From Munnabhai to Kris Kristofferson, Gandhi seems to be the flavor of the times. Here is a song by Kristofferson (thanks Rajeev for the link) for your viewing pleasure.
Is any commentary necessary?
The news flash from the Nobel foundation says, this year’s winner for literature is Orhan Pamuk,
who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.
I began reading Orhan Pamuk less than two years ago. By the time I finished My Name is Red on a long plane ride, he had become one of my favorite writers. From the beginning, I was struck by the extraordinary felicity with which he wrote on history, cities (Istanbul in particular) and civilizational encounters. Snow and Istanbul are my personal favorites.
Pamuk’s prose is lyrical, incisive and offers a window into the soul of his characters - people, cities and cultures. His politics is uncompromising, when he speaks on the shameful episodes of Turkey’s past, especially the Armenian genocide. There is much to admire in him, as a writer and public presence.
Here is the AP report in the Washingtonpost. There is bound to be more commentary and praise for a deserving winner. Will update periodically and hopefully write a short appreciation this weekend.
Kanshi Ram passed away early monday morning. After suffering a paralytic stroke two years ago, he had been bedridden and continued to face multiple health problems.
Kanshi Ram’s was perhaps the most powerful independent Dalit political voice in independent India. Unlike other Dalit polticians who owed their power to their association with political parties, Kanshi Ram relied on his superb organizational skills and capacity to articulate a common platform for the minorities and the backward classes. True, from Lohia to V P Singh and Mulayam/Laloo, there is a long list of leaders who tried to organized the oppressed but the uniqueness of Kanshi Ram’s effort was that it was a Dalit led movement.
Kanshi Ram began his career in the late 1970s by organizing Dalit government and public sector workers. In 1981, he established Dalit Shoshit Sangharsh Samiti (DS4) and in 1984, he founded Bahujan Samaj Party, which emerged as an infleuntial political force within ten years. It was no mean achievement to make an untouchable woman the chief minister of India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh.
Critics will point out his contribution to the increasing castiesm in Indian politics and to his unprincipled alliances with Bharatiya Janata Party. What’s undeniable is his impact on Indian politics in the last three decades, especially in making Dalits an influential voice in national politics. He shall be remembered for that.
(Also posted at History News and Network)
Do you have ancestors who died in India during the Sepoy mutiny of 1857? If so, you could go on a mutiny tour next summer and visit the cemeteries where your ancestors are buried. It’s time to add cemetery tourism to India’s other tourism attractions, heritage and medical tourism.
Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the Sepoy Mutiny, more formally characterized by Indians as the first war of Indian independence. Indian soldiers serving in the British army rebelled against their masters and they were joined by disgruntled native rulers, including the last Mughal emperor of Delhi. This year long war proved consequential for India’s future. The British Government took over the responsibility of governing Indian territories, which previously were administered by a joint stock company, East India Company. Queen Victoria became the empress of India in 1858 and celebrated that event by throwing a lavish party in London, to which sixty eight thousand people were invited.
As one would expect, there are celebrations galore to mark the event, including one by the Government of India. Historians are coming out with new accounts.
Tour operators aren’t to be left behind. Apparently, British travel companies are organizing mutiny tours and bookings are in full swing. Here is a full report on that by Maxwell Pereira.