Panun Pan Parzan, Kashmiri (English Subtitles).mp4

Panun Pan Parzan, Kashmiri (English Subtitles).mp4

Panun Pan Parzan screened at Sadho Poetry Film Fest. The film take a look at the teachings of saint poets of Kashmir- Lal Ded & Nund Reshi in context of today.

No Christ in Christmas!

Christmas is round the corner.  Despite the economy still being in the jaws of recession , one can sense the anticipation and excitement people are feeling at the prospect of coming festivities. You hear about series  of parties being planned , trips being booked; drinks and  turkey being  readied. You see shoppers , you see promotions, advertisement  and marketing messages all round. you have lights shining bright ; everything is there but hardly anyone is talking about Christ. I  am not talking  here about world vision and Charities , but about you and me.  Another factor in these strange times is that everything has become political. It is not good form anymore to wish people 'Merry Christmas", since it can hurt their feelings. Politically correct form is "Season's Greetings".
My friend George Koshi lives in a condo that has more  number of residents following another Semitic faith. They went around and passed a resolution that there will be no Christmas celebrations in the building. No carols , no tree with a star on it in the lobby, no public display; since it will hurt their religious feelings. So this is the Christmas George is forced to celebrate.Incidentally George lives in Canada.
One must realize that in all  the Christmas cacophony Christ has just become a background noise that everyone just ignores.  People are more animated about the boxing day sale than anything else. So far I have not heard anyone say they plan on praying that day forget about attending  formal church. I am not making a value judgment here because people are free to enjoy life and celebrate any which way they please but one wonders how and when this pious occasion meta morphed into an occasion to indulge your senses ?

I am not a  christian so let me point the other four fingers at myself. Isn't it exactly this road Diwali is traveling? An occasion to eat , drink and gamble . Put up garish displays of wealth . Bribe and be bribed ( gifts!!). Although I realize for a lot of people there is still a lot of sanctity left. I know most people pray that day and even  though it is not enough at least  spend some moments in piety. One benefit  of  becoming older is that you can look back .Anyway things are clearer in retrospect. So I remember in my younger days Diwali started quite early with street corner Ramlila performed by local people. It was very rustic and very amateur but there was no dearth of feeling in it. I remember even in our games as children we enacted the scenes from the Ramlila play. Ram was central to Diwali.
Like most people we were not exactly flush with funds so come Diwali we had some earthen lamps; one set of earthen images to pray to, a box or two of  the cheapest sweets and a barest minimum of crackers to celebrate it with. There were no big gifts, almost never  did we have new clothes, no electrical lights , no big feasts; yet I remember those Diwali's because the spirit ,enthusiasm and feelings were purer. If you ask me what I did last Diwali I do not remember yet I remember what happened thirty years ago.
Now I remember I partied last Diwali. Isn't that a shame?

Selective amnesia

Your memory becomes poor as you grow older, but if you forget only certain things specially the inconvenient ones ..... this is what happens every 6th Dec. in India. Various people remember the events around Babari structure selectively, to suit their point of view. Essentially we have neither learned anything since those sad days nor are we willing to let go and move on. Anyone who was around then as I was remembers there were and still are two camps. Those who want a temple structure on the site and those who want it to function as a mosque. It was a highly polarized time and hardly anyone was a fence sitter. 17 years hence a report tries to exonerate some actors and implicate some non actors thus making a mockery of the whole process. I personally remember many die hard congressmen supporting the Ram Janam Boomi movement although officially they were supposed to make appropriate noises against it. The prime minister of the day did not think it advisable to lift a finger before the structure was leveled. Today he is with his maker and can't be questioned any more but his party colleauges who were in the government with him are posing as innocent lambs . They played politics with the issue then as they are doing it again by uncorking the toothless report.

The other side rode this issue to power , eventually unseating the "NO TEMPLE " camp. Once they were in they forgot about it in quick time. Once in power some were sorry about it , some wanted to cap it ....... finally they decided to do nothing! Suddenly today when the report came out accusing them of being the wolf they first tried to side step and then went on offensive .

There are no winners in this controvercy only losers starting with people of India who are being hoodwinked again and again on non issues. If a wrong was done culprit is the whole society not one or two individuals . The locks were opened to Checkmate mandal politics by congress, bJP hijacked the issue and only then congress formed an opinion against it. In all this no body should forget the obduracy of the muslim leadership. They took the position that a foreign tyrant babar is more important and no matter if old Ram temple was razed by him , once a masjid always a masjid. Ram in their opinion is only a myth. Talk about Selective amnesia !

What solution is possible with these positions??? How many Indians will agree to this interpretation of Indian culture?

Liberhan report is just a selective report; truth is known to everyone that in those days every one was a supporter of Ram temple . Some were overt , some covert Starting from then Prime minister down to a school kid. As they said in those days " bacha bacha Ram Ka".

Fighting with candles!

