Whose story is History?

Watching a particular news channel yesterday, I stumbled upon an interesting piece of news. The Government of India has decided to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the "Revolt of 1857" aka "the First War of Indian Independence" aka "The Sepoy Mutiny". The Government has also announced the formulation of a 68 member committee to give this grandiose event a distinct shape. Now, one should bear in mind three important things. Firstly, the year 2007 also commemorates the birth centenary of Saheed-e-azam Bhagat Singh and the 75th anniversary of the adoption of Vande Mataram as the national song. Secondly, the budget of the patriotic extravaganza is estimated at a whooping 150 cr. And Thirdly, and most interestingly of all, the committee, other than some eminent historians also include politicians like Kumari Shailaja, Mayawati, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Rahul Gandhi, Chandrasekhar, H.D Deve Gowda etc.

The thing about anniversaries and the idea to celebrate them has always eluded me. Some of them are necessary like Independence Day or Republic Day. These were momentous events in the history of India. But if we were to celebrate the anniversaries (gold, silver, diamond...whatever!) of each and every historically event, we would surely run out of dates. Coming back to our main issue here, what is the relevance of the revolt of 1857 today? Historically speaking it was just a rebellion, granted, in a much larger scale. It was not even the "Firs War of Indian Independence" as it has been proved by historians, though some people would like to make people believe otherwise. They have their own reasons. Reasons, which are evveloped in a thick cloud of Politics. Avery pertinant example would be that of the recent film "Mangal Pandey: The Rising", which went down without a trace inspite of the star power of Ketan Mehta, Amir Khan and Rani Mukherjee. On the other hand, another Amir Khan movie "Rang De Basanti", dealing with an anachronised version of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Asfaqullah was both a masterpiece and a blockbuster. Why? RDB has been presented in a contemporary fashion and it also presents the youth of today in a different light. In most contemporary films, the youth are shown in a negative light - as aping the western culture, as being severed from the roots - a reflection of social degeneration. RDB shows the youth of today drinking beer, jumping off buildings, mouthing obscenities but it also shows their power and their likeliness to resort to drastic "affirmative action" if need be. So if the Government plans something on the lines of a grandiose patriotic bonanza, it will be nothing but money well squandered.

It has been a historically proven fact that politics and history do not go hand in hand. When the two have met, it has produced disastrous results. And disaster is what this committee is headed at. The recent example of the saffronising drive by the erstwhile NDA government has proved beyond doubt that politicians have a vested interest in various fields, including history. The politicians are not concerned about enriching the already rich historical corpus of India. What they are really worried about is how they can manipulate the history to boost their vote bank politics. So politicians, no doubt will prove to be an impediment in the process of history.

It has now boiled down to a game of priorities. It remains to be seen whether the government prioritizes objective history or politics on history in the 150th year of the "Revolt of 1857".

To Be Or Not To Be

My 3rd year results are out today, and as usual I have picked up the scraps left over after the feast of the big fishes. So, friends, here goes the confession of the widely acclaimed bottom feeder.

Deb Soc, Cine Club, Bong Lit Soc and numerous other identities go flying past as I find myself back to square one. I found myself in exactly the same position four years ago when I left high school. It has been an eternal struggle to find an identity and shake myself off the ephemeral mad muses of smoke, drink and dope.

I have been educated in Christian missionary schools and then in a Christian college. I have grown up sleeping through chapel sessions in school and in college, visited the chapel at times only to play raag Behag on the piano. So in a sense I am a veteran of many sermons. Through it I have had an opinion, that of the existence of a force. A force that merely keeps the things around us in order. Much like any manager of the BPO i work with now. So the bottom line is: God is a good manager. i have also been hounded by various questions, which expressed might offend a few people. But important questions are they to me. The Bible (which, thanks to my school, I know better than Dr. Menon's lectures) says that God puts us through trying circumstances to test our faith in Him. Now, why can't we question and test God's existence? Why are then people discouraged from questioning God. This is applicable to all the religions. History is replete with examples of "heretics" being burnt on stake or non believers being stoned to death.

The same phenomenon continues even today, and at times in front of the public eye. God, whatever he is defined as, has retained the propensity of being turned into a devil. We have had enough evidences of that. So what is of essence here is that, the question of God needs to be revisited. God needs to be redefined for the public good.


Let's hope for the best. God willing, things will take a turn for the better.

Myriads Of Menacing Dreams

Syd Barrett's dead. He might have boarded up all the doors and windows to keep off the omnipresent press and the ever curious fans, one gateway still gleams into the LSD driven's world - the band, the music and the pangs.

I am no expert on Pink Floyd music, but like millions of others, i attribute the band's psychedelic approach to Syd Barrett and then to his replacement, David Gilmour. All things said and done, PF is PF because of him.

Now, coming to the most important point: this is not an obituary to Syd Barrett. This is rather a mortuary of the self. If you want coherence, Get Lost!! It is for those twisted minds, those vagrant souls who flourish in the dumping ground of logic. Hark!! There goes the distant gong of the division bell.

The country stands at an interesting and crucial juncture now. On one hand we have the shady elements bombing their way into people’s (read Mumbaikars') lives, and on the other we have a brilliant spate of propaganda glamorizing the "Spirit of Mumbai", "the resilience of the nation" etc. No doubt, the Mumbaikars showed spirit to help the victims and come out of the shadow of the attacks but one is forced to think that the repeated glorification of the "enlightened spirit" has carefully, cleverly and very effectively blanketed the gross mal-administration of the Maharashtra Government.

The recovery of the huge caches of arms, ammunitions and explosives from various places in Maharashtra in the weeks leading to the Mumbai attacks was clue enough that there was a larger game in the offing. It basically boils down to the very basic modern business strategy: "supply chaining". The arms, as far as i think were in various stages of transit before reaching Mumbai.

The major work starts now. The big game, or the hunt for it at least.