Why there is no conflict in criticizing one's own culture and participating in it: Rebuttle to popular perception of an atheist

What makes me celebrate life cycle rituals while I simultaneously question the foundation of the cultural logic of Hinditva? It is complicated because each of the answers given can be interpreted as soft Hinditva, or even hypocrisy. Let me make it very clear from beginning that celebrating each of the life cycle rituals is a conscious and informed decision. It is not to please anyone and even though not celebrating them would hurt the feeling of many, but it was not intended to stop that. Here lies some of the thoughts that crossed my mind while I took the decision during my marriage and now for celebration of the introducing the solid food to my son.

Let me quickly pose the thoughts behind my decision.

A. Let me reveal how do I perceive these rituals. While, biologically life is a progress towards degeneration, socially and mentally we do not perceive it as such. We rarely know when we are ready to accept another massive change in our life. When we are into that phase of uncertainty, what Arnold van Gennep calls we experience liminality. Functionally speaking these rituals is a great way to remind you about the possible changes in life.
Question from point A: Those who disregard cultural traditions, are completely immune to any sort of traditional practices (in the strict sense of the term)?

B. I happen to be an anthropologist by training. I live with an uncertainty and taking positions while I see cultural practices is near impossible for me. I remember this is precisely the reason I found it difficult to grasp the idea of Human Rights is even possible in a world filled with so much of diversity. I wrote exclusively on this uncertainty in a post concerning human rights when I was given a task to taught a course on human rights in the University of Calcutta (http://sumananthromaterials.blogspot.com/2010/06/anthropology-and-human-rights.html).

When I go to particular cultural settings, I often search for their traditions, and I have always been taught and seen that festivals and life-cycle rituals are phases when one get to see long trail of traditions. We often find ourselves expressing sadness as we see the 'dynamic' dimension of culture, rapidly transforming the cultural traditions of the remotest of the corners. what about us? What is so special in disregarding one's own tradition? I do not find it conflicting in so far as I am not violating any of the rights and not causing any disturbance or harm to anyone.
Question from point no. B: Related to point A, can we really go out of the traditional cultural practices? What is so special about going beyond the traditions and embracing and generating newer traditions? - perhaps invented traditions (as Eric Hobsbawm might say)

C. does questioning something exclusively prevent you from practicing it? One can question it and still practice it and practicing it often gives more detailed understanding of what you attempt to question. So as to make it amend, twist, change and question more effectively. While I see traditions as nothing but social constructs, I also know everything is a construct. Constructivism is so deeply ingrained that the very attempt of writing this blogpost is nothing but a response to another form of social construct.

Question from point no. C: I know people who find it effective to question cultural traditions embrace a different cultural tradition to find it fashionable. I know myself as a quasi conscious being to not to accept capitalism unhindered and I enjoy a drink or two at highly expensive pubs to celebrate weekends. Do we really practice what we think might have been ideal?

D. Look at the functional dimension of the rituals/celebrations (in broad sense of the term). You tend to gather people, they talk to each other, you got to see each other, and find time to revisit to your nostalgia. If this has to be done,  for me it has to be done in a way that I can learn one thing or the other about our own tradition. Whether I being an atheist/agnostic or a believer, I got to know my traditions and this is one good opportunity to do so.

E. no matter what religion you belong to, that religious practices are in no way near to the fundamentalist forces that claim to work on behalf of that particular religion. Be it Hinditva or Taliban forces, their operations are way too complicated to go beyond the cultural practices of everyday life. Each of the practices holds special meaning and symbols associated with a variety of things, viz. division of labour, fertility, unpredictability of future and the like. We need to question them as they are no longer hold any relevance to our everyday life. However questioning them would not mean that we need to forget them altogether.

Let me now conclude by giving a couple of points to the so called progressive minds that populates the urban public sphere of educated upwardly mobile classes to think over.

1.can we really go beyond ritualistic performances altogether?

Consider your weekend celebrations, birthday celebrations and signed marrietal parties before you really create a defense to protect your 'progressive' self.

2 do you really think criticising people who practice the cultural traditions would help in bringing the positive changes in the society when you yourself is miles away from such changes?

3. Do you really think that by judging right and wrong in cultural practices and then prescribing one thing is not fundamentalism?

PC. www.webpages.uidaho.edu

"There goes our last..." India and the imagined secularism

Congress President Mr Rahul Gandhi in a temple in Madhya Pradesh

How many of us remember the movie Ice age 3, where the Dodos are shown loosing their "last female" and the "last melon," one of the Dodos could blow the whistle saying "There goes our last female", "the last melon." The frustration was there but the the whole fun filled scene could transcend the frustration of the the Dodos and spectators kept looking at Sid the funny sloth!

This anecdote, I find quite apt in explaining what we are experiencing today in India especially when BJP has lost significantly in the Hindi heartland. Mr. Gandhi says "we defeated BJP today, we will defeat them in 2019 Lokesabha polls too" (click here). Of course, those who were looking for some respite from the fast intolerant India are happy. At least these results have given numerous people to grasp some air in their lungs, in their mind too. The kind of fast and furious Hindutva and monolithic cannonical approach will definitely face stiff challenge after this result. Or will it?

Congress predecided Rahul Gandhi's temple visits in each of the poll bound states. A simple googling will show the kind of pro-Hindu image propageted by Mr. Gandhi in poll bound states. For example in Rajastan Congress declared that Mr. Gandhi will be visiting three temples (click here). Ajaj Ashraf argues that Congress is desperate to remove the "anti-Hindu" label (click here).

While I wrote on the kind of alternative Mr. Gandhi gave by hugging his opposition and challenging the masculinity of the Parliament (click here), the temple visits has been a parallel development of Congress's strategy. Whether to term it soft Hidutva, is questionable, as I find each form of mobilisation of primordial identity carries the potential to turn violent, aggressive and intolerant.

India struggles to find its way to go beyond such identities, secularism whether as "Sarba Dharma Samabhaba" or separation of state from religion seems a distant dream.

Somewhere a few of the dodos continue to echo "there goes..." secularism - our last resort.

Gendered moments - veiled and gazed

In what ways you see gender stereotypes being promoted in the late capital extravaganza? Well the straight answer would be through the projections like that of advertisements and numerous other popular media connotations like television and the movies. Yes of course, the glamourous Bollywood movies and songs of late cling on 'traditions'. The spectacle attempts to gloss away and blind the spectators from getting the glimse of what lies underneath.

