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Sunday,
February 16, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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ON RECORD COMMENTARY |
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KASHMIR DIARY Removing
the veil of suspicion
Mahasweta
& Narang: titans of literature
The
drama on Bangla border
Roses
& frills in the gaudiest of shades
Singing
a different tune now
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ON RECORD His biggest gift to Delhi is
Dilli Haat which he conceptualised in 1992 when he was Chairman and
Managing Director of the Delhi Tourism Development Corporation. He takes
great pride in calling Dilli Haat his "Karishma". He has been
honoured with the World PATA Gold award for development of Dilli Haat
and Hauz Khas area. God-fearing, determined and a go-getter, Tarlochan
Singh has a gurdwara in his premises and is content with the government
accommodation on Zakir Hussain Marg in New Delhi though he is entitled
to a bigger bungalow. He is fond of golf, archery and basketball. He is
Vice-President of the Indian Olympic Association and Deputy Chairman of
the Organising Committee for the Afro-Asian Games. He likes reading
books on history and international relations. His interest in history
was perhaps kindled in the beginning of his teens during Partition.
Memories of senseless bloodshed, communal hatred and killings in his own
family during the trauma of Partition are deeply etched in his mind.
After completing his matriculation in Dhudial village in Jhelum district
in Pakistan, Tarlochan Singh pursued his studies in Mahindra College,
Patiala and did his postgraduation in Economics from Punjab
University. After his first posting in Punjab Public Relations in 1957,
Tarlochan Singh has held various key posts including Joint Secretary of
Punjab Markfed, the largest co-operative institute of Asia, for seven
years. His diligence earned him a two-year extension post-retirement in
1991. In an exclusive interview to The Tribune in New Delhi, he said it
is his duty to give equal importance to all minorities. Excerpts: Q:
You have talked about playing a pre-emptive role to counter communal
disharmony. You have also decided to call religious leaders for
discussions but the Commission’s previous efforts in this direction
ended up in a slanging match between the Vishwa Hindu Praishad and the
Muslim Personal Law Board. A: It was a closed door meeting. Since
we did not brief the media at the end of the meeting, all religious
leaders used the opportunity to brief mediapersons and voice their
ideological differences. It was the first meeting of Hindu and Muslim
religious leaders. Representatives of the VHP, RSS, Sanatan Dharam, Arya
Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Imams from various parts of the country and
Muslim Personal Law Board attended the meeting. The main objective of
the exercise was to afford the religious leaders an opportunity to
socialise and discuss and debate across the table. We will continue this
endeavour. This is our agenda. We want to shortlist the problems and
hold meetings among religious and not political leaders. Q: Since
the NCM was set up in 1978, it has been headed mostly by Muslims. How
did this appointment come about and how do you propose to protect the
interests of the Sikhs? A: I’m the seventh Chairman of the NCM.
Barring the late Minoo Masani, the first Chairman of the NCM appointed
in 1978, all my predecessors were Muslims — Justice M R A Ansari,
Justice Mirza Beg (retired Chief Justice of India who had two terms), Mr
S M H Burney, former Governor of Haryana, Justice Mohd. Sardar Ali Khan,
Dr Tahir Mahmood and Justice Mohd. Shamim. As Vice-Chairman, I was
mainly concerned with Sikh affairs. The Chairman is the administrative
head of the Commission and is given the status of Cabinet Minister. My
appointment fulfils a long standing demand to appoint Chairmen of
various religious communities by rotation. As Chairman, it is my duty to
ensure that all minorities get equal attention. The two crore Sikhs are
a minority among the minority communities. Q: What will your role
be in facilitating Sikh jathas wishing to go to Pakistan on religious
occasions? A: Our main priority is to ensure that Sikh temples in
Pakistan are protected. We have moved an application to UNESCO to ensure
that the birth place of Guru Nanak — Nankana Sahib — and gurdwaras
scattered in various parts of Pakistan are protected. They are in a bad
shape. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is managing
everything there. I’ve been writing to the Ministry of External
Affairs that all Sikh temples should be managed by Sikhs. I broached
this subject with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf when I met
him in Delhi. Pakistan’s tourism earnings will increase if the
gurdwaras are maintained well. It will attract pilgrims from various
parts of the world. As far as jathas are concerned, the Prime Minister
intervened to allow a token participation of a 50-member jatha from
India during the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev on
November 21. But we cannot impose our will when the relations between
India and Pakistan are so badly strained. The government fears that
Sikhs would be misled. Q: There have been reports that Sikhs youths
languishing in jails in Pakistan are being forced to embrace Islam? A: We
have received such complaints directly from these jails. SAD (Amritsar)
President Simranjit Singh Mann has taken up this issue. The government
should put pressure on Pakistan. We cannot deal with Pakistan directly.
