Swarnalatha, an awesome singer whose unique voice kept us mesmerizing throughout her singing career (how can I ever forget the sad version of “Poraale ponnu thaayi” from the movie Karuthamma”?), has left this world. She will live through her songs. Rest in peace, dear singer…
I have never read such a sharp, spot-on critic review in the recent times. Here is Sadanand Menon’s take on A R Rahman’s Commonwealth anthem, published in Outlook (reproducing it in full here).
RAHMAN’S ‘ANTHEM’ ADHYAAY
Anthems are devised to make your spirit soar. When they crash-land, they can also leave you sore. For some time now A.R.Rahman has been on song. This time the song is on him. His Jiyo, Utho, Badho, Jeeto takes all of 4 minutes and 16 seconds to expose you to the perils of skydiving without a parachute. But then, this is the anthem for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and, like many other things connected with this year’s CWG, it is just another kind of cruel sport.
The idea of an anthem for sporting events is arguably to foreground a consistent theme as a focal point of the event and to unify the audiences with the adhesive of a familiar, infectious rhythm. In the present context of a Games mired in debilitating controversy and hint of sleaze, a rousing anthem could have been a talisman to unlock some positive energy.
But the present offering of India’s own Mozart, launched with much fanfare on August 23, has left even the Group of Ministers unhappy. That must be the ultimate ignominy – that aesthetic cynicism of such crass proportions can even affect the GoM. Though, one suspects, it was not so much the notations on the music sheet but the notations on the bill that did the damage.
Even as Oscar-hero Rahman was concatenating, at super-speed, his CWG jingle that jangles with some of the most pedestrian verses in recent times, he also fed into the computation a punchy figure of some Rs.1.37 crores for every minute of the song. Total, Rs.5.50 crores.
In 2006, for the inaugural functions of the Frankfurt Book Fair where India was the ‘Guest of Honour Country’, a proposal by music composer Ilayaraja to present a Carnatic raga using a 120-piece Western philharmonic orchestra, was summarily rejected because of the price tag of Rs.95 lakhs attached to it. But times have changed.
The funny thing about Rahman’s Swagatham number this time is that after its recitative first part – with lines as stiff and strangulating as ‘Junoon se, kanoon se, maidaan maar lo’ – the second performative segment breaks into a beat that sounds like a rip-off of his own composition Ramta Jogi in the film Taal. Obviously Rahman is now famous enough to plagiarize himself and even charge us for it. But the obvious question that needs to be asked is why did he even try? Why did he not simply offer back the same Ramta Jogi(Playboy Ascetic) as the anthem for the Games? The song has all the right foot-tapping ingredients, including oblique references to playful charlatans that would have blended well with the CWG.
Of course, Rahman’s anthem cannot be disconnected with the overall plan for inaugural and closing ceremonies of the Games. The fancy committee for the inaugural events has for a few months now been grappling with the logistics of how to present India in this highly televised event. It is a committee in search of a spectacle. The spectacle of a fake, make-believe India populated with Bollywood dancers and swirling silks, crooning divas and simpering starlets. Last time around, they were thinking of making a sound-and-light show with ‘Om’.
It is an India that has no specific location on this planet and is far removed from not just the lives but even the fantasies of its people. This is an India that is the pet project of its robber-barons who are enabled, each time, to whisk away some more resources in the name of an abstract nation.
That the vulgar Rs.380 crore budget for the opening ceremonies could not set aside a few crores for a group of poets in different languages to write an appropriate song for the opening anthem tells its own story of gross disinterest even in the context of the indefensible. Instead we have some utterly filmy gibberish like:
Uthi re ab iraadon mein tapan / Chali re gori, chali ban tthan.
The lines, as much as the composition, are stolen from some other context. As we believe are the Games.
I saw this photo on this year’s Janmashtami day in Google Buzz. I don’t know who clicked this but it is such a moving image. Many people say that there is nothing special about it as this is a common sight in some places in Kerala for Muslims to get their kids dressed as Krishna and make them take part in Shobhaa Yaatra on Janmashtami day.
