The flag waving popcorn slayer…

I have been meaning to write on this subject for some time now, ever since I left Bombay…

The subject is of the practice of having the national anthem played before the start of a movie…

Of course, mob mentality and pre-consciousness societal teaching being what it is, we all stand up and sing along with our gazes upturned to a digital flag waving a few feet from our faces…

We feel patriotic and dutiful and yes comfortably conventional…even if we sit down to watch ‘Striptease’ after that…

So what is it that gets my goat?

Is it the faux patriotism? or is it the truism of the Churchill statement that patriotism is the last refuge of the fool? A bit of both, i admit…I sat resolutely at the last movie I saw, to the staring eyes from those around me…but here are the reasons why I had had enough…

Its a godamn trap…I felt like i was a part of the novel 1984, where you are watched and you have to show patriotism and obedience or else! You are boxed in and everyone stands up because, well, your mom taught you to…I don't like being forced into situations which demand a certain behaviour from me without asking my choice…If I don't have a choice, I would rather be a stubborn child than a lawful coward

What is the whole freaking point anyway? To make fine upstanding gentry of us (or the unknown citizen, as Auden would have put it)? To ensure that we don't become terrorists? To trust the government and believe them to be the good guys because they put the flag on the screen? so that we don't forget the words of the anthem?

I may not go literally with Lennons utopian – imagine there's no country. But I believe in the essence…we draw borders and imagine the enclosure to be home…in essence, we are just glorified mobile wielding primitives dancing to the chieftains tune, which is the national anthem…(plus I am a little comfortable with the fact that the anthem was written in all probability as a commemoration for the King of England, but that is besides the point)

So, no, I don't believe in patriotism. I know this is something very controversial that I am putting out, but I believe that it is an over-rated concept. Its an opportunistic feeling that we cultivate – to be brought out when its convenient and bottled up when personal needs are paramount. Bring it out during times of collective danger like Kargil war and bottle up when the neighbouring state needs water…

Put Satyendra Dubey and Manjunath’s photo there (remember them?) and appeal to us not to forget them – that would be patriotic, something tangible, something actionable. Flag waving is easy when you can sit down to popcorn after a few minutes…

Anyway, the whole point of the above rant is that its a damn silly concept and its time the people who defied the Sena to watch an atrociously bad movie give a thumbs down to this tyranny as well, a tyranny, which when compared to the Sena is much more subtle and hence much more dangerous…

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Totalitarianism by any name is still…

Tehelka published a an interview that was taken with a Naxal commander from the forests of Bijapur…

It makes for chilling reading…

With anyone following the developments in Pakistan, the words spoken by the ‘commander’ seem to have a chilling reflection of the words spoken by the Taliban across the border – the same self-serving statements about representing the people and of a fight against a corrupt and immoral system without any scope of looking within themselves; the same confidence of final victory no matter what the cost; no scope of negotiation or compromise; and the constant harping on the ‘people’, as if the ‘people’ are one single homogenous constituent.

What was most fascinating was a lack of understanding of how an economy operates best. The solution for unemployment is not always local self-sufficiency. On the contrary. Either this is deliberate or stems from a lack of awareness, both of which makes them very dangerous…

Also the fact that democracy has no place in their ideology places makes them ideologically and practically Luddites. They still seem to believe in the ‘Dictatorship of the proletariat’. The collapse of communist police states and the transformation of China seems to have passed them by.

Reading through the interview, one gets the feeling that the Naxalite movement has developed a vested interest in keeping people poor and in distress so that the state of constant warfare remains – permanent power will continue to flow through their barrel.

Very Orwellian…but who said that Orwell did not draw from the world as he saw it…

What makes these thoughts of Naxalites very important is that these guerrillas control almost 20% of the country and are spreading their networks across India. For the poor, its a seductive ideology since they are empowered and their anger can be channelled through a gun. Its naturally a socio-economic problem that has been neglected by the political and economic elites all these years.

But as things stand now, even if the government wants to make changes, the Naxals will not allow them. The poor must remain poor in order for them to remain relevant.

Caught in the cross-fire as usual again are the very people these rebels are claiming to fight for. And all they get at the end of the day is a gun and some meaningless slogans…

 

 

 

But one thing is for certain – whether its a religious struggle or a  class struggle, the roads lead to the same thing – dreary totalitarianism, something that our comrade forgot.