Many Sikh youths have been dumped overseas with incomplete travel
documents. On my request, the Government of India has given general
amnesty who are living abroad illegally. All embassies have been directed
to give an Indian passport to such youths to facilitate their
homecoming. Q: There have been allegations that Noorpur based Baba
Ashutosh has been trying to create unrest. A: The case of Baba
Ashutosh is very peculiar. When we came to know that he is preaching in
his own style and projecting himself as a re-incarnation of Guru Nanak
Dev, we called the Director-General of Police, the Chief Secretary and
the Home Secretary of Punjab. We directed them to ensure that he is not
allowed to hold public discourses as it could create disturbances. Q:
Does the NCM as a quasi-judicial body have enough teeth to discharge its
duties? A: I don’t want teeth. NCM is an authority which has
moral strength. If we work properly, we can do good work towards a good
cause. Q: What are you doing about the riot-affected Muslims in
Gujarat who were asked to vacate relief camps. A: We are going to
Gujarat again. We will convene a meeting of Muslim leaders to know the
reality there and make an assessment. We also plan to visit the relief
camps. Q: There have been reports that madarsas are being used as
training grounds for terrorists in some places. Any comments? A:
Misuse of madarsas is a big question. It is being politicised. Although
we have never probed such allegations, our general advice is that
madarsas should not confine themselves to imparting religious education.
They should focus on general education. Otherwise Muslim children will
lag behind their non-Muslim counterparts in competition. Mere religious
education is not enough. |
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COMMENTARY BANGLADESH is India's creation. We are still paying for that folly. Little did we know in 1971 that we were creating a problem for ourselves. Conceding Pakistan was the first monstrous mistake. We hoped then that the Hindu-Muslim problem would be out of our way. It refused to go away. Pakistan now threatens to nuke us and worse. Thus, we have three problems today instead of one — the Pakistan problem, the Bangla problem and the problem of Muslim disaffection at home. We do not know how to solve anyone of them. If we are not careful, there will be a fourth problem. How did all these happen? In one word: conversions. The convert is told to despise Hinduism. And perhaps the Hindus, too. That is how it all began. This was why Gandhiji opposed conversions. The 1971 war was a mistake. It did not serve India's interests. It was fought to send the ten million Hindus back to Bangladesh. But see what happened: there are 15 or 20 million Bangladesh Muslims today in India! And the Hindus remain a persecuted lot in Bangladesh. If we are to blame anybody for what happened, we must blame the politicians, first of all the CPM government of West Bengal. It denied the very fact of infiltration. Blame also goes to the Congress governments in Assam and to Mr P.K. Mahanta. In their eagerness to create vote banks, they encouraged illegal immigration to India from Bangladesh. Union Home Minister
L. K. Advani suggests an old remedy — issuance of identity cards. If that is effective, there would have been no illegal immigration to the USA or to the Gulf. One remains sceptical about the efficacy of identity cards. Nor is fencing a way out, either to stop illegal immigration or smuggling, when the border guards on both sides are corrupt to the core. We must think of new ways. Illegal immigrants are a security risk. They already constitute majorities in some of the border districts of West Bengal and Assam. And they are to be found in large numbers in some other states of India, including Delhi. Even in the Buddhist state of Arunanchal Pradesh, which borders on China, their number has gone up by 135 per cent in the last decade. In Assam, their number may well be 40 per cent of the population. In July, 1999, the Supreme Court directed the West Bengal government to detect and deport the illegal immigrants. But little has been done. It has pleaded inability to identity the immigrants. This has encouraged the flow. Our remonstrances are not going to have any effect on Dhaka. It refuses to even accept the problem. A recent report in the “Far Eastern Economic Review” warned: “A revolution is taking place in Bangladesh that threatens trouble for the region and beyond if left unchallenged. Islamic schools churning out radical students, middle class apathy, poverty and lawlessness — all are combining to transform the nation”. This, after Bangladesh rejected religion as the basis of its nationhood! In three decades it has come full circle. The Constitution has been amended to make Allah the sovereign. The country has been turned into a theocracy under Khaleda. And all this happened under