The book release function that we had all been eagerly waiting to happen was now behind us. A modest function it was and we all enjoyed the event yesterday. Chandini was elegantly graceful as she read out some of her poems in her second collection Voyage Series and Other Poems. The concluding lines of her poem `Virus' refuse to vanish from my mind: "I have been vaccinated/Early in life/Against all manner/And genre of life." WOW. I wish I wrote that. The book release function came off well as did the post-release party. There was hardly anyone who didn't try to give voice to scores of immortal Malayalam and Hindi numbers. The boozy occasion only honed our sense of music. When Bubbles sang `Kanan kothicha neram, kavitha polen arikil vannu...', it touched a nostalgic nerve centre located somewhere in my SELF. I feel that we were all emotionally wounded at some point of time in our lives. Funny thing is we keep on protecting that wound from being healed. Chandini, forgive me my indulgence in metaphorical language. Perhaps my friendship with you rubs off on me.
Despite the memorable event that we all chose not to miss, I was personally aware that the occasion was overshadowed by the spectre of another female author being literally hounded out elsewhere in the country. Taslima Nasreen is on the run after she was betrayed by the self-styled progressive government of West Bengal. As fundamentalist Muslims are braying for her blood, the so-called secular parties and secular individuals, barring a few, are disturbingly silent. There is an attempt to treat Taslima as the vital Muslim problem in India. She is not the Muslim problem. She is now treated as a soft target by fanatics to hurl their anger provoked mostly by imaginary fears. Shall we allow India to be a Barbaria? To surrender the freedoms that our founding fathers have bequeathed to us? It is an irony that the BJP has come out to defend her and protect her. That is politics. But we are concerned with our freedoms.
Despite the memorable event that we all chose not to miss, I was personally aware that the occasion was overshadowed by the spectre of another female author being literally hounded out elsewhere in the country. Taslima Nasreen is on the run after she was betrayed by the self-styled progressive government of West Bengal. As fundamentalist Muslims are braying for her blood, the so-called secular parties and secular individuals, barring a few, are disturbingly silent. There is an attempt to treat Taslima as the vital Muslim problem in India. She is not the Muslim problem. She is now treated as a soft target by fanatics to hurl their anger provoked mostly by imaginary fears. Shall we allow India to be a Barbaria? To surrender the freedoms that our founding fathers have bequeathed to us? It is an irony that the BJP has come out to defend her and protect her. That is politics. But we are concerned with our freedoms.
2 comments:
First there was Nandigram. Now it is Taslima Nasreen. Earlier in the day, I was listening to an emotional Taslima saying that how come she was ousted from Bengal, with its rich culture and leftist and supposedly forward looking government backing out when the time came to stand up against radical elements? But these are soft targets, as you have rightly mentioned, but yes where are those secular voices? Please add my to that dwindling list.
By the way, the lines from Virus end in Love - - as life is nothing in comparison to Love.
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