Wayanadu – brilliant political move by CPI (M)

The latest struggle by Adivasis for the land held by Shreyamskumar and George Pothan is the result of a brilliant tactical move by the CPI (M). M P Veerendrakumar should have been expecting this since after being with them for so long he should know that CPI (M) never forgives its enemies.

M P VeerendraKumar though his books and speeches gives out the image of someone who loves nature. As far as we know a good part of the land in Wayandu district belongs to him and his family. And his friends. Even the opposition leaders are finding it extremely hard to protect his interests since it was Oomen Chandy himself who first spoke out about the encroachment by Veerendra Kumar some years back when he was with the Left.

Even Mathrubhumi has utterly failed to in its attempt to malign the CPI (M) in this matter. Even though they have now dedicated an entire page with rants against the ‘encroachment’ by CPI (M) led Adivasis on the ‘encroached’ land, these outbursts of protest are by leaders of small parties, mostly JanataDal, within the UDF. No major literary or cultural figures have come out in support of Veerendra Kumar.

CPI(M) already has the upper hand in this political labyrinth. This battle is political, no doubt about it. Either way it is a win –win for CPI(M). If the courts decide against Veerendra Kumar hundreds of Adivasi families will get land. Even if it ends otherwise CPI (M) has already wreaked enough damage to Veeran’s reputation.

പ്രേമലേഖനം ആവശ്യമുണ്ട്

കോളേജില്‍ പഠിക്കുന്ന കാലത്ത് പൈസക്ക് വേണ്ടി പ്രേമലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ എഴുതി കൊടുത്തിരുന്ന ഒരു കൂട്ടുകാരനുണ്ടായിരുന്നു എനിക്ക്. പേര് മനോജ്‌. മികച്ച മദ്യപാനി.

പത്തു രൂപയായിരുന്നു ഒരു പ്രേമലേഖനത്തിന്റെ വില. കോളേജിലെ ഒട്ടു മിക്ക ആണ്‍കുട്ടികള്‍ക്കും കാണാപാഠമായിരുന്ന ഇവന്റെ വരികള്‍ പക്ഷെ പെണ്‍കുട്ടികള്‍ എന്ത് കൊണ്ടോ അറിയില്ലാ എന്ന് ഭാവിച്ചു. തങ്ങള്‍ കൊടുക്കാന്‍ പോകുന്ന പ്രേമലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ ആണ്‍കുട്ടികള്‍ എല്ലാ കൂട്ടുകാരെയും കാണിച്ചിട്ട് കൊടുക്കുമ്പോള്‍ പെണ്‍കുട്ടികള്‍ തങ്ങള്‍ക്കു കിട്ടുന്ന കത്തുകള്‍ മറ്റാരെയും കാണിക്കാതെ ഒളിപ്പിച്ചിരുന്നതിനാലാവാം ഇത്.

എന്തായാലും പറഞ്ഞും പാടിയും കേള്‍പ്പിക്കാന്‍ കാമുകിമാരില്ലാഞ്ഞതിനാല്‍ ഞാനും മനോജും ചില ദിവസങ്ങളില്‍ രണ്ടു പെഗ്ഗും അടിച്ചു ഹോസ്റ്റലിലെ ടെറസ്സില് കിടന്നു ആകാശം നോക്കി ഈ വരികള്‍ ഉരുവിടുമായിരുന്നു. കാണുന്ന എല്ലാ സുന്ദരിമാരോടും മനസ്സില്‍ പ്രണയം തോന്നിയിരുന്ന ഞാന്‍ ആകാശത്തിലെ എണ്ണമറ്റ നക്ഷത്രങ്ങളെയും പ്രണയിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ മനോജ്‌ തനിക്കു വേണ്ടി മാത്രം എവിടെയോ ഉണ്ടെന്നു വിശ്വസിച്ച ആ പെണ്‍കുട്ടിയെ എന്ന പോലെ നിലാവിനെ മാത്രം സ്നേഹിച്ചു.

അവന്റെ മാസ്റ്റര്‍പീസ് എന്ന് വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കാവുന്ന ഒന്നുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. തന്നെ വഞ്ചിച്ചു വിവാഹിതയാകാന്‍ പോകുന്ന പെണ്‍കുട്ടിക്ക് കാമുകന്റെ അവസാനത്തെ കത്ത്.

"എന്റെ കണ്ണില്‍ നിന്ന് ഇറ്റു വീണ ചോരതുള്ളികള്‍ നീ കണ്ടില്ല... പ്രാണന്‍ വേര്‍പെടുമ്പോള്‍ ഉണ്ടാകുന്ന ഹൃദയത്തിന്റെ പിടച്ചില്‍ നീ അറിഞ്ഞില്ല ... അപ്പോഴും മറ്റാരുടെയോ ചാരത്തണയാനുള്ള വെമ്പലിലായിരുന്നു നീ..."