the inspiration of the Jamaat which opposed the creation of Bangladesh! Naturally, the minorities are apprehensive of their future. This radicalism has its impact on the migrants. Today they are working closely with the insurgents in the North East of India and Muslim militants in the rest of India. Smuggling is yet another activity that destabilises the Indian economy. This is why we took up border fencing. But how can it be checked when both Indian and Bangladesh guards are involved in it? Is there no way “to teach a lesson” to Bangladesh? There is. But India does not want to act the “Big Brother”. Bangladesh depends on India even for its water. A Joint River Commission was set up to share water. India plays a major role for the development of rail, road and power. About 50 per cent of Bangla exports (20.8 per cent of formal and 28.2 per cent of informal trade) go to India. The Bangladesh textile industry depends on Indian yarn, and garment manufacture, which is Bangladesh's major export, depends on the textile industry. Almost 75 per cent of the Jamdani saris made in Bangladesh find their way to India. India is also a ready market for the surplus raw jute of Bangladesh. And one must not forget that India has offered its assistance to fight the menace of arsenic poisoning in many parts of Bangladesh. Bangladesh can create a more viable economy if it allows transit facilities between India's North-East and Kolkata. It can earn as much as Rs 4000 million yearly, as also create considerable employment. But Khaleda Zia says: it is “suicidal”. She wants to even revise the 1996 treaty on water sharing authored by Mr
I. K. Gujral. Import of gas from Bangladesh has caused much controversy. But with the discovery of huge deposits of gas in the Krishna-Godavary basin of India, India has no urgent need for Bangladesh gas. In any case, India should go for Tripura and Mynmar gas. It is said that about 45 lakh
cu. ft of gas per day remain capped in Tripura, because there is no demand for it in eastern India. This is ridiculous. India should develop its gas industry in the North East. There are suggestions that Bangladesh should be made into an energy hut. This may be economical, but it has no political sense. Bangladesh has no interest in promoting relations with India. This is clear from two facts: its loss of interest in SAARC and its defence agreement with China. Bangladesh is also emerging as a safe haven for Al-Qaida in view of US pressure on Pakistan. It has been made possible because of the support it gets from two fundamentalist organisations — the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamic OIkiya Jote, which are partners of Khaleda Zia. Hostility with India will only ruin Bangladesh. There is a civilised alternative: let us create a free trade area and make controlled movement of labour possible. This is what SAARC was all about. Now that Bangladesh has chosen to follow the path of Pakistan, there is no point in India making any further concession to Bangladesh. |
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KASHMIR DIARY THE hullabaloo during the past fortnight over money being caught coming out of the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi reminded me of something that Mr
B. N. Mallik wrote in his book on Kashmir. Mr Mallik was the head of the Intelligence Bureau, which was then India's sole spy agency, for a decade-and-a-half in the 1950s and ‘60s. Mr Mallik records that his agents intercepted a package of currency that had been brought over the Ceasefire Line and he took it to the Union Home Minister, Govind Ballabh Pant, to ask what should be done with it. He says Pant thought for a bit and then told him to allow it to reach those it was meant for. That was the Plebiscite Front that Sheikh Abdullah's relatives launched in 1955. The Home Minister figured that it was better to keep tabs on how much money was coming and to whom rather than lose track by taking action against this conduit. The same calculation has operated over the past few years. Former militants and members of the Hurriyat Conference know so much about how much money comes from Pakistan and elsewhere, and to whom, that one simply cannot believe that India's redoubtable agencies suddenly got information just before they decided to act. If they did not intervene for so many years, it was because funding would have continued anyway, for those crossing the jungles and ravines over the Line of Control could always have hefted cash along with their guns and equipment. It was better to keep tabs on how much was coming, and to whom, unless squeezing a known route brought other benefits. In fact, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Vice-President Javed Mir stated as much to the media last week. “How can one run a movement without money”, he asked plaintively. “The real question is, why have they decided to act at