the life and times of sahoo

And the Magnificent Taj

2011-06-02T11:54:00.001-07:00

Fatehpur Sikri 3

2011-06-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Fatehpur Sikri 2

2011-06-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Fatehpur Sikri 1

2011-06-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

A Visit to Gurgaon

2011-06-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 9

2011-06-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Main Building - IIT Delhi

2011-06-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 8

2011-06-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

IIT Delhi Campus

2011-06-02T11:41:00.001-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 7

2011-06-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 6

2011-06-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 5

2011-06-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 4

2011-06-02T11:35:00.001-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 3

2011-06-02T11:34:00.001-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 2

2011-06-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

On a Sunday Morning 1

2011-06-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

At the Marina Bay Sands...

2011-05-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

With Fellow Graduates...

2011-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

My Favorite Toast Box...

2011-05-24T13:20:00.001-07:00

Roskilde Life, Denmark...

2011-05-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Tiger Beer at Cjimes...

2011-05-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

ISA Nigeria

2011-05-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

Handle Bar

2011-05-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

With Friends

2011-05-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

I Was Here at NUS

2011-05-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

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Photo by Sojin Shin

With My Mentor

2011-05-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Sunset in Aceh

2011-05-23T14:06:00.001-07:00

In Malacca, Malaysia

2011-05-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Last Minute Preparation for Presentation

2011-05-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

On the Way to Ubin

2011-05-23T13:50:00.001-07:00

Palau Ubin, Singapore

2011-05-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Legian Beach, Bali

2011-05-23T13:40:00.001-07:00

Graduating...

2011-05-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

AlumNUS

2011-05-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sociology at NUS

2011-05-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Kicking Away the Ladder

2011-05-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

How did the rich countries really become rich? In this provocative study, Ha-Joon Chang examines the great pressure on developing countries from the developed world to adopt certain ‘good policies’ and ‘good institutions’, seen today as necessary for economic development. Adopting a historical approach, Dr Chang finds that the economic evolution of now-developed countries differed dramatically from the procedures that they now recommend to poorer nations. His conclusions are compelling and disturbing: that developed countries are attempting to ‘kick away the ladder’ with which they have climbed to the top, thereby preventing developing counties from adopting policies and institutions that they themselves have used.

Singapore Life

2011-05-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

The Aceh Conference, Indonesia

2011-05-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I was Told, I looked Like Tom Cruise

2011-05-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sahoo and His "Self"

2011-05-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

At the Aceh Conference, Indonesia

2011-05-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

Poverty, participation and Democracy

2011-05-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

Poverty, Participation, and Democracy, which grew out of a workshop organized atDukeUniversity in 2006, brings together six brilliant papers by renowned scholars from different disciplines. The central question addressed here is, what is the relationship between poverty and democracy? The classic studies on democracy by S.M. Lipset, Barrington Moore and Samuel Huntington have all shown that there exists a negative correlation between poverty and the development of democracy. Their works also suggest that “the more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy”. However, by building on historical experiences and examples from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the authors of this volume argue that “poor people do not value democracy any less than their richer counterparts” (p.9). Their observations show that it is the educational level of people, rather than wealth and income that provide a positive correlation with the emergence and consolidation of democratic political regimes.

This book has six chapters. The introductory essay byKrishnasets the context for the book and outlines its main arguments. He provides empirical evidence that challenges the conventional wisdom, which advocates that “democracy tends to be stronger in richer rather than poorer countries” (p.7) and poor people participate much less than others in various democratic activities. The Indian case provides a fitting example where the poor participate more intensely than the rich in the electoral democratic process; democracy has not only survived inIndiabut also has become sturdier over the last six decades amid unfavorable conditions like high levels of poverty and illiteracy.

Increasing participation by the poor in the democratic process is also shown to have occurred in Africa and Latin America. Bratton as well as Booth and Seligson find that the major cause for this is the increase in education and political awareness among the people. Przeworski argues that it is not the poor but the rich and their fear for “redistribution” that threatens the viability of democracy. In order for democracy to become more firmly consolidated within the poorer countries, Krishna and Booth argue in the concluding chapter that middle-level “institution building” should be encouraged as they will not just provide viable means of representation for the poor but also will make the “everyday practices of governance” accountable and transparent (p.152).

The book suffers from three shortcomings. First, building institutions does not always strengthen democracy since institutions do not have, as Hadiz (2010) notes, “a life of their own that is independent of context”. They could be dominated by predatory interests that might undermine democratic governance. Secondly, there is no discussion on globalization, which is intimately related to poverty and democracy. Finally, the chapters look repetitive as they all use Lipset’s work as the basis of their discussion. Despite this, the volume’s methodological sophistication and theoretically insightful essays will be a significant contribution to the students of political sociology and comparative politics.

Note: Reviewed by Sahoo. S. (2011) in Political Studies Review, Vol. 9, pp. 258-259.

The Eiffel Tower

2011-05-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

The Golden Temple

2011-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

In Chandigarh

2011-05-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

The Political Economy of Poverty

2011-05-22T14:54:00.001-07:00

Recording the past can be a tricky business for historians. Prophesying the future is even more hazardous. In 1901, shortly before the death of Queen Victoria, the radical writer William Digby looked back to the 1876 Madras famine and confidently asserted: “When the part played by the British Empire in the 19th century is regarded by the historian 50 years hence, the unnecessary deaths of millions of Indians would be its principal and most notorious monument.” Who now remembers the Madrasis?

In Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis charts the unprecedented human suffering caused by a series of extreme climactic conditions in the final quarter of the 19th century. Drought and monsoons afflicted much of China, southern Africa, Brazil, Egypt and India. The death tolls were staggering: around 12m Chinese and over 6m Indians in 1876-1878 alone. The chief culprit, according to Davis, was not the weather, but European empires, with Japan and the US. Their imposition of free-market economics on the colonial world was tantamount to a “cultural genocide”.

