Panun Pan Parzan, Kashmiri (English Subtitles).mp4

Panun Pan Parzan, Kashmiri (English Subtitles).mp4

Panun Pan Parzan screened at Sadho Poetry Film Fest. The film take a look at the teachings of saint poets of Kashmir- Lal Ded & Nund Reshi in context of today.

No Christ in Christmas!

Christmas is round the corner.  Despite the economy still being in the jaws of recession , one can sense the anticipation and excitement people are feeling at the prospect of coming festivities. You hear about series  of parties being planned , trips being booked; drinks and  turkey being  readied. You see shoppers , you see promotions, advertisement  and marketing messages all round. you have lights shining bright ; everything is there but hardly anyone is talking about Christ. I  am not talking  here about world vision and Charities , but about you and me.  Another factor in these strange times is that everything has become political. It is not good form anymore to wish people 'Merry Christmas", since it can hurt their feelings. Politically correct form is "Season's Greetings".
My friend George Koshi lives in a condo that has more  number of residents following another Semitic faith. They went around and passed a resolution that there will be no Christmas celebrations in the building. No carols , no tree with a star on it in the lobby, no public display; since it will hurt their religious feelings. So this is the Christmas George is forced to celebrate.Incidentally George lives in Canada.
One must realize that in all  the Christmas cacophony Christ has just become a background noise that everyone just ignores.  People are more animated about the boxing day sale than anything else. So far I have not heard anyone say they plan on praying that day forget about attending  formal church. I am not making a value judgment here because people are free to enjoy life and celebrate any which way they please but one wonders how and when this pious occasion meta morphed into an occasion to indulge your senses ?

I am not a  christian so let me point the other four fingers at myself. Isn't it exactly this road Diwali is traveling? An occasion to eat , drink and gamble . Put up garish displays of wealth . Bribe and be bribed ( gifts!!). Although I realize for a lot of people there is still a lot of sanctity left. I know most people pray that day and even  though it is not enough at least  spend some moments in piety. One benefit  of  becoming older is that you can look back .Anyway things are clearer in retrospect. So I remember in my younger days Diwali started quite early with street corner Ramlila performed by local people. It was very rustic and very amateur but there was no dearth of feeling in it. I remember even in our games as children we enacted the scenes from the Ramlila play. Ram was central to Diwali.
Like most people we were not exactly flush with funds so come Diwali we had some earthen lamps; one set of earthen images to pray to, a box or two of  the cheapest sweets and a barest minimum of crackers to celebrate it with. There were no big gifts, almost never  did we have new clothes, no electrical lights , no big feasts; yet I remember those Diwali's because the spirit ,enthusiasm and feelings were purer. If you ask me what I did last Diwali I do not remember yet I remember what happened thirty years ago.
Now I remember I partied last Diwali. Isn't that a shame?

Selective amnesia

Your memory becomes poor as you grow older, but if you forget only certain things specially the inconvenient ones ..... this is what happens every 6th Dec. in India. Various people remember the events around Babari structure selectively, to suit their point of view. Essentially we have neither learned anything since those sad days nor are we willing to let go and move on. Anyone who was around then as I was remembers there were and still are two camps. Those who want a temple structure on the site and those who want it to function as a mosque. It was a highly polarized time and hardly anyone was a fence sitter. 17 years hence a report tries to exonerate some actors and implicate some non actors thus making a mockery of the whole process. I personally remember many die hard congressmen supporting the Ram Janam Boomi movement although officially they were supposed to make appropriate noises against it. The prime minister of the day did not think it advisable to lift a finger before the structure was leveled. Today he is with his maker and can't be questioned any more but his party colleauges who were in the government with him are posing as innocent lambs . They played politics with the issue then as they are doing it again by uncorking the toothless report.

The other side rode this issue to power , eventually unseating the "NO TEMPLE " camp. Once they were in they forgot about it in quick time. Once in power some were sorry about it , some wanted to cap it ....... finally they decided to do nothing! Suddenly today when the report came out accusing them of being the wolf they first tried to side step and then went on offensive .

There are no winners in this controvercy only losers starting with people of India who are being hoodwinked again and again on non issues. If a wrong was done culprit is the whole society not one or two individuals . The locks were opened to Checkmate mandal politics by congress, bJP hijacked the issue and only then congress formed an opinion against it. In all this no body should forget the obduracy of the muslim leadership. They took the position that a foreign tyrant babar is more important and no matter if old Ram temple was razed by him , once a masjid always a masjid. Ram in their opinion is only a myth. Talk about Selective amnesia !

What solution is possible with these positions??? How many Indians will agree to this interpretation of Indian culture?

Liberhan report is just a selective report; truth is known to everyone that in those days every one was a supporter of Ram temple . Some were overt , some covert Starting from then Prime minister down to a school kid. As they said in those days " bacha bacha Ram Ka".