Land of Lime

A long overdue (and an insubstantial) report on the Indic studies conference, (more formally known as the Second International Conference on Religions and Cultures in the Indic Civilization) which concluded on Tuesday.

It was less chaotic but also less spirited than the previous conference, held in December, 2003. Then IAHR had also co-organized the event, bringing hordes of American and European academics, who were in fewer numbers this time around. Perhaps the disorganized nature of the first conference scared away some of the western participants. This time around, a group of professional event management specialists managed the conference. My only complaint against them was the rather forceful manner in which they tried to persuade those of us who wanted to enjoy the winter sun over endless cups of tea and conversation with elders and friends, to actually go to rather listless panels and cultural performances. Not satisfied with the deployment of MIKASURA, they would also come to each table and compel each person to go inside to listen to waiting plenary speakers and other such performers.

I was an active participant in the sidelines of the conference and went to actually very few panels. So forgive me for not reporting on the presentations and the interesting arguments heard. Of course, I went to my panel and will leave it to others to document (or not) the deliberations. I will say though that I was honored to be in the same panel as Ashis Nandy, U R Anantamurthy, Uday Singh Mehta, Vinay Lal and Shankar Ramaswami.

The highlight of the conference for me was the inaugural session, in which U R Anantamurthy gave the key note address. He spoke on what it meant to be a Brahmin; spiritual experience in such a context necessitated debrahminizing himself, to lose the sense of importance of being a privileged person. Anantamurthy used his favorite example of George Orwell and his experiments to ‘declass’ himself.

In a brief welcome address, Ashis Nandy emphasized the need to engage with the sacred in times when religion has been relegated to the realm of women and the backward.

In the conference itself, some of the panels and plenaries appear to have generated some heated conversation. Mr. Rajeev Malhotra of the Infinity foundation was at the center of many. The first, an address by him at a plenary session accusing Indian academics (charges are not important and not even entertaining) drew a strong and measured response from Ashis Nandy. In a second instance, in a panel on conversion, Mr. Malhotra apparently wanted to deploy market logic to conversion controversy as well, holding missionaries accountable for the promises they make and if unfulfilled, they should be sued. Or something to that effect. I didn’t go to the panel but this is what I heard and didn’t bother to find out more. I record this to state that Mr. Malhotra does not control the conference and his was a minority voice.

Otherwise, superb food and good informal conversation marked the conference. Does one dare ask for more?

Flight to Bangalore:

Flying to Bangalore is a different experience than to any other Indian city. Flights to Bangalore either from Mumbai or Delhi look and feel different, if only because of who the passengers are (business/software types) and their appearance. More formal jackets, suits and laptops make their apparences here than elsewhere. If you want to see sleek cell phones and fancy gadgets, people of all regions speaking strongly accented (by their mother tongues) Americanized English, any flight to Bangalore is the place to be in. Given all the complaints that Bangalore city (and its collapsing infrastructure) have received in recent times, the hour long delay in Delhi airport had also begun to affect my demeanor. Sat next to a British-indian architect traveling all over India for Christmas break with family. We had a pleasant chat about many things and in between Bach kept company. I haven’t had a chance to see how the city has changed in the last three months and I hope to escape before I can do that.

Before we begin, read this on the trial of Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk.

Also, please pay attention to this Frontline story on Michael Aram workers struggle. I will write on my own interactions with our worker friends in Delhi early next week.

I will also be reporting regularly from the Second Indic Studies conference, which begins tomorrow evening. If I had written my paper, then I would have enjoyed tomorrow’s inagural session.

Now on to Delhi.

1. Delhi is (and has always been since the time of the Kurus) a happening place. It creates the illusion that what happened elsewhere actually happened in Delhi. Case in point is the Champion’s Trophy hockey (field hockey, you ignorant north Americans, a glorious game of fluidity, grace and true artistry) in Chennai. I have been living under the illusion that it is actually happening in Delhi and I should catch a couple of games at the National Stadium. This reminds of a brilliant essay on Delhi by Socialist leader and thinker Ram Manohar Lohia, ‘A Courtesan called Delhi’. The many trees that Khushvant Singh cut down writing about Delhi would have satisfied Agni’s hunger* but are no patch on Lohia’s incisive and wise characterization of Delhi.

