Asaram Bapu--a sick man or crazed by power?

Asaram Bapu's case of sexual molestation brings something else to mind. The responsibility of parents!

How many times in India have we heard of minor girls being molested by so called sadhus. Let me tell you a story of an extremely protective and self righteous mother, who staked her whole credo on her belief that  conservative upbringing was the key to a successful marriage for her daughters. In her quest for this she went to soothsayers and godmen who assured her that her daughters would be wed within their caste community fold to eligible young men of her choice.

She could return feeling blessed and satisfied at the performance of her parental duties.

And then she took herself and her daughter to yet another god man well considered in her larger family circle.

The " Asaram Bapu" code of conduct was repeated. The old man mauled the young girls breasts and more. The young girl was too frightened to tell her mother, and when she did, her mother said, hush hush, your matrimonial chances will diminish if a scandal breaks out--and who will believe us.

She bought her daughter's complicity with worldly wisdom--assuring her of a Good Match.
An upper middle class woman! How many like her have been silenced.

This young girl  from UP, and her braver parents have shown middle class India--that it should not be silenced.

Asram Bapu's conduct is just the tip of the iceberg! Were the young women of India to speak out there would be a deluge of complaints of sick godmen around--predators in saffron.

Besides what would a man of God want with worldly wealth of 8000 crores?

Seamus Heaney--the silencing of a poet laureate

Castalian Spring---courtesy Kenyon Review

by Seamus Heaney

Thunderface. Not Zeus's ire, but hers
Refusing entry, and mine mounting from it.
This one thing I had vowed: to drink the waters
Of the Castalian Spring, to arrogate
That much to myself and be the poet
Under the god Apollo's giddy cliff--
But the inner water sanctum was roped off
When we arrived. Well then, to hell with that,
And to hell with all who'd stop me, thunderface!
So up the steps then, into the sandstone grottoes,
The seeps and dreeps, the shallow pools, the mosses,
Come from beyond, and come far, with this useless
Anger draining away, on terraces
Where I bowed and mouthed in sweetness and defiance.

Hum Sab Ayodhya

Ayodhya—Righteous Rule

It is the quest for a homeland that  brings me back to eastern UP— the mud huts,  haystacks, wheat and mustard fields, a landscape I grew up with.  By now  the wheat has been cut, fields lie fallow waiting for rain but green mango kaeries  ripen in orchards. But like elsewhere in UP, aspirations are fast changing  and  the erstwhile Kingdom of Kosala is no exception. Cyber  media game shows, glitzy mobile phones, aah nachle—dance and song TV competitions-- enthrall  Ayodha’s youth  at the 2Star Ram Shyam Hotel, the only one here. Come evening and no bhajan-kirtan for them,  instead  it’s  Big Boss on a communal  TV.  Scoffs a local scribe—no budding Tulsidas either, poetry  like news is bought and sold.

Some  weeks  ago instead of the  anti-corruption rallies,   this Hindi heartland witnessed a mega Congress Party rally at Basti, followed by  the BJP one in Faizabad. Thousands of loaded cars sponsored by prospective MLA-- ticket seekers  poured in from neighbouring districts in a show of strength. But Ayodhya’s locals shrugged nonchalantly. Simply no one took notice of Ravi Shankar Prasad and Nitin Gadkari thundering on Ram Mandir;  a non-issue they said. Though there is no denying BJP--MLA Lallu’s  Singh popularity here. His people to people contact is exceptional says Yatin Misra, prince-ling of erstwhile Ayodhya state,  of  `vidhayak’ Lallu. But  imagine claiming if ` mandir’ is built he will light up Ayodhya like a dulhan?  Is there  any mention of development?  Of civic amenities? Beyond widening of roads, has any change taken place? That’s why  beyond  Ayodhya, its other political parties that hold sway.   

Though Ayodhya’s history is well documented in Valmiki’s Ramayana, it is in the Atharvaveda that  its antiquity is first mentioned. The  Ikshvaku kings of Suryavanshi descent,  make up Lord Rama’s  kingdom of   Kosala  divided by the sacred river Saryu with  Sravasti the capital of the north  and Ayodhya,  the south. Though  Ram holds sway here,  it is not the hi-fi pilgrim but  the lower middle class  that comes in droves, from distant Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra.  Some walk  barefoot to the  heavily guarded Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas.  The police guards and  the heavy rolls of barbed wire do not daunt them.

