and future – steps in. Once we wake up, the mind starts rushing in various directions owing to the continuous train of thoughts. The past is full of thoughts and remembrances. 49

Viswanathan Subramanian was a banker for over 35 years. In his new retired life, he loves poring over business newspapers and journals and making notes. Spirituality also interests him, and so a good number of Sri Ramana Maharishi’s and Jiddu Krishnamurthy’s books find space in his bookshelf. He is extremely passionate about movies and music too. You are sure to find some good old English movie DVDs and an enormous collection of old mp3 Hindi and Tamil songs at his place! Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Slice of Life by Smruti Patil

When I was Awake for an Hour too Long Lessons that we learn as children indeed turn out to be lessons for a lifetime. Smruti Patil shares one such event from her life that taught her a valuable truth. Read on. I clearly remember that night, when I ran home after seeing my mother switch on the lights in the balcony. That was an indication for me to stop playing and go home to finish homework. I clutched the one rupee coin I had found in the park, and ran towards the gate. But then the coin was too tempting, so I turned back, went to the nearby shop and treated myself to a chocolate. Eating it hurriedly, I ran up the stairs. But as soon as I looked at my ma, I couldn’t stop myself from telling her about it. She did not say anything; she asked me to freshen up and then called daddy. I then thought I was surely to be reprimanded big time. I remember I was in class four and I used to sleep every night at 9, promptly. Dad said nothing, asked me about my homework and told me that after I finish dinner and studies I should go sit with him.

to sleep, dad called me, and asked me to sit next to him. He was busy with his work, making some notes in his book. I sat quietly, wondering all the while as to when he would start scolding me. But he kept quiet and silently went on with his work. Every minute was getting heavier with silence. I tried a couple of times to apologise, but he just shut me up. Ma too was sitting with a magazine, but I am sure she was watching her daughter. It was 9:40, my eyes were half closed, but I had to wait patiently, though I didn’t know for what. I rubbed my eyes. Not a single sound in the room. About half an hour later, dad looked at me, mom came and sat next to me, and that was all.

I was again left to sit wondering what actually was happening around me, why the strange atmosphere. That last hour had been slow, very At around 8:45 pm, just as I was preparing to go slow, it was so difficult to sit in front of my par50

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

-ents, unable to say sorry, knowing I had done something they considered wrong. It was getting difficult with every passing second. To imagine myself sitting there with a hundred wild thoughts churning within my head, makes me go uncomfortable for a second even today. After a few more minutes of painful waiting, dad stopped writing. He looked at me with eyes, which had only love for me, and ma held my hands. I remember my dad asking why I was scared and I told him that I knew I should not have picked up that coin. He questioned me as to why I picked it up even when I knew it was wrong. I was silent. My mom told me why I was still kept awake that day - it was their way of teaching me one of life’s most important lessons. Dad told me I had only lost an hour of sleep and I was feeling this restless and asked me to imagine the state of the man who must have lost that one rupee. Money is money, be it just a rupee or a hundred thousand, he insisted. For the one who has worked hard to earn it, every single penny is valuable, he explained. And he raised the question that set me thinking: How could I take somebody else’s precious thing, that too for a mere desire?

would rather leave it or give it to somebody who would be in a better position to handle and judge, than taking anything that I did not deserve. Through the years, this decision has only strengthened further. This is a lesson that I have learnt the hard way. The small punishment from my parents helps me work hard for whatever I want to have. Desires may be many, but I strive to possess only what I deserve.

I took time to realise it was not just money, it was that man’s efforts, his thoughts, his dreams, that we were talking about. I was ashamed of myself. I really had nothing to say that day. My parents knew I had learnt my lesson, and neither did they ask me to say sorry nor did they ask me to promise I would never repeat it. Being parents, I am sure they saw it in my eyes.

Smruti Patil works as an Integration Consultant and lives in California, U.S.

I vowed to myself that never again would I ever pick up something that does not belong to me. With the mind of a nine-year-old, I thought I 51

Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

This month’s Spark features some lovely photography too. See the back cover of this edition.

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Spark—August 2012 | India Decoded

Photography The Festive Spirit of India by Sourav Ghosh

Sourav Ghosh is a freelance writer-photographer based in Kolkata. In these photographs he has captured the festive spirit of (clockwise from left : Dahi Handi, the human pyramid made to capture and break an earthen pot during Krishna Janmashtami, the crowds of Ganapati Visarjan, and the power-incarnate, Goddess Kali during the Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata. 53

Sparkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;August 2012 | India Decoded