These are strong words. Yet it’s hard to disagree with them after reading Davis’s harrowing book. Development economists have long argued that drought need not lead to famine; well-stocked inventories and effective distribution can limit the damage. In the 19th century, however, drought was treated, particularly by the English in India, as an opportunity for reasserting sovereignty.

A particular villain was Lord Lytton, son of the Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton (“It was a dark and stormy night…”) after whom, today, a well-known bad writing prize is named. During 1876 Lytton, widely suspected to be insane, ignored all efforts to alleviate the suffering of millions of peasants in the Madras region and concentrated on preparing for Queen Victoria’s investiture as Empress of India. The highlight of the celebrations was a week-long feast of lucullan excess at which 68,000 dignitaries heard her promise the nation “happiness, prosperity and welfare”.

Lytton believed in free trade. He did nothing to check the huge hikes in grain prices, Economic “modernization” led household and village reserves to be transferred to central depots using recently built railroads. Much was exported to England, where there had been poor harvests. Telegraph technology allowed prices to be centrally co-ordinated and, inevitably, raised in thousands of small towns. Relief funds were scanty because Lytton was eager to finance military campaigns in Afghanistan. Conditions in emergency camps were so terrible that some peasants preferred to go to jail. A few, starved and senseless, resorted to cannibalism. This was all of little consequence to many English administrators who, as believers in Malthusianism, thought that famine was nature’s response to Indian over-breeding.

It used to be that the late 19th century was celebrated in every school as the golden period of imperialism. While few of us today would defend empire in moral terms, we’ve long been encouraged to acknowledge its economic benefits. Yet, as Davis points out, “there was no increase in India’s per capita income from 1757 to 1947″. In Egypt, too, the financial difficulties caused to peasants by famine encouraged European creditors to override the millennia-old tradition that tenancy was guaranteed for life. What little relief aid reached Brazil, meanwhile, ended up profiting British merchant houses and the reactionary sugar-planter classes.

The European “locusts” did not go unchallenged. Rioting became common. Banditry increased. In China, drought-famine helped to spark the Boxer uprising. In Europe, the fin de siècle was largely an opportunity for pale-faced men to wear purple cummerbunds and spout rotten symbolist poetry; for colonized peoples it genuinely seemed to presage mass extinction. It was, says Davis, “a new dark age of colonial war, indentured labour, concentration camps, genocide, forced migration, famine and disease.”

Davis’s attention to the importance of environment may recall the work of the Annales school of historians, but he is far more radical than any of them. His writing, both here and in such classic books as City of Quartz and Ecology of Fear, is closer to that of Latin American intellectuals such as Ariel Dorfman and the Urguayan, Eduardo Galaeno, who for decades have spotlighted capitalism’s casual abuse of the third world and who have sought to champion the poor and dispossessed. Such commitment, forcefully and lucidly expressed, is unfashionable these days.

“Class” may be passé in academic circles, yet the catalogue of cruelty Davis has unearthed is jaw-dropping. A friend to whom I lent the book was reduced to tears by it. Late Victorian Holocausts is as ugly as it is compelling. But, as Conrad’s Marlow said in Heart of Darkness : “The conquest of the earth, which means the taking away from those who have a different complexion and slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look at it too much.”

_______________
@ Sukhdev Sandhu, The Guardian, Saturday 20 January 2001

Commencement Ceremony

2010-08-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

At Peking University, Beijing

2009-11-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

At the Famous CCTV Tower, Beijing

2009-11-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

At the Great Wall

2009-11-06T04:48:00.000-08:00

At the Teachnology Park, Beijing

2009-11-06T04:45:00.001-08:00

ELD Conference Dinner

2009-11-06T04:43:00.001-08:00

At the Tianamen Square

2009-11-06T04:41:00.001-08:00

To Michael Jackson

2009-06-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a small village in Orissa where there was no electricity until 1996. I had no exposure to the modern world of music and entertainment. The only instrument of my childhood entertainment was a small radio that my father got as a part of his wedding gift from his parents-in-laws. I tried my best not to miss the bollywood music programme - Keo Karpin - telecasted in Vividh Bharti every Sunday at 12 or 12.30 noon. I love listening to music but very bad in remembering them, even till now.

Watching bollywood movies was also very rare. The news about free movie shows in nearby villages usually did not take much time to reach us. It is spread to others during our football practice in the evening. After the game is over, we used to gather to make the plans on where to meet and what time. Lest we might fall asleep during the movie show, we used carry sleep preventive mechanisms like sensors and Amrutanjan with us. Since free movie shows were very iregular and gave us rare opportunity to acquaint ourselves with bollywood, we could not afford to fall asleep.

That was the time when Amitabh Bachan and Mithun Chakrabarty were dominating the film industry. Mithun was the favourite for his dance in "I am a Disco Dancer". I loved his dance and also picked up few of his steps. I remember dancing infront of friends, and sometimes secretly by putting on my father's trouser and shirt. My passion for dance has always remained a secret affair. It has never found overt expression because of my shy individuality.

Last year while in Denmark, I went to a weekend party in Roskilde University with friends. We drank, danced, and enjoyed the music. Our group was the one which stayed till the end. One of the students who was the host of the party walked up to me and called me Michael Jackson. I was bit embarassed, but felt happy. As I told, my exposure was very limited. I hardly/never listened to Michael Jackson's musics or watched him dance. But last week, I don't know why but I spent one full day watching his videos and listening to his songs. I liked his "Thriller", "Smooth Criminal", "Dangerous", and several others.