"ഒരു കുടന്ന പുഞ്ചിരി പൂവുമായി വഴിയോരത്ത് എന്നെ കാത്തു നില്ക്കാന്‍ ഇനി ആരുമില്ല ... കടലില്‍ വീണ മണ്‍തരി പോലെ നിന്നെ ഞാന്‍ തേടി...നിന്നെ കണ്ടുമുട്ടിയ ഓരോ നിമിഷവും ഞാന്‍ അറിഞ്ഞു. പക്ഷെ നീയോ...?"

"ആത്മാര്‍ത്ഥ സ്നേഹത്തെ നീ ഏതു ഏകകം കൊണ്ടാണ് തുലനം ചെയ്തത്? പണമോ പദവിയോ അതോ സൗന്ദര്യമോ?"

"ഇനി വരുന്ന നാളത്തെ പുലരികള്‍ നിറമുള്ളതായി തീരട്ടെ എന്ന് ആശംസിച്ചു കൊണ്ട്..."

അങ്ങനെ നിരവധി വരികള്‍. പലതും മറന്നു പോയി. ഹൃദയരക്തം ചാലിച്ചു പലരും എഴുതി കൈമാറിയ ഈ കത്ത് പല പെണ്‍കുട്ടികളും ഇന്നും പെട്ടിക്കടിയിലോ അതുമല്ലങ്കില്‍ മനസിനുള്ളിലോ സൂക്ഷിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടാകും എന്ന് ഞാന്‍ കരുതുന്നു. അങ്ങിനെയെങ്കില്‍ ബാക്കി വരികളും കൂടി ഒന്ന് ഓര്‍മിപ്പിച്ചു തരണം എന്ന് വിനീതനായി അഭ്യര്‍ത്ഥിക്കുന്നു.

പെണ്‍കുട്ടികള്‍ പലരും കടന്നു പോയെങ്കിലും ആകാശത്തിലെ നക്ഷത്രങ്ങളും നിലാവും ഇന്നും ബാക്കിയുണ്ടല്ലോ...


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Ride of the Year

My first bus ride of the new year. Yes yes I know – what's the big deal? Bus rides used to be my favorite pastime before. Especially when the college I studied was 25 kms away from my home. I used to spend atleast 3 hours in buses a day, creatively spending the time by day dreaming and letting my imagination run wild. However it all changed when I became bike-addicted. Once I straddled my black panther (I own a black Yamaha Libero) I never let him slip away from between my legs (sexual innuendo overruled). Except when I had to leave the district – otherwise he became my constant companion and I bid goodbye to bus rides.

However yesterday my bike called in sick (he had a tire puncture) and I had to resort to my long forgotten means of transport. Everything was the same. In the morning at the bus stop I heard that favorite mantra – “bus just left- next is only after half hour”. Luckily got a seat in the next one. The conductor looks familiar. I hand him the money, trying to smile.

He: “Give Rs. 2.50 change”.

Me: “I don’t have it”.

He: “Who do you think I am? The Reserve Bank? Stupid people! Won’t carry any change, blah blah…”

Oh yea. Now I remember him. He hasn’t changed too. Why can’t he at least take the trouble to learn some new ‘theri’ (uhh…colourful native form of verbal abuse).

Its even more familiar in the evening. Over crowded bus. Looks like Wagon Tragedy part - 2. And when I get in it’s the same smell – sweat, rum and peanuts. A candy somewhere. And all the wonderful, different people. Some just can’t wait to get home – they keep looking at their watches and making impatient gestures whenever the driver stops. Perhaps its their wives, or maybe their favorite TV show. Other people seem determined to sit there till eternity – they don’t have watches, don’t even bother to look where they have reached. Some women stare at you making you wonder “What’s wrong with her?” Some men stare at you making you wonder “What’s wrong with me?”

Then there are the angry ones who shout for every silly matter, rude ones who push you out of the way for seats, indecent ones who ogle, drunk ones who don’t know where they want to go, young, old, strong, weak, sullen, happy (singing out loud) and every other imaginable type. – Veritably an exact representation of the cross section of our society. I need this more. I am going to travel by bus everyday. Well…at least once in a while. Cheers!

What on earth is an Islamic Bank??!!

Now what on earth is an Islamic Bank supposed to mean??

The Kerala High Court has passed an order restraining the commencement of an Islamic Bank in the state.

A banking institution exclusively for Muslims? And that too in our secular god’s own country - under the auspices of the state government. The company, Al-Barakah Financial Services, was registered by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) with the holding of 11 per cent equity.

And till now not a single organization or leader inside the state has raised voice against this action which is against the country’s secular principles. The court ruling was made on a public interest litigation filed by Dr. Subramanian Swamy, former Union Law minister and leader of the Janta Party who hails from outside our state.

The company claims that it would function not on the basis of Islamic Laws or the Shariah but in accordance with the Companies Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act. According to the proposal, the bank will not pay interest to customers, while a Shariah board will decide what sort of investments it will make. The proposed bank would have Sharia-compliant banking products and profits made out of the investments would be distributed to the shareholders.

According to Swamy, a Harvard-educated economist, the new firm was bound by the Shariah law and its chief executive was to report to Shariah Advisory Body and not to any constitutional authority and investing public money in such a company was unconstitutional.