I wonder what those hate mongers would think seeing this beautiful picture.
The first thing I do after buying a book is smelling it. Every single book has a different smell. Some reminds me of the textbooks from school, some of the old notebooks or newspapers. The journalist blogger Annie Zaidi‘s book titled “Known Turf” smelled good too, except that afterward it was a tough journey to an unknown turf. As I skipped through the first chapter, I initially found it dragging and was beginning to wonder how writers like Sainath recommended this book as “a beautifully written book“. I was quite bored of her continued references to the Bollywood movie “Dushman” and her story of Tea. But it could be me and little did I know that I was in for surprises.
The first chapter has the title “Please do not carry loaded guns in the bus” and I was surprised to read that it was not a sign in the United States, but in Madhya Pradesh (in India where we blame Americans for their gun culture). I did not know that the people who have a BPL card are entitled to a health card that assures free medical treatment upto Rs. 20000 and just like me, most of the villagers who have a BPL card haven’t heard of this facility. At every single instance, we are ashamed and angry about people who portray India as a poor country but I read stories of famine in this book with not so much shock. I read that in Madhya Pradesh, 72% of children of Sahariya tribe under six are malnourished and within the first year of birth all that those babies are eating is dry roti. Even before they have grown teeth to chew.
I read stories of pregnant women chew bits of gum plucked off gum trees trying to kill hunger pangs. In Annie’s own words, “about women who have not eaten for three days giving birth alone in dark hovels, knowing their breasts are dry. About the dismissive assistant in the nutritional rehabilitation center who said that Sahariya women hardly deserve the state’s help because they smoke beedis.” Then the cover-ups of hunger index.
I also read the inside story of Punjab, which we thought of as the most prosperous states in India. Where the minimum wage is Rs. 96 per day. Where most people get between Rs. 40 and 80. I was thinking about all those urban friends of mine who blame Kerala for the state which we are in. Those friends of mine who sweats out themselves in Bangalore IT sector and always put blame on the state. Here, the minimum wage that a mason gets, compared to the minimum wage of the state of Punjab which is celebrated as a prosperous state in India, is Rs. 300-350 per day. And they call us an undeveloped, Communist state. I read stories of how Punjab’s Dalits are tortured. Of the Zamindars who formed a committee and announced a boycott of all laborers who wanted higher wages. How the Zamindari and Dalit politics constructs Punjab’s social fabric. I realized that Punjab ain’t those beautiful wheat fields that some Hindi movies show case.
Annie also writes about Sufism and her affinity to it. But from what I read about the Sufi practices I don’t understand how it is different from the core principles of other religions or religious sects because Sufism also promotes the Master-Slave concept. Why the heck is God always seen as a Master and never a friend?? She puts one thing right here though – that “whenever there’s a wider economic crunch, or when there’s personal frustration and insecurity, either there’s revolution or people turn to spiritualism.”
Annie’s book gives an in-depth analysis and real life stories of power, crime, poverty, caste-politics, corrupt bureaucracy, religion, labor bondage and feminism – be it the stories of dacoits from Chambal or the poor weavers of Uttar Pradesh. These are not the kind of stories you would find in your daily newspapers. These are the stories which would shake you for good and make you think about all the shining glory that we boast upon about India and some of it’s states. It give you a pointer to the unknown turf that lie buried in India’s underbelly.
If you care about it, I would recommend you read this book.
Title: Known Turf
Author: Annie Zaidi
Publisher: Tranquebar
Price: Rs. 250
A group of scientists and technologists did a research and found out that contrary to the claims of Election Commission of India (of India’s EVMs being “perfect” and “infallible”), the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are easy to tamper with. Their technical paper (PDF link) details the process they have done to prove their point, with a real EVM. But rather than ordering a detailed inquiry and a fix to those EVMs, the Election Commission arrested Hari K Prasad, one of the researchers, to have stolen an EVM. The research website says “in 2009, the Election Commission of India publicly challenged Prasad to demonstrate that EVMs could be tampered with, only to withhold access to the EVMs at the last minute.”