One year since Mumbai was hit by Pakistani terrorists showed us a lot of things. Mainly it became clear that we live in very strange times. Every time is " showtime". So you have half of bollywood singing and mouthing meaningless dialouges from india gate .
Well meaning and decent People got together with a candle in hand at several places . The setting sun casts an interesting shadow during such ceremonies and the glow from the flame certainly makes for a pretty picture. Moreover it is easy to do , it can get you a fleeting moment of fame on the evening news and will certainly wipe any sense of guilt that you may feel for not having done anything substantial. So all you good citizens ; a lit candle can stop terrorist from striking again! Right?
Wrong ! absolutely Wrong ! In fact such shallow demonstrations only make the terror planners stronger since they see their strikes as powerful enough to leave us bewildered , confused and deeply hurt. This kind of impotent chest beating only emboldens them to make another strike since it is very cost effective for them . Look at the stats for this one in their favor. Their 9 for our 180 plus a bonus of one billion people stunned into inaction. 26/11 is not the first . Even if you take just Mumbai alone you can not forget the coordinated serial blasts a couple of years ago. If you remember, similar candle vigils were undertaken then ; similar posters and banners had appeared then too . We all shouted same kind of slogans. Our leaders told us that India will not tolerate terrorism anymore. We all heard the same standard statements about the undying spirit of the city and how nobody can break our unity. I will not go into everything that has happened since then Events that have given all that a lie; but you know 26/11 happened still . it is not my imagination or interpretation of events; it has happened!
One thing we should have learned years ago is that candles actually do not work as an anti terrorism device. We should have realized by now that making vain , stupid and stereotyped bollywood movies in which we try to sympathize with the terrorist ; will not change a single terrorist's heart. We should know that media apologists justifying terrorism on TV as a result of communal violence in India is not entirely correct. We should have realized that bringing Sharukh Khan in the media to teach people about Allah's Islam vs. Mullah's Islam is only good copy writing . His reading patriotic dialogue from a sheet on India Gate lawns is not going to cut it . Specially with the kind of forces that spawn Islamic terrorism. It does nothing and I repeat nothing to help people stop the terrorist menace except give them a colorful star studded evening and give them a false sense of well being .
Do you think terrorists in their Muridke camps are shaking in their boots with fear now that you held your rallies or do you think they are laughing their guts out at our sissy response ? This is nothing but the worst kind of sucidal tokenism. Who are we trying to fool here if not ourselves? Are we going to defend ourselves with burning candles , lighting incense sticks in front of the pictures of our innocent dead and singing songs from India gate?
When evidence has been piling upon evidence for years on end we should have learnt that closing our eyes to the problem will not solve it. We have to crush them with force in their home or be prepared for another bloody nose.
How hard is that ? Or is it really beyond us?
Actually there is a very good use for a burning candle ; but only after you capture a terrorist alive.
I am afraid historically we have fallen over each other to feed them biryani instead !!!

Sachin's cheeky single!

Sachin Tendulkar; argubly the best ever batsman in all forms of the game is not known for taking risky singles. Usually he likes to dispatch even the best ball of a world class bowler to the mid wicket fence with his really heavy bat. Honestly even a Pakistani umpire will not be able to give a lbw decision in your favour if you bowl the kind of loose delivery Bala Sahib bowled.
I have no idea why he decided to lock horns with Sachin. Incidentally his loose delivery was hit for a six by Sachin . It just seemed like a single to Bala Sahib because Sachin basically danced half way down the pitch and lofted his delivery straight out of the Park. I do not have to agree with Bala sahib's politics to recognise that he has spent a lifetime struggling for what he believes in. I am afraid though this was not one of his best moments . Sachin is absolutely correct in believing that being proud of your Maratha heritage means being proud of being Indian First.
There is a saying that when your shoe fits your son treat him as an equal. There is nothing demeaning in learning from your children; specially when they are right. So hopefully this was a friendly match and scores will not enter record books but let it be known that the cheeky single was a thumping "sixer".
Over a Billion Indians say so.

What's Pakistan's problem?

Pakistan's problems are not all that different from that of India's or Bangladesh's ;
or for that matter from any other developing country. It is facing similar issues relating to development, mass poverty, lack of education and health facilities. Regionalism, political corruption and institutional failure has a similar ring throughout the Indian sub-continent. Even insurgency is a factor throughout the subcontinent . Tamil's fought a pitched war for decades in Sri Lanka. Maoist fought and won in Nepal. Afghanistan looks like a sieve and has been bleeding all over for over two decades. India had to contend with several of them. From Naga rebellion through Punjab disturbances to Kashmiri Muslim's terrorism . From ISI 's periodic blasts to Maoist armed action, she has faced them all . However at no time does it look like that the Indian state is going to fold up. Nor does it look like Nepal or Sri Lanka will ever cease to exist because of their domestic troubles. Even Bangladesh with her coups , BDR revolts and catfights between the begums feels stable.