It is this everydayness that defines gender roles and adds gloss to it. Yes, like everything else gender sells and so does the gender roles.

A security guard and a salesman (probably) make sense of defining how the woman is supposed to stay under the veil, never see outside without it because there is this male gaze afraid by the men themselves. Meanwhile, in a patriarchal world kaleidoscope is riding a car sharing with a couple and a baby fallen asleep on her mother's lap. Protected by the father and advised by the male cab driver about the gender roles and sacrifices of the mother. 

Selfie, late capital leisure and memory overloads

Kaleidoscope has to change his phones like everyone else after every three four years. In each of the cases the reason is the same - memory shortage. Earlier it was the shortage of memories because of flooding number of phone numbers and now because of memory  exhausting apps. Of course it is a game plan to continue kaleidoscope's requirements of a new phone.

Earlier when the phone with a camera was new in his world kaleidoscope thought it's 'hansjaru' - the famous nonsense of mixing or character by none other than Sukumar Ray. He thought what is the point of having a phone with camera while he loves photography through the real camera. Kaleidoscope being shortcited never thought camera could be so improved that even famous photographers would look for a better camera phone. It happened and then one-day kaleidoscope too bought a phone with front camera as well. His pea sized intellect again failed to realise the impact of front camera and selfie until he got transferred to a college which is also a popular selfie spot as well. with a glassy outfit, landscaping at the entrance and surrounded by shoppingmalls the place is suitable to self indulged selfies.

Leisure with a laptop

Selfie and smoke

Selfie ready architecture

Meanwhile kaleidoscope notices a rapid change in the ways in which his fellow social members celebrates leisure.

Even a date is now to face the laptops and hanging out in built in space means taking selfies. There seems to be an odd man out with a cigarette in the frame.

Kaleidoscope knows like many others memories will fell short, new phones will continue to take away savings and a world of selfie-led actors will grow like the insatiable beings of his world.

There will be more selfie ready architecture percolating everywhere, pre-wedding, pre Parenthood photographs flooding newsfeeds and an increasing isolation from the world outside will continue to dominate his world as kaleidoscope attempts to immerse in his world of blogs and photos living with an illusion that he is doing something different.

Sentinal Issue through Cultural Relativism: Anthropology and its Perspective

Can you define pleasure? Yes, of course, there is no simple way of defining it. Not only because it is subjective but also because it entails a lot of guilt that the technologically advanced version of homo sapiens carries with them. However, having said that we also need to remember that there is no shortage of people who seek pleasure by doing for others.

All of these because of the divided public sphere who are looking at the pleasure seeking principles associated with the killing of the American Missionary John Allen Chau by the Sentinal tribes of North Sentenel Island. Some believe it was a trespassing, of course, it was in so far as the rule of law the Republic of India goes. They are also the ones who keep on sharing links to show how beautifully Anthropologists have been able to befriend with them decades back (click here), or how it took 25 years and so coconut for another anthropologist to have a friendly gesture with them (click here). Let me just share one of the widely shared photographs of an anthropologist named Madhumala Chattopadhyay.

The image has a caption and that reads like this "An anthropologist’s moment of truth: This picture is of the first everbfriendly contact with the hostile Sentinelese tribe. Seen here, Madhumala handing over a coconut in person to a man from the Sentinelese tribe. Such are the moments every anthropologist dreams of. This requires years of preparation, persistence, courage, respect for the lesser known people of this earth and of course lots of luck. Some of the world’s most famous anthropologists including Alfred Radcliffe Brown had tried previously for this very moment but failed."

I shows the pleasure, the anthropological pleasure? Where does it differ from the Missionary's pleasure of conversion? Or for that matter some invester's pleasure of displacement and development of human zoo in excellent ecological niche? Let us concentrate on the photograph and the caption. It defines Sentinelese as hostile tribe, it compares the commendable exercise of courage that even British anthropologist A. R. Radcliffe Brown has failed to do. The image not only creates stereotype of the tribe but carries considerable colonial hangover as well. Despite of Franz Boas and his school of cultural relativism, despite of the fact that these tribal people have for long showed no interest in contacting with the people from the rest of the world, these sort of Anthropological romanticism and celebration is undesirable.

On the other hand it is this so called 'hostility' that played a key role in ensuring their survival on this island for so long.

The role of 'hostility':

If you really want to understand how the tribal people of the island could survive, one of the main reason would be their hostility. We can refer to the between Maori and Moriori. In December 1835 500 Maori armed with with rifles, clubs and maces arrived on the Chatam island. Moriori had a tradition of resolving disputes peacefully. They decided in a council meeting that they will not fight back. They also decided that they will offer peace, friendship and division of resources. Before they could deliver that offer the Maori attacked on them. Theykilled hundreds of Maori, cooked and eat many of the bodies and enslaved all the others, killing most of them too. What if Sentenalis welcomed everyone in their islands? Would there been anyone left?

The unknown factors:

Hardly we have a concrete idea about their social organisations. Surely, they do have good conflict resolution mechanisms. Let us take another example of the tribe of Fayu of New Guinea. Fayu consists of about 400 hunter-gatherers and according to their own account they had formally number about 2000. Their population has been greatly reduced as a result of Fayu killing Fayu. Since, they do lack political and social mechanisms to achieve peaceful resolution of serious disputes killing is a regular phenomenon. In fact, Missionaries have arguably saved their tribe from disappearing by installing so called modern institutions of governance. Sentinals are not Fayu and they are here for so many years because of unknown factors of governance mechanisms coupled with resource sustenance.

There are at least five major factors that could ensure the survival or collapse of any group of people with limited resources and technological solutions. First the environmental domain second the sudden climate change, third, the conflicting relationship with the neighbours, fourth, the disappearance of support from the friendly neighbours and fifth, society's response to its problems.
Adding to these, there is of course a body factor, which is the management of public health issues. Their survival shows Sentinals carry all the required immunal responses towards available diseases.

The relativist questions:

What makes them survive for such a long period of time despite of all these challenges and with such a limited amount of resources. Or do they really really need other resources which we think essential for survival of the humankind in our part of the world?