But  having `Ram’s Janam bhumi’  here has been pernicious for Ayodhya,  says activist Gopal Krishna,  yet another writ petitioner of the Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas controversy, also reminding me that the name Avadh adopted by the latter Nawabs came from Ayodhya. A  thousand temples, ten thousand —there is no record of how many, or revenue earned, or taxes paid. Arre  yahan koi documentation  parampara se nahin hain, adds Mr R.C. Gaur of the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan, a research institute  established in 1985 under the then Chief Minister Veer Bahadur Singh.  No heritage laws apply here, no Antiquities or Treasure Acts.  The mahants are secretive, they don’t like to reveal their sources of wealth, and no one dare annoy the all powerful mahants.

But says the sane voice of Kaushal Kishore Das `Phalahari’  Baba,   of all of us here who wear the `sadhu- make up’,  who is a real sadhu?  Locals gossip, today  religion is a  part of a  money- laundering racket for Marvari seths, sometimes `rajneti’. In this  town of contradictions, religiosity is mixed with extreme pragmatism. Mandir  has become a `khilona’, a toy, continues  `Phalahari’ Baba, just another  face for the  desire for power. If the  Mandir- Masjid  controversy ends will  NRI Hindus or Middle- east Muslims  send money.  Think, who stands to lose?  All I wonder  is-- why  is science  progressing but humanity  regressing, why  are powerful states  fraught with paranoia, are  unselfconfident and unstable, he continues? Surely mandir-masjid doesn’t offer a solution to this?

The outburst of Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Ayodhya title suits,  is more impulsive. A  Muslim is afraid if he loses `Masjid’ he loses his relevance in this nation. Suppose  we say, okay, no mosque then how do we know there  won’t be a Mathura or some new demand won’t arise.   Peeda hai, Dukh hai, dard hai, usko leke kahan jaye hum? Is this the price of democracy? As long as there is money  in conflict—this will continue. So how can there be an amicable settlement.

Think, 25 lakhs spent each day guarding Ram Janam bhumi Nyas. In a mere  2.77 acres you have 14 PAC and 7 CRPF batallions, numerous Dog Squads, 50 darogas and what have you. BJP walas  wish Ram Mayya to rule, instead Ram lalla is under  lock and key, and the looters are running around enjoying life, he rants, while the Police nationwide  has become daku. Will  those who shout slogans of Hindutva  alone be allowed to live? Will they drive Muslims out into the Arabian sea—where will we go—look at  Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan? No state  can thrive on the basis of religion—literature and history show this.  All agree Pakistan is a failed state. —Agar masjid lene say aman aaye ga-- then take the masjid. But remember too it was in Akbar’s darbar  that Tulsidas wrote the Ramayana. 

We have to look at the nation, says Hashim. Ek hi formula hai--Mohabbat se jeeyo. Or what legacy do we leave the youth-- Youth do not think anymore.  How can they? If a father sells his house to educate his son and then he needs another 5-10 lakhs to bribe his son’s way to a job, how and what will his son think? We supply cow meat,  arhar daal, but do not eat it. Foreigners eat  better  basmati rice than us.  Why?  Because the nation needs dollars to buy arms. Where are those dollars going? Do they come back to  us  so we can  live in a better way?

Meanwhile Asif Ahmad, City President Congress Party talks about the success at the Basti Rally on 24^th April, 2011. We sent 32 cars, he said. We showed them our strength. All our leaders were there, Salman, Punia ji, Beni babu, etc. But did you tell them about your organizational weaknesses, I ask. Arre who listens….Politics is of the moment—we win on the lehar, the wave—Jo le gaya so ley gaya—5 saal ke leye raja hain voh!  All the rest remains. Then why talk of vikas, development? The voter is not educated enough to think like that.