(* The reference here is to an episode from Mahabharata, in which Agni, the fire god, approaches Arjuna and Krishna, who are relaxing on the banks of Yamuna, seeking to satisfy his hunger. He wants to consume the Khandava forest, which is Indra’s playground.)

2. Much has happened in Delhi this past week, including Ted Turner and Amartya Sen promoting Democracy. However, let us begin from the ‘beginning’ of time in Delhi and go back to the world of MBH, to a modern episode ‘Operation Duryodhan’, which brings democracy and covetousness together. I am sure you have read about the episode in the newspapers. Briefly, eleven (stupid, brazen, you supply the adjective) Members of Parliament got caught accepting money to ask questions in the Parliament. Anirudh Bahal, whose earlier exploits included the Tehelka-Defense scandal and the Cricket Match-fixing scandals (he videotaped culprits in both) not to speak of his nomination for the bad sex writing award recently, led the investigation. As usual the Pundits and journalists had a field day, for a day that is. What is tragic is that the truth exposed through such sting operations is what only middle class India doesn’t know or cannot prove. If this is how we intend to bring probity and accountability into our public life, then we are indeed a basket case. I will reserve my take on politics for another occasion.

3. Ex-cricketer turned commentators and PYTs (both male and female) of TV had a field day also with the Saurav Ganguly fracas, which continues to demand more trees and airwaves. Finally, we discover unfairness and politics in Indian cricket. Baap re! Despite a decent performance, Ganguly was dropped from the national team for non-cricketing reasons, which in fact had ensured his selection in the team. Known as player’s captian and a no-nonsense guy, Ganguly himself had, it is widely suspected, pushed some players at the behest of paying corporates like Pepsi, which wanted to see the players who appear in its ads remain in the national team. Ganguly too had benefited from board politics until now but now the entire kolkata and the Bengali nation stand united to demand justice. Our PYTs are happy to provide a face and a voice to this anger: do you think he was dropped for political reasons? Do you think he will make a comeback?

Me, I am tired of anyone trotting out fairness as a principle of justice. Please don’t.

4. Cricket itself, especially Kumble’s fine bowling, Irfan Pathan’s allround performance and indeed, even Tendulkar’s world record breaking 35th test hundred, receded into the background. Despite being in Delhi, I missed a trip to Kotla, which would have been so pleasant on a Delhi winter day. I was mostly doing Faltu work, which is how civilizational agenda such as writing on cricketing matters get derailed. Yet, what I watched on TV, especially cricket, was quite interesting, with the honorable exception of Doordarshan’s pre-game show, which as usual was atrocious. Srikanth, Atul Vasan and Mohinder Amarnath are no Mark Nicholas or Ravi Shastri, let alone Richie Benaud. The only person who didn’t suck was Anju Chopra, Indian national women’s team caption, who is very smart, articulate and most importantly, easy on the eye too.

Which reminds me to rant sometime soon on Ex-cricketers and their increasingly nefarious role in the game. Those who can speak two consecutive sentences in any language become commentators but let us be fair and clear: they are no analysts of the game. Those can’t speak or hear run state associations and become selectors. To write on this theme, I need to return to the moral compass of my cricketing universe, Mysore and report on local stories, which illustrate problems at the national level too. Hopefully more on that next week, with some juicy stories. R K Harikrishna Kumar, be forewarned.

Actually, I also need to be physically in Mysore to write about Steve Waugh’s autobiography, which I am really looking forward to reading. To write about Waugh, one of my cricketing heroes, I need to be in the land of lime in person, and not just in spirit. I am sure my cricket buddies back home will have many insights to share.

5. It usually takes some time to get used to TV, when I get back. I love the non-stop cricket and Bollywood film songs diet on Indian cable TV. In fact, I am of the conviction that cricket matches should be played for the purpose of making highlights and archived; and film songs should made to be used only for film song based TV shows. The Director could just insert a note for the audience to mentally imagine the song (which they would have seen hundreds of times in any case) at the appropriate place and then get on with the story, instead of ruining narrative continuity. I must confess, however, I miss my favorite channel Southern Spice, which is not available in Delhi these days and one program in particular – Hot, Hotter, Hottest! A few years ago, this one-hour program used to be the highlight of my day.

