Whoever thought that randomness could play so cruel a joke on us intelligent creatures? We thought we had it all under control, with our own set of rules, twisting and twirling to suit every perverse detour. We lived through an age of decadence, arrogance and vulgarity, with our egos pumping in all the nitrous oxide we need. However like all good things, this too must end. And like all things obnoxious, this too must have a teeny weeny pin prick before it slips from the fingers and hovers into the air in unsteady gallantry, losing air, zooming higher and higher tracing an irregular trajectory before it descends to mortal land with nothing but nothingness.
Was this a golden age? Were we but Hedonists bathing in milk, honey and our custom-crafted ethics? Some call it consumerism, some materialism and some say it’s the spirit of human enterprise. Oh, how poetic!
What is it that I intend to convey, you ask? For you have no time to dwell upon silly convoluted fabrications. You want the gist.
When Guitar God Amyt Dutta came up with the idea of presenting the ‘New and Upcoming Guitarists’ of Kolkata, he thought of Shwetha Vijaykumar (his student) and Rajit Das of Kolkata band Purple Asparagus and gave them a chord chart! The enthusiastic two along with bandmates Ratul Dasgupta, Chandra Bhushan and Arunava Chaki, in a span of ten days wrote a song, melody and were ready to rock!
The event- ‘Amyt Dutta presents new and upcoming guitarists of Kolkata’ organised by Gursimran Kaur of the famous Kolkata pub The Basement saw a huge rush. People, young and old, all stuffed up ‘The Basement’. Yes, nobody wanted to miss this gig!
Why you ask?
Purple Asparagus has become quite a favourite in the Kolkata music scene with their funky, original music or as they call it ‘the purple rock’. That with an added impetus of Amyt Dutta’s enthusiasm in them, and who wouldn’t want to be a part of it?
Also, this gig saw the relaunch of band Jack Rabbit and yes they were quite up to the mark!
Pictures of this gig will be soon posted on this blog.
OK, I’ve had it. I cannot tolerate bad fiction or people who choose to read bad fiction. No, I’m not an elitist turning her nose up at lesser mortals. And yes, there IS a clear cut line between good fiction and bad fiction.
A few days back, I actually made the mistake of flipping through a couple of what the Indian Fiction Industry had to offer. Huge, huge, mistake. Right, I’ll get down to ‘that’ I have established the general hugeness of the mistake.
“In September, the month where IIT-ians do distinctly non-IITian things, Samar was having the time of his life. With Rock shows, JAM sessions, debates and politics, his life resembled a colourful graffiti. Adding chaos to this randomness were his three partners-in-crime, Pranav, Skimpy and Jiya. Together they made sure that life was impossibly wild and barely legal.
Things hit a crescendo when Samar found himself as the frontrunner in the race for the head of the student body at IIT. And that is when the tide began to turn, in a way Samar could have never imagined. A causal ambition threatened to come true, and threw at Samar dilemmas that would stump any IITian with a pair of glasses. Dilemmas which required skills not taught in any classroom, including the secret art of disaster management. Things hit a crescendo when Samar found himself as the frontrunner in the race for the head of the student body at IIT. And that is when the tide began to turn, in a way Samar could have never imagined. A causal ambition threatened to come true, and threw at Samar dilemmas that would stump any IITian with a pair of glasses. Dilemmas which required skills not taught in any classroom, including the secret art of disaster management.”
IIT has become the new fascination for Indian fiction writers. The phrase ‘IIT’ features four times in not more than a one fifty word blurb. Rather strange, don’t you thing so?
Well I understand a lot of people want to get into the great big world of IIT and they don’t. Maybe that is the reason why the whole Chetan Bhagat fever is looming large. (p.s: he is bad too)
But after interacting with lots of IIT-ians i’ve realised that the great brains of the country DO NOT have a wild and barely legal life. Time to accept it, you all.
I read fictions so that it could transport me to another universe, inspire me to write, write better and fall in love with literature. These No-Brainers are getting on to my nerves.
A Good fiction is like a long term treatment. Good fiction, by definition, paints a vivid canvas of a certain world while showing you the world through deep, meaningful characters who evolve over the course of the novel. Bad fiction, on the other hand, packages sex, love, women, breasts, sex, IIM/IIT, love, women, men, sex, breasts into 150 pages in any which way. I’m not saying that this type of fiction is writing in its crudest form or anything. No, wait, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Reading this type of crap is a sign of weakness and indulgence. Look, my beef is not with commercial fiction, it’s with pure bad writing. Commerical literature like Ludlum or Archer or Grisham is fine, because those are authors who take their writing seriously and you can tell. But stay clear of crude, spicy, thrill-a-minute literature, for heaven’s sake. Go for the long term treatment. Avoid momentary cheap thrills. Take my word on this, it’s worth it. A good book can take you far and beyond the limits of this world and evoke feelings in you that you never knew existed.
Parisian Street photographer JR, generally known for his large-scale graffiti murals tackling social justice and human rights issues like freedom and identity, was awarded the TED Prize last October. Apart from the whopping $ 100,000 TED granted the 27-year-old ‘photgraffeur’ ‘One wish to change the world!’
