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July 2009 Issue
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CONTENTS
Conversations
Muralidhar Rao talks to Arundhathi Krishnan about the simple questions and responsibilities we have as citizens, part-and-parcel of the system of a Nation. It is not only constitutional, but a simple humble recognition of existence in a community. Apart from being a social activist, blogging is part of his life, read his talks here.
Gus Bawab sheds his trippy colours, travels, muses, and thoughts to Gitanjali Joshua. He fled from the war at Lebanon and became an artist in Canada. A story by himself! A man who draws from Salvador Dali, can be nothing but a contemporary adventure on canvas. Painting: he says, “It is my solace from the world where barriers, rules, and judgments fall and unburden my mind.”
Dinners turn out to tell us about people, and more so what they think of other people. Before we feel subjected to something, we hardly know what racism or communalism or casteism is, but we still throw ourselves in the hurt pool to fish out some empathy! Through real conversations, damali ayo dissects racism between the lines, so clear-cut and figures it out from its myriads. What is Racism? 101.
4. Reviews, Interviews and Porn
Talking about pornography in public is a sin to commit as an Indian, so they say. But, where is the voyeur? Chai Kadai featured a review on the Indian Porn Empire Comic Series: Savita Bhabhi, where she Strikes Again to attack the base of voyeurism and media. Soon after that, the Savita Bhabhi team had a small chat with Samyuktha PC on Government Bans, sexuality, morality, culture, and passion
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Current Affairs
5. The True Account of a Non-Voter
Lakshmi Narayan writes about the tough ways of looking for a worthy candidate. He strips apart the situation faced by many before these elections. Sure, the elections are over with a hands down victory from the Congress, but a true grievance account nevertheless counts. Especially, one this strong and lucid!
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Foot Prints
‘Shantiniketan, a quiet town near Bolpur (in the Birbhum district of West Bengal) has been a tourist attraction for several years as it was once the home of Rabindranath Tagore… for Bengalis, who revere the poet highly it has almost become a place of pilgrimage!’ Read an experience from Gitanjali Joshua’s travel diaries.
When a Physics student, and science enthusiast goes to the Science City at Kolkata, one could expect nothing less than utter joy. With the same spirit, Gitanjali Joshua precisely puts in words where and what is the best about this place. She adds, “Set up, with the aim of popularizing and demystifying science while at the same time intriguing the visitor and creating a sense of curiosity, it is the ideal one-day outing… it makes you want to know.”
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Frames
“it’s not between non-violence and violence
it’s between non-violence and non-existence.”
by Sudharshan, photographer, Mumbai.
This is part of a larger photo essay “Smoke and Terror” on the Mumbai terror attacks. This photograph was taken in front of the Oberoi Hotel, 27th November 2008, where only the Media was allowed.
9. The Colonial Frames of India
Lala Deen Dayal (1844-1905) used his lens to show us the “ways of seeing” back in Colonial India, of the British and the nationalist. This was time before automatic cameras, and definitely much before the color-correcting digital formats of the present day. Samyuktha PC writes about his life, work, and the legends he created.
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Lifestyle
Archana Achuthan, a counselling psychologist, is back with simple ideas on how to root out the leaders in each one of us. Chai Kadai would just like to add that ‘Leaders are not only successful because they fulfil their personal agendas, but the world needs leaders who push people towards sustainable and sensitive lives. A leader who does not cultivate equity, creativity, and awareness to nurture the environment, might as well just get on with their personal lives, than involve others in it.’
We’re often told decide our wants and our needs, and give the latter the priority. But, present days’ lives are spiralling around wants that have become needs for comfort and existence. Adarsh Rao, an avid blogger on social issues in India, shows what a consumer needs to know as a basic before they fulfil a want, if they really have to! Where do our wants come from? Read.
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Media Critic
12. Savita Bhabhi Strikes Again!
Before we set out on asking the Savita Bhabhi team some questions, we got off talking a lot on media, voyeurism, and Indian culture. “Enough people are out there writing about this website and its successes, but this is a statement to the society. This is a statement to societies who conveniently label their opponent as a voyeur and destroyer of ‘culture’,” writes Samyuktha PC.
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Reviews
13. Stricken Down
The only running thing that keeps you turning the pages is to find out how he is going to resolve Hari’s obsession with train engines.” says Pritham K. Chakravarthy as she reflects on Anand Mahadevan’s new release ‘The Strike’. A must read to strike down!
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Story Book
14. Global WarNing
a short story by Lakshmi Narayan. ’I am used to driving the car and following the right direction although my mental self was elsewhere thinking about other things, most of the times it was Ramya or the heat.’
a poem by Niveditha Vishwanathan, who wrote it inspired by her shift from a high flying corporate job to working in an NGO that aims to better the education status of kids in Tamil Nadu.
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Reader's Impressions