There is an urge of establish a contact with these people who are better left alone. An anthropologist's moment of success as it portrays in some of the articles should not be to be able to establish contact with a fellow human being who is completely unwilling to establish contact. Missionaries, have always been ruthless in terms of expanding their faith. It is nothing but a slightly soft form of imperial dream carrying principles which has destroyed several countries in the name of establishment of democracy and 'fruits' of technological advancements. The power that lies within the discipline should always be scrutinized in terms of relativists arguments,  Dian Fossey can call it a moment when she was accepted by Highland Gorillas, anthropologists defining the establishment as such moment is not what anthropology is looking for.

We have more serious questions to ask, as can we really even think of trespassing such places as American Indian territory?

Even if we can, does it entail, or should it entail anthropological pleasure? Or are we yet to learn the true essence of cultural relativism?

Selling Nostalgia: Mud cafe and Bengal's Ghosts

What is the most conspicuous sound of Bengali nostalgia? Surely, the sound of Tagore's song would be among the tops. Whose voice? In the Manish lifeworld it's undoubtedly Debabrata Biswas's firm voice. Yes we do have the package ready. It's the world of startups and Kolkata has it's unique form of culturally packed startup known as Mud Clay Coffee and More. You go there to find a heterotopic ambiance of a sepia frame, traditional mats, cane chairs, good food and of course an endless loop of Debabrata Biswas's songs.

The place is out of the world package giving you an interesting sandwich of past and present, tradition and infusion. You can see books by Ranjan Bandyopadhyay - otherwise cosidered trash by many. It is there as it markets supposedly scandalous past of Tagore and his family. Perhaps also questions the saintisation tendency of Bengalees which Tagore himself was opposing throughout his life (as Chatterjee mentioned in , “On Civil and Political Society in Postcolonial Democracies,” in Civil Society: History and Possibilities, ed. Sudipta Kaviraj and Sunil Khilnani, 165-178. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001).

It's an inconclusive fleeting late capital consumerist end of another busy day. Perhaps an excellent end with your lovely friend with a cup of Darjeeling tea.
Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, the word Mud, sepia and of course Debabrata Biswas's songs...
Who cares for a conclusion.

Rapidly erasing memories - latecapital everyday Kolkata

"The city changes everyday rapidly. It changes so fast that it's difficult to keep a track..." says an old taxi driver. Yes, Kaleidoscope sees that everyday. He remembers his father used to teach him mechanisms of remembering a place by creating and memorising landmarks.  A shop, a particular house at a crossing, etc. used to serve the purpose effectively.

Kaleidoscope wonders what would be his advise to his only a few months old son when he grows up?  Surely not to memorise important landmarks because they might change any day.

If these landmarks change so rapidly that even a taxi driver find it hard to memorize what will happen to the very essential character of the city?

Meanwhile as kaleidoscope crosses near Chetla he finds that a new skyrise is on the making. It has displaced the earlier construction. The only mark of past that remains is is the window of a a possible grocery shop. One of the the ends of the shop bears 1990s characteristic style advertisements belong to that of popular brand of a detergent: surf.

The multi hinged shop window and the characteristic 1990 advertisement show a surrender of past to the neo-liberal growth of capitalistic Pursuit.

Kaleidoscope knows like many others do, perhaps less than the taxi driver the city will transform itself to such an extent that the name Kolkata will become just a context without characteristic significations.

Sabarimala - there goes the secularism once again

Interplay of the hill shrine of Sabarimala in Kerala, a supreme court judgement allowing young women to enter, Pro-Hindutva activists results in whole country dancing in the tune of religious rights once again. Meanwhile BJP president Mr. Amit Shah's comment unveils already unveiled the fact that the party is nothing but a representative of  Hindutva ideology in a supposedly secular country. The protesters have jeopardized the law and order situation of the region and BJP finds it to be one of those rarest opportunities to use their age old, tested election winning mechanism - polarisation.

Let us quickly see the situation in broad spectrum:

The protesters:

They are on their way to protect one of the age old unjust prohibition in the name of 'tradition' against women with fertility. These sort of orthodoxy is nothing new and is to be found everywhere. There is no point in blaming the protesters just because they believe SC verdict will defame the sanctity of their tradition.

The politics with faith:

With Parliamentary election around the corner Sabarimala temple is a battle for political space in Kerala for the BJP. The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala represents the last bastion of the left rule in the country. Their positions have two important elements, a) they upheld the belief that everyone has equal right to worship and b) it has attempted to upheld the court directives. Most of the national leaderships including Indian National Congress (INC) have projected it to be a 'historic judgement.' With time and rising agitation INC, at least the Keralian form of it started to fumble and INC president Mr. Rahul Gandhi who, by the way, gave some hope against the aggressive masculinity in Indian politics (click here: 1, 2), had to categorically say that he believes men and women possess equal right to worship (click here).

What remains important in fumble INC, aggressive BJP is the fact that "secularism is dead" as Ashis Nandy mentions or at least alien as Romila Thapar mentions.

Gendered world:

No doubt, women represent one of the strongest pillars of patriarchy Sabarimala  reaffirms that once again (click here). However many young women journalists from CNN -News 18, NDTV, India Today, and New York times were made to step down from their vehicles. Then many young women making attempt to enter into Sabarimala are made to stop by violent means.

The essential element: 

No matter what happens with Sabarimala, its a win for those looking for making India a religious country, far away from the concept of secularism whatsoever. It is an attempt to work on the issue of access to a religious institution. Mr. Bijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala seems to be right as he says "It shows how an RSS mind has formed so firmly within the congress... but they should that if Congressmen join the agitation led by the BJP, tomorrow they will all become the BJP's supporters."

While Mr Rahul Gandhi makes visits to one temple after another, West Bengal sees increasing fall in the number of Left supporters with a subsequent portion of them going towards BJP, it is perhaps time to question the very foundation of secularism of the country once more. Why Sabarimala? Why Sabarimala now? 

Perhaps this is the time political parties look at their ideological training parameters which has somewhere gone missing, except for the BJP, they hardly requires any. They easily attach to the existing primordial identity structure. 

Workplace bullying - power, hypocrisy and the presentation of self

What happens when you see a person in serious trouble whom you have harassed for quite long. Kaleidoscope wishes to talk about those uncomfortable moments in workplace where you see the other person being harassed, bullied and ragged because of some  supposed perceived notion of right and wrong. What if you find the person in deep trouble and when you reach there you find the entire crowd that harassed or supported the harassment  already making their presence felt? 

What appears to be a mere representation of hypocrisy is actually an interesting nature of human beings - we can call as the art of pretension.  

What makes art of pretension so ubiquitous in our everyday life?