this point?” Indeed, too little attention has been paid to the strategic thinking behind the decision to expose the money-running operation at this juncture. Pakistan's direct funding of secessionist groups in Kashmir is a shrewd move to continue global pressure on Pakistan and stave such pressure off India during this spring. It is a crucial season because the Pakistani regime is likely to cite the inevitable backlash against war on Iraq as an argument for two things: One, to force India to move unconditionally to the negotiating table, and two, for the world to turn a blind eye while it loosens the reins on further militant infiltration into Kashmir. Pakistan could persuade its Western allies that it must deflect Islamist fervour towards Kashmir so that it does not focus on the USA and its allies. This tactic of selectively timing police action to expose money-running operations to Kashmiri groups was tried successfully last year. JKLF President Yasin Malik was locked in jail after a cache of no less than $ 75,000 allegedly meant for him was nabbed. What very few realised at the time was that Malik had returned from the USA a few weeks before that in a more belligerent frame of mind than before. Some of his colleagues in the Hurriyat — including Abdul Ghani Lone, who was assassinated soon after that — were amazed at his hardened stance. Once he was jailed, however, his JKLF was split and he has surely been feeling cornered since his release. His credibility has taken a knock. His friends talk privately of how much money his mother and sisters spend when they go shopping . Money, indeed, has always been a weakening factor in Kashmir's struggles against India. Unlike other such movements, which have had to struggle with very limited resources, Kashmir's secessionist leaders have often had access to large amounts of cash from Pakistan. A senior Hurriyat leader who has been active in politics since the 1960s once told me that Pakistan spent Rs 3 crore on Abdullah's legal defence by British lawyers and on the Plebiscite Front's activities during those turbulent years. It did no good. After the Front's leaders pocketed the money, the oppressed mass of Kashmiri Muslims were waiting impatiently to be liberated proved in 1965 to be hyperbole at best. That Hurriyat leader also said that, when Sheikh Abdullah met the Islamist ideologue Ben Billa in Egypt after Haj in 1964, Ben Billa asked him what his son was doing. When Abdullah proudly replied that he was studying medicine in London, Ben Billa shook his head and said nothing would ever come of his movement. Nothing, he lectured Abdullah, was achieved without sacrifice. Over the past 13 years too, money has greatly weakened the credibility of the movement among ordinary Kashmiris, who have silently, bitterly, watched the wealth of Hurriyat and other leaders balloon. Even after Shabir Shah publicly handed out Rs 50 lakh in small sums to widows, orphans and the poor on a single afternoon some years ago, his credibility remains low. |
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Removing
the veil of suspicion SYSTEMS, suspicion, secrecy ... a string of questions were thrown up during the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill in Parliament. Nevertheless, the Bill was passed and has become law, now enabling citizens to access government records through inspection and photocopies. While the members of Parliament had reservations in varying degrees and on various aspects, the law was supported by all, and openness and transparency in government was unanimously hailed as the need of the hour. Yet, there are lurking fears about the working of the Act. The foremost one is a nightmare that has haunted bureaucrats ever since the Sixties when similar laws began to be passed around the world. What would governments do with the mobs asking for information outside their doors, windows, gates and other things which keep the ordinary public out of the hallowed corridors of the governance? We wouldn't be able to work at all, some said. The Government will come to a standstill, said others. Is government in the marketplace desirable, asked those who liked to turn a phrase. That these mobs never turned up anywhere in the world where the right to information has long been on the statute book, has not put these fears to rest for those countries who have legislated in recent times — UK, Bulgaria, Japan, Thailand, India — to name a few. If the concerns reportedly voiced by Rajya Sabha member F.S. Nariman, whose professional competence and sagacity is otherwise greatly to be respected, are to be given credence, will we be different only because we are not “sophisticated”, we are too many, too big and “suspicious of each other”? “Suspicion” as a national ailment is not restricted to common people. If there is a culture of suspicion, it has been created and fostered by the secrecy