Now Michael Jackson is dead. He is no longer there. Its very sad. Many of the bollywood actors have been influenced by his dance and music. Mithun Chakrabarty admitted that Michael Jackson was like a God to him. The few steps I learnt in my childhood were somhow indirectly influenced by Michael Jackson. I will remember him through my Denmark Experiecne. This is thus dedicated to Michael Jackson.

In Toronto after the Conference

2009-05-28T03:51:00.000-07:00

At the Liberty Bell in Philly

2009-05-28T03:16:00.000-07:00

On Top of the Empire State Building

2009-05-28T03:05:00.000-07:00

At the Times Square in New York

2009-05-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

At the Niagra Falls in Canada

2009-05-28T03:02:00.000-07:00

Sunset at Washington Monument

2009-05-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

Infront of the US Capitol

2009-05-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

On the Broadway, New York

2009-05-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

Chicago Navy Pier

2009-05-26T02:23:00.000-07:00

Chicago 2016 Olympics

2009-05-26T02:22:00.001-07:00

Kapoor Sculpture in Chicago

2009-05-26T02:19:00.001-07:00

Sears Towrs in Chicago

2009-05-26T00:09:00.001-07:00

University of Chicago

2009-05-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

Lake Michigan

2009-05-26T00:03:00.001-07:00

A moment from the past...

2008-12-18T01:07:00.000-08:00

Individualism – Man’s Right to Exist for his Own Sake

2008-11-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

Has man any right to exist if he refuses to serve society?

Thousands of years ago the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake, he taught his brothers to light. But he left them a gift they had not conceived. And he lifted darkness off the earth. Throughout the centuries, there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. The great creators, the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors stood alone against the men of their time. Every new thought was opposed; every new invention was denounced. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid, but they won. No creator was prompted by a desire to please his brothers. His brothers hated the gift he offered. His truth was his only motive. His work is his only goal. His work, not those who used it; his creation, not the benefits others derived from it; the creation which gave form to his truth. He held his truth above all things and against all men. He went ahead whether others agreed with him or not, with his integrity as his only banner. He served nothing and no one. He lived for himself, and only by living for himself was he able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature of achievement.

Man cannot survive, except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon, but the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. The man who thinks must think and act on his own. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be subordinated to the needs, opinions or wishes of others. It is not an object of sacrifice. The creator stands on his own judgment. The parasite follows the opinions of others. The creator thinks; the parasite copies. The creator produces; the parasite loots. The creator’s concern is the conquest of nature. The parasites concern is the conquest of men. The creator requires independence. He neither serves nor rules. He deals with men by free exchange and voluntary choice. The parasite seeks power. He wants to bind all men together in common action and common slavery. He claims that man is only a tool for the use of others that he must think as they think, act as they act, and live in selfless, joyless servitude to any need but his own.

Look at history! Everything we have, every great achievement has come from the independent work of some independent mind. Every horror and destruction came from attempts to force men into a herd of brainless, soulless robots without personal rights, without personal ambition, without hope, or dignity. It is an ancient conflict. It has another name – the individual against the collective. Our country, the noblest country in the history of men was based on the principles of individualism – the principle of man’s inalienable rights. It was country where a man was free to seek his own happiness. To gain and produce, not to give up and renounce; to prosper, not to starve; to achieve, not to plunder; to hold his highest possession, a sense of his personal value and as his highest virtue his self-respect. Look at the results! That is what the collectivists are now asking you to destroy as much as the earth has been destroyed.

I am an architect. I know what is to come by the principle on which it is built. We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live. My ideas are my property. They were taken from me by force, by breach of contract. No appeal was left to me. It was believed that my work belonged to others to do with as they pleased. They had a claim upon me without my consent that it was my duty to serve them without choice or reward. Now you know why I dynamited Cortlandt. I designed Cortlandt, I made it possible, I destroyed it. I agreed to design it for the purpose of seeing it built as I wished. That was the price I set for my work. I was not paid. My building was disfigured at the whim of others who took all the benefits of my work and gave me nothing in return. I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life nor to any part of my energy, nor to any achievement of mine, no matter who makes the claim. It had to be said. The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing. I came here to be heard in the name of every man of independence still left in the world. I wanted to state my terms. I do not care to work or live on any others. My terms are a man’s right to exist for his own sake.
_______________
@This is translated from the video clip "Fountain Head".

Fear !!

2008-09-08T01:07:00.000-07:00

Aj
Ye shahr ik sahme hue bachche ki taraah
Apni parchhaai se bhi darta hai
Jantari dekho
Mujhe lagta hai
Aaj tyohaar koi hai shaayad

Today
This city, like a frightened child
Fears its own shadow
Check the calendar
I have a feeling
That today might be the day of a festival

– Javed Akhtar

_________________
Circulated through the South Asia Contact Group on 8 September 2008

Patriots of Singapore !!

2008-08-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the National Day!!! August 9 was the National Day. Torsten was the Guest of Honour and the Guest Speaker was Nicolas Sim Hee Juat. The audiences had to bear all his bullshit because he always likes to pull my leg. He came up with all his long treausred stories about me – which girls I like, how have I failed with all my efforts in finding a “LIFE”. We had a wonderful dinner at Annalaxmi and then headed for drinks in Iguana at Clark Quay. The Red Straberry Martinis on the table, you can see. My meeting with Torsten after more than a year was interesting. I was thinking that he will be addressing me the same way his cousin (Charanpal Singh Bal) usually does. My guess was right – he called me SAHUKAR at the very first moment he saw me at the restaurant. A drink at Iguana was really nice because of the river-side ambiance, although was bit crowded. However, I enjoyed and had a good time with the patriots of Singapore.