A. The power nexus and oligopoly 

Yes, it is indeed true that kaleidoscope inhabits a world full of hierarchy and he has to abide by certain unjust informal rules. The world of bureaucracy is never a world of equality, bureaucracy divides and integrates by in so far as it functions as integrated whole. Such divisions are primarily based on unequal distribution of authority and often empowers persons of authority to undermine the  rules. Hence, in an inequal institutional environment people fine it logical to align long the power centers. Often such nexus remains unchallenged and most of the people finds a comfortable fit somewhere within that. 

Within such a situation participating or passively supporting the continuous harassment  often is a strategy to maintain the status quo. For a basic human nature is to fear the change and a constant anxiety of "what if" the situation becomes worse than this? Or what if I become a target?  Hence, the status quo propagates such issues or violence, sometimes a good number of people become part of it unknowingly. 

B. The strategic silence and situational voices

What about the person who gets bullied over and over again? First of all, there are two kinds of persons: a) who protests without articulation often resulting in even more instances of bullying, and b) those who remain silent and hence whenever they speak up no one pays any attention and the situation remains largely the same. These two are never strategic responses but are instinctive responses. Kaleidoscope like many others seems to find such situation every now and then. 

C. People trying to do things differently

It is often seen that the first categories of people having been harassed do not look for a solution of the problem. It is not that they do not suffer! They usually expresses their complains at the backyard but refuse to do the same on face. It results in a precarious situation for the person who attempt to articulate for them. The problem becomes manifold when the category "b" people keep on nagging for their harassment to those who attempts such articulations. It happens because of the same old inclination towards maintaining the status quo.

For category "a", harassment increases often with increasing number of people getting involved in the process and those who wishes to stop often find themselves playing the role of a moral police.

Presentation of selves

Kaleidoscope wishes to bring the good old Goffman here before he concludes this messy text. Yes, kaleidoscope finds a juxtaposed nature of role playing, role assuming, hypocrisy, ideal types and everyday practices. Now think about the example that he mentioned in the beginning of the text. The one which speaks of a situation where people who harassed a coworkers pretends to best friend to the colleague once s/he is in trouble! It can be seen a juxtaposed situation of morality, notions of right and wrong, interface with the power packed oligopoly (as discussed in point A). 

Pic credit: http://www.forbesindia.com/article/special/country-cultures-make-their-mark-on-workplace-bullying/36275/1 

Letting Go 20 - Father

Yes, its first 5th October of my life when there is no longer you around. Just like the sky that changes over time, or the river making a new course, or like the dew drop creating soothing sound of falling on a pool in a late winter night my conscious life with you rapidly seems like a moment, which is gone. Gone forever.

The more days pass my memory plays a trick. It begins by showing the face when you were leaving us with immense pain, probably a burning sensation of heart slowly giving up and a liminal phase of rapidly falling bloodsugar. I remember myself saying my last goodbyes as I saw mother crying out. I consoled "how long do you want him to suffer? let him go." Your face, that face of a person you love, facing death, I remember, it was not smooth. It is never smooth for anyone. The spectacle changes you, once and for all. There was no tears for me, till today! I was holding your hand, feeling the body giving away with the heat that used to comfort me back in my childhood. Adulthood is only for detachment. Yes, I do not remember hugging you ever before you really fell sick with  a growing tumor! I remember how different it was, I remember I was easily hugging you in your last days and that wiped off my childhood memories. Slowly telling  me Suman, you are going to loose him. I whispered back "sooner the better!"

You cried looking at you sitar. You shouted, "My sitars are crying for me, let me play some music!" Yes, you tried, tried hard. I remember you allowed me for the first time to record a few of them which you had avoided throughout your life! Perhaps it was a father's wish not to abandon the home, erase the music completely.

You know, it has disappeared! I no longer come back after an exhaustive day and enter into the home listening you playing your favourite ragas in sitar.

Life is never the same, nor the world! I wish I do not forget your smell, your touch, your fingers and above all the musical childhood which you gifted me!

Compensating for a Gendered World III - Earn extra

Kaleidoscope doesn't know how many times he is going to see the same genderTarulata and Anna (which literally means not any more), if they don't just click on their names btw, now its time to share with you story of Aloka.
story from different actors. Kaleidoscope believes people remember

Aloka is a new inclusion to care for the peripheral works associated with the newborn in Kaleidoscope's home. Aloke happens to wear elegant saaris, often reads news paper when there is not much workload. In fact, there is plenty of time as after washing the baby's clothes and boiling water etc. there is hardly anything left for her to do. Kaleidoscope was curious about Aloka. She happens to speak less but when she speaks she speaks about the world outside. When she doesn't have work to do, she often goes to the balcony or on the roof to watch outside. Aloka happens to have a lot of phone calls. Mostly regarding orders to be handled by her husband who is a tailor.

What is her story? Kaleidoscope was curious. So here it goes.

Aloka's, husband is a good tailor and used earn  good enough to sustain a family, raise their girl and make arrangement for her marriage. Things started to change with the inception of ready made garments. "Even aged people started wearing the ready made cloths!"

Yes, it was a huge change: "Those of the workers easily switched over and joined some 'pull' or in some shopping plaza, those owing shops and business, (entrepreneur Kaleidoscope thought!) could not switchover easily.

Meanwhile Aloka watched her little daughter managing his not to well off family all by herself. Her affinal kin didn't demand anything but then there was infrastructure 'deficit.' Her daughter needed an alimrah, the newly wedded couple had to sleep on a chawki and lacked a proper bed.

While she urged for those items to be given to her daughter "just to set her free of the obligation that she had to keep everything in her mother-in-law's alimrah, and everytime she needed something she had to ask for the keys" her husband said "you have earn it, I can not give, neither did I have the money for it!"

Aloka felt helpless, meanwhile, there was problem mounting in her daughter's family with everyday access to the the alimrah and the like.

Aloke took up the job of aaya - a helping hand in need. She ended up serving for one of the readymade material suppliers and could give her husband one last opportunity to use his skill and earn. This time the husband agreed. Watching Aloka earning he felt humiliated for not being able to earn enough! So the family, as Kaleidoscope watches is slowing coming back to its original shape.

Meanwhile she could afford an alimrah and a proper bed for her daughter!

