Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Golden Bird

 "Golden Bird" ,20cmX 30 cm , Acrylic on Canvas.2005-2006 Painting by Ashutosh Kaul

How would you react if the home minister announced that Mohammed Ajmal Amir kasab , the notorious terrorist can not be prosecuted?  Why ? because he shares his name with the prophet of Islam and his prosecution is blasphemous. It will hurt the  religious feelings of a group of people ! No he can not say that ! Did you say , I am on weed and suffering from hallucinations? Wait a moment.  What if we take a stroll in Mumbai's Kamathipura one evening. It does not have to be  evening either, even  early afternoon is fine ; but anyway. This is the traditional red light area of the city. Let us ask all the commercial sex workers plying the trade; their names and ask the same question of their pimps ,aunties and madams. What do  you bet that not only will you find the names of most of prophet Muhammad's sixteen wives  , you'll also find individuals with his and most of his companion's names too ? In fact do yourself a favour ,don't bet or  you'll lose. Just because you'll find  it to be true. Today, it is said that there are so many brothels in the area, that there is no space for the sex workers to sit in. They hang around in the streets, solicit customers and then rent an available bed by the minute.  Just the number of registered muslim voters in these 14 lanes is 15000.  Many more are not even listed.
Would you give credence to anyone who'll declare these woman to be pious and most exalted and their pimps as God's chosen role models for the society because they share such names? Obviously not! You'd have to be a complete lunatic to relate these  real individuals with the original historical figures. Imagine the absurdity of protesting about fictional characters in a book with similar  names .
One would imagine that injustice of this situation in Kamathipura will infuriate people. This travesty will offend them no end. They will feel insulted that articles of their faith and symbols of their belief are being disrespected on a daily basis.  Only it does not happen ! There is no fatwa forthcoming. No one declares that rivers of blood will flow if a single customer sets foot in those lanes. No element of the establishment secretly warns people not to visit  kamathipura since a contract is out on their head.  No policeman throws the book of laws at the organizers of this fest. From morning till late night everyday everything that is inviolable in islamic tradition is rendered asunder with impunity.

To show their  religiosity, piety , faith in rule of law and secularism all they can find is a work of fiction to object to. Those who are not bothered to lift an eyebrow against naked reality, choose to be so offended by a fictional story that they will kill or get killed! Satanic Verses is a book for God's sake written by a human being. A book is readable or it is  not readable. You like it or you dislike it. You agree with it or you disagree with it. It is just a book. You'll fete the writer or you ignore him. You ignore him and you disagree with him but you can not threaten violence just because you do not like the story. If you are not offended because a real prostitute is forced to work right under your nose with a name like Ayesha ; what logic do you have to get offended by a fictitious  character in a mediocre novel that is named Ayesha or whatever?

Satanic Verses is that golden bird that everyone  plucks when they feel like it.  It suited Western sensibility of the time so it got awarded Booker. It then provided a perfect stick for ayatollahs to beat the west with and showcase their adherence to faith.For years this book was the war theater between west  and Iran. And so on and on.  Deoband madrassah has found it to be a convenient tool to raise heat and generate some buzz that'll allow it to get a higher price for muslim votes.  The book  is again being bashed to provide a platform that will  provide the gathering point for Muslim votes in the local elections in India. Sadly no one is  mindful of what this kind of appeasement politics and supping with rabid elements is doing to the polity.  Government is least bothered in fact they have an active role in fanning the flames.
Chairman of United Jihad Council and supreme commander of a terrorist  organization Hizbul-Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin is a known murderer and  terrorist actively engaged in armed violent action against the Indian state . He today addressed the press in India by telephone on communication links provided ,maintained  and controlled the Government of India http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012/Jan/25/salahuddin-hails-separatists-for-raising-day-to-day-issues-58.asp 

However Salman Rushdie a known author with a family home in Solan; Who is not engaged in any activity against India; is not only stopped from  visiting India by official threats, deceit and lies ; he is denied the  use of a communication link to address a group of other writers from abroad .  All this to emotionally blackmail Muslim voters  in UP to vote en bloc for a particular disposition. It is  that kind of a republic day .