Is it true?

2008-08-30T05:29:00.000-07:00

Find a Life and You will Find a Love?

2008-08-26T00:36:00.000-07:00

Sam de Brito's new book Building a Better Bloke provides some tips for men how to build self-esteem and a life for themselves. He believes that building a life will in turn attract women. This book deals with an aspect of the male weakness – although men appear to be bold and confident, a lot of them are actually not. Many of them also indulge in drunken behaviour. The biggest fear in their life is approaching and striking up a conversation with a woman. He suggests people to have a sense of humour and believes that if you “find a life and you will find a love”. The question, however, is that is this true or the opposite of it (If you find love you will find life). This is perhaps another question like the chicken and the egg that has no clear answer. Brito provides ten tips to lure a woman (1) Stay healthy, (2) Don't abuse alcohol or drugs, (3) Have a job that means something to you, (4) Be busy with your own activities, (5) Be well groomed and clean, (6) Have a sense of humour, (7) Talk to women as individuals, not as a gender, (8) Be a gentleman, (9) Don't mix with loser friends, and (10) Have a clean bedroom, clean sheets - and a lamp to create romantic lighting (ANI).

Reading these ten tips I feel it sounds very stupid, although he is partially right in saying that if you find a life you find love. It makes me think what is life and what kind of “love” that Brito is talking about. Is it just to find a woman or is it more than that? I guess the objective should not be to find the “love of our life” but to “love our life”. And when start loving ourselves we would perhaps find both love and life – a lovely life.

Why Civilizations cannot Climb Hills?

2008-08-23T04:52:00.000-07:00

Prof. James C. Scott was a visiting professor at the Institute of Development Studies in Roskilde University in Denmark. Presenting his research on Southeast Asia, he spoke about Why Civilizations cannot Climb Hills. He argued how states stop when they come to hills and presented the history of non-state spaces. According to him, the history of agriculture in Southeast Asia is of 8,000 years. The history of homo-sapiens is 200,000 years and the history of homo-sapiens in Southeast Asia is 50,000 years. He also argued that most of human experience has been state-less. Population and production in Southeast Asia was dispersed.

He distinguished between the Valley and the Hill and argued that the valley has always been the sites of states – taxes, Kings, sites of war and of hierarchy. The hill has no permanent states, no permanent Kings and taxation system. It is relatively egalitarian, although it is considered uncivilized, primitive and as barbarian periphery. Hill peoples are the past of the valley people. Hill peoples don’t share the religion of the valley. Mountains remain at the fringes of civilization. People run away from valleys to hills to evade state-making – taxation, mono-cropping, etc. of the state. Hills are not barbarian periphery but they are kind of political refugees. Hill peoples are considered as tribes and tribes were the creation of states and empires. They are the people who live in the fringes of the state. In Southeast Asia and South Asia, tribes were escaping state-building where as in Africa tribes were part of the state project. The idea of nation-state has been to control the periphery and to expand the state sovereignty till the border.

Empowering Visions

2008-08-19T00:41:00.000-07:00

Empowering Visions: The Politics of Representation in Hindu Nationalism
Christiane Brosius
London: Anthem Press, 2005
ISBN: 1-84331-135-6

What roles do the modern media play in the sphere of culture, politics and governance? Christiane Brosius’ Empowering Visions: the Politics of Representation in Hindu Nationalism (London: Anthem Press, 2005) is an attempt to address ‘why, how and when Hindutva ideologues and pragmatics exploited the video media in order to claim power over public opinion-making and opinion-shaping’ (p. 3). Grounded on the theories of popular culture, anthropology of audiovisuals and thick ethnographic analysis, Brosius brilliantly depicts the roles played by Jain Studios’ videography in representing Hindutva’s cultural nationalism as an alternative conception of modernity, nationhood and national identity against the existing morally corrupt culture of secularism. These alternative empowering visions are realized through active entwining of ‘imagination to politics and ideology, space to time, image to narrative, and agent to action’ (p. 4).

The author argues that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, since the late 1980s, have heavily exploited the modern media, particularly audiovisual technologies to create visions of idealized Hindu way of life. Employing Schiffauer’s idea of ‘field of discourse’– ‘as a sphere in which cultural agents interact with each other with regards to interpretations, norms, values, questions of style and memories’ (p. 3) – Brosius argues that Jain Studio’s production and distribution of propaganda videos has helped the BJP in spreading cultural and ideological images to influence the public consciousness with a pan-Indian cultural nationalism grounded on the glories of the golden age. By depicting the people passionately participating in the saffron revolution, these images and narratives invite further participation of the audience. Key images and narratives from the domain of local popular culture were appropriated and commodified in a package to heighten ‘political marketing’ and mobilization (p. 93); to influence the popular psyche of the people; and to present itself as a credible force to reshape the modern nation-state, reclaim the stolen stories and rewrite the national history.

Selective use of particularistic media imaginations and narratives has colonized the public conscience and provocative representations in the public sphere have generated antithetical feelings of ‘self’ and ‘the other’. Visual media has convincingly justified Hindutva’s agenda of Hindu cultural identity as ‘credible’ and depicted Muslims as anti-nationals and a threat to the nation. It argues that the national history has been misrepresented by the anti-nationals and a self-empowerment could be achieved only by re-mapping Indianness through a return to the ‘indigenous and “true” history of the Hindu people’ (p. 12). A sense of ‘pop patriotism’ is being crafted by softly manipulating the Hindu sentiment through devout citizenship, righteousness, self-sacrifice, sacred violence, heroism, national devotion, and the notion of martyrdom which has ‘left deep scars on the skin of civil society, and changed the mental maps of large parts of Indian citizenry for good’ (p. 180). The video media, which is a part of Hindutva’s ‘cheerful revolution’ aimed at forming a powerful paternalistic state with a seemingly disciplined and infantile citizenry ever ready to sacrifice for the cause of universal brotherhood and moral community (p. 93). Since 1998, the Internet has decentralized the power of representation and disseminated Hindutva ideology on a wider scale. The presentation of imaginary and narratives in cultural production has, thus, played a significant role in redefining identity, history, nationhood, governance and politics.