Says Phalahari Baba, people are foolish. If I am ready to be made a fool of, why should the man not make a fool of me? The politician does it and wins the vote.  Who is angry with the system—no one. The temple trusts are  only angry as to who got more.  The women  employed to perform kirtan –bhajan at one temple are lured away by another  if offered a better make-up kit, Yatin laughs, they argue whether it is Ponds or Lakme. And when a popular TV show picks up people it is for their controversial sound byte—and a nonentity becomes a celebrity—who cares if no one knows him here! No one wants to know what Ayodhya really  is—says Yatin. Rumour has it his father, the Raja joined the BSP,  to save his property from the hands of  `Madam’

There is no Ayodhya anymore, it is a figment of the mind,  says `Phalahari’ Baba.  Open drains are filthy, garbage dumps rot, the populace full of hustlers and cynics.

So what did Ayodhya once stand for,  Ram Rajya?  Do you see any righteous rule here?

Meanwhile, the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan, a research Institute set up in 1985,  continues to show the Ram lila enacted by a troupe from Barabanki for 15 days before the next arrives  to a rapt lower middle-class  audience. With them is a kubdi mai who has braved  the heat, the poor transport, bad footwear,  and come all the way. Is it belief that sustains,  belief that as long as they hear the recitation of Tulsidas’s chaupais  there is still hope that righteous rule, in this crime-infested state  might still prevail.

Food Security--Good Governance or the Politics of Votes

Democracy works on votes. Votes means the wish of the people. So Food Security--if it gets you votes--is democratic. Right?  So where is the dichotomy?

 

The real question is are we in for short term democracy or long term gain. It highlights a larger question--that brings to view what governance models are about? If they are about short term democracy then we have to follow short term models of governance and finally end up with  elections every two years?

 

The Food Security Bill also throws up larger questions of good economics as Arun Shourie says " Where is the money coming from?"

 

But Mr Shouries people who don't fight elections have opinions that don't count. Its a sad state but this is what it is. So if you want your opnion to count you have to face the Arena. Armchair politicians  can always only have half the picture. Sad but true, they can only make good copy.  

Similarly chatterati don't count in an Election. Pundits don't count. Rajya Sabha MP's don't count. Newspaper editors don't count. They are not in the Arena of the Bull Fight.

 

The Shouries of teh world need to give an electoral answer, not just an academic one, because that is how Indian democracy has been played--by all parties so far--Otherwise change the Constitution.

 

 

Dolly & Media

Dolly thinks Media has begun to control our lives--begun to subtly shape, and sometimes not so subtly shape who we see, what we do, what we think. I don't want to see this bunch of actors on every Times of India or HT city page----but I have to, they, these papers are making them popular--finally they are intruding into my space and mind and life--I am no longer free to even think my own thoughts, mutters Dolly to herself as she takes her morning walks in Humayun's Tomb.

Banner of Peace---Roerich

Do you know about The Banner of Peace? Do you know why we should present it to maestro Zubin Mehta in September, when he conducts the Bavarian Philharmonic in Srinagar?

Kashmiri Dost

An exhibition on Kashmiri Pandits---yes that's me, I curated it. Thought it was time someone gave credit to us folk--instead of hounding us out of Kashmir and pretending we never existed unless it was in some Muslim approved garb. Its the problem I have with all shades of fundamentalism--turning the Other out of the Pale--so we have been turned out and Kashmir can only be of one denomination--yes say it please--a Muslim Kashmir.

There he comes, a wily politician, snivelling his way into the circle of viewers and he remarks taht he would love to sponsor the exhibit in Srinagar. Od course we want the Pandits back, genocide, ethnic cleansing, whoever told these fairy tales--we love them, the Hindus--see I want to take your Exhibition to Srinagar, and give you a good time at Kashmir University, but surely, yes, surely you understand, you cannot have an Exhibition on the Kashmiri Pandits alone, can you not put in a few of Muslim Kashmiris, after all that chap there, Mohanlal is so well--known, yes he did convert, and let's do this exhibition there as well--Muslims & Hindus----no marks for guessing who is moustachiod politico might be.  

So its an all out Media War. They really think this Election will be won by the chatterati--but if only chatterati were not as compromised as they are--who owns the Media Houses--who decides what to throw up--how much share componenet is owned by whom? How may want real estate deals in Pakistan, who wants to build the Oil pipeline? Yes Pakistan will be the news profit pickings--why the poor chaps need everything to pull them out of their feudal state. So which group of journos shoudl we take? Those who talk peace? Those who promote war? Hail to the Halleburtons of India---we, teh Media, have truly sold ourselves. Well its a nice state to be in when illusions are cast off and we know now everything, yes everything is for sale. Hail to  American Capitalism! You have truly conquered the world--perhaps the Islamic frontier is the only true one left?