And thus JR came up with the brilliant idea, the INSIDE OUT project, a large-scale participatory art project by which messages of personal identity were turned into huge pieces of artistic work.
Through this art initiative people were challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. They could participate as an individual or in a group; and the blown up posters of the pictures could be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window to a wall of portraits on an abandoned building or a mall! All because JR believed that the street is the largest art gallery and everyone should be a part of it!
After Florida, Tokyo, Brazil and almost all around the world, the massive art project is in India with a bang making heads turn!
Who’s behind the India leg of project, you ask?
Enter, 22-year-old Devika Arora.
The diverse work of this young ‘artepreneur’, born and brought up in Bangalore and based out of Calcutta, was noticed by TED, a leading innovative group based in California. And she was selected by Levis and TED to be one of India’s inspiring young women who would most likely ”shape what’s to come”. She has to document her stories, travel experiences and inspirations in hand crafted journals over the next year. She is currently working on various projects; ranging from the internationally acclaimed ‘Inside Out Project’, ‘Trip Naksha’ and ‘We’re All Mirrors’. Devika will be attending the TEDWomen conference this December in Washington DC.
For Devika, who wants to “transform the ordinary”, the INSIDE OUT project came as a huge opportunity as it matched her philosophy completely! After clicking pictures in Bangalore, she was in Calcutta but this time she roped in friend Sunny Ray to help her so that it does not become chaotic.
Debangshu Roy, a volunteer at the Inside Out Project: Calcutta Chapter said that, “It was a brilliant experience! Or should I say when these posters will be blown up, it’ll break the barrier between strangers? I am always game for such art movements and this one really interested me!”
Devika Arora and her Bangalore groupies are off to Kannada-land to blow up the posters and surprise Bangalorians!
And once when she’s back it’ll be her favourite city Calcutta’s turn to be surprised!
How?
For that, my dear friend, you have to wait and watch and follow these crazy youngsters inside-out!
The students of Delhi University, furious after being evicted from their regular accommodations had started an agitation spearheaded by a body called the University Community for Democracy. Two month prior to the Commonwealth Games, the young students as well as slum dwellers started their agitation against the University of Delhi and more importantly, against the State.
According to Bonojit Hussein, spokesperson of University Community for Democracy which is campaigning against the student evictions and poor labour conditions on CWG construction sites:
“In the name of beautification, more than 40 slums have been demolished, and thousands of people have been displaced by force. Students are also hit: over 12,000 students have been evicted from their hostels, to make room for renovation and onstruction of sports complexes on the campus of Delhi University. Furthermore, landlords are taking advantage of the situation to raise their prices, forcing many residents in the university neighbourhood – students or otherwise – to vacate.”
The work conditions of labourers on CWG sites are unacceptable.
The University Community for Democracy organized campaigns and a relayed hunger strike to denounce this situation, as well as the unacceptable working conditions of labourers on CWG construction sites. They are paid below the minimum wage, (which is of 203 rupees per day in Delhi), work in hazardous conditions and live in makeshift tents or on the street by the construction sites. The stagnant pools of water left by monsoon rains on construction sites have fostered mosquito breeding, and there have been reports cases of malaria in the worker community, as well as among university students.”
The relay hunger strike by the students which went on for 9 days did not help. Vasundhara Jairath, a student who is a part of the campaign said “Even after the nine day hunger strike, whereby groups of five fast by turn, the university is not affected. This is appalling. Also the arrangements made for evicted students are substandard.”
Bikram Bora, a student evicted from Ramjas Hostel said that he has to stay in Vijaynagar where the house rent is around Rs.10.000 per month. It used to be Rs. 2.500 in the hostel.
Bonojit Hussein added that everyone in the campus is aware of the issue. The hostels are providing food at subsidized rates and colleges such as Ramjas have issued letters to the hostel committee to subsidize rent in the coming year, as compensation.
Had he been alive he would have been 70 this year. Okay, he is not with us anymore but the world has not forgotten to celebrate his 70th birthday. I’m talking about the person who was one of the four stalwarts of the 1960s band “The Beatles” which represented the highest dreams of the youth with their rebellious nature and acerbic wit in music. Yes, I’m talking about the “smart beatle” John Lennon.
THE VISIONARY IN HIM:
He had a vision of life which was poignantly realistic, utopian as well as reflective. While he was still a part of “The Beatles” he was always the outspoken one which led to several controversies. In 1965 he famously remarked that ” The Beatles are more famous than Jesus” – the statement resulted in the band’s records being burned and songs being taken off the air. He also criticized America’s involvement in the Vietnam War and as the sixties progressed, he became an symbol of burgeoning counterculture with songs like “Give peace a chance.”
Lennon was no God. But he earned the love and admiration of his generation by creating a huge body of work that inspired and led. Appreciation for him deepened because he instinctively decided to use his celebrity status as a bully pulpit for causes greater than his own enrichment or self-aggrandizement. And when he was shot by one of his “greatest fans ever” he was canonized and mythologized. But it was quite obvious because the early and tragic death of a hero, a cultural icon always produces reactions of greater intensity than the sad passing on of a revered figure at a grand old age.