As per the research website, the device was given by an anonymous source which itself raises questions about the security of these machines. And what exactly should we say about an independent researcher being charged for stealing the machine while the more important questions he raised about the credibility of EVMs are muted? The technical paper (PDF link) also claims that Hari Prasad “was approached in October 2009 by representatives of a prominent regional party who offered to pay for his technical assistance fixing elections. They were promptly and sternly refused.”
In a pre-commencement lecture at New York University, Narayanamurthy, Chairman of Infosys, gave a speech. In the beginning of his speech, he said this:
“After some thought, I have decided to share with you some of my life lessons. I learned these lessons in the context of my early career struggles, a life lived under the influence of sometimes unplanned events which were the crucibles that tempered my character and reshaped my future.”
Then he continues to tell the real story of how an iron-clad Communist country treated him in prison without food or water for over 72 hours over a mere speculation and how he was released because he is an Indian. Ah! So we are not surprised at a dictatorial Communist country treating him that way, but then he goes on to tell, “I always thank the Bulgarian guards for transforming me from a confused Leftist into a determined, compassionate capitalist! Inevitably, this sequence of events led to the eventual founding of Infosys in 1981.”
A “confused Leftist” to a “compassionate Capitalist”. Read the quoted words. This speech of Murthy makes me think about my state of politics. For my “compassionate” politics which I would classify “Leftist” does not include Communists but Humanists. Or far away from the humanism that Communists talk about. And I wonder how the dictatorial Communist government of Bulgaria made this Leftist a Capitalist. And I wonder if he’s ever been a Leftist at all.
All my friends and acquaintances who work in Infosys tells me one thing. That their pay is not good enough to compare even to the start-up IT companies and their work schedule is hectic. Their work-life balance is terrible. Most of them work in Infosys for a brand name in their CVs and then bargain to get good positions in other companies so that they can keep a work-life balance and earn more than what they earn in Infy (Infy is now working to get the old Infians back in their fold). Infy – the company founded by this “ex-Leftist” and “now-compassionate-Capitalist” Mr. Narayana Murthy.
So what exactly did he mean by the term “Compassionate Capitalist”? That he found out the fruits of outsourcing business much earlier than other companies and built up a business empire? And obviously this hotshot market would create a lot of jobs so that he could bask in the glory of providing employment? That he was compassionate to build a brand name and get people to work for cheap because the out-of-the-campus freshers would like a brand name in their CVs, so they would sweat their blood out for a company founded by a “compassionate capitalist”?
You know what? I like the way this whole story was told by Narayana Murthy. He crafted that train journey story in a way that people would find it easy to connect with that of Mahatma Gandhi in his early days. No wonder how Murthy places himself as an icon of the youth of India – until they work in Infosys.
Poet Sivakumar Ambalappuzha had posted a few lines of poetry in his Facebook page and asked if anyone would compose a tune for it. I was just about to get to bed after recording my Onam song when I saw this message. His lines were so beautiful and the music had to flow. That’s how this short piece was born. I had a quickie 10 minutes long composing and recording session. The song is incomplete, it’s only a couple of lines and if Sivakumar wills, we will probably make this a complete song soon. Here it is anyways, for you to listen.
Song: Ariyaatheyennaal
Composer & singer: Joseph Thomas (Jo)
Lyrics: Sivakumar Ambalappuzha
Download the draft MP3 of Ariyaatheyennaal (987 KB)
So here comes another Onam! A time for all Malayalees to come home and celebrate the togetherness with family and friends, the colorful Pookkalams and yummy Sadyas. Here I wish all my Malayalee friends a happy and prosperous Onam. Let us not forget the inspiring myth behind this festival – of everyone in the place being happy and prosperous, of everyone being just and fair to each other.
ഓണാശംസകള്!
I chose this song because of the Onam spirit that this song has, right from the beginning of the song with “aaRppO… EeRRO!”, poo viLi and the rhythm of a boat song. I should thank my friend Sujay who first brought this song to my notice when we had to choose a song for the Onam competition in our office and then to Vishnu for providing me the track. The track is made of some loops and gets faster at places and I had to make do with it.