The only shortcoming of the book would be its overemphasis on the cultural ‘production’ of image and narratives and not the ‘reception’ of it by the people. Despite this, the book is an admiral contribution to the Anthem South Asian Studies series. Its uniqueness lies in its provocative and telling arguments embedded in ethnographic description and provides a valuable contribution to the field of popular culture and anthropology of iconography.
______________________

@ Reviewed by Sarbeswar Sahoo, Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 16, No. 3, September 2008, pp. 357-358.

A Momentary Look at My Past

2008-08-13T06:08:00.001-07:00

This is a piece of art that many people in Singapore may not have noticed. It is situated right in front of the entrance to the Fullerton Hotel. I took this picture long ago in 2007 when a friend of mine from London was visiting me in Singapore and I had to act as the tourist guide. I kind of like this picture because of the kind of expression it depicts. It reminds me of my childhood days that I spent with friends in my tiny village. I remember of going to the village pond and jumping down to the pool of water from the top of the date tree….what a life that was!! Unbelievable now even to me. I loved swimming, for which I was always chased by my mom. I used to swim for hours and hours till my eyes get red. I even almost always won the swimming race – whether under water or butterfly (It was true and believe me I am good swimming underwater). In retrospect, I enjoyed my time with my friends in the very small village in the state of Orissa. Many of my friends have left the village like me having been forced by the pragmatism of life. The simplicity of life no longer exists. Not just their absence but the advent of television has replaced that simplicity and injected a sense of artificiality into the village life. When I go back, this is what I lament about. However, it is also true that I have, in the process, been affected and become a victim of such metamorphosis.

Hort Park Bridge

2008-08-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

OH THE GREAT AMERICANS! STIR UP YOUR CONSCIENCE!

2008-08-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

The history was busy to write your name,
Amongst the nations with the highest fame.
The world was proud of your grace,
Virtue and love were the signs of your face.

From your soil, streams of justice used to flow,
To the vices and wrongs, you were a lethal blow.
You used to inspire a trust in all,
You drew no line between big and small.

The cascade of wisdom from your mind,
Quenched the intellectual thirst of every kind.
To the benighted humanity, you sowed new seed,
The compassion of Jesus (p.b.u.h.) was your creed.

Why suddenly, for you, this turn of fate?
How you emerged as a symbol of hate?

Stir up your conscience,
Look ahead with prescience.
Strain your nerves to see the right,
With a sense of justice, not with might.
Your eyes will perceive a demeaning course,
That made you believe in arms and force.

Delve deep into your soul,
To find out your filthy role.

Each part of the globe was within your reach,
With the Bible in hand; its lesson to preach.
You threw it away with a ruthless shake,
Your hands now possess weapons, for power sake.

The world is now standing aghast,
Why this all has happened so fast?

I know, only a few in your midst,
Spoiled your serenity with a grisly twist,
Sullied your image as a graceful race,
And eclipsed the sedateness of your pace.

Rise up ! purge your glory,
Of the present grim story;
Restore your lost dignity,
With penitential ‘sad’ and ‘sorry’.

Listen to the shrieks and wails,
See the destruction and travails,
Your sons have caused in others’ land,
With the dead falling like heaps of sand.

When the advent of Christ (p.b.u.h.) is too close,
Why you became so hideous, and why you chose,
To smear your face with innocent blood,
To engulf the humanity with your raging flood.

Now is the time for you to repent,
For what you have done, and what you spent,
To bring about fright and fear all around,

Let once again the global ambience reverberate,
Not with threats and piercing cannonade,
But with your soothing sermons, and remorseful sound.

_______________
@ Written by Dr. Mustafa Kamal Sherwani, President, All India Muslim Forum, Lucknow- India

The Little Mermaid

2008-08-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

The Little Mermaid (Danish: Den lille havfrue) is a fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a merperson to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince.

The Little Mermaid lives at the sea bottom with her father the sea king; her grandmother; and her five elder sisters, born one year apart. When a mermaid turns 15, she is allowed to swim to the surface to watch the world above, and as the sisters become old enough, one of them visits the surface every year. As each of them returns, the Little Mermaid listens longingly to their descriptions of the surface and of human beings.

When the Little Mermaid's turn comes, she ventures to the surface, sees a ship with a handsome prince, and falls in love with him from a distance. A great storm hits, and the Little Mermaid saves the prince from a near-drowning. She delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here she waits until a young girl from the temple finds him. The prince never sees the Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid asks her grandmother whether humans can live forever if they do not drown. The grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than merfolk's 300 years, but that when mermaids die they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that lives on in Heaven. The Little Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, eventually visits the Sea Witch, who sells her a potion that gives her legs, in exchange for her tongue; the Little Mermaid has the most intoxicating voice in the world. Drinking the potion will make her feel as if a sword is being passed through her, and walking on her feet will feel like walking on knives. In addition, she will only get a soul if the prince loves her and marries her, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman, the Little Mermaid will die brokenhearted and turn to sea foam.