Lennon, as an artist was insecure and was not afraid to tell that to his audience. It was evident in the lyrics of the songs like “Jealous Guy” and “Help”. And that is how he made his listeners a part of his life. They came spiritually and mentally close to him. And his legacy still continues.
Strawberry Fields Forever:
Till date young people all over the world want to visit New York City just to visit the Strawberry Fields . It is a reminder of his love for the nation that made him famous and wealthy.
And recently all Indian after hearing that he had written a song about India (India,India) has gone crazy all over again. There lies his charm.
To mark Lennon’s birthday, his solo music has been reissued in a lavish boxed set. Mont Blanc is offering a special Lennon fountain pen that sells for $27,000. Also available is a limited-edition Gibson Imagine guitar (about $11,000).
Last month, the bathroom in Lennon’s home in England was auctioned for about $19,000. How he would have laughed at that.
Legacy of Lennon:
On MSNBC there is a story concerning an auction of the fingerprints of John Lennon, and how the FBI has seized them.
A set of John Lennon’s fingerprints being auctioned for at least $100,000 was seized by the FBI on Wednesday 30 years after the singer’s death.
The 1976 signed application for Lennon’s U.S. citizenship was one of the hallmarks of about 850 celebrity items in an online sale timed around Lennon’s 70th birthday on Saturday.
The fingerprint card was being shown to media at a midtown New York store early Wednesday in an auction preview of more than 90 Beatles items when the FBI faxed a subpoena there and took the card.
Lennon, who was born in Liverpool, England, had been investigated by the FBI in the early 1970s for anti-war activity.
Peter Siegel, co-founder of GOTTA HAVE IT!, the shop selling the fingerprint card, said he was bewildered by the FBI action and interest during the week also by Homeland Security.
“This great icon has been deceased for 30 years,” he said. “This is not a national threat.”
The card was consigned to the shop by a well-known promoter who bought it about 20 years ago, Siegel said.
In a week-long discovery, Siegel said the FBI, “with a sense of urgency,” was concerned with whether the card had been part of Lennon’s file and was lost or missing.
“We’re investigating how the item came to be in a private collection,” FBI spokesman James Margolin said. “It is apparently a government document and would not normally be in the commercial stream.”
Lennon’s 1970s immigration attorney Leon Wildes told The New York Times that the fingerprint form was among papers in his possession that were missing after a 1976 television appearance.
This shows how much influence the man has even today.
Moreover, whenever one talks about peace, Lennon’s name is brought in for sure. With his path breaking single talking about peace – Imagine, Lennon became the harbinger of peace and the anti settlement discourse.
John Lennon is not just a singer-songwriter for today’s youth. He is the “working class hero.” He always will be so.
And here is a tribute to him by Google on his 70th birthday!
In a bid to make Delhi a world class city and host the “perfect” Commonwealth Games (CWG), Delhi University has displaced most of its government hostel students, without prior notice, from their regular accommodation without giving them any information about alternative housing options. With thousands of students evicted, there was severe inflation in rents for private accommodation, which spiralled upwards with no controlling mechanism to keep them in check. Not all students could afford such expensive accommodation.
It started with the university authorities deciding to vacate the government hostels at the behest of the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee so that the vacant rooms could be used for the visiting officials related to the games between 1st and 15th October. This has resulted in immense worry and discomfort for the students, especially female boarders for whom finding alternate accommodation was not the only concern; personal safety and security was equally important.
The governing committees of Ramjas College, Miranda house, Delhi School of Economics and some other well renowned colleges asked their boarders to vacate the hostels three months prior to the games for them to be refurbished for hosting the guests from various countries coming for the Commonwealth Games. The college administration did not provide the students with an alternative arrangement for this duration and as a result the students had no option but to fend for themselves for more than three months.
With the sudden surge in the demand for paying guests and short term rent accommodation in the north campus area the prices for such private arrangements doubled overnight. Rents went from roughly two thousand rupees per head per month to four and a half thousand per head per month.
The students of all these colleges have come together and formed a body named “University Committee for Democracy” which has been trying time and again to negotiate with the university authorities and the government officials, but in vain. University Committee for Democracy spokesperson Bonojit Hussain said, “Basically the authorities are passing on the buck. They are not at all concerned. They are being totally irresponsible.”
Eminent historian Henri Lefebvre had once said: “Critical analysis begins with the disenchantment of the State and the sphere of power. They have nothing magical or sacramental about them…. to traverse daily life under the lightning flash of knowledge is already to transform it.”
This policy affecting the student community is actually a part of a broader policy which had earlier inflicted eviction and suffering on the residents and slum dwellers along the banks of the Yamuna. The capital now has a taste of certain State-sponsored developments where rights cease to matter before the megalomania of the State, an unequal situation which led to the displacement of about 25,000 people all over the national capital.
Stream Of Consciousness 