and opaqueness of government, who themselves view all and sundry with suspicion. All those who have suffered frosty or dead pan faces upon asking the most banal questions of any government employee, be he or she in the office of the Municipal Corporation or in the police station, would know that all ordinary queries by ordinary people are treated with suspicion. They are suspicious if you are holding a camera. They are suspicious if you take notes. They are suspicious if you ask them their names or designations. They are suspicious simpliciter. The long entrenched paranoia reflected in the Official Secrets Act has split over into the Freedom of Information Act, 2000. Not satisfied with protecting the national sovereignty and integrity of the country, cabinet discussions, inter-state relations, privacy, etc., the law goes on to leave out of its ambit entire organisations altogether. So, 19 such “intelligence and security” — organisations are listed in the schedule to the Act, as being completely exempt from the law — with a carte blanche to add more at any time. One can safely predict that the discretion to omit organisations from the schedule is not likely to be used much. While one may concede that systems are not sufficient today for allowing inspection of records, one must also realise that inspection is a part and parcel of the right to access information, and without a right to inspect, the right to ask for copies would be meaningless. Imagining that government's work would come to a standstill, is nothing but overreacting to the situation. It is a little farfetched to think that hordes of citizens would spend endless time, money and energy to indulge in witchunts as a sort of “time pass”. Moreover, mischief makers do not wait for access laws to be passed before getting their hands on whichever information they want. As far as managing records is concerned, we only have to turn to the smallest of land records offices in the country where records hundreds of years old are kept safely — all open to inspection by the public upon payment of a nominal fee. It is another matter that an ordinary villager may have to run between the Tehsildar, Collector and whoever else needs to be bribed, for no rhyme or reason. Which is why a law setting mandatory mechanisms for accessing information is needed. No doubt, the systems need to be upgraded for quicker and more efficient storage and retrieval. But can we afford to wait forever only because the government is unresponsive to a basic need long crying out for attention? Are we ready for two square meals a day? Are we ready for clean air? Are we ready to send our children to schools? If the world's largest democracy, now a graceful 55 years old feels it is time to say yes to all these, then it is time to make the right to information a reality, because for many of our people, the right to information means the right to live and to have access to basic needs like these. The writer is Consultant, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Member, Delhi State Council for Right to Information. |
Mahasweta & Narang:
titans of literature Why should Mahasweta decide to take on to Narang, six years younger to her? She admits this is one of the mad things she is doing; she pursued many mad causes in her life. The provocation, evidently, came in the wake of a letter reportedly written by the BJP President, Mr Venkaiah Naidu, to Union Minister for Culture Jagmohan, suggesting keeping away leftists from three national academies; Sahitya Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Lalit Kala Akademi. The three autonomous bodies dominated the cultural landscape of India for almost half a century. Though Mahasweta does not subscribe to any particular ideology, her leanings are known to be leftist since the age of twenty. She told this columnist in an interview (published in “Profile” column of The Tribune in March, 1997) that she sympathised with all “truly” (she repeated the word twice) leftist causes and they included freeing captives from the bondage of money lenders and ending poverty and exploitation. “Anyone who tries to solve these problems is true leftist. Whenever a left movement, whether in West Bengal, Kerala or anywhere else gets disassociated with the people, it goes down”. Her observations truly reflect the struggle of her life. Early years of her marriage to a card holder member of the CPI had seen dire poverty and struggle and subsequent separation in 1962. She took to writing initially to enable her earn some money. The hidden talent in her bloomed soon. She has inherited her literary genius from her parents; father — Manish Ghatak — was a poet and writer. His mother too was a writer and a social worker. The hereditary talent has travelled to the third generation. Her son, Nabarun Bhattacharya, is also a well-known poet and fiction writer. Mahasweta was born in Dacca