Saturday, January 7, 2012

Lost & Found !

Losing totally sucks! Or does it ? No one likes to lose but inevitably from time to time one has  to lose in order to understand what winning means. Health benefits of losing weight are obvious to everyone.  You are really winning while losing those pounds. Of course if you are losing weight without any serious effort on your part , you better see a doctor.  Now we know that at certain times in our lives we are absolutely keen to lose. Like lose our heart or even virginity.  Ask  a teen if you do not remember. We think we'll win. It is another matter that it does not pan out exactly as advertised. Former event  remains a lifelong loss, mostly and the later event proves such a damp squib that one wonders what all that buzz was about.

We like to be in control .Losing it  is not considered good. Like having one too many and loosing control of the car with your kids strapped in the back seat. That's is a bad  loss; well actually it is criminal. But anyone who has gone through a creative process will tell you that letting things be and loosening control will often lead you to those areas of creativity you had not gone before. Gautama Buddha compared our situation to a little rider (the conscious mind) sitting atop a mighty elephant (the unconscious mind); a rider can coax and cajole, but if the elephant decides  to go in a different direction, you can be sure that is where one is going.
If you stick to your original out line, you will miss the dramatic opportunities that emerge as the story unfolds. If you continue to always attempt  a realistic portrait of your subject you'll never recognize the vibrant areas of colour ; interesting forms and  the dynamic interplay of light that is performing like a magic trick right in front of you. Losing control is good for creativity.

 
Homo Sapiens ; that's us human beings share about 99% of our genome with chimpanzees. Comparative studies have shown that humans have lost  about 500 pieces of DNA that chimps have and we do not. A certain keratin gene that they have and we have lost along the evolutionary road makes them far more hairier than most of us. Humans are rare amongst mammals in that the male penis is not spiked. Barbs, or penile spines, are short spikes made of the above mentioned keratin. They point back towards the body of the male so that after copulation any semen from a previous mate is scraped out of the female’s vagina ! Can't be a lot of fun.  We certainly are not complaining about this loss!

The ventral thalamus  region of the brain is useful in relaying sensory information to the cerebral cortex. It is also involved in consciousness and the regulation of sleep patterns. In chimpanzees the number of cells populating the thalamus is kept in check by a gene called GADD45G . The effectiveness of GADD45G is increased by a DNA element that we have lost therefore we make far less of this protein than chimpanzees. Making our  ventral thalamus  regions  larger. Allowing us  to  process and relay more complex information to the cerebral cortex. This is the part of the brain that is crucial for language, memory, and perception. We would most likely  still be hanging from the trees but for losing that part of the DNA.

Now that the Indian cricket team is  progressing  very well towards a comprehensive loss in Australia; I am of a mind to welcome this development.  Significant benefits of this loss are dramatically expanded by coming as it is ; immediately after a similar loss in England. Gods must be  very kind ! What a lucky break that summer Olympics  in London are just on the horizon ! This loss hopefully will change that part of our mental DNA that thinks Cricket is  India's religion and Sachin is our God ! Maybe as part of the evolutionary process this loss will make those regions of our brain larger that can process the fact that Sania Nehwal; Gagan Narang , Viswanathan Anand and several others are "Gods" as well. Maybe we will start recognizing the fact that we have simply the worst medal wins to population ratio in the entire world. Even Tiny Tim Taiwan had a medal more than "superpower" India in  the Beijing Olympics. It is hoping for too much but it may invigorate the part of  our brain that stores the information  that Field Hockey is our " National Sport".

Three cheers for the two losses ! They are for the best.  Hope they continue losing  in the same vein and eventually we will become good enough to win.