I've attended, and participated in, body art shows in university, and got to see some really good work there. Which is why I found this interesting:
Saturday, November 28, 2009
This was done by British make-up artist 
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A picture speaks...
This was taken in Bombay by Norwegian photojournalist Jonas Bendiksen. Take a look at his other images here.
Babri Masjid updates
So parts of the Liberhan Commission inquiry report have been leaked to the media. That's great news. Because, otherwise, the Congress would have had to answer mildly uncomfortable questions about the tens of thousands of farmers who rallied in Delhi, right? This is just a diversionary tactic, right? It's just a ploy by the media to up their ratings, right?
Well, whether it is or isn't doesn't matter. What matters is that the government, the opposition and the media have reduced the enormity of what happened back then to some little joke, a dead mouse to be kicked around and played with. What matters is that almost 15 years have passed with no justice for those who suffered.
And now it's being touted as a diversionary tactic? Please give more importance to the contents of the report than to the fact that it was leaked at a suspicious time. This report contains details of one of the most horrific crimes in the history of our country. Don't gloss over that. Just because a lot of time has passed, it does not mean the wounds have healed. It does not mean the victims have forgiven and forgotten (not that they ever will/ should). Show a little respect, please, to what happened back then.
And, in case you need a memory-boost, this is what happened:
Back to present-day:
The Congress was not unduly worried. It feels that this [leak of the report to the media] may be a storm in a teacup and will die out soon. "The issue is already settled politically and those who had to pay the price have already done so," said a senior minister who did not want to be identified.
Well, Mr "senior minister who did not want to be identified", the only people who have paid any sort of price are the victims of the massacre. The people who had to pay the price are currently free. Free to orchestrate the same event again and again. And again. Let me repeat, the masterminds and perpetrators of that crime have not paid any price for their actions. If anything, they have gained tremendously from it. Going strong since 1992.
There has been a tendency to label these incidents as "Hindu-Muslim riots," but as is typical in most instances of communal violence, there is mounting evidence that many people killed have actually been the victims of police gunfire. Why has such violence been used against innocent people? One wonders what stopped the government and the security forces from maintaining the peace and preventing the demolition of the mosque as the terrible events of 6 December were unfolding. Why has such tolerance been shown toward the attackers in Ayodhya, who were permitted, for over a day an a half, to demolish the mosque, build the "temple foundation," and leave the city in special buses and trains without being apprehended, even after the state had been under direct president's rule for more than twenty-four hours? It is hard to understand how, despite such questions, the prime minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, could claim at a recent news conference that he did not feel in any way responsible for what took place. -Excerpt from Political Implications of the Demolition of the Babri Mosque; Journal article by Association Of Indian Progressive Study Groups; Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, No. 4, 1993.
"Storm in a teacup", indeed! How dare you. No wonder you didn't give your name, you coward.
And, FYI, this isn't just an "issue", it's the central event of thousands of peoples' lives, something that changed them forever. And not for the better.
It's times like these when you need to hear what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed: the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.
It's just too bad that more often than not, the arc is longer than the lifetime of the average human being.
Well, whether it is or isn't doesn't matter. What matters is that the government, the opposition and the media have reduced the enormity of what happened back then to some little joke, a dead mouse to be kicked around and played with. What matters is that almost 15 years have passed with no justice for those who suffered.
And now it's being touted as a diversionary tactic? Please give more importance to the contents of the report than to the fact that it was leaked at a suspicious time. This report contains details of one of the most horrific crimes in the history of our country. Don't gloss over that. Just because a lot of time has passed, it does not mean the wounds have healed. It does not mean the victims have forgiven and forgotten (not that they ever will/ should). Show a little respect, please, to what happened back then.
And, in case you need a memory-boost, this is what happened:
Back to present-day:
The Congress was not unduly worried. It feels that this [leak of the report to the media] may be a storm in a teacup and will die out soon. "The issue is already settled politically and those who had to pay the price have already done so," said a senior minister who did not want to be identified.
Well, Mr "senior minister who did not want to be identified", the only people who have paid any sort of price are the victims of the massacre. The people who had to pay the price are currently free. Free to orchestrate the same event again and again. And again. Let me repeat, the masterminds and perpetrators of that crime have not paid any price for their actions. If anything, they have gained tremendously from it. Going strong since 1992.
There has been a tendency to label these incidents as "Hindu-Muslim riots," but as is typical in most instances of communal violence, there is mounting evidence that many people killed have actually been the victims of police gunfire. Why has such violence been used against innocent people? One wonders what stopped the government and the security forces from maintaining the peace and preventing the demolition of the mosque as the terrible events of 6 December were unfolding. Why has such tolerance been shown toward the attackers in Ayodhya, who were permitted, for over a day an a half, to demolish the mosque, build the "temple foundation," and leave the city in special buses and trains without being apprehended, even after the state had been under direct president's rule for more than twenty-four hours? It is hard to understand how, despite such questions, the prime minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, could claim at a recent news conference that he did not feel in any way responsible for what took place. -Excerpt from Political Implications of the Demolition of the Babri Mosque; Journal article by Association Of Indian Progressive Study Groups; Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, No. 4, 1993.
"Storm in a teacup", indeed! How dare you. No wonder you didn't give your name, you coward.
And, FYI, this isn't just an "issue", it's the central event of thousands of peoples' lives, something that changed them forever. And not for the better.
It's times like these when you need to hear what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed: the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.
It's just too bad that more often than not, the arc is longer than the lifetime of the average human being.
Monday, November 23, 2009
He wants to die in a lake in Geneva
I listened to this song after ages, and I still love it.
And this is one cool photograph of hers:)
And this is one cool photograph of hers:)
Monday, November 16, 2009
About time
Social commentary is very rare in India. What's even rarer is good commentary. I read two pieces today, both, funnily enough, on the same topic - Manu Sharma's parole. One was a witty, and painfully close to target, article by Shobha De. The other was Santosh Desai's opinion piece.
Excerpts from Santosh Desai's piece in today's TOI:
"The role of public institutions like the bureaucracy, the judiciary and the media cannot be to echo what is a popular sentiment merely because it is popular."
And
"When we blur the idea of justice with notions of fairness as one section of society sees it, we create a system of informal justice that is nothing but a contest between two powerful forces each safeguarding its own interests. Justice becomes subject to market forces, and the one with greater power wins."
Good read.
Excerpts from Santosh Desai's piece in today's TOI:
"The role of public institutions like the bureaucracy, the judiciary and the media cannot be to echo what is a popular sentiment merely because it is popular."
And
"When we blur the idea of justice with notions of fairness as one section of society sees it, we create a system of informal justice that is nothing but a contest between two powerful forces each safeguarding its own interests. Justice becomes subject to market forces, and the one with greater power wins."
Good read.
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