Pic: taken from http://www.mbcnschool.org/blog/international-womens-day-the-road-to-women-empowerment/

Anarchy in the designed Newtown landscapes

Since Kaleidoscope's arrival in his new workplace destination where everything seems to be too perfect. When he first found his college has a landscaping he thought it will soon become anarchic without proper maintenance. He was wrong. It is maintained every once in a while. So does other lawns. Although he has seen lawn being eaten by ghosts of past as cows once in a while come to have crunchy food in lawns (click here). However, the neatly designed place often sees transformation as the past 'infiltrates' within the present build-in neat and clean design of the place.

While the the 'last canal' got a makeover on both of its banks, Kaleidoscope thought it must be one of the last trails of the past (click here). The canal side lanes are getting paved and it might get 'beautified' like it has in some other parts of the city. The convocation center bound canal not only got 'lawned' banks but also have an installation of an artificial boat - quite heterotopic but it remains. However, the canal which passes through Kaleidoscope's college - also one of the only refuge of natural unkempt touch that the college has, remains to be the same. With an exception of the pavement of the lanes beside the canal the rest of the place remains unaltered.

As the lane is paved, Kaleidoscope now avails the lane instead of broad street which passes through the Central shopping plaza decked with flex and late capital consumerist advertisements.

The canal side lane happens to be an interesting contrast to the rest of the designed and neatly bound city.

• It is a space where he has spotted people quietly sharing a drink or two along with cheap side dish - a makeshift picnic arrangement. Indeed, his species is yet to forget the most coveted space for picnic, as many prehistoric sites are indeed picnic spots for many. 
• It is also a space for some of the workers (as there are many construction workers continuously building the city) to take some rest taking refuge under shed in scorching midday sun.
• Usually in the afternoon Kaleidoscope spots a few couples casually walking, holding each other's hands and looking at the trees, shed and the water which passes through the canal. 
• Casual short-cut takers - yes by those who cannot afford to have a car and walk through. You can understand the lane belongs to the past the organically connected folks.

Kaleidoscope does not wonder when he sees disjuncture between the inhabitants of the builtin apartments in the cityscape and the little past of all that is left. The past belong to the people at the bottom - those of the rooted. No wonder the canal carries waste of the haves and is quietly resourceful for the havenots. Kaleidoscope smiles - no wonder power is situational.

Pic: the paved canal road which Kaleidoscope uses everyday.

"First generation learners" scoring top - the background story

I remember encountering a couple of guardians in 2012 hot and humid June. They want their daughters to pursue graduations from our college that too in anthropology. The reasons being the same poor marks have made them incapable to pursue honours in other disciplines. Both the daughters however scored well in their secondary examinations.

There are challenges for both of them. Their parents are landless agricultural labourers and hence they are poor. Thanks to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes there is some hike in the wage.

Both the daughters have their mothers work in the field and they too offer help every once  in a while.

There are more challenges, they do not have any option than to stay in the hostel which requires money. Moreover, girls outside the home means a) there is an absence of 'helping hand' at home and absence of an additional labour force for the kitchen garden, b) yes, they are not 'that pure' back home, back in the village, c)  who can afford spending for a girl whom you plan to marry off.

However, it was a pleasure to see their parents throwing challenges to at least at three aspects of everyday society a)  gender stereotypes, b) economic challenges and c) gambling with taking up a not so marketed course.

It was an extreme challenge for the daughters too. They were supposed to study in english - a language much feared. Moreover, anthropology happens to be a subject without available textbooks. One has to do a lot of reference works.

Haldia happened to be an amazing place with teachers willing to take up such challenges.

In fact the same is applicable for at least three more boys. I remember those guardians looking at me the person in charge of the admission and also belonging to the department. 'I cannot afford a private tuition - said one of the guardians.' I smiled and said 'you don't have to! Keep the faith'

I remember giving extra load to my senior colleagues. 'You people have to check whatever they write in english and check them meticulously and help them identify the patterns of mistakes'.  Thankfully all five have been most consistent in attending classes and post class english training sessions. Being from the hostel they could spend evenings in the staff room every once in a while discussing, writing, arguing and watching movies.

With increasing attachments to the department they volunteer in restructuring the department before NAAC visit when i aready left the college for routine transfer.

However they were making wonderful progress in not only perceiving anthropology but also in english and computer skills.

Meanwhile one of them scored highst in the university exam and anotherone stood second. The rest however secured  comfortable first class excepting one of the girls.

I remember the one scored highest told 'dont worry sir she will score better in part iii.'

Yes while others remained consistent the girl scored magic figure 60%.

However, it was beyond my perception that their parents will allow them to continue  a post graduation course. But they did and now we have top five of the university- our beloved first generation learners.

Teachrs' day message carried a photograph of my very last day in th college with the next generation faculties whom we transferred the batton. The message said 'sir please remain happy as you seemed in this photo'.

Yes, this is pleasure even when you are not there.

Dancing teachers and Pupils - Liminal meets the Morals

What makes it difficult for people to accept everyday thing which is not 'appropriate' or 'proper' in the strict societal and hypocritical senses? Let me explore them. But before that let me show you video which inspired me to write this blog.

Well its a video gone viral. It depicts a bunch of students and school teachers dancing possibly in their school compound together, apparently in a Hindi Song tune.

Yes, this instigated criticism and todays public media quite naturally took the matter to manufacture  opinions. Of course, it shook the Victorian morality of the people. Meanwhile, fearing the public shaming and possible humiliation one of the teachers explained the phenomenon as one of the highest emotional moments where they started to dance after a wonderful day-long programme. Here is her facebook comment.

She explains a) it was a girls' school, b) all of the gates were closed, hence a closed door and 'private' affair, c) the song which was played in the viral video is an edited one and original song was not a Hindi song and it was something else.

What makes her explain such a phenomenon of an intense emotion:

of course we know what makes her give explanations. First of all, a group of women dancing openly is way too much to the society at large. Secondly, they are not only women but also teachers, how can they dance. They are supposedly wear the serious 'teacherish' looks and carry a 'serousish' gomratherium looks. How can teachers smile and dance at all. Third and more importantly how can they dance in a popular Hindi song and inspire their students to dance as well. Hence, the explanation.

A patriarchal social mind loaded with a supposedly defined 'proper' Presentation of Self is expected to feel the shock going through the spine as Teachers becomes emotional with students and starts dancing with a song.

Meanwhile, the school remains a heterotpic, juxtaposed and liminal space all through. Students, yes the future of our species can do things which they cannot otherwise in their domestic sphere or known places. This ability to do things which they cannot do in other places makes School a space of uncertainty and not a place with certainty. Civilization with its aim of making a disciplined citizens/labours/products to rule over can never allow such liminal space to expand itself. Hence, teachers are supposed to be wearing masks of proper representations whom students can 'follow' to become the ideal types.