of pre-Partition India. Her first schooling was in Dacca but after Partition she moved to West Bengal. She writes about the lives of ordinary men and women, particularly tribal people and other topics of social and political relevance. Her masterpieces included “Hazar Chaurasi Ki Maa” which has now been filmed. Among other poets, Narang has great admiration for Sahir Ludhanvi. He says Sahir was a highly creative, firebrand poet who spoke for the marginalised sections of society, including women. Narang’s favourite song is Sahir’s immortal verse: “Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko, mardon ne usee bazaar diya”. Two titans from the world of literature — Mahasweta and Narang — will clash in the election to the prestigious post of the President of the Sahitya Adademi slated for February 17. |
The drama on Bangla border SOUTH Block corridors are
abuzz with the question: how did the recent six-day-long drama of
illegal migrants staying put on the Zero Line end without India budging
an inch? And how did Bangladesh Foreign Minister Mohammad Morshed Khan’s
visit to India materialise? First things first. The Indian leadership
had made it amply clear to Dhaka there was no way that New Delhi would
act as the safety net of the deprived Bangladeshis and not a single
illegal immigrant would be accepted by India. On the second question,
South Block grapevine says it was Khan himself who wanted to visit
India. But there was a catch. Though he wanted to come he did not want
his countrymen to know this reality. He conveyed this to External
Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. Sinha obliged. He called his
Bangladeshi counterpart the next day and invited him to New Delhi. ALL
IN THE STARS The stars of
"Made in Bollywood" entered the favourable phase. While the
film showcased the modern entertainment industry which has grown into a
truly global phenomenon enthralling the audience with glitz and glamour
of Bollywood, Khanna regaled with his wit and humour asserting that
Indian film industry has finally arrived on the global scene. Film was
the best medium of publicity for the country as it has been able to
create a following not only among the persons of Indian origin but a
match to the Hollywood industry which has started looking for talent
among the Indians, he said, adding that "all is in the
stars". SONIA'S DINNER Sonia’s recent remarks
in Calcutta about the past policies of the Left being responsible for
the BJP’s coming to power at the Centre, has perturbed the leaders of
the Left. One can only question the timing of the remarks, made as they
were days before the scheduled dinner. Neither West Bengal nor Kerala
are facing any early elections for the Congress or the Left to make
accusatory noises. The dinner will show how sour the Left is. Veteran
Hindi journalist Prabhash Joshi introduced a comic relief to former
Prime Minister I K Gujral’s anecdotal speech at a media seminar
organised by the Press Institute of India recently. When Mr Gujral
recounted that he was perhaps appointed as Information and Broadcasting
Minister by the late Indira Gandhi because he had experience of bringing
out a newspaper "Seema Rakshak." She felt that Mr Gujral was
an apt candidate for the I and B portfolio because of his expertise. At
this point, Mr Joshi intervened and exclaimed that people "like us
also have a chance" evoking peels of laughter. FRENCH
WINES Importers of French wines and spirits are keeping their
fingers crossed. Will Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh consider
their request for rationalising the exorbitantly high duty structure on
French wines? Sources in the French Embassy in New
Delhi say that the visiting French Minister for Finance Francis Mer
conveyed the request for rationalisation of duty during a recent visit
to this country. Mr Jaswant Singh is believed to have told Mr Mer that
although he is a wine lover, he cannot do much to rationalise the
duties. COMPUTER-SAVVY Credit for ensuring access to
mediapersons during the Parliament sessions with the objective of speedy
and timely delivery of news stories to thousands of newspapers across
the country would go to Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi who has
sanctioned work stations for scribes. The work station would have 20
computers that includes four in Hindi font. Contributed by Satish
Mishra, Prashant Sood, Tripti Nath and Rajeev Sharma. |
