There is a welcome outcome from all this furore, madness and cacophony about women entering Sabarimala. The articles, the debates on TV channels, the arguments and suddenly the plethora of information on Sabarimala, its past, the Indian constitution and its haloed basic principles all have suddenly come out to the center stage. Indeed one may have noticed a few anti women-entry friends & acquaintances, some who unlike the Indo –Pak soldiers at the Wagha border gates  and their energetic theatrics frown at you for real and murmur, “damn you anti Hindu –hindu”.

What the Sangh & the BJP along with other fascist fringe elements that constitute the Hindutva dynasty have inadvertently done through their sudden U-turn and opposition to the question of women entering Sabarimala, is in hindsight favourable to the society. It may facilitate the ushering in of an unstoppable debate, liveliness and paradigm change in the social psyche of Kerala. A 21 st century renaissance, if I may! Conservative opposition apart, in the form of “nama japa yatras”, I doubt if the rightwing can sustain their vile and opportunistic campaign of falsehood. For the incessant debates, the profusion of information that aids unbiased and dispassionate judgments have also allowed people to understand the flagitious agenda of the BJP-Sangh combine. The despicable and sinister game plan came out of the evil mule’s (K. Sredharan Pilla- the BJP State supremo) mouth itself in the form of braggadocio and hopefully the gullible who heeded to his call for Hindutva jihadh will take notice.

The so called Royals of Pandalam may rue the day they voiced their objection against the Supreme Court judgment. Thus opened up this social consciousness which is now threatening to dispossess them of their self-proclaimed rights and reverse their appropriation of the Sabarimala. Their locus –standi is as questionable as the writ of the 500 odd princess in the post Independent India.

The Tantri clan has walked themselves into a snare set up by themselves and is now like crooks trapped in an oubliette. A possible contempt of Court stare at them as much as the story of how they purloined the Malayarayans and their rights over the shrine.

The narrative that the State Govt ought to have bought sometime to educate the masses on the SC judgment on the facts about the shrine and the falsehood of the so called customs cannot be ignored. Well though one cannot rubbish them , yet the question remains was there any recourse to the Govt other than abide by the SC ruling on the question that touched the basic principles enshrined in the constitution?

The Monkey God

Polemics are always frowned upon. But that is because you feel your contention and comfort zone is threatened. At the same time when you make fantastic claims it must be supported not by fantastic faith but verifiable evidence. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.”

Yesterday on this holy and zealously individual place called “my wall” on ‘face book’ a post someone posted happened to reflect on my Timeline. It was fascinating news of Hanuman Jayanthi being celebrated. Naturally my temperament did not let me ignore it. I posted a comment which read, “Goodness me finally they found the birth date of the Monkey God!”

Now tell me was there any rudeness and disparaging tone in that remark? Absolutely not, I can tell and argue with reason. But the gentlemen who posted took umbrage at it and replied rather menacingly. “Desist...from making such an insulting words for the gods....and if you have any problem keep it with yourself ...If I start pointing the fingers ok on banana State of for yours ( Kerala)…. .” I really did not understand the last part, though. Moreover since the word 'jayanthi' is understood to mean  birth date, it was also natural to wonder , how the heck they established that.

I politely asked him in my reply what was insulting in my observation. Wasn’t Hanuman member of the monkey clan? Folks considering him God don’t alter his race. Does it? But he would have none of it. He warned me to desist from trolling. Well, I rest matters there as Facebook seems to be held and guarded zealously by many people where they can tell whatever they want, but frowns upon any critical comments. That, one must not ever agree.

But the question remained, “Did they uncover the birth date of Hanuman, the Monkey God.?”

This morning different post from another gentleman reflected on my page. There was a picture of a clan of monkeys being fed (they were seated like at a table and partaking). The caption read “Vanara sena- Hanuman Jayanthi party.”
Now, interestingly the gentleman who posted this is a staunch Hindu and an ardent fan of the saffron brigade.