Such ideal types are constructed as faceless categories of expected behaviours and this, by no means fit the stereotypic expectations.

What is at stake with this unintentional viral video will reveal much of the initial question of this blogpost: what makes it difficult?

Well here is the list:

A. The sense of proper which is a subtle mechanism by which patriarch and civilization exercises power through multiple channels. Be it the sense of presentaiton of self, interpersonal relationships, defined place instead of space, and cultural gaze loaded with patriarch/discipline/hierarchy and so on.

B. The form of stereotypes which is installed within the everyday discourses of the public sphere. Such stereotypes exclude everything which is natural and humane only to include the established exchange relationships.

C. The hidden morality (moral policing to be precise) which is a complex outcome of the sense of proper and stereotypical that is not ready to face a slightest difference

D. The violent and exclusionary mechanism that links such collective sense of 'proper' with practices. In a sense it justifies the explanation given by the teacher in social media. Yes, this is out of fear of being labelled as deviant and then excluded.


While the schools as heterotypic, juxtaposed and liminal space remains as it is internally, the perception of proper surrounding the institution aggravates. No matter how shocking it may seem the incident actually shows the positive and humane dimensions of everydayness in the liminal space. It is and it should be as such otherwise there wont be much of a difference between a school, a hospital and perhaps a prison.

Zara Haatke Zara Banchke Yeh Hai CBCS Meri Jaan

Kaleidoscope happens to teach in an heavily understaffed college in Kolkata. It is so understaffed that even with their best efforts, a considerable percentage of possible classes are not allotted. Yes, this happens even after they exceed more than about 20% of their supposedly working hours as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) rules. Well as he knows UGC has become a temporary matter with something 'revolutionary' to install by the centre, curriculum has undergone drastic revision as well.

Now its no longer the 1+1+1 system, this is much awaited, hyped the CBCS system with a name that everyone happens to talk about the Choice Based Credit System. Kaleidoscope is not going to discuss the system and its flaws, because that will entail a research paper and Kaleidoscope hardly has the time for it. Let him just place his case in the broad spectrum of revolution that Higher Education system awaits.

Kaleidoscope teaches in a department with two faculties. To attain the CBCS demand of total 140 credits and 20 credit for the first semester (click here) Kaleidoscope had to set a routine in which which the first semester took away about 75% of their total possible classes. Think about the unfortunate second and third year (fortunately Kaleidoscope does not have a third year yet) students. They are left with no choices than to enjoy the underdeveloped campus. Yes, they can do whatever they want to. They can supervise the construction work, see the vertical extension or go to the shopping mall near and see how people enjoy the airconditioned built in neo-liberal economic spectacles. They will not have classes, nor they have a proper library which is yet to develop in this college.

The broad spectrum:

Kaleidoscope would invite you all to look at least at four recent phenomenon:

a. The move to replace 62-year old UGC by Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) based on no solid ground but a mere argument that "the existing regulatory structure as reflected by the mandate given to the University Grants Commission required redefinition given the changing priorities of higher education" (HECI 2018).

b. "uniform standard and quality... maintenance through systematic monitoring" happens to the second most important aspect HECI, hence a designed syllabus from which only a small percentage universities can change.

c. declaration of Jio Institute (which is still in imagination) as one of India's six Institutes of Eminence.

d. an increasing push on revenue earning through the institutions themselves -  a push towards privatisation.

Kaleidoscope's case - not unique:

Kaleidoscope's case is by no means unique. Understaffed colleges and universities are understaffed for both teaching and non teaching positions and now there is a centralisation of curriculum. This is expected to result in a large-scale failure of the entire system of the public higher education institutions throughout the country. 

Meanwhile, those of institutions of repute will seek an increase in the revenue earning as there is a push from the system itself. 

It is not very far that a parent will find both the public institutions and private institutions charging more or less the same amount of fees and that the private institutions having autonomy have developed better infrastructure including the number of faculties required to meet the CBCS like curriculum. 

The resultant factor definitely will be conscious beings making choices, yes Jio institute or the like will flourish by then.

Impact on society:

On a personal note, Kaleidoscope was once told by his father "if there was no Nehru with his socialist policies, I could not have afford to give you education even in the local school you have studied, let alone college and university." Yes, Kaleidoscope like millions of his fellow country men could not have studied if they were not given near free tuition fees, free books and wonderful teachers and no teaching uncles. 

With a push for unification and privatisation and eventual failure of the public institutions, people will seek private sector educational institutions. Now it is of no surprise to find that in All India Higher Education Survey (AISHE) the grtoss enrolment ratio has increased from less than 5% to 25% if one compares it with 1990s and 2016 - 2017. There is a notable increase in the enrollment of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) students which is about 50% in public institutions. What is the scenario in private institutions? Yes, as expected this is less than 27% of the total enrollment. Similar case is that of women which is about 33% in private institutions and 45% in the public institutions and this trend will increase. 

Hence, Kaleidoscope should not be seen as cynical if he finds a dark wall in front of him as he prepares for his classes. There will be campuses with biases, rising incidents of suicides by the underprivileged students as exemplified by Rohit Vemula. There will be rise in the fees to such an extent that families like Kaleidoscope had will not be able to afford, and there will be private institutions where only wealthy can educate themselves. There will be funding available for only departments like Centre for Rural Development and Technology at IIT Delhi, spearheading the national programme on panchagavya (cow science). Textbooks will be rewritten to suit a particular political agenda and so on.

Compensating for a gendered world II - A migration story

Kaleidoscope found Tarulata a few years back in 2013 to compensate for the marriage of her daughter by working as a maid to his house (click here). He knows there are gendered stories behind many of the maids he encounters in his world. In West Bengal a lot of them are coming from his neighbouring country Bangladesh. Kaleidoscope is not intending to address any of the larger issues like refugee problem or of late Assam story of National Register of Citizens. He just wishes to share a story of forced migration, just one amongst the millions untold.

The story lets say belongs to "Anna." The name is not from any place in South India, but is from Bangladesh. The name is linked to a Bangla phrase "Ar naa" meaning not any more. Yes, she has a literal name of ending. Her parents tried for a male child but only got females and hence after fifth issue they decided to call it off! There is no prize in guessing what the childhood this Anna might have had.