Dolly & Things

Sitting on her favourite bench in Humayun's Tomb, Dolly is wondering about her scrap with her husband. All of 35 years married and he still could not understand why a housewife could get fed up of things. Things that needed to be looked after, things that needed to be washed, things that needed to be dusted, valuable things that could break.....no she no longer wanted things. She no longer wanted to be the person who could want things.

She wanted to be thing--free.

Modi and Lutyen's Underdog

Lutyens Delhi joins hands against a  rank outsider--??? Seriously Tavleen Singh, you cannot fill your column in last Sunday's Indian Express, with this argument, thought Dolly.

Are you ignoring all what has happened in the last 20 years in Indian politics; are you forgetting Lalu as Railway Minister or Mamta, or Nitish, or Mulayam or Beni Prasad Varma?

Your line of argument is Dynasty versus a Raw Political Recruit--alias Modi Sahib. Many politicians have risen on their own might and made it to the Parliament and also Ministership--IK Gujral for one was known to have said that he came to this city of Delhi--a victim of partition-- riding a bicycle. He ended in Maharani Bagh and Amrita Sher-Gill Marg!!

The type of politician NaMo signifies is not unique to Lutyens Delhi, infact he is better off as he has the whole monetary and moral might of the RSS--who certainly must've benefitted from his years of Chief Ministership in Gujarat--directly or indirectly--and .....understandbly so...Dolly thought, on her bench in Humayun's Tomb, again reading Tavleen Singh's outrageous column in the Indian Express,
but after the past edcades  of the underdog claiming bureaucratic and political space to reduce the argument of Rahul vs Modi to mere Lutyens Delhi's penchant for social snobery--that is a political cliche is ever there was one.

Onions and Dolly

Dolly refused to buy onions! Rs 80 a kilo! And now the newspapers reported it was a cartel of traders trying dirty tricks to make a fast buck and also to create confusion! Tch tch what all they will stoop to in an Election Year!

Dolly had one conclusion--eat like a Kashmiri Pandit---no onions in their gravies--made of curds and ginger! Her Punjabi neighbour, Swaran Ahuja was flummoxed----a curry without onions--but Dolly promptly made her her best Roghan Josh, and sent a dish up!

Take some meat pieces and marinate  a little with some dahi and a half tea spoon ful of dried ginger or sonth. Then heat some ghee or oil in a Karahi, and add some cloves, hing and elaichi. Put in the marinated mutton and put the lid on. Let the water slowly dry off before you start scraping the bottom of the dish which has begun to brown. Couple of scrapes--could take half and hour and you have a perfectly browned mutton roghan josh. Add some red chilli powder and garam masala. And have it with basmati rice, or phulkas. Dolly also likes to add some potatoes to the curry, and sometimes a few long pieces of lauki--finger licking dish it is!!

Bye Bye onions---a KP for sure doesn't miss you.  

Dolly & Independence Day

Another Independence Day gone thinks Dolly. Its as if her own life lay spread out in front of her as she watched Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's sad face on the TV. She knew what he was thinking. He was thinking-- does NaMo really know what he is saying when he talks about Poverty, and Pakistan all in the same breath?  Does he know that seizing the throne of Delhi will not be a magic wand that will cure all the ills of India. How gladly he would hand over his own burden if only he could find one honest man to give it over to. No one--least of all the media--knows how difficult it is to find that one man in this whole country--a man fit to wear the crown.....

Dolly feels his burden as if it were her own--whom can he trust, what can he do?

Enjoy your time in the opposition NaMo---enjoy the slugfests while you can---India is not a Gujarat that you can control with money or muscle.  And the crown you hope to wear will be one of thorns---
 

Kashmiri Pandits--A Vintage Album--Exhibition

EXHIBITION---IIC GALLERY ANNEXE--

6TH TO 15TH AUGUST, 2013   

Team—Curator- Dr. Manju Kak;  Text- Siddharth Kak & Manju Kak;  Editor- Meenakshi Kumar;  Panel design- Mohd. Zishan;  Exhibition Assistant- Garima Minocha.