Now where did I err? In asking if they really uncovered Hanuman’s birth date? Or did I err in calling Hanuman- ‘Monkey God’? I began to wonder but soon understood there was nothing to be astonished about.

I repeat the quote I mentioned earlier. “What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence”

To use the social media to purvey and assert one’s fantasies, bias, and idiosyncrasies or bizarre claims supporting ones belief system or political affiliations cannot be done without inviting criticism and scrutiny. If you do, yes you may do it, but don’t act offended when someone ask you to prove your fantastic assertion. There is no mockery and trolling in it. It is sarcastic reply to your eccentric and  assertion.
Take it or leave it. Its social media and it’s an open space.

The Malayalee

Deluge of anguished posts, statements that seem to not cease, (but will only last for a few more days are flooding the social media sites)! This began the day  the news broke out about a mentally unstable tribal youth being lynched in a tribal hamlet in Kerala for allegedly stealing rice. He was thrashed  mercilessly by the mob of puritans (sic) and succumbed due to severe internal injuries. The killing was not done at the behest of the Cow brigade, not by the Commies , not by the Jihadists and not by the Congis. But by Keralites- ordinary Malayalees! Some of whom even boasted selfies like game hunters pose with their trophy of a kill.

Cherry picking by the Sangh fans , bringing back quotes from Narendra Modi's infamous speech while electioneering in Kerala that allegedly compared the State with the dystopian Somalia  is being revived. "I told you so!"

There has been no hartals and bandhs sponsored by the political parties to protest the brutality.  For a dispossessed mentally deranged tribesman cannot be in the voters list. The political henchmen and masters seem to be muted in response. Perhaps the scale of the act may have even numbed their senses.

Am I incensed, angusihed, sad? Oh no, not  at all !
Such bestiality need not necessarily be the privilege of the  Sanghis in the Sangh dominated lands of the cow-belt. We Keralites are indeed adept in perpetrating the most despicable, heinous of  acts and a herd mentality can in fact bring out the best of barbarian in us. We need not be a Sanghi, a Commie or Islamist to assert that. 

Yes we Malayalees zealously bathe every morning, wear pristine white dhoti and shirt, we unfailingly read a couple of newspapers and boast about our literacy and wisdom; we believe we have expertise within us to assert on any subject that is thrown at us ; we think slightly of people  from other parts of the country and the world; we think deprecatingly of others for we indeed (claim) are yards ahead culturally and socially. We kvetch about expat youth from other States who fill-in for blue collared, lay jobs that the arrogance of our educated ( but unemployable) youth scorn.We are deeply religious and spiritual- flocking to  churches on Sundays, observe lent and Eid with astounding piety, do not miss namaz and as decreed perform that ritual five times a day, make temple festivities a cultural statement. We are both outraged and indulgent in  public display of affection. Well the lists that tells our primacy among societies are never ending.

But look aren't we just like any other depraved minds, we think exists elsewhere? The beast trapped in our human body manifests often in fashion similar- a hapless mentally compromised youth can be wretchedly assaulted and left to die, a pregnant woman is kicked in her stomach that the pregnancy is miscarried, a father has no qualms in sexually violating his girl child...., a  Gulf returnee who dreamed of his own automobile workshop  is forced into misery by communists and takes out his anguish for ever by hanging himself.......!

And yet we claim to be a civilisation and society apart, decked in intellectual glory and prideful.
Hypocrisy thy name is Malayalee!

All said, be it Padmavati, Sexy Durga, Satanic Verses, MF Husain’s  "Saraswati", Taslima Nasreen's, “Shame” , Nicholas Kazanzthika’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” or Meera Nair's "Fire", what has been pilloried and strangled is the right of expression and speech, to criticize, to creative freedom and use the creation to critique a system, thought  belief or a person.