This is a blatant case of minorty appeasement purely for the sake of vote banks and is absolutely unacceptable in our democratic setup. Are we now to move towards Nair banks, Roman Catholic banks and so on? It is troubling to see a progressive state like Kerala moving backwards to divisions based on religion and caste. Citizens should be made aware and vigilant against such regressive tendencies of the institutions in power.

Nostalgic trip down memory lane

This Christmas I visited my mom’s home in the Thrissur – Palakkadu border after a gap of several years. The trip awakened so many memories and not in a way I expected too.

I had anticipated a barrage of sweet memories, which may or may not have been true, the moment I stepped foot on the ground after the long journey. However it was not to be so. First of all, I was exhausted after the long 10 hour-drive, which should have been shorter except for the mad traffic on the day before Christmas. It used to be fun when as children (me and my sister) our dad used to do the driving or when we simply had to hop off the train. The long drive made me exhausted and all I wanted to do when we reached was sleep. The food didn’t seem as good as I had remembered. And grandmother, who had made all the fuss which made me come, looked exactly the same as I had last seen her. Of course the old house with tons of wood and tiled roof had been demolished and a modern concrete terraced house had come up in its place which I whole heartedly welcomed. Instead of having to sleep in the red-oxide floor there were new beds. I happily fell into a deep slumber.

I woke up early next morning wondering what I was doing in a strange surrounding before I regained my senses. An occasional thumping sound awakened my curiosity and I went to the back door to check it out. I opened the door and stepped out into the backyard and for a moment was stunned by something that hit my face with such force. I almost lost balance before steadying myself and looked straight ahead and in that instant I knew that all the sweet memories and dreams I had in my mind were not imagined ones. For blowing through the mighty trees in front of me, shaking huge mango and tall palm trees with such arrogance, awakening the smell, music and memories of a forgotten childhood, I could feel the Palakkadan Kattu, the strong wind that blows through the Palakkadu-Thrissur borders in the mornings with such gusto you could feel the whole earth shake around you. The thumping of branches against windows and roof tops - the sound that had awakened me this morning – had been my morning alarm for all holidays when I was a regular visitor there. As children our favorite pastime in the morning was to stand against the wind to see how long we could withhold its strength.

And suddenly it felt like all my imaginations had come true at that instant. It was Christmas and its spirit had awoken inside me. The morning food with my favorite ‘Kallappam’ felt delicious. My brothers and sisters weren’t the tiresome brats they used to be but, just like me, they had grown too. The sound of cows and hens reminded me what we lost in the city. I suddenly found myself wistfully longing for the old house – with the thatinpurram and pathayam. And I felt sorry for my grandmother. She had indeed grown old and frail.

It felt so good to be back. Reminiscing now I could find no reason why I had deferred this visit for so long. Everything had changed and yet nothing had changed.

Ruchika Girhotra – shameful blot on indian police

A former DGP of Chandigarh, SPS Rathore, has been punished for the molestation of 11-year old Ruchika Girhotra. What is so special about this news? Hundreds of our sisters get molested in this country. And in very rare cases the offenders get punished. But the case of Ruchika Girhotra stand out in many ways.

First of all the offender here, SPS Rathore, was a high ranking police official. The victim Ruchika committed suicide after three years. Her brother was slapped many cases and beaten up by the police officials to intimidate her family. Her family was forced to shift out of town. The case dragged on for 19 years ( the incident took place in August 1990). And finally the punishment handed out was a mere fine of Rs. 1000 and 6 months imprisonment.

Ruchika Girhotra was a budding tennis player and she was molested when she went for practice by SPS Rathore who at that time was the president of the Haryana Lawn tennis association.

This incident shall remain a black spot on the Indian judiciary and law enforcement establishment forever.

Avatar - truly epic experience

Finally…Avatar was released on December 18th all over the world. I had to wait for two days to get the ticket. But in the end I believe the wait was worthwhile after all. Mesmerising 3-D effects, breath-taking special effects, wonderful characterisation and most important of all (surprisingly) great story.

Was all the hype justified? Almost you could say. However I felt that that the 3-d effect only managed to take away the spotlight from the story. I was truly surprised by the anti-imperialistic message of the movie. Not something you expect from a Hollywood movie – certainly not a big budget one like this.

The story wasn’t one that was unique – but had an epic quality to it. It has parallels in many classic movies, especially one of my all-time favourites “Dancing with the Wolves”. But James Cameron has certainly managed to infuse new life and dimensions to a story that is so much relevant in today’s world – that of an indigenous population being forced to relocate or become refugees under the threat of force in the name of development.

The action scenes were superb. And the audience were so sympathetic to the Na'vi, the sentient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of Pandora (a fictional planet) in their fight against the (naturally) American armed forces who use lethal weapons to safeguard the interests of the Military Industry Complex trying to exploit Pandora’s reserves of a fictional mineral called ‘unobtainium’.

All in all I would give 9 out of 10 for Avatar more for the message and the story telling rather than the 3-D gizmo because this is one movie that has an epic quality about it even without the (truly superb) special effects.