Freedom Of Thought

by P.N.Subramaniam I permit myself the liberty To form an view I make an honest effort To express my view I express my view in black and white It is there already But not entirely as it was In my Thought I permit myself the liberty To share my view With someone I find it difficult To risk and proceed further In order to really express myself The view I shared turns out to be Only half of what I really thought It is now no longer Entirely my view I permit myself the liberty To hide my view I conceal it In quiet silence Lies the real strength Of my view I stop thinking Now I have Neither a different view Nor the view of the other The writer,my father, is a retired German Professor.Poetry is one of his hobbies.The above is a translated version(translation done by him) of his german poem " Gedankenfreiheit".

“And If You Wrong Us Shall We not Revenge?”-Shylock

At least 3,767 civilians killed by Allied troops during the illegal air strikes on Afganistan(*1).Oh I am sorry its ‚“liberation’’.Over 9000 civilians killed in ‚“freeing’’ Iraq(*2).The world looks away(did it even happen?).50 mostly British people killed by ,“terrorists’’in London.How sad! The world mourns(it better!) for the loss of innocent bystanders killed by,“barbarian terrorists’’.The former is the price of freedom?The latter is terrorism?Who said so?CNN and BBC.Empire and its sidekick.USA and “Great’’Britian. Iraqi army ‚“slaughters’’ 100,000 Kurds.Empire murders 120,000(and about twice that many in time) innocents in Japan by a toy called the atomic bomb. Saddam Hussein is the perpetrator of a hideous genocide.What does that make Harry Truman who ordered the Japan bombings?Unlucky for not having won the Nobel Prize for peace probably!During the 1991 Gulf War around 22,000 Iraqis were killed by coalition forces(*3).Did the world weep in unison?I wonder! 2,752 1st World citizens blown away on 9/11 by Muslim ‚“fundementalists’’.This becomes the greatest tragedy in the history of humanity? Mr.Empire and Mr.Sidekick,like Arundathi Roy says,“Welcome to the real world!’’.You can plunder and invade any country you want?You can conjure from thin air non exsistant ‚“weapons of mass destruction’’,and use that as an excuse to illegally occupy nations? You can desimate entire civilian populations time and time again?You can abuse POW’s and violate the Geneva convention?You can,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc(add a million more etcs to that) and get away with it scot free?Like hell you can!Boss wake up! I do not support the Jihadi fundementalists.I just see them as reactive forces created by neoimperialism and state sponsored terrorism.Cause and effect.People worldwide are reacting to and fighting Empire and the evil it perpetrates.Those of us who are moderates believe in civil disobedience.Some more directly affected and scarred turn to violence.Their justification?Shylock’s justification in The Merchant Of Venice.Solution?Confront the source of the problem, and not the product of the source.Let us raise our voice together as one world against imperialism.And by one world i mean inclusive of the citizens in Empire and its chamcha nations,who are not to be blamed for the sins of their ruling classes. Sources- *1-Study done byMarc Herold,Economics professor, University of New Hampshire *2-Guardian Newspapers Limited *3-Wikipedia