Speaking of TV coverage, even for me the coverage of the last few days has been a major surprise. The week began with the coverage of Operation Duryodhan and of course, Tendulkar record but those were all one-day stories, with very little follow-up. Once the test ended on wednesday, I was surprised to see all the major news networks devote an entire afternoon (ignoring a mild earthquake that hit north India), for post match press conferences and analysis of the match and Ganguly’s omission. The other major story of the day was film star (I wouldn’t want to insult him by characterizing him as an actor) Fardeen Khan’s marriage.

Talk about the priorities of the media, print or electronic.

6. Watching cricket nonstop for a week is adequate to catch up on all the big moments of the season. For me (and Sepoy), these are occasions to associate new faces with scores that we read in Cricinfo or to associate playing styles with (the lyrical?) reports of English cricket correspondents. Also these are occasions to observe the fast changing nature of the game itself. It is indeed refreshing to watch the audacity and flair with which the yound wicket keeper M S Dhoni bats or to be surprised by the cricketing intelligence of Irfan Pathan. Journalist friends, as usual, are sources of endless gossip about who is SMSing whom. According to my sources, Irfan SMSes the young tennis sensation Sania Mirza and her MOTHER. I told you this is a smart kid!

7. Cricket itself is constantly on and is often of good quality. But the highlight thus far has been, of course, cricket historian Boria Majumdar’s explanation of Brian Lara’s world record highest test score of 400. He explained in Freudian terms the effort Lara had to make motivate himself after breaking Aussie opener Mathew Hayden’s previous record of 381 and then to score an additional 19 runs. Boria said and I quote: that effort in terms of Freud, to get to 400 from 381, was a fantastic effort. Here I am, silly fellow, thinking that for Lara scoring the first ever 400 in a single test inning was motivation enough. Freud, you got insights I suspect not of. I salute thee.

8. Before ending, I must return to the most recent Kannada controversy, this time around the demand / decision to rename Bangalore as Bengaluru. TV and National media are obsessed with this story. A few days ago, U R Anantamurthy suggested that the state government should use Bengaluru as the official name for the city. This suggestion found widespread support and was accepted with great alacrity by the chief minister. The PYT journalists cried foul: this government wants to hide its failures with regard to infrastructure and other necessary developmental work. Hence this diversionary tactic enables them to divert the attention of ordinary people. Wise pundits and new economy types as usual are greatly concerned about what this might mean to brand Bangalore. If an e and u were to negate Bangalore’s advantages, then my friends, Bengaluru is in trouble. Personally, I am not invested either way but if outsiders were to use Bengaluru, then they would recognize and respect the everyday Kannada pronunciation and deploy a name that is used by most people. How would it be if I were to pronounce Chicago as CHIKAGO (as we do in Kannada) and not as SHIKAAGO? Wouldn’t I be the butt of all jokes in CHIKAGO?

So outsiders, be warned: I don’t give a damn about what the Britishers called or the new economy types want to call Bangalore. Nor do I care about the official Karnataka State Government stationary. I and the fifty million other Kannadigas today, here, resolve to laugh at anyone who calls Bengaluru as Bangalore.

“Hey, hey, look at that fool and that one too, standing over there. Ha, that white monkey and the brown one too? They can’t even pronounce our glorious city’s name, but these fools want live with us, here in Bengaluru, the city of boiled beans! Ha ha ha.”

There you have it. My politics. We tease, mock and laugh. Therefore we are Kanandigas.

Part 3

Babhruvahana perhaps is most well known for its great lines and catchy songs, both romantic as well as battle field exchanges. I remember watching the film as a six year old boy and then reenacting scenes with my friends, Jaideep and Sanjay, (I haven’t seen either of them since our battle games more than twenty five years ago but they are somewhere in America) with bows and arrows we had made for ourselves, repeating dialogues that remained etched in our minds. Arjuna’s forceful denunciation of Babhruvahana for instance is a great line: Phada Phada Shikhandi enuta nudiyabedalo Mudha! My translation (O fool, do not call me Shikhandi again and again) or any translation for that matter will not do justice to the rhythm and effectiveness of that line.

It is not only then, but even all of last week, I have been singing constantly this one single line, which we can only take as Arjuna’s self description, in the face of Babhruvahana’s challenge: Asahaaya Shura Na Akshiina balano. Again, the translation (I am a brave warrior, who needs no assistance; my strength doesn’t become less) doesn’t do justice to the precision, rhythm as well as poetry of the line.