However dispassionate I get, I cannot totally forego the traces of mischief and may be a plot for possible commercial windfall in naming a painting or a movie provocatively. This is why I feel SunilKumar Sasidharan must cross his heart and confess to or refute the motive I allege him of.

 MF Husain had a host of other names to caption his painting of a nude decorated woman and “Saraswati” was a silly choice. SanalKumar Sasidharan had a plethora of names from which to choose one for his movie. Neither did! That either ought to be stupid, specious or cunning. 

The content of Sexy Durga as I can understand has nothing titillating or sexy about the protagonist. So a name that did not have that prefix would have fared uneventful. Just “Durga” would have avoided these controversies. Moreover when asked to change the name the producer over imposed “XXX” on the alphabets “exy” in the word SEXY. Wasn’t that trifle suggestive and mischievous?

Now what right does the puritanical (sic) brigade, be it the Hindutva forces, the Islamists, the Rajputs or any others have to proclaim fatwa and order violence upon an author, a film maker or a painter for her/his oeuvre?

The much fancied the then young Prime minister Rajeev Gandhi who we thought would be a harbinger of fresh young air, disappointed when he succumbed to Muslim vote banks and proscribed Salman Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses and also circumvent the Supreme Court order in the Sha Bano case. Those of you who do not know the 10 years of turbulent and hounded life Salam Rushdie lived, after Ayatollah Khomeni ordered he be killed, must read his autobiographical work “Joseph Anton”. The whole civilized system and governments in multiple countries succumbed to the mad mullah in Tehran who ordered killing of Rushdie. That idiot may not even have read that work. Democratic societies world over being held to ransom by Islamist forces began with the “la affaire Salman Rushdie”.

Now when you say that the limits of expression and creativity are subservient to another person’s like and dislike, you are being a censor and an obscurantist. If you say that terrorists have a right to kill people who put up cartoons or paintings and even novelettes criticizing or lampooning their God or prophet, you are only endorsing the terrorists’ argument that rest of the World must acquiesce and follow their unitary beliefs and not be different or dissenting.  What then is the society you are expecting to have? A homogeneous, vacuous, scrawny moronic world? What then about the colourful diversity of thought, belief system, culture, tradition, languages etc that adds vibrancy and interest to life? Plow them down under and cover us with black cloak like Grim Reapers?

In Kerala the ancient art form of “Chakiarkoothu” is a medium to taunt, lampoon, mock, criticize, rubbish, shame, rebuke and rebut a person or system. Kings and rulers were mercilessly critiqued and mocked by the artists; the current art of mimicry is precisely a variant of the old “Chakiarkoothu”.

As much as one has the right to be hurt and flaunt offended sentiments, a writer or an artist must have the right to offend and critique.

If religious sentiments and emotions were hurt by using a prefix to the name Durga or the movie ‘Padmavati”, well what must first be banned ought to be the mythological treatise such as Ramayana, Mahabharata or the Bible. Wherein there is surfeit of incest, misogyny, sadomasochism, rape, violence, sex, sleaze, bestiality, sodomy and whatever you can think of as offensive to the pristine sentiments. I’m told the 12^th century treatise of Jayadeva, “Geetha Govindam” which describes the fantastic relationship between Krishna and his maidens the Gopikas , has enough and more that would pale D.H.Lawrence’s , “Lady Chatterly’s Lover” and Charles Devereaux ‘s “Venus in India” . Should they be burnt or proscribed? Well should Khajuraho and Konark be pulled own and the many Hindu temples too? Should Naga sanyasis be rounded up and forcibly clothed or forced into the ocean with millstones around their necks?

It is utterly ridiculous and inane to be anguished over a movie, its name, a painting or a book.  At least here in India where we have great tradition of dissent, heterogeneity and argumentation as well as tolerance. To argue that the Abrahamic world are far sinister and intolerant is a childish argument because the choice we have is, should we accompany them and stay like them in a barbaric archaic mental existence or use the greatness of Indian culture to look forward.