The review of the book "Brothers in Arms" was also published alongside. You can see a print below.
25 May 2010
Interview with Diana and Michael Preston - "Alex Rutherford"
An interview I did of the authors of "Brothers in Arms" -- the second in a five-part history of the mughal empire in India.
The review of the book "Brothers in Arms" was also published alongside. You can see a print below.
The review of the book "Brothers in Arms" was also published alongside. You can see a print below.
21 May 2010
பானுபாரதியின் - பிறத்தியாள் - கவிதை தொகுப்பு வெளியீட்டு விழா
நேற்று மாலை இலங்கை கவிஞர் பானுபாரதி அவர்களின் “பிறத்தியாள்” கவிதை தொகுப்பு வெளியீட்டு விழாவில் நண்பர்களை சந்திக்க நேர்ந்தது. கறுப்பு பிரதிகளின் புது வெளியீடு...
கவிதைகளை பற்றி கவின் மலர், யாழினி முனுசாமி, சுகுணா திவாகர், வ கீதா, மற்றும் பிரபஞ்சன் கருத்துக்களை வழங்கினர்.
இதில் மிகச்சிறப்பாக இருந்தது கீதா அவர்களின் பேச்சுதான். பொதுவாக ஸ்ரீலங்காவை பற்றி அவருக்கு தெரிந்த விஷயங்களையும், இலக்கியத்தில் அவருக்கு இருக்கும் அறிவையும் வைத்துக்கொண்டே ஒரு மணி நேரம் மேடை பேச்சை நிகழ்த்தியிருக்க முடிந்தும் அவர் அப்படி செய்யாமல் இந்த பேச்சிற்காக செலவிட்ட சில நாழிகைகள் அவருடைய பேச்சில் தெளிவாக தெரிந்தது.
கூட்டங்களிலே யார் எதை பேசலாம், தன்னை தானே எப்படி அடையாளம் காண்பிக்கலாம் என்றெல்லாமே பேசி பேசி சண்டையில் முடியும் விழாக்களுக்கு நடுவில் கீதாவின் பேச்சு கவிதை வாசிப்பின் பல கோணங்களை முன்னிறுத்தி கூட்டததிற்கு வந்தவர்களை உத்வேகப்படுத்துவதாய் அமைந்தது.
கவிதைகள் பற்றி அடுத்த பதிவில்....
(தொடரும்)
கவிதைகளை பற்றி கவின் மலர், யாழினி முனுசாமி, சுகுணா திவாகர், வ கீதா, மற்றும் பிரபஞ்சன் கருத்துக்களை வழங்கினர்.
இதில் மிகச்சிறப்பாக இருந்தது கீதா அவர்களின் பேச்சுதான். பொதுவாக ஸ்ரீலங்காவை பற்றி அவருக்கு தெரிந்த விஷயங்களையும், இலக்கியத்தில் அவருக்கு இருக்கும் அறிவையும் வைத்துக்கொண்டே ஒரு மணி நேரம் மேடை பேச்சை நிகழ்த்தியிருக்க முடிந்தும் அவர் அப்படி செய்யாமல் இந்த பேச்சிற்காக செலவிட்ட சில நாழிகைகள் அவருடைய பேச்சில் தெளிவாக தெரிந்தது.
கூட்டங்களிலே யார் எதை பேசலாம், தன்னை தானே எப்படி அடையாளம் காண்பிக்கலாம் என்றெல்லாமே பேசி பேசி சண்டையில் முடியும் விழாக்களுக்கு நடுவில் கீதாவின் பேச்சு கவிதை வாசிப்பின் பல கோணங்களை முன்னிறுத்தி கூட்டததிற்கு வந்தவர்களை உத்வேகப்படுத்துவதாய் அமைந்தது.
கவிதைகள் பற்றி அடுத்த பதிவில்....
(தொடரும்)
03 May 2010
Sculpting the Fourth Pillar - ACJ convocation 2010
A new batch of journalists were all set to march their baby feet down the road to democracy, today, as the 2010 graduates from Chennai’s famous J school - Asian College of Journalism received their certificates from none other than Dr Binayak Sen, at the year’s convocation ceremony.
Dr Binayak Sen’s work in alternative healthcare in Chattisgarh has taken healthcare to the poorest of the poor in the state. Yet as a reward from the state, he was only accused of non-bailable offences and jailed for two years, even though the things he was accused of did not fall into the non-bailable category. He works with Rupantar, an NGO, whose activities centre on alcohol abuse, violence against women and food security, in twenty villages in the state. The Indian Academy of Social Sciences awarded the R.R. Keithan medal to Dr Sen , citing him ‘one of the most eminent scientists in India.’
Dr Sen’s talk entitled, ‘Hunger, Dispossession and Quest for Justice,’ must have touched the hearts of fledgling journalists gathered there, as it quickly ran through some of the most important
“Globalization is the current avatar of actually existing colonialism” and “keeping inequity in place requires diligent and sustained international effort, supplemented where necessary by military intervention” were the key notes of dr sen’s talk this evening.
He recalled the greatest party of all times – the celebration of queen victoria’s ascension as ‘kaiser-i-hind’ just a week after which 100, 000 people in India died on the streets of Chennai due to the refusal to release grain stocks by the viceroy. If that was a heartless act, what do we call the happenings in the present-day democratic state, as revealed by valid studies in healthcare?
A census carried out Rupantar using body mass index as a marker in tribal villages of chhatisgarh points out that by WHO standards these villages may be regarded to be in a state of famine. A related study by economist Utsa Patnaik further quantifies this famine state as “getting worse”. Other chronic problems in chhattisgarh were expropritation of common property and dispossession of tribals in the name of development, as global financial capital greedily flowed into this resource-rich region. This was due to the power vested by the doctrine of eminent domain on the State giving it ultimate ownership of all land and natural resources.
