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The day a U S couple got arrested for Kissing!
Few Americans know that there
still is a Connecticut law in force in Hartford, which states It is illegal for a
man to kiss his wife on Sunday. At least one American couple couldn't believe itself when the pair were hurled in to a police vehicle for kissing in public on a Sunday!
This bewildered couple was not
in Hartford but was visiting Kerala, an Indian State which takes great pride in
calling itself God’s Own Country, where
laws written by Gods are still Gospel truth.
In fact the local police chief,
who happened to be a lady, was simply enforcing an Indian law which makes it
illegal for anyone to kiss in public on any day, when the couple, unaware of
the local law, kissed before a camera at the request of a journalist who was
covering an unusual event.
 |
Anti Kiss of Life protesters being chased by police.
|
The unusual media coverage the
event received in India and the way the whole episode sort of fissile out show
the double standard on morality most Indians can’t shed despite the progress
the country has achieved.
Though initiated by a group of
people with progressive views on liberty and freedom of speech and expression
active on social media, the movement soon gained political overtones inevitable
in one of the politically conscious states of India.
The puritanical moral policing was an act of the
BJP, backed by India’s Hindu religious fundamentalists, who aim to grab the
power from the Congress party who currently govern Kerala.
On the other hand, Kerala’s
communists who are constantly fighting off the BJP has seen a political
opportunity.
The result was that the Kiss of
love event which was organised to be held peacefully was opposed and disturbed
by various organisations under all of these political set ups, forcing the
police to remove the handful of the participants even though the government did
not intent to enforce the law.
The disruption by the political
parties were organised with an eye on the coming election so as to position
themselves on the right side of the kissing divide. But it clearly demonstrates
the hypocrisy of a society which wants to align itself with the free and liberal outside world.
Though this was an isolated
incident which occurred in Kerala, a state politically and socially ahead of rest of the
country, the approach of the BJP which has succeeded in grabbing power at the
national level by unifying and concentrating the votes of the Hindus who form
the majority, in holding on to the archaic social set up of India is what
worries the progressive minded in India.
 |
| New York Times cartoon on the success of Indian Mars Mission. |
Incidentally this was reflected
in a cartoon by the New York times on the occasion of the success of India’s
Mars mission, which lead to widespread protests and eventual apology from the paper.
 |
| Kiss of Love Facebook Group. |
Meanwhile, the Kiss of Love
brigade of Kerala has actually claimed success of their movement and promised
to regroup and continue their efforts to change the social attitude of their countrymen regarding freedom to love and expression
of love.
Memories of an autumn day assassination
No summer's high, no warm July,
no harvest moon to light one tender August night. No
autumn breeze, no falling leaves, not even time for birds to fly to southern
skies.
So wrote Stevie Wonder about an
ordinary day he sang three ordinary words which meant almost everything
to a generation. It was on such an ordinary autumn day that a woman who touched
the hearts of a whole generation for her courage was felled by assassins.
It is exactly thirty years since
that day dawned in the life of many people as an ordinary day and set like an extra
ordinary day they could never forget.
For me, it was a train journey which
started as boring as any in an Indian train but grew very frightening towards
the end and ended with a very unusual and uncomfortable experience of having to be pulled
home by another human being. That is what stand out as
the background of the events of that tragic day for me.
It was because, the train which departed
early morning on that day had all but one stop and there was nothing called a
mobile phone. The news of an assassination at last trickled
down towards the afternoon when the train pulled up at an unusual stop, waiting
for clearance to proceed to the destination as massive disturbances started to
occur all over India.
Not knowing what happened or if
it was only a rumour, the immediate concern was getting home safe and the shock
and the sinking feeling had to wait till watching the news being flashed on the
TV screen of a neighbour.
Events that caused immense shock
to the whole world has occurred before and after like the assassination of
President Kennedy and the 9/11. Days everyone remembers what they were up to
when they heard the news. The cold blooded murder of Indian Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi however was unique and different.
Though President Kennedy was assassinated
at the height of his popularity as bold leader of the cold war era, the world
was only on the verge of media revolution and less connected for the news to
dissipate. Time lapse perhaps diffused the shock though the angst and agony of
the aftershock of an entirely unexpected
and bold assassination and the immediate events which followed undoubtedly shook
the conscience of the free world. No doubt the assassination of the young
president Kennedy has left a indelible
mark on everyone’s memory.
In contrast, Mrs Gandhi’s murder
did not come as a surprise, at least to those who were aware of the Indian
politics. But when it came, it came down like a ton of hot metal on India’s
conscience and a world at large which couldn’t believe such a tragedy could
strike India and the Gandhi name twice.
It didn’t go down to the bottom
of every heart with the force of the bullets which ripped her body but as a
deep strike of knife which pierced the deepest affection and admiration for a
leader who willingly sacrificed herself for what was right for the integrity
and unity of the nation.