Anna grew up, never got formal education and ended up marrying a carpenter contractor having considerable amount of ancestral property. Anna, developed all the skills one needs to run a family, manage farming, milk cow, manufacture cowdung cake, and maintain a household. All unpaid and expected job for a woman. She has had two daughters and two sons and meanwhile for some unknown fear her in-laws migrated from Bangladesh to India. Anna had well settled life in Bangladesh in a peaceful village life. She had Muslim friends and there was hardly any thing to discuss about being Hindu and Muslim (I had to ask about it with particular emphasis).

Meanwhile her father-in-law paid a visit and asked Anna to give her daughter to him to India as her mother-in-law wanted to see her. Anna was never agreed but her husband didn't listen to her.

She got a phone call after a couple of years from her daughter begging her to come to India to rescue her as she was put as a maid to one of the rich Marwari households in Lake Town. She asked her husband to make arrangements to go to India and bring her daughter. Her husband having all faith to her in-laws didn't give much attention but reluctantly came to India. He was being told that his daughter is staying at one of their kin's house and not in some Marwari houseld. He believed in that and came back. Meanwhile, her daughter called up her again and this time she told that she doesn't want to live any more if they are not coming to rescue her.

Anna convinced her husband by making a havoc in the village and all their neighbours helped her. Meanwhile because of the social pressure her husband decided to sale off all his properties there and settle down in India as he thought of his ailing parents. He had to sold everything in one fifth price and they made a move in the Bengali month of Bhadra.

"No one moves out in Bhadra month dada! People do not even throw away cats and dogs from home in the month of Bhadra, but my husband because of his ego made that hasty move. Even one of our Muslim neighbours asked us to stay back and spend at least that month and then make the move, but he didn't listen to me..."

Anna came to India with her husband in India with little savings in hand. Settled down in Bongaon with her in-laws and her husband suffered a brain stroke to become paralysed. Its been eighteen years, she is taking care of everything. She raised her daughters and sons. Her rescued daughter now works in some private agency and married to a descent man of her choice. They help her run the family. Her younger daughter is also married and settled. Her elder son is learning to become a electric mechanic and younger one is studying in class IX.

Anna - still manages to smile while she works at Kaleidoscope's home as he and the queen has recently become parents.

Bangladeshi - the derogatory term Kaleidoscope like many others knows are essential components of 'affordable' labour - no matter how harsh it may sound. Bangladeshi - the derogatory term entails millions of stories - larger than life. larger than imagined life!

PC: https://njerimureithi.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/sexism-in-advertisements-and-gender-inequality/ 

Post-Hug politics and sexuality among a few lawmakers in India

I found Rahul's hug to be one of the defining moments of politics in India in recent times (click here). We are comfortably in the post-hug political phase in the middle of aggressive masculine politics of the country. The hug has been subtle and well maneuvered. Just when the hug could bring down the nature of personal enmity which roared with character assassination and creation of popular but otherwise unacceptable and irrational constructs.

The paid IT cell to make propaganda visible and acceptable & leaders filled with racist, sexist and communal mentalities transforming India from a more or less liberal tolerant country to an intolerant and follower dependent nation at a massive pace. What Amartya Sen says about the quantum jump towards backwardness in terms tolerance, security, violence, social security, redistribution and honesty cannot have a single solution.

One can ask what difference does a hug make? The straight answer might, nothing! But it is not so. It does make a difference.

First of all there was a visible difference between the two leaders displaying certain unspoken dimensions of politics of India in recent times as I have already discussed (here). There is in fact more to it.

Jharkhand MP,  Nishikant Dubey along with some other BJP parliamentarian, as it appears, have said they were afraid of hugging Mr Gandhi because of their perception hugging an unmarried man is an act of homosexuality and that they might face a divorce from their wives (click here for the telegraph news on it)!  You can easily laugh with such a stupid statement, or you can go on analyzing the perception of lawmaker and reason for which the pariament needs more of Rahul's hugs than some drastic surgical strikes on economy or our neighbouring countries.

There are basics missing from one of the highest institutions in India and a hug at least started to unmask that.

Meanwhile Amul's witty cartoon is soothing, more soothing than everyday images of lynching, rape and murders in a country which taught tolerance and acceptance for such a long period of time.

Pic credit: https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/amul-rahul-modi-hug-twitter-reactions-5268781/

Hangovers in liminality: Kolkata pubs after they are banned

Let us think about a young person belonging to an upwardly mobile middle class of Kolkata having a headache on the Sunday morning. What would be your perception?

There may be many, but the most prominent one might be the like this "the person might have been to a party and drank till midnight to have the  odd headache." This may or may not be the case but this has increasingly become the popular stereotype of the class Kaleidoscope referring to here

The city too often has headaches after the Saturday nights in numerous popular party destinations. One of which happens to the space surrounding City Center I. Kaleidoscope does not want to mention the region as place because the place is never an 'assured' and 'certain' place, but something quasi-known, always changing and difficult to explain space. The space during the making out nights with party becomes even more unknown and uncertain the flow of people and professionals from a variety of places seldom known to each other. Yes there are known people and unknown specialists including the "one night standers" and "professionals" to the regular tireless selves looking for transcendence of everyday existences. Such interfaces gives a liminal dimension to the space and spatial practices.

While Kaleidoscope had to spend some time for a week at the space he could decipher a changing dimension of the number of vehicles parked over the week and sudden rise in the numbers with the weekends. Meanwhile while commuting from his usual office place through an unusual way he could talk to the auto-drivers regarding the changing dimension of the VIP road with closing of bars following a government order which bans bars and pubs from functioning near national highways. There seems to be an inflow of selves and professionals creating an even strong liminality near the city center I.

Meanwhile, there are remains of the time that crisscrosses through the liminality leaving behind a few marks, few hangovers like this:

A hug in aggressive masculinity- India's alternative politics

There seems to be a phase in the political spectrum of India at present. We can roughly divide it pre-hug and post-hug. Yes, I am referring to the famous hug by Mr Rahul Gandhi to Honourable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi on occasion of No-confidence motion against BJP led NDA on 20th July. A motion which as expected has been easily won over by NDA but marked something extremely interesting towards the possible future of the politics of India.

After the hug, social media is flooded with the ridicules and laughter towards so called 'childish' behaviour of Mr. Rahul Gandhi. Was it really childish? Let me inspect briefly.