The Little Mermaid drinks the potion and meets the prince, who is attracted to her beauty and grace even though she is mute. Most of all he likes to see her dance, and she dances for him despite her excruciating pain. When the prince's father orders his son to marry the neighboring king's daughter, the prince tells the Little Mermaid he will not, because he does not love the princess. He goes on to say he can only love the young woman from the temple, but adds that the Little Mermaid is beginning to take the temple girl's place in his heart. It turns out that the princess is the temple girl, who had been sent to the temple to be educated. The prince loves her and the wedding is announced.

The prince and princess marry, and the Little Mermaid's heart breaks. She thinks of all that she has given up and of all the pain she has suffered. She despairs, but before dawn, her sisters give her a knife that the Sea Witch has given them in exchange for their hair. If the Little Mermaid slays the prince with the knife, she will become a mermaid again and live out her full life.

The Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride and, as dawn breaks, throws herself into the sea. Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the warmth of the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters of the air tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to gain an eternal soul. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds, and she will eventually rise into the kingdom of God.
________________
The story is from Wikipedia.

Snack with a Real Sting !!

2008-07-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

I was surprised about it when I first came to southeast asia, but now have been familiar with such stories. I told my siblings and friends that people eat dog meet and snakes, and they were suprised (no offence intended). They were also surprised when I told them that people eat spiders and scorpions for their snacks. They did never believe me. They thought these as my own made up stories. Here is a piece of evidence that I confirms what I had told before.

Watching Oriya Movies

2008-07-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Fondness grows with distance (don’t know if it works in all cases). During my recent visit to my home state, my uprooted mobile identity created nostalgic feelings about Oriya films. Oriya films were the most precious and rarely available sources of entertainment during my childhood days. I grew up in country side where there was no electricity until 1996. Although there was no television, news from one village to the other traveled very fast. The news of video shows or film screening in other villages used to create unending excitement among the children and adults of my village. The video show generally starts at 9 in the evening, for which we, the film lovers, ask our mothers or sisters to prepare the evening meal quite early so that we will not be late for the film. If we get the news about the video shows early, we sleep for some hours during the day to prepare ourselves for the unending entertainment night. We often carry sensor, so that we can use it to break our sleep. Since my village was a small one, we used to collect 10 rupees from each family to run video shows in our village. If someone is willing to pay some extra money we also pay special attention for their request of movies. Growing up in a village was, in retrospect, indeed an exciting experience.

I had not seen Oriya movies for long time. Unlike Bollywood, Oriya film industry is very small and undeveloped for which you can not even find any of the movies online. During my recent visit to Orissa, I was eager and decided to watch an Oriya movie and see how it is. I was visiting my sister’s place in Puri which is one of the most sacred places for Hindus in India. It is also one of the most beautiful places situated at the coast of Bay of Bengal. The place is very pleasant in the evening with the wild roaring sea waves, gentle breeze, and serenity of atmosphere. I love spending my evenings in the beach whenever I visit my sister’s place. But this time I decided to watch an Oriya movie instead of going to the beach. I thought I could go to the beach even after the movie which was supposed to be over by 9 p.m. My elder brother was with me. When I told my intention to watch movies, everybody was surprised. Why Oriya movies? However, I was adamant. My bother could not tell anything although he was not happy with my decision. He very much wanted to spend the evening at the sea.

Finally, we went for the 6.15 p.m. show. The name of the movie was Mun Sapanar Soudagar (I am the merchant of dreams). I was surprised to see the show house-full. The movie was a copy of one of the Hindi movies where a secret and psychotic lover tries to buy his dreams and turns it into reality. I don’t anymore remember the names of the actors. It’s a love triangle, where a girl and boy love each other very much. The boy is a friend of girl’s brother. Nobody else in either family knows about this love affair. There is another rich but orphan, who secretly loves the same girl. She has become his dream girl. The situation has become such that he cannot live without her. He has been following the girl and his lover and threatening the girl to leave the guy. Since she did not listen, the secret lover kidnapped the girl’s actual lover. After kidnapping him, he comes with a marriage proposal to the girl’s house and eventually the girl’s family agrees with the proposal. The girl could not tell about his love affair because her elder sister had run away with one her brother’s friend. Thinking that it might make her brother angry, the girl accepted the proposal. The actual lover comes back after the girl’s marriage.

After marriage, the secret-psychotic lover starts torturing the girl. It becomes so unbearable that the girl’s brother brings his sister back to their own house. The psychotic lover gets angry, kills the girl’s brother and takes her away. The psychotic lover met an accident and got killed. The girl saw him dead. The police also declared him dead. She became a widow. After few days, her marriage got fixed with the ex-lover. It is at this exciting moment, the dead psychotic lover comes alive and again starts threatening her. But none believed her as he had already been declared and seen dead. He even kidnapped the bride on the day of her marriage and kept her in a secret place. The psychotic lover burnt the house and throws a dead girl’s body into the fire who was dressed up exactly in the same way the bride was. Everybody thought the bride was dead. But in the end, the bride manages to send messages from the secret location and the ex-lover comes to rescue her. A fight occurs between the ex-lover and the supposedly dead husband. In the end, the psychotic and supposedly dead husband kills himself saying the girl that “I can’t live without you and you can’t live without him. I love you so much that I can’t even kill you”. The film ends with the altruistic end of a psychotic lover who forcibly wanted to buy his dreams and make them reality.

The movie was boring and badly made. I liked the actress of the movie who was quite pretty with her slender frame, flower beauty and incredible gracefulness. In the end, I, however, regretted spending three hours in the theatre and wished I had spent the time in the beach. My glasshouse of nostalgia shattered into pieces. Before throwing the stone, I had perhaps forgotten that I am inside the glasshouse and my feelings are fragile.

On his way to get married.....