It is no surprise that Raj Kumar, who plays both Arjuna and Babhruvahana, dominates the movie through his acting and gets to deliver all the great lines as well as songs in the movie. The director plays a secondary role in the making of this film, but T.G. Lingappa, who wrote the script, screenplay and songs, is the unsung hero. The dialogues and songs are reminiscent of a rich theatre tradition from which not only the story but also the dialogues appear to have been borrowed.

The film is primarily dominated by two moods – romance and battle. In the first half, Arjuna romances Uluci, Chitrangada and Subhadra, battle is the dominant rasa in the second half, especially a series of exchanges between Arjuna and Babhruvahana constituting the highlight of the film. The romantic songs are melodious and catchy, and contain great lines. Romancing Uluci, Arjuna sings:

In your glance, I saw hundred desires
In the laughter of your heart, I forgot myself

It is not just the songs but the conversation between the lovers too builds up the mood. Arjuna, who has been brought to the underworld by Uluci, sees his portrait in her living quarters; when he realizes he is the object of her desire, he teases her: isn’t it wrong to desire a man whom you haven’t seen? She retorts immediately: isn’t it wrong to steal my heart?

But then dialogues and songs turn masculine, signaling the turn towards battle and testy mood. Through denouncing each other, both Arjuna and Babhruvahana not only narrate the story of Mahabharata, primarily describing or denouncing Arjuna’s accomplishments, and in the process redefining each other’s character too. As I mentioned in the first part, when Arjuna calls Babhruvahana son a Jarini (woman of loose character), a critical moment in the film, the latter has no option but to kill Arjuna, even if he is his father. Moreover, Arjuna’s rationale for questioning Babhruvahana’s parentage is because he surrendered to Arjuna, instead of facing him in the battlefied. He then questions Babhruvahana’s credentials as a hero: Avarivarannu konda matrakke avanu ajeyanalla (just because he has killed some heroes, he is not unbeatable). It is not only the denunciation of Babhruvahana that is significant here but also the self image of Arjuna as a great warrior.

Not surprisingly then, the highlight of the film is the song just before the battle when Arjuna and Babhruvahana question each other’s valor.

Babhruvahana begins:

Who doesn’t know the valor of your shoulders,
The secret of your victories in heaven,
Lord Srikrishna is responsible for all
That son of Yadus protected you, day and night,
Like shadow and he caused all your victories
Having now come without him you are equal to trina.

Arjuna responds by listing his accomplishments.

I am a brave warrior, who needs no assistance, my strength doesn’t lessen
I am the one who fought with Siva and obtained Pasupata arrow
I am the tiger who defeats those impatient enemies, this warrior, who strikes terror.

Ugrapratapi, Ugrapratapi (warrior, who strikes terror among enemies): this exclamation of Arjuna is also the moment for Babhruvahana to ridicule him.

In the assembly, when Draupadi’s saree was being snatched, where was your bravery?
You are the napumsaka, who wore bangles, danced thaka thai and taught dance.
You are the corrupt person, who without entering the discus formation with determination and breaking it sacrificed his son.
Where do you have the heart to kill real men.
I will spare you, without denouncing and now you may leave, shikhandi.

This exchange concludes with a final salvo from each of them, even as they release arrows.

I wouldn’t place Babhruvahana among the best films of Dr. Rajkumar, although it was a major box office success and the songs as well as dialogues from the film continue to remain etched in our minds. No doubt, the film articulates an ethical vision that all films Raj Kumar possess.

Cast: Dr. Rajkumar, B. Sarojadevi, Kanchana and Jayamala.

14.5 Sleep.

Note to self: try anyway.

14. Think (forever): O, thinking man, no theme, no reason (except this long flight) necessary. Nor is a note to self or anyone else.

13. Develop: a taste for Joey and Two and a Half Men.

Note to self: recent vintage Sitcoms suck. How could you laugh at such inane, superficial humor?

Note to American Airlines (AA): why can you not show family shows like the Chapelle Show?

12. Complain (first): AA, you suck. I know you got to wine, dine and pay pension to all your old peeps, old pilots and old stewardesses. Still economy dudes too merit a glass of wine!

Note to self: make a complaint list.

11. Complain (second): about luggage bins.

Note to American Airlines: brown people carry lotta bags. Brown people carry their homes in their bags. Brown people got kids. Brown people also computer people and carry laptops, some two. More space.

10. Talk (always): to seatmate (South Indian programmer), who ain’t no Punjabi kudi, but he is there (like the wife) next to you for 14.5 hours (only, thankfully).