Roses & frills in the gaudiest of shades HERE, whether genuine or put on, Valentine’s Day fever seemed to be overtaking just about everything. Roads stood blocked especially those leading to South Delhi (no, people in South Delhi are not romantically inclined, it’s just that they have the money power which they put to instant use to grab red roses and frills coming about in the gaudiest of shades), cafes and restaurants were crowded and, yes, politicians like Subbirama Reddy decided to hold his star-studded party that very evening (any lame excuse needed?; the 49 National Film Awards provided one). I’m told that Page Three socialite Bhai Chand Patel had also hosted a Valentine’s Day party at his home. Called the singles party, the guests needn’t have been officially single but unofficially yes, which some New Delhi socialite couples turn out to be. In fact, last year at one of the Valentine Day parties (incidentally hosted by Bhai Chand), I tried to discover one couple in love. There seemed none. Even beyond pretences. Sad faces with just those put on smiles and a lost look in those eyes. But then, for die-hard romantics like me, there’s still hope. Last week as I read Sheela Reddy’s review in the “Outlook” of Yadav: A Roadside Romance (Penguin), I sat up wondering rather aloud whether such love was actually possible today. Read it again and yet again and somehow for no inexplicable reason. Except that this tale of romance comes like a breath of fresh air. For Jill Lowe, a British, has so candidly written about her rather offbeat relationship with a Haryanavi cab driver Lal Singh. Though there are what can be termed glaring differences between the two — 65-year-old Jill is about 12 years older than Lal Singh and there’s what we call the class difference between the two, love and sex and chemistry seem to take care of all that...it’s a complete love story which has a happy ending — the couple live together in a South Delhi colony. So exceptions alright. Maybe some in South Delhi can’t afford to buy red roses but probably make up for it by sheer passion! INDIGENOUS PEOPLE The latest UN Newsletter besides dwelling on the dilemma facing America — war with Iraq, just about somehow but how to go about waging it — has this good news tucked in one corner for the indigenous people of the world. The new secretariat for the permanent forum on indigenous issues started operations last week within the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Division for Social Policy and Development. POETIC EVENINGS Ever wondered where have those relaxed poetic evenings simply vanished. Get closer to poets and poetry and you will feel better. Anyway, I might be going through that process; for next week one of the enthusiasts behind the Poetry Society of India is hosting an evening in honour of poet-film maker Gulzar, who I’m told has, come up with yet another collection and has been bestowed with yet another award. Shall get back to you next week on my relaxed state. |
Singing a different
tune now AT a studio in the suburbs of Mumbai, ace moviemaker Ram Gopal Varma is making a music video featuring Usha Uthup. And in case you're wondering why a film director is turning to music videos, Varma explains: “It's for my own film ‘Bhoot’. The video will support an album that will feature music inspired by ‘Bhoot’.” Varma told IANS: See, we filmmakers are falling into the trap of putting in a love story in all the films to accommodate songs. “That's why our films remain clichéd. My logic for putting out a separate album of music connected with ‘Bhoot’ though not in the film is simple: why should I drag audiences to Switzerland in the middle of a tight thriller? “I kept falling into the trap repeatedly out of financial greed. Audio companies offered me good money for music soundtracks. Also, I was lured into putting songs into ‘Jungle’, ‘Company’ and ‘Road’ because of the publicity the songs gave me on
TV channels. By giving music clippings I saved a lot of money on publicity.” But now Varma has decided — no more songs. Varma is planning to market a soundtrack inspired by ‘Bhoot’ as is “the norm in Hollywood”. He gave three music directors, Salim-Suleiman, Anand Raj Anand and Amar Mohile, a brief. He told them to compose what ‘Bhoot’ means to them. “Each of them along with three lyricists gave me a song. Two of these songs are now being made into music videos for television with Usha Uthup and Sunidhi Chauhan. Obviously, when home viewers see the pop artiste they'd know these songs aren't in the film. By shooting with the actors from ‘Bhoot’, I didn't want audiences to get the wrong idea. Along with these songs the music company will use the background music and incidental pieces from ‘Bhoot’. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement for both me and the music company.” According to Varma, “Road” went wrong because of the songs. “The entire intention of the thriller got diluted because we were constantly thinking about how to put in the songs. Instead of the songs working for the film, we ended up making the film for the songs. Now that the audio market has crashed and I'm not getting any money from the audio company, why should I waste money shooting song sequences in my film and then end up crying when the music doesn't sell?” Varma hopes his experiment with tunes would start a new trend in Hindi films.