2008-07-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Slave of Freedom

2008-07-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

Boredom makes people think. My last train to Orissa on 17 June was indeed worth remembering. It was running almost thirty hours late. While standing near the door and looking at the green fields, I thought if I had traveled on 12 June I would not have had such terrible and traumatic experience. I had originally booked my ticket on 12 June to celebrate Raja (a very famous festival in Orissa) with family and friends but due to certain work commitment, I decided to postpone my journey till 17 June when it started raining heavily. Heavy rain and flood not only disrupted the movement of trains but also uprooted many families from their homes.

An ontological thought came to my mind. People say being an academic is a COOL job. Academics have no fixed schedule, no rigid office hours, lot of international traveling, and no overwork – in a sense there is not much constraint and compulsion. They are FREE and enjoy maximum FREEDOM. Perhaps this was also somewhere there in my sub-conscious mind, although I had never been a good student of Sigmund Freud. This could perhaps be one of the reasons for which I chose to be an academic besides the fact that I like reading and writing. In fact, I sometimes think that will not be able to do anything else (hence my thought is ontological).

The story behind this and my late journey is my work commitments in Rajasthan. I had celebrated Raja for the last time when I was in my early adolescent. It was lovely in my village. The young boys and girls dressed up in new colourful clothes play in the village backyards. Every house has a swing for which the festival is famous. Boys and girls go swinging and other games. It goes on for three days. I still have that nostalgic feeling lively in my heart and mind. These are some of the things that I miss about my village. To make sure that this year I celebrate Raja with my family and friends in Orissa, I booked the train ticket through a friend even while I was in Copenhagen.

Unfortunately, the protest of the Gujjar messed up my schedule. Trains and buses to Rajasthan were stopped. I could not go to Rajasthan on time to finish up my research. I had to wait and spoiled a week in Delhi waiting for the bus service to continue. Finally, I paid huge amount of money to buy a bus ticket. It took me 15 hours to arrive in Udaipur. I spent few days there in the tribal areas when I realized that my work might need some more time. Since I was not to come back to Rajasthan because of time constraint, Gujjar strike, expensive fares, etc., etc., I decided to stay back for some more days and try finishing up the necessary tasks. I cancelled the train ticket and asked a friend to book it on 17 June.

Such cancellation and extension was not forcibly done the orders of any authority above me. Rather it was my freedom that constrained my activities and plans. I thought that although people think academicians are free individuals not only in terms of flexibility in working hours but also in exercising their freedom in academic writings. In retrospection, I, however, encounter a different existential reality that is manifested through late working hours, academic pressure for publishing, teaching burden, broken family life, etc., etc. This existential reality and constraints subconsciously played a significant role in postponing my trip to Orissa, and in the end, I became a slave of my own freedom or free will.

The Burghers of Calais

2008-04-23T10:54:00.001-07:00

The London Eye

2008-04-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

Trafalgar Square

2008-04-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Iraq in London

2008-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Westminister Abbey

2008-04-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

The China Town in London

2008-04-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Buckimham Palace

2008-04-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

The Golden Hinde

2008-04-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

A Bird's Eye View of London

2008-04-23T10:38:00.001-07:00

London Eye

2008-04-23T10:36:00.001-07:00

St. Paul's Cathedral in London

2008-04-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Title Conferred in England - "The International Man of Mystery"

2008-04-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Statue of the Pope

2008-04-02T02:55:00.000-07:00

Polish Dumplins

2008-04-02T02:51:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Easter in Poland

2008-04-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

Polska or Poland, as it is known, though geographically located in the central part of Europe, has been politically a part of the east-European communist block. I spent my Easter holidays in Krakow – the cultural capital of the country. Three months ago, I had no idea that I will be visiting Poland. But an unanticipated friendship produced through the International Sociological Association’s PhD laboratory in Nigeria made it all possible. It began during the travel in Nigeria after the conference, where two newly introduced people were strained to travel together due to the unpredictable socio-political situation and gradually became good friends. As a result of that beautiful friendship, I was invited to visit Krakow – the home town of Karolina, who I met in Nigeria.

Poland, being a catholic country, as Karolina told me, is a nice place to celebrate Easter. I planned my visit accordingly and got my flight from Malmo (Sweden) to Katowice (Krakow). I was traveling from Malmo because all the budget flights from Copenhagen were booked during the time. Traveling from Malmo was also comparatively cheaper. I thought Malmo Airport, like Copenhagen, would be besides the train station. When I got off at Malmo Central train station, I did not know that the Airport is 25 K.M away and there is also no frequent bus services. There is only a private coach, which leaves every one hour. Luckily I had some time, which gave me the opportunity to walk around Malmo city. It was a very nice city similar to Copenhagen. Finally I managed to catch my flight and arrived in Krakow.

Karolina came with her friend Agatka to receive me at the bus station in the evening at around 9 pm. It was indeed wonderful to see her there after our scary and exciting trip in Nigeria in December. Both of us could not believe that I am in Krakow. We headed to a pub. She bought me a cup of nice warm coffee that let my mild headache go away. I also met Pawel, a gentleman who, although initially looked like a rock star to me, is in reality a philosopher. His long hair and thick glasses later compelled me to revisit my first impression. I had a wonderful evening with them. A walk around the dazzling city and vibrant night life sensed magical. The time spent in Singer bar was lovely because of its nice table arrangements. Each table had an old singer sewing machine that reminded me of my village, where the tailor’s place was one of the most vibrant place during my childhood days. Anyway, it was a happy evening that made me interested in the city’s life and style.

The next day began with a smiling face. Having had our breakfast together and we went to the university, where we met Agatka and Pawel. Karolina and Agatka showed me around their department. The department looked like the old colonial houses in India – tall buildings with majestic architecture. The houses looked really beautiful. One of the interesting things is to count the number of churches in Krakow. Almost every hundred or two hundred meter you find a church. It was interesting for me to see the religious vibrancy in the city. Even the college going young people were very religious. I visited a number of churches and I liked this whole idea of celebrating festivals or being religious.