Note to self: Why you got to be buddies with a total stranger? On the other hand, I know this ain’t no Indian train but still make an effort. Both of you can complain together.

10. Write (first): something, anything.

Note to self: Many pending unwritten or half written papers, blog postings etc.

9. Complain (second): American, personalized TV consoles: good idea::Good enterainment:better idea.

Note to American Airlines: your music good. TV shows bad, very bad. Change executives and get better movies & TV shows.

8. Read (always): anything by Tom Clancy, Bush’s Tolstoy.

Note to GIMA: read ‘Shantaram’. Much hyped but you will like it. While you are at it, send me your notes on people and places. Someday. Wait, though, until I am a better writer.

7. Write (second): write all the introductions to our fathers’ books, which were due months, years ago.

Note to self: Finish the damn thing before reaching home. I ain’t facing no father’s wrath.

6. Complain (third): about what’s not there, even for a price! Power jacks, Internet, more than four bathrooms for the entire economy class.

Note to self: buy a 750 ML bottle of wine, barely enough for a 15 hour flight and costs much less. Still, why I got to be paying $5 for a 150 ML bottle of wine?

5. Wonder (always): about what’s going on in the world, now you have been up in the AIR for 10 hours.

Note to self: remember, long flights and WIFI-less environ is your therapy to cure Internet addiction.

4. Write (fourth) in the suggestion box: American Airlines, charge, me, a sucker, another 50 dollars, or get new planes. GET power jacks, Internets, wine and yeah, more bathrooms for economy dudes. Even tiny ones too will do.

Note to American Airlines: do something or I won’t come back.

3. (Don’t) talk (second): to the seatmate, once we are in Russia. Revolution still matters and yeah, he ain’t no Punjabi kudi.

Note to self: remember to buy mint for seatmates, in the future.

2. Write (final): an ode to Charlie Parker. You, man, magical. I can listen to you forever or until the POD needs to be recharged.

Note to Jobs: Steve, you, cool guy. Da iPod cool too and battery lasted over 9 hours.

1. Reach Delhi

Note to self: What? Me already in Delhi? Did I have to? Why didn’t I stay in Europe for a vacation? Why I got to be in Delhi?

I haven’t seen too many Benz cars, especially of the recent vintage, in Srirangapattana. But Bangalore and in recent times, Mysore and Coorg too, have many rich people who have bought latest model Benz cars. Sure, Srirangapattana is on the Bangalore-Mysore-Coorg highway and the weary Benz traveler will see the dilapidated fort, old bridge named after Col. Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington and of course, the gorgeous Cauvery (river). I don’t understand the logic but Mercedes wants to conserve this historic island town.

Tipu Sultan must be turning in his grave, given the attention his capital city of Srirangapattana seems to be receiving from his friends and adversaries, including the French, British and even Germans. Or may be not. It appears as if the Karnataka State Government is talking to the British, who as the State Heritage Commissioner, K. R. Ramkrishna said, are
interested in the town since they defeated Tipu in 1799 and therefore ‘have more information about the town’; not surprisingly, they have research, archival and conservation interests. Meanwhile, state archaelogical department has identified an open courtyard, which is now plastered with cow dung and serves as an open-air urinal for the locals, as the site from which Tipu launched his missiles and rockets. As we all know, French (as they are know to do even now) provided technology to Tipu. While both the friendship with the French and technological achievements of Tipu need to be celebrated, I doubt very much whether the locals (ok, just men) would want to give up their open-air urinal facilities.

What do we conserve and how and with whose help? I have written earlier about the Kannada warriors and will expand on their struggles soon. But the Srirangapattana conservation project raises different kinds of questions: which parts of the town should be conserved and how should the state deal with the locals who want to live in the town and may not be willing to vacate? There will also be questions about the intentions of a company like Mercedes Benz and the conditions it may have to support this project. Details about any proposed project are still sketchy. Benz’s heritage is worthy of admiration but in the matter of how we want to remember Tipu, as a Mysorean and historian, I want to have some say. Being a (n Indian) man, I am naturally invested in preserving the open-air urinal.

Look how they wrangle, the dogs
Come to feast on
This carcass of a world!
And as the dogs wrangle, look
How the carcass laughs!
For you see, Sir, the Guhesvara Himself
Is not there.

A vacana by Allama Prabhu