IANS |
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TARLOCHAN
SINGH, the first Sikh Chairman of the re-constituted National Commission
for Minorities (NCM) retired from service in 1991, but has not hung his
boots. His tireless crusade for the Sikhs is known by his success in
persuading the Union Government to send a token jatha to Pakistan on the
birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev after four years and tapping
diplomatic channels to facilitate the return of Sikh youths stranded
overseas with incomplete travel documents.
MAHASWETA Devi is venerable, a literary giant, a relentless crusader having fought for rights of tribal all her life. Though 78, she has jumped into the fray to contest election for the post of the President of the Sahitya Akademi, India’s premier academy of letters. Her rival, a former Urdu Professor and critic, Gopi Chand Narang, apparently, is not so prominent as Magsaysay Award winner Mahasweta. While as many as 100 novels stand to her credit, Narang has penned 56 books. Campaigning for her are as prominent literary figures as Krishna Sobti and
U. R. Anandmurthy and supporters of Narang include noted writers Kamleshwar and S. Gangopadhyay. Campaigners of Narang feel that she is too big a writer to waste her time in the murky politics of the Akademi. 
Gopi Chand Narang is not known for any political leanings but has friends in all political parties and that includes the BJP and the Congress. Former Prime Minister
I. K. Gujral and a connoisseur of Urdu language is his personal friend. Doubtless, Narang has rendered great service to Urdu and, among an impressive number of awards he has won for promotion of the language, is a gold medal from a President of Pakistan. Besides, Urdu, he is also well versed in Persian. Born in a teeming little town known as Dukki, now in Pakistan, Narang’s family migrated to Delhi after Partition. He got his education in Delhi University having carried on research in Urdu literature for long years.
The star-studded sky at the Nandiya Gardens of a
premier hotel in the national capital was witness to the maiden entry of
cine star-turned politician and Union Minister of State for External
Affairs Vinod Khanna at the screening of a documentary "Made in
Bollywood." What a coincidence the 30-minute film produced by
Digital Talkies had been waiting for its launch as the External
Publicity Division could not either find the appropriate person, the
right venue or suitable time till Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
shifted Khanna from Tourism to External Affairs.
The Congress does not seem to
get its act together as far as Opposition unity goes. Even if one were
not to factor in Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, relations of the Congress with
other Opposition parties, especially the Samajwadi Party, have been
unsteady. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has not yet presided over a
meeting where all Opposition leaders are present and her effort to foist
such a unity through a dinner meeting on the eve of the budget session
of Parliament seems to have hit a rough patch.
COMIC
RELIEF
They insist that the imports of French wines and spirits
will get a boost if the duty rates are halved by the minister in the
Union Budget for 2003-2004. Right now importers have to pay a very heavy
customs duty, sales tax as well special and countervailing duty which
discourages aspiring importers.