 Acknowledgements- Jamia Archives, Teen Murti Memorial Museum & library, Anchit Gupta, Priya Kapoor, BN Sharga, Henny Sender, Kusum Pant, T.Tochhawng, MK Razdan, Sarla Razdan, Punam Zutshi, Individuals

     

“Kashmiri Pandits of North India-A Vintage Album”

A contribution to the making of India

The contribution of the Kashmiri Pandit to Indian society and politics is significant compared to their small numerical strength.

The rise of Pt JL Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister,  to the national stage as a statesman and politician with an egalitarian world view is rooted in the cultural and intellectual milieu of the community he came from. This exhibition seeks to trace those roots through a history of two centuries of migration and acknowledges the work of fine scholars and researchers such as Henny Sender, Kusum Pant, B.N. Shargha, and Anchit Gupta amongst others who have re-traced the history of this community, piecing it together through sources such as the monumental two-volume Bahar-i-Gulshan-i-Kashmir, civil lists, newspapers, community journals, archival taluqdaari records and historical texts.

It  showcases the early migration from over 300 years through photographs taken from archives and individuals who are acknowledged.

This community of people who migrated to the Indian plains from the pristine Kashmir valley at varying points of time in history easily adapted and adopted the cultures they inhabited. This ability helped them to progress and prosper. The Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) have contributed to the secular ethos of Indian society and politics out of proportion to their small numbers. Historian Henny Sender says,  they acted like a 'bridge' connecting the Islamic to the Hindu communities, in the cultural mix of the 18^th & 19^th century Indo-Islamic world and later the British. It is often inferred, in modern times, their abdication of this role has been an unfortunate loss to the secular world. Following the bloody events of 1947, till the beginning of militancy in 1989, migration from Kashmir Valley has been of a different order. Their current displacement is one of the greatest human tragedies since Partition. Their  abdication of this role post—1947 is perceived to be a loss to India’s secular traditions particularly in the light of the ethnic cleansing witnessed in post 1989 Kashmir Valley. Not only that, at a time when ethnic and caste divisions are becoming deeply manifest in the Indian polity, few cohesive voices exist any longer to span them. In this context  a re-look at the history of  communities that  kept the social fabric  intact through their secular outlook, such as also Parsis, Kayasthas and Khatris of yore, becomes a worthwhile endeavour. 

Their migration spread over different periods in history, starting as early as the 14^th century. Far away from their roots, this community of Kashmiri Brahmins or Pandits, developed a unique cultural milieu that took the best of their traditions and adeptly mixed it with the cultures they inhabited. This inherent quality to adapt was one of the key reasons behind their success and rise in new socio-political regimes.

When the KPs left the Valley, their knowledge of Persian, Sanskrit  and other classical languages, helped them find jobs. Employment came first in the Mughal courts in Delhi, and later, they contributed to the administration of the erstwhile Rajput and Muslim princely states of North India as diwans, ministers and advisors. Steeped in Indo-Persian tradition, KPs followed a mixed Hindu-Muslim social and literary culture, and thereby, developed close ties with the upper Muslim class as well as the Hindu Kayasthas. This social interaction gave them a secular outlook, thus making them a favourite with their rulers. In the early years of migration during the Mughal era, Kashmiri Pandits, or KPs, worked  as tutors and scribes in the courts and daftars. Later when the might of the Mughal empire ebbed they moved to neighbouring erstwhile Rajput and Muslim fiefdoms as divans, ministers and advisers.

One of the first to receive western education, they worked for the British through the district and high courts, the universities, and came to general governance through the Civil Services cadres of government employ.

In the later 19^th and 20^th centuries many educated and enlightened KPs were at the forefront of social reform. Their influence was not limited to politics alone; they made a significant contribution to Indian literature, development of Urdu, music, art and culture. Then, as the winds of Freedom began to blow, Mahatma Gandhi’s call for Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience found many KPs responding and became a significant part of the Movement. Pt Motilal Nehru and his son, Jawaharlal Nehru are two prominent examples, and of course Jawaharlal became India’s first Prime Minister but there are others like Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and Dr Pt Hridaynath Kunzru who contributed to India’s Freedom Struggle. After Independence in 1947, when the Indian Republic was formed, they were once again a major force in setting up modern India.

But India’s Independence turned out to be a tragic chapter for Kashmir, which acceded to India through the Instrument of Accession executed by Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947.