Before going towards the hugging issue, let us visit to an article by Haris Jamil published in the Wire magazine dealing with the issue of lack women in Indian politics and why we should be concerned for it (click here). Yes, the percentage is low to such an extent that under representation is a hugely understatement. The arena of politics happens to be the ugly masculine one. The extreme aggressive masculinity is found to be ranged from the parliament to Gram Panchayat. Even though, in Panchayats, there is a reservation of women resulting in official representation of women of significance, the space remains to be a masculine one over the years.

Significantly, in all speeches in recent past delivered by the political parties in street meetings to Parliament, there is an increasing intolerance and personal attack including various forms of character assassinations. Sadly, people holding the supereme positions in Indian politics are also not free from it. Meanwhile Rahul came, and made his "pappu" image popular and won over the heart of those who still believe in politics through friendship and agreement on differences of opinion.

Rahul's hug and few lines like you can call me pappu but I have no hatred for you in my mind are quite in contrast with the nature of politics in India.

Rahul, by the way has done everything to attack the grand narrative of vikash or development and showed why it has never been sabka saath sabka vikash - yes there are visible disparities and skewed nature of india's growth story. While one analyses the content of his deliberation it was filled with facts and in stark contrast to what once amit shah projected as Jumlas- gimmick presentations of false promises.

The major themes which one can decipher are the following-

Patience

Game of straight facts

Acceptance of negative stereotyping to make it positive

Neatly bound domains of bad governance

Tactful unveiling of possible corruptions

Softly-spoken firm words

If the entire deliberation of rahul is a soft cake offered to the BJP the hug was the culmination of the revival of friendly opposition.

The hug however is important because of the following reasons.

A. It brings about the politics of friendship in the arena of aggressive masculinity in the sphere for so many years now. On the one hand there is an absence of women in politics and on the other hand even with the women folk's presence in panchayat it remains a masculine sphere. The women who are there in the sphere happen to speak the same language of aggressive masculinity. Choice of words like 'we will eliminate opposition', 'oppositions are enemies' have wider connotations. The increasing number of lynching has something or other to do with such masculine politics of hatread. If you consider your opposition as enemy and then make a wide category of 'others' including the Muslims, Dalits,Christians, different looking people no one can stop lynching. Rahul's hug is expected to curve out some space of politics of a different set.

B. If you look at the body language of the two supereme leaders the one that initiates, bows down and hugs at a moment when he was fiercely attacking the party whose leader he hugs immediately after - Rahul. The other, however, remains seated of course unexpected but could not stand up and accept the grand invitation of friendship and agreement on disagreement - modi.

The former flexible - a demand of democracy and the later is not.

C. The hug signifies India's tradition of tolerance and acceptance of debate and dispute the qualities which the public sphere was about to forget once and for all.

I do not expect post-hug india will be radically changed from its practices. Even if people can the social media and hatred manufacturing paid agencies wont let it happen. But Rahul's hug definitely shows an alternative world of politics is still possible, and desirable. The smile that we have seen on honourable Prime Minister Mr.  Modi's face indicates he also knows its possible! We will have to wait for the post -hug politics to appear.

Grand 21st July: Three narratives one journey

There are layers of remembrance. Sahid or Martyr has become a popular political projection in West Bengal during the three decades of left rule. In each of the CPIM led Left Front party offices you will encounter a raised plinth like structure constructed in the memory of party martyrs. There are popular slogans like "shata saheed er rakto hobe naa to byartho" meaning the blood of hundreds of martyrs will not go waste. Similarly "saheed tomay bhulini bhulchhinaa" - martyr, we have not forgotten and will not forget you. 

Each year the city's biggest ground used in organising the spectacle. The number of attendee is used as an impression of the popular support base of a particular political party. The left has used it during their tenure so does the trinamool.  

However, there are layers of understanding of the situation. I have tried to cover a few reflections of the same just to give you a hint of its significant. 

Context A Bangur Avenue

A gang of five young men seen asking all the vehicles to avail the main road and not the service road-cum-bus bay. The bay is reserved for 'storing' buses they have booked for the occasion. I could have a brief conversation.

'What happened?'

Don't you know tomorrow is brigade?

Yes,oh! so many buses!

Yes, you know we are so many, so we need buses.

We cant get any bus to go back home!

Yes, when a grand event such as this takes place a few inconvenience is inecutable. Tomorrow almost no buses will ply. No auto, nothing!

Takes a sip from the cocacola bottle kept in the hip pocket.

So what are you planning tonight?

We will celebrate!

What sort?

The sort we like! Winks and asks to leave as they were busy altering the usual traffic rules. 

Context B: The auto ride:

Looking at the number of people waiting at the bus stand i quickly took an auto knowing i have to get down again at baguihati. What about autowallah? Visibly disgusted with the traffic jam for about a three kilometers taking about one and a half hour to reach airport.

Tomorrow is sahid diwas, that is why? 

Aren't you going?

I have to, otherwise they will scold me?

What if you cannot go?

I will go.

Why?

Because otherwise party will not spare me.

What, you said they will scold you, you can always switchoff your ears and then pretend that you are sorry!

No, its not that. I might loose my permission to ply in this route.

I have seen so many buses?

Yes, we need busses to transport people to Brigade.

What? Are you implying they do not come by themselves? 

No! They might not, and you know there is a competition between leaders in showing who has greater support base! So they took out much more buses than might actually required. Tomorrow you people will be in great trouble.

A virtual Bandh!

No! A real Bandh, like that of CPIM and their organised Bandh.

Context C Baguihati - bikers:

Bikers happen to be one of the most integrated components of political rallies for quite some time now. A flag of ruling party is all you need to dodge traffic rules including the requirement of wearing a helmet.

How is it going?

Same as before. 

When will you people go tomorrow?

Who told you we are going tomorrow? We are already here. 

Why? its tomorrow isnt it?

Yes, but we need protection to give. Vroom! They disappeared!

I could reach home by 10:30 pm. Feeling the following dimensions of politics of the street and remembrances.

A. the layers of understanding and perception of the Saheed diwas happens to be fascinatingly diverse - which is quite obvious. However, the kind of cele

bratory mood indicates a Carnival night in the city organised by cadres.

B. The politics of street and rally includes transformation of streets, apart from showing the number of people taking streets, transformation of nature of transportation is another mechanism.

C. it becomes necessary to transform the city scape upside down - like that of festival  becomes necessary political weapon. 

AITC has its version of 21st july, click here