Album: Poothaalam
Composer: Kannan
Lyricist: Chitoor Gopi
Singer: M G Sreekumar
Download MP3 of “Vannallo Ponnonam” (4.25 MB)
The good folks at Mashithantu.com have come up with a new initiative after their successful ventures of online Malayalam-English dictionary and Malayalam crosswords. The new project is called “Harisree” and their tag-line is “ente bhaasha, adutha thalamurayilekku” (meaning, “My language, to the next generation”). The website teaches you how to write Malayalam. You can just pick up a letter in Malayalam and see how it is written, with the direction points. And when you have chosen a letter, it will show up words that starts with the letter with pictures to demonstrate/represent what the word actually means. If you click on the “Pronounce” button, you can also hear how each letter and the related words are pronounced. And then there is a drawing pad using which you can try writing the letter or word.
I think this is a very useful software especially when you teach children of the now or next generation. And it has some very cool features like I explained above. My congratulations to Joju John and his friends who have worked behind this software. Great job folks! Looking forward to what you have next in line. 🙂
It’s another Independence Day. Time to celebrate where we have come so far and to remind ourselves of the roads ahead.
Independence Day is quite often considered as a time to display our nationalistic fervor. We exhibit our nationalism by waving flags or raising flags, distributing sweets and wishing each other. We also exchange emails that say we should take pride in our country etcetera but I wonder if that is what it is all about – an exhibition.
I have asked this question myself – am I proud of my country? I am. I am proud of all the good things and good people we have here. But at the same time I am ashamed of all the bad things and bad people and a bad system that we have in this country. And I think patriotism is not about feeling superior or inferior to any other countries in this world. Plainly put, it is about belonging here.
But just because I feel that I belong no where else in the world but here, it doesn’t mean that I would ridicule any other Indian who doesn’t feel like belonging here and find that sense of belonging elsewhere. I wouldn’t call him/her unpatriotic. Because their feeling of being alienated in their own country pauses a question before ourselves. What is it that makes them feel that way, though they have lived all their lives in this same soil? What makes them feel India is worse for them and perhaps there is a better place in the world than India? What makes them feel that they are secondary citizens in their own country? What makes them feel that democracy and politics are a softened form of the old colonial system? These are the questions that we should ask ourselves and to our society. And it would open up our eyes to see the nation in a different light. Through others’ eyes, and see what went wrong and where. It’s a long process. Seeing it, identifying it, talking about it, getting others to engage with it, making a movement, pressuring authorities to do something about it and thus finally making the change – however small or big it is. In this long process, often people would call you names – “un-patriotic“, “pseudo-nationalist“, “pseudo-secularist“, “anti-development” and what not. Let none of that make you feel down. Keep working your way.
I have high hopes for my country even through all the idiocy and the hopelessness it gives me at times. I think many things have changed for good from the way it was several years ago, thanks to the continued efforts of change makers from grass-root level. I am sure things will continue to improve as many selfless people work towards it even when they are being ridiculed by their fellow countrymen. And I don’t feel inferior of my country when I compare the situation here with other countries that have a more liberal, inclusive and better system in place. Because it did not happen for them on one fine day. It took many brave souls and a long process there too, perhaps the time they took for such changes was shorter.
So here is my humble tribute to those martyrs. To those who were shot at for speaking against the oppressors. Those who were jailed. Those who were beaten or hanged for voicing out. And to those freedom fighters of our times. Many of them, unknown to us. Those who work on to make India a better and better place. Those who work on several issues – dalit, tribal/adivasis, marginalized and economically backward communities, women, sexual minorities, health care, domestic violence, political violence, terrorism, religious extremism, justice, corporate crimes, environment and so on.
To all those brave souls, I dedicate my song…
Song: Vande Mataram 2010
Composed, lead & harmony vocals by: Joseph Thomas (Jo)
Download “Vande Mataram 2010” MP3 file here (3.58 MB)
