Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Rains in Chennai........

Brown, brown puddles....
Golden dazzles,
Giant danseuses swaying around,

Blue,big parasol...
Umpteen craters and holes,
Gleeful was I until I found................
That you prefer the steaming coffee to the pitter-patter, splaaaaaaash sound!
To grieve or to rejoice?

Friday, October 21, 2005

On Prince Khusro...My Hapless Mughal.

For those who wonder why history retains remnants of memory of someone like Prince Khusro,who never won any battles or excavated any jheel and, therefore, never had the fortune or misfortune to have any question framed on him in school and college history exams, i have an answer.
His memory remains, atleast in old,historical tomes, so that anoraks-especially maudlin anoraks-can have someone to brood upon.He was a prince, a Mughal and Akbar Badshah's dearest grandson so much so that the great emperor of Hindustan had actually contemplated to have him as his heir instead ofhis son and khusro's father,Jahangir.And if that was not all,what made his astoundingly good fortune all the more astounding and enviable was his popularity amongst the masses. When his father was rousing apprehensions by his excessive fondness for wine and luxury, and his brother Khurram was incurring wrath by his no less excessive arrogance; he, Khusro, was winning many a heart in the Mughal realms by his secular mindset and high ideals. To put it succintly,if Akbar ever had a flesh and blood reflection, it was Khusro!
But he-and it is does not surprises me at all-was destined to become the protagonist of a heart searing tragedy. He, encouraged by a faction of nobility who prefered him to his perpetually inebriated father, revolted against Jahangir;when defeated,gallantly accepted his fate only to be blinded and later on, killed by his father,at the instigation of his brother Khurram.Later,Khurram was to become the subject of many a panegyric and the idol of many a lover,as the builder of an ineffably beautiful marble mausoleum on the bank of Yamuna in Agra.Later,he was to become the great Mughal empereror and the immortal lover, Shahjahan....But, before he became all that, he didn't mind being a fratricide by heaping false accusations on his brother.But this post is not about Shahjahan;its about Khusro.It doesn't matter by whom or how he was killed.His death had pushed him into oblivion and need not be dilated upon. What strikes me as a rather cruel irony,is his life.To be bestowed with all the means,yet not allowed to reach the end is sad.And, he was a sad figure because his nobility, magnanimity,gallantry were all mocked at by his life and completely forgotten, after his death, by history......But he remains my hero, my hapless Mughal.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF IGNORANCE OF MAINLAND INDIA ABOUT THE NORTH-EAST.

When any person hailing from the north-eastern region of India visits some other part of the country, he is often shocked to discover the utter ignorance of the rest of India about his native land. This sense of shock, however, does not last for long. The realization that his fellow Indians have some flawed, preconceived notions about the region, which they are not ready change replaces the shock with indignation and rage. He often finds himself wondering as to what is the cause of this gross ignorance and indifference of mainland India towards the seven rainbow states of the North-East .

Historical Cause- The ‘Seven Sisters’ have had an isolated existence for centuries. Except for a few sporadic invasions by ambitious imperialists and rapacious plunderers, there are very few instances of the north-east coming into contact with the mainland. Often, the events which shook and brought about significant changes in the rest of India , had little or no impact on the north-east. As a result, this region does not share a common history with the mainland. Lack of common historical bonds must have greatly contributed towards deplorable absence of interest of Indians towards their brethrens from the north-east.
Cultural Cause- Culturally and linguistically, the inhabitants of the ‘Seven Rainbow States’ are closer to the people of the South East Asian Region than to the rest of India . Each of the seven states has its own, distinct customs, traditions, culture and language but these have few commonalities with the cultures of rest of India. The fact that all the languages of the north-east, except Assamese, originated not from Sanskrit but the Austro-Asiatic branch of languages, also alienates the people of this region from the rest of India. Moreover, the north-easterners have mongoloid features which renders them somewhat different from others. They are, infact , frequently referred to by the pejorative term ‘Chinkis’ .
Geographical Cause- The north-east is connected with the rest of India only by a narrow corridor in north Bengal called ‘chicken neck’. This area is hilly and relatively forested and it is only recently that good rail and road transportation facilities were developed here. So, for centuries this part of the country remained remote and inaccessible for the rest of India. Lack of communication and contact with the inhabitants of this region due to its geographical inaccessibility, is thus a vital cause of the ignorance of mainland India.

Political cause-Almost every second person hailing the north-east feels that the central government metes out a ‘step motherly’ treatment towards his region . They feel that the Centre is interested only in exploiting the minerals and other natural resources of the region instead of being interested in its socio-economic development. They blame non-allocation of sufficient fund for the region’s development by the central government as the cause of its poor state of affairs. They point out the fact that the entire Manipur State budget is less than the budget of one single department under Andhra Pradesh government as an evidence of Delhi’s negligence of the north-east. They also feel that the central government-irrespective of the political party in power-is not sincere in its efforts to curb the insurgency problem in the region. In other words, the people of the north-east have umpteen reasons, some valid and some baseless, to be dissatisfied with the Centre.
Today, on one hand, the mainland is accusing the north-east of not considering itself to be a part of India while on the other hand, the latter is complaining that the mainland is reluctant to accept it as a part of the mainstream Indian life. The ‘people to people contact’ strategy which has been so successful in easing tension and discord between India and Pakistan, should be applied to the north-east region as well. Increased cultural, social and academic interactions between the people of this region and the rest of India would contribute in allaying their mutual distrust and discontent . Of course, the central government should take more active measures to deal with the problems such as economic backwardness and insurgency which have been ailing the country for a long period. To put it succinctly, all the causes discussed above needs to be addressed if the north-east is to truly become a part of India.