Unlike President Kennedy Indira
Gandhi was not at the height of her political career. Mrs Gandhi could have run
away from it all. She was warned. She
knew it was coming. She could have the
protection she wanted to avoid it.
Yet she was a leader who somehow knew that it will not be her political legacy and achievement but her courage and valour as a woman which will be the most precious gift she could leave for the nation and the world, which will make them to hold her close to their heart.
Yet she was a leader who somehow knew that it will not be her political legacy and achievement but her courage and valour as a woman which will be the most precious gift she could leave for the nation and the world, which will make them to hold her close to their heart.
The nation heard with
apprehension and discomfort when she spoke on the eve of her death about her
premonition but couldn’t fathom her courage of conviction about what she will
be dying for till that actually happened.
Nobody knows how many attempts have been made to shoot me; lathis have been used to beat me. They have attacked me in every possible manner. I do not care whether I live or die. I have lived a long life and I am proud that I spent the whole of my life in the service of my people. I am only proud of this and nothing else. I shall continue to serve until my last breath and when I die, I can say, that every drop of my blood will invigorate India and strengthen it.
Indira Gandhi will be remembered
not as woman who wanted to build a dynasty and leave it behind but as someone
who spoke out those words loud and clear for the world to hear, fully aware of
the approaching death before her.
Naturally, you need to have a
feel of what women are made of to appreciate the greatness of Indira Gandhi.
Why Chennai Express of Sha Rukh Khan is an amazing sine qua non for a course on world cinema
It is almost a year since Chennai
Express, a record breaking Indian blockbuster of the king of
Bollywood, Sha Rukh Khan, was released. This Indian
flick may have a few surprise lessons for students of the movie craft.
It is one of those rare events on
the silver screen, which provides a lot of insight to anyone seriously
considering to master the craft of cinema and how to press the right buttons to
enter the hearts of millions.
Bollywood films routinely become
blockbusters with record collections at the box office, thanks to a captive audience looking out for a pass-time and burdened with a deficit of IQ and excess of money in
their pockets both in India and abroad.
Chennai Express which got only
sub zero marks from film critics, but managed to add a record number of zeros
to its box office collection, however, is different and something of a a mystery of the Indian silver screen.
No one really knows how and when
the ‘rail cars’ of Chennai Express, with such complexity that
they could all have hardly come alive in a single brain, came together.
If Chennai Express was a typical director’s
film it might have been a Rohit Shetty film. It is actually a unique flick, with a lot more deeper and
serious facets to it than a film director’s work of entertainment. Many of those can be
attributed to its hero, the Indian movie star and entrepreneur, Sha Rukh Khan.
A rail car named desire.
It is clearly the enormous desire
of Sha Rukh Khan to make more money by investing wisely in a sure-fire formula
which compelled him to venture out to make a film with Rohit Shetty, who is a young Indian director with a string of blockbusters under his belt. Rohit had cracked what
the modern Indian audience wanted and was ready to to pour oil on any desire
which made good commercial sense. The result could hardly be anything but
explosive. Chennai Express, a deceptively dangerous theme, was the product of bold commercial vision of Khan, as
suicidal as it is genius.
A script no one will touch
With the fire of desire in its gut, the express train of Sha Rukh and Rohit Shetty could have gone in any direction, but it took a southern turn with its script writer Subhash, son of a veteran southern film director, connected with the leaders of linguistic strife in India before independence.
It was no surprise that his script came with a genesis of an impossible dream of unity and harmony between southern and northern India, which broke down with the departure of the British and was aggravated by the linguistic division of India after independence.
From Helen of Troy to Gone with the wind, regional human conflict had been the backdrop of great classics, depicted truthfully and presented to audiences who can discern life from entertainment.
However, it would be utterly irresponsible to ignore consequences of chauvinism, even if it is in mere movie entertainment, in the 21st century India more divided and ignitable than ever.
The script of Chennai express, dealing with the love of a
northern man to a southern belle was
explosive any day, novel yet fraught with danger of massive protests and
national grief if not a civil war, with the risk of negative stereotyping of south Indians. Though
the script has a strong message of the power of love to unite everyone, almost impossible to deliver today as it was
nearly a century back, the great Khan was audacious enough to grab it because
he saw a divine touch of great commercial success.
The divine touch
What actually created the spark
of creation of Chennai Express was a touch almost divine as the one in the
Creation of Adam of Michel Angelo. It was the final touch of Khan’s own
blockbuster Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge,
still running in Mumbai after two decades, as the longest running flick.
Khan has instantly recognised that
the feel of goodness where he left off in DDLJ is his ticket for Chennai Express which had the pulling power to drag millions of Indian hearts along with him in to it. It not only sealed the script
of the movie but also the soft corner he has managed to sneak in to in millions
of hearts worldwide.
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