Pakistan however is a different case altogether. Since the carving out a separate country in 1947 they have steered their nation with one hand positively on the self - destruct button. It is not a surprise that commentators and analysts have continuously tagged it a failed state for the 40 odd years. It is not because these people have any animosity with Pakistan neither is it a part of the grand design to muzzle an Islamic nation. The fact is that it is Pakistan herself that has regularly emitted these distress signals. Pakistan has been on the death bed for so long , it is a surprise to some that it exists at all. Pakistan must realize that the main cause of their instability is their confused national identity. They do not know if they are Muslims or they are Pakistani's. Believe me these are mutually exclusive things. One is personal other is cultural. You can be both but not at the same time.

They have taken most of their decisions as Muslims and that has been the cause of their troubles. From making kashmir an issue and a permanant anti- India stance to their creating Taliban for achieving strategic depth . All the 'muslim' policies have boomeranged on them. So not surprisingly they are continuously facing strategic death!
Isn't it funny that their ' theory of Pakistan ' strategists and analysts are actually pepping them up by telling Pakistani's that they are son's of Arab invaders and they should be proud of this. Wow ! in any other nation; Muslim or not, this would constitute an extreme insult to the people and result in instant lynching of the theorists. Not in Pakistan though. In their befuddled state of mind it does not register as derogatory. Try saying this kind of thing to an Iranian or a Turk or an Indonesian for that matter !! All muslim states. Indonesia has made Ram's story into a traditional opera that they love to show off. It has not made them any less muslim.

Can Lahore do it?

A Lahore Muslim can not feel proud of the fact that Lahore is named after Luv the son of Lord Rama. Pakistani citizens are not supposed to have any feelings for Katasraj because it is Pre Islamic. Guru Nanak was born in Pakistan , his teachings and wisdom finds no place in public consciousness. His birthplace is only used once a year to score browine points and flog the dead khalistani horse. How Sad but true. Just for comparison see how India proudly markets Taj Mahal as an "Indian" brand. The fact that it was built by a muslim ruler does not come into consideration.

So the question is how have they survived ? Well it is under severe pressure of Islamists but they still wear orange and fly kites on Basant, do'nt they? It is very pre - islamic and just a Pakistani tardition. Call me simplistic but as long as they continue to recognize and follow the "Pakistani" traditions they will chug along. The continuation of their nation however demands that they immediately all the Muslim causes from Palestine to Iraq and straightaway strive to find answer to one thing and one thing only - Who am I ?

Stamps

31 st October is the day when both Indira Gandhi and Amrita Pritam left this world. Apart from both of them being contemporaries I find many parallels in their gritty and rebellious lives.

Amrita's life was a typical artist's life. She seems to have channelized both her personal sadness as well as public grief into an exquisite creative expression. So while her early work is driven by the loss of her mother at a young age and the colossal human suffering resulting from the partition of the Indian sub continent ; her later work drew more and more from her personal life. Her collapsing marriage , her unfulfilled relationship with Sahir Ludhyanvi and her eventual common law relation with Imroz probably firmed her feminist perspective. Her writings are intense and manage to take hold of you even in translation.

Indira Gandhi also lost her mother to TB at an early age . That fact seems to have shaped her personality to a large extent. Not only did this tragedy bring both father and daughter closer and made them interdependent , it also built a tough autocratic core to her . Again like Amrita she flayed convention to elope with Firoz ; not only many years her senior but of a different faith. That could not have been easy but obviously she got her way even in her youth. It is another matter that her marriage eventually was put on ice as she moved in to run her father's household. Leaving Firoz to his own devices. So both these women seem to have confronted personal relationship challenges. Great turmoil is a constant subtext of their life stories . Partition in case of Amrita and anti- sikh riots in case of Indira Gandhi.
As far as her life's work is concerned she has left an indelible stamp on modern India. Three things mainly stand out. Bangladesh war - the credit for winning that war has to go to Sam Manekshaw; Gen. Jagjit Singh Arora and the soldiers . One must say though that Pakistan did not stand any chance . What with open revolt in Bangladesh , most likely given enough time even mukti vahini alone would have done the job themselves. The political decision of helping Bangladesh to secede on the other hand is Indira's alone . In retrospect that has proved to be a poor decision. East Pakistan would have been a constant nag and a huge drag on Pakistan which suited Indian interests;. Instead now we have an ungrateful and hostile independent Bangladesh. Which is only another headache for India. However to be fair to Mrs. Gandhi it seemed like a good thing to do in '71.
Next in line is emergency that she clamped down in '75. Really no comments are necessary. It was a rank bad dictatorial move by her. A serious blot on her political sagacity. The last highlight of her political career is her Punjab policy which in association with Akali politics created terrorism in Punjab and culminated in Operation Bluestar. Aftermath of that ill thought action is still felt from Canada to HongKong. And of course that terribly shameful riot in '84,; that was more a handiwork of her legacy since she was already gone by then. Tragically felled by the bullets meant to protect her.