A Breakthrough

(Above)Raaja in his heyday,at home,with his son Karthik and daughter Bavadarini . ‘Isaigyani’ Ilayaraaja’s Tiruvasagam in symphonic oratorio is a musical feast. It is the 1st oratorio by an Indian. Raaja has worked on the hymns of a 12th Century Tamil mystic, originally set in orthodox chanting style meter. He has composed and orchestrated it to be performed by a western classical orchestra and yet retained the inherent Indian ness of the hymns. What emerges is an absolute breakthrough album. Not just in terms of Indian music. But music itself. The album’s top song, is an approximately twenty minute long piece,Pollaa Vinayen. There are so many tune variations, shifts in melody and orchestral nuances in this piece. The blending of the English verses written by Steven Schwartz with the Tamil verses is so natural that two styles of music seem united. The choir and the chorus add to the serene feel of this song. Poovaar Senni Mannan ,which is the first song of the album is regal and warlike. The sound makes me imagine Tamil warriors of ancient days praying before embarking to vanquish the enemy. This song brings out Raaja’s musical grandeur at its grandest. Muthu Natramam has a less sober feel to it. Sung by Unnikrishnan ,Vijay Jesudas and others it sounds like simple peasant folk singing during a harvest. The instrumentation gives a slight fast pace to this song. Pooerukonum sung by Raaja along with his daughter is sweet. Bavadarini’s happy maiden like voice and Raaja’s more sober one act as perfect foil for one another. Umbakarasaey sounds melancholic and reminds one of a person’s search for something or someone. Or at least that is what I gather from my peripheral understanding of ‘ Ilakiya Tamil’ (literary Tamil) and the mood Raaja creates in this song haunts. My personal favorite in this album is the piece Puttril Vazh Aravum Anjen.Raaja begins this piece offering us a glimpse of his contemplations as he undertakes the daunting task of setting and composing ancient hymns in sync with a symphony orchestra. Like a little child he is excited at the prospect. I just love this song and that is about how well I can describe it! This is not a review. Because I don’t see myself in anyway being qualified to judge a work of this class. Raaja’s rendition of Tiruvasagam belongs to world music, by one of its masters. It is breathtaking and in my opinion one of the all time best albums by an Indian. In a recent event organized by Raaja for fellow Indian musicians, A.R.Rehman called him a Pokisham(an invaluable jewel).What more can I say about this King of Song or his work?

Death

To those of us who are young death seems like something which is disconnected with us. We feel immortal. Two events over the last week have shaken me up terribly. Two deaths. One of a middle aged gentleman I knew and the other of my uncle’s partner I didn’t know. It has left me feeling badly shaken. The first gentleman was a journalism classmate’s husband. I saw him on the last day of my course. He was happy and healthy. And now he is gone.He was killed in an accident while returning from Tirupathi. He was a soft-spoken man, not a friend but an acquaintance with whom Sridhar and I have shared a few drinks and a few interesting conversations. Now he is gone. Just a memory. The second guy, I have seen just a couple of times. I did not know much about him other than that he was an important guy in my uncle’s company. When my uncle told me today that he had died in an accident on his way back from a movie I was badly shaken. He was 29 and doing well in his career. Now he is gone. Just a memory. The first incident shook me up badly. The second one frightens me. After I heard about the second incident, the shock of both the incidents got to me. I also feel that if there is a God (about which I have serious doubts), she or he is unfair. When we hear about strangers who have died in an accident it does not have an impact on us emotionally. Its only when the person’s involved are someone we know or know of does the injustice hit home. After these two events I will never take my life for granted.

Humour/Jossie’s Vesthi

Our school took us on a field trip to Kolli Malai when we were in class nine. This region is one of the few left in Tamil Nadu where tribals still live without tampering from the outside world. So that we did not leave traces of urban life on this landscape our teachers decided that we must not take chemical soaps, plastic material, and ahem…toilet paper, among several other things. Now the only source of water was a river. And since we did not have plastic mugs to carry water,we had to use leaves,to clean up,after relieving ourselves . To say that this was awkward does not manage to convey the sheer horror of the situation. Neccesity being the mother of invention, I got innovative in this desperation. After the first relieving itself I decided leaves weren’t my cup of tea…well, mug of water! I discovered to my delight that our classmate Jossie(Joseph),had a vesthi(dhothi)tucked in with his luggage for the trip. I told him that since he was not using it, I would, and borrowed it from him. Now I had not told him in what way I would use his vesthi. For the rest of the trip I decided that my marked territory for crapping would be as far away from Jossie's as possible. As the trip was nearing its end, Jossie decided to relieve himself dangerously close to my territory. I had just finished the honours, when he caught sight of his beloved veshti, on a branch. He had been wondering why I had not worn it after borrowing it from him. After glimpsing at his veshti it all fitted in. I had been using his veshti as a toilet paper. His face betrayed a look of unsullied disgust, which soon turned into uncontrollable laughter. And oh I almost forgot to mention-cotton vesthi’s are biodegradable!!!