I should mention here that I am a very religious person. This also reminded me how much I miss these things in my life and how things have gradually changed in my village. When I was a kid, I longed for festivals and religious celebrations because it was fun. Community living and collective social life in my village was strong. But with the changing times, as I see now, things have changed. Religious functions and collective celebrations do not have much vibrancy in village life. Community living has given way to individualistic behaviours and practices. This is what I was explaining to a friend of mine in Belgium, when he asked me what I miss about my village.

Being religious has often been misunderstood as being fanatic or fundamentalist. However they are not the same thing. Being religious for me is to believe in God or some supernatural power or having faith – it could be any religious faith. But when you develop some rigid ethnocentric attitude and judge one’s religion as superior or inferior, it gives way to fundamentalism. Recognizing the existence of other religious faiths as equals and an attitude of syncretism can solve the religious conflicts of the world. Though I am born in a Hindu family, I enjoyed my visit to the churches during Easter. I enjoyed it because of the “sense of community” or religious faith it spreads among the people and revives the collective social memory in the age of amnesia.

I visited many places of historical and cultural importance. I went to Wawel castle that represent a symbol of Polish royal traditions and history. It was majestic in its look and had occupied a beautiful place besides the river. The main market place, the cloth hall, the town hall tower, the St. Mary’s church and many others were simply beautiful. I was amazed to see so many tourists, who added vibrancy to the city’s already busy and bustling life. The city of Krakow can not be defined in one word. It was beautiful, it was colourful, it was vibrant, and it was modern in look with a traditional soul.

I had also no idea about the difference that the so called eastern Europeans feel in their life style and moral underpinnings from the so called western Europeans. We, in India, take things for granted about the life, love, marriage and family of westerners. This was good to know how people are so strongly attached to their families and share a strong sense of belonging. I got to understand that how the simple dichotomy of west being individualistic and east being communitarian belies many aspects of social reality.

I also visited the Welizka salt mine, which was 30 minutes by bus in the south-east of Krakow. It was truly amazing to see the salt mine which had been ceaselessly operating since the Middle Ages till 1996. It took me almost one day to go around the mine underground to its various sites. Since Poland is a catholic country, you get to see a lot of churches and statues of Jesus and Mary in all places. There is a beautiful church down in the salt mine where people can also get married. A statue of Pope John Paul II is recently established there who visited the mine perhaps in 1972 before became the Pope. When I get out of the mine, I was very happy to see it snowing. I loved it. It was beautiful. The earth looked like being covered with a white blanket. Winter was back again in Europe. In the evening, Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. I met her mom and Andre (I loved Andre’s songs). They were really nice. Her mom was a beautiful lady, who was surprised to know that I am a strict vegetarian who does not even take eggs and who does not drink and smoke.

During my stay in Krakow I also visited Auschwitz. Located about 60 K.M from Krakow it remains one of the most explicit symbols of the terror and tragedy created by the Nazis during the World War II. It was the Nazi extermination camp, where almost 1.5 million people were killed. Though it was horrifying and depressing to see, it was one of the best museums that provide details about the Nazi brutality. As per the data, 430,000 Jews from Hungary, 300,000 Jews from Poland, 69,000 from France, 60,000 from the Netherlands, 55,000 from Greece, 46,000 from Czech Republic, 27,000 from Slovakia, 25,000 from Belgium, 23,000 from Austria and Germany, 10,000 from Yugoslovia, 7,500 from Italy and 690 from Norway were deported to Auschwitz (data reproduced from a picture taken at the museum).

The next day, Karolina and I came to her mom’s place to make the Easter eggs. After having breakfast, we painted the eggs and prepared a chocolate cake. I painted the egg in the form of a soccer ball, which belonged to the Karolina Company. She then prepared a basket of food representatives (one piece from each food group), which we took to the church for prayer. The priest prayed for the food and we then returned home with the basket.

Finally came the big day – the Easter. Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. Though Karolina had told me before that the Poles eat a lot during Easter, I had no idea about it. I was surprised to see the amount of and the kinds of food were placed on table for breakfast.

After wishing a very happy Easter to each other, we started our breakfast. First the food from the food representative basket that had undergone sacred prayer was served on the plates. After that we were free to eat anything from the table. I was offered to eat eggs. Since eggs represented the symbol of Easter, I thought of trying because my vegetarianism was due to personal choice and had nothing to do with religion. So I thought of trying it and also not to disappoint my lovely hosts. Andre had prepared the eggs stuffed with mixed vegetables. They really tested nice and I kept on eating more and more eggs.

Karolina and I visited the cemetery where her grand father and grand mother’s bodies were buried. The cemetery looked beautiful. Everyone had decorated their relative’s graves with colourful flowers and candles. It happened that it was also the cemetery where the Pope John Paul II’s father was buried. When he was the Pope, he used to visit to that cemetery. It was nice to see this and have a unique experience.

We then visited a church and came back home for Easter lunch. Karolina’s uncle and anti had also come. Her anti and uncle were really nice. It was lovely and wonderful experience for me for being a part of her family to celebrate Easter together and having such wonderful time with them.

I felt how and what it means to stay away from the family. But then, I guess sometimes it depends on the nature of your family. Sometimes, for some, it is perhaps better being away from rather than being with the family. Whatever it is, my visit to Poland was truly unique and memorable. I thank Karolina and our friendship for letting me experience such a beautiful aspect of Polish culture, religion and social life.

Gothic Structure of the Notre-Dame

2008-04-01T02:49:00.001-07:00