 

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Our local Thermopylae…but did you notice?

On 14th April, a news piece came that told about an incident that should be told and retold as an example of why inspite of everything being stacked against us, India’s democracy still pulls through…

The first lines reported in the article, written by an obviously moved reporter, suffices as the best introduction to this soon to be forgotten heroic incident…

“ For 10 hours, a band of 22 CISF jawans battled more than 200 heavily armed Maoists, without backup or reinforcements, and saved the lives of 150 Nalco staff who were held hostage by the guerrillas in Orissa's Damanjodi since Sunday night.”

Read the rest of the article  (or here) here before reading further

A few reflections will bring out why remembering this is so important to us…

We don’t even know who or what CISF are. But then, even if it is replaced by CRPF, our awareness grows a notch but its still not something we can relate to. These men guard some of our most prized assets – infrastructure and their human capital yet they have never been proper security forces in our eyes. They are usually relegated to the status of mere guards. They do not have the dashing that has been marketed as the image of the armed forces.

We reserve all our adulations for the Indian army. They deserve all of it – they are one of the special reasons that this country still stands. But here I believe that this adulation on our part has a large part of self-interest as an ingredient. Because we feel that we are threatened more by what may come across the borders, we tend to put the ones who keep them at bay, on a pedestal.

Naxalism is a malaise that is eating away our innards. The alarm has been raised but we don't have seem to have ingested the danger enough. That is why we don't seem to appreciate the sacrifice made by the  men fighting the enemy inside the gates…

These men showed almost foolish showed bravery when they could have surrendered or run. They instead stayed and saved lives. This, when the insurgents were superior in arms and overwhelmingly so in numbers.

Because we cant relate our safety to the actions of these men, because their heroism seems remote to us – because of all this, we will soon forget what they did for us. Soon, their stories will be drowned in more newsworthy buzz – elections and IPL…(by elections i mean the circus, not the people who have been killed by the Maoists – they are similar unsung heroes)

But for the moment, let us realize that the much vaunted democracy that we boast around the world is not due to the politician on the dais but is due to poorly armed, outnumbered industrial guards defying terrorism in some forgotten corner of the country…

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The Nationalism of the Movie screen..

A couple of days back, I went to see a movie at E-square. The minute I entered the hall, I saw people rushing to get up and stand up. That's when I saw it - the Indian Tricolour emblazoned on the movie screen and the national anthem playing on the Dolby surround sound.

Made me feel quite dizzy. It made me feel as if I was in an Orwellian world suddenly.

Now what do I have against this show of nationalism, you might ask.

Well. First of all, its phony nationalism. Even if I dont completely agree with the notion that nationalism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, this sort of in-your-face show of patriotism makes a mockery of the feelings of the true believer/patriot. Just playing an anthem and showing a flag on the screen is supposed to do what? Make me donate to the prime minister's relief fund?

Secondly, why the movie theatre? When I come to a movie theatre, I have a movie in my mind no matter how patriotic I felt in the morning. Imagine a scenario of us lining up and saluting the flag and then settling down to salivate at Sharon Stone's legs. It can get completely incongruous to the point of ludicrous. Maybe they choose the movie theatre because the people have no choice but to look at the screen. If so, its the nationalist's crassest way of getting attention.

Thirdly, its makes a complete mockery of the feelings of nationalism that people have. If you believe in the principles of nationalism and patriotism, you would like to have the anthem and the flag being used sparingly, used on occasions that really give respect to the nation and its people. Since when has the occasion of the nation paying respect to fallen soldiers become the same as going out to watch a late night movie? When would we respect the symbols of the nation more?

This was a common practice some 30 years back when it was discontinued in the country when it dawned upon the powers that be that the whole exercise is having the opposite of the intended effect

So, I am completely befuddled at the whole idea and amazed at the stupidity, the vulgarity and the short-sightedness of the person (ie the political party) which could pass an order like this.

If I am feeling patriotic, I would hang a flag from my roof. If I am patriotic, I would not approve of the commercialisation of my values.

And for god's sake, let me enjoy the movie...

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