Land acquisition by the state was not always a peaceful affair, the authorities gad to do a lot of work and acquire it “literally at gupoint” in Bhansi in south Bastar when Essar and Tata needed the land for proposed development projects. ‘Yes, Bastar had a long history of popular resistance to oppression’, said dr sen, recalling Praveer Chandra Bhanj Deo – the ruler of Bastar in 1960, who resisted and was killed in an unfortunate incident during the chief ministership of DP Mishra.
Anyone who questions the state gets labeled ‘Maoist’. In chhattisgarh, the term includes even self-confessed Gandhians like Himanshu Kumar of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, the PUCL, which is only a human rights group, and other ‘pesky PIL-wielding academics’.
Speaking of the disheartened state of resistance movements, as even the NBA – the most vociferous movement witnessed so far - he quoted Prashant Bhushan. ‘Those who are going to become homeless … in this race of so-called development…will be forced to accept the bitter truth that they cannot stop the loot of their lands and resources by any democratic any non-violent means’.
‘…the creation of “physically and mentally hazardous conditions which could put the survival of particular communitiea at risk’ would also come within… genocide’ is the conclusion of Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, 1948. So what is happening in Central India is tantamount to this, we infer.
Even scientific methods to implement a dialogue with the State fail, as evidenced by the case of work on Tuberculosis in Central India. A study done by Jan Swasthya Sahyog (people’s health support group) in 53 forest-relatred villages in central India report an association of low body weight with occurrence of tuberculosis and also to famine conditions. The study urged the State to take an urgent imperative to look into the needs of food for the concerned people, in a scientific manner. However, this study and its recommendation was not incorporated into the fundamental architecture of the National Tuberculosis Programme.
Hearing about these incidents gave the audience an excellent grounding on what journalism could deal with and what were the aspects of politics that journalists would need to look into if they wished to justify the prestige of being called the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’.
Dr Binayak Sen’s work in alternative healthcare in Chattisgarh has taken healthcare to the poorest of the poor in the state. Yet as a reward from the state, he was only accused of non-bailable offences and jailed for two years, even though the things he was accused of did not fall into the non-bailable category. He works with Rupantar, an NGO, whose activities centre on alcohol abuse, violence against women and food security, in twenty villages in the state. The Indian Academy of Social Sciences awarded the R.R. Keithan medal to Dr Sen , citing him ‘one of the most eminent scientists in India.’
Dr Sen’s talk entitled, ‘Hunger, Dispossession and Quest for Justice,’ must have touched the hearts of fledgling journalists gathered there, as it quickly ran through some of the most important
“Globalization is the current avatar of actually existing colonialism” and “keeping inequity in place requires diligent and sustained international effort, supplemented where necessary by military intervention” were the key notes of dr sen’s talk this evening.
He recalled the greatest party of all times – the celebration of queen victoria’s ascension as ‘kaiser-i-hind’ just a week after which 100, 000 people in India died on the streets of Chennai due to the refusal to release grain stocks by the viceroy. If that was a heartless act, what do we call the happenings in the present-day democratic state, as revealed by valid studies in healthcare?
A census carried out Rupantar using body mass index as a marker in tribal villages of chhatisgarh points out that by WHO standards these villages may be regarded to be in a state of famine. A related study by economist Utsa Patnaik further quantifies this famine state as “getting worse”. Other chronic problems in chhattisgarh were expropritation of common property and dispossession of tribals in the name of development, as global financial capital greedily flowed into this resource-rich region. This was due to the power vested by the doctrine of eminent domain on the State giving it ultimate ownership of all land and natural resources.
Land acquisition by the state was not always a peaceful affair, the authorities gad to do a lot of work and acquire it “literally at gupoint” in Bhansi in south Bastar when Essar and Tata needed the land for proposed development projects. ‘Yes, Bastar had a long history of popular resistance to oppression’, said dr sen, recalling Praveer Chandra Bhanj Deo – the ruler of Bastar in 1960, who resisted and was killed in an unfortunate incident during the chief ministership of DP Mishra.
Anyone who questions the state gets labeled ‘Maoist’. In chhattisgarh, the term includes even self-confessed Gandhians like Himanshu Kumar of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, the PUCL, which is only a human rights group, and other ‘pesky PIL-wielding academics’.
Speaking of the disheartened state of resistance movements, as even the NBA – the most vociferous movement witnessed so far - he quoted Prashant Bhushan. ‘Those who are going to become homeless … in this race of so-called development…will be forced to accept the bitter truth that they cannot stop the loot of their lands and resources by any democratic any non-violent means’.
‘…the creation of “physically and mentally hazardous conditions which could put the survival of particular communitiea at risk’ would also come within… genocide’ is the conclusion of Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, 1948. So what is happening in Central India is tantamount to this, we infer.
Even scientific methods to implement a dialogue with the State fail, as evidenced by the case of work on Tuberculosis in Central India. A study done by Jan Swasthya Sahyog (people’s health support group) in 53 forest-relatred villages in central India report an association of low body weight with occurrence of tuberculosis and also to famine conditions. The study urged the State to take an urgent imperative to look into the needs of food for the concerned people, in a scientific manner. However, this study and its recommendation was not incorporated into the fundamental architecture of the National Tuberculosis Programme.
Hearing about these incidents gave the audience an excellent grounding on what journalism could deal with and what were the aspects of politics that journalists would need to look into if they wished to justify the prestige of being called the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’.
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