A DAY ON THE ARABIAN SEA

AYOOB RAHMAN recounts his moments of amusement and meditation during a sea voyage organised by SIAS Media School.

“What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else”.  – Joseph Campell

“After quite some time, I felt deeply joyous inside while returning home”, was a text message I received from a friend on that unforgettable evening of April 17. We were all going home by then, after having spent a wonderful day out in the Arabian Sea. On facebook, I saw similar status updates by many co-travellers, sharing their excitement over the whole day’s voyage from Kozhikode to Parappalli, near Koyilandi.

Well, it was mine, too. The feeling and the experience were unprecedented, unique, deeply moving. I felt immensely thankful to those who organised that Sea Trip under the aegis of SIAS Media School. We, a group of around 50 people from various walks, met and took two boats tied together to have a memorable trip. An adventurous journey from Korappuzha to Parappalli, being tossed by the waves of Arabian Sea. Apart from the familiar faces at SIAS, there were guests from other institutes and places. We became a family instantly. It is when you travel you find your real comrades. I reached Korappuzha bridge, the starting spot of the trip, accompanying my friend Jabir Malabari, whom I regularly meet on facebook. Surprisingly, there were many others like Jabir who booked their seats for the trip, responding to a wall post appeared on SIAS Media School’s FB group page. When we were in the department, we used to plan many trips and tours time and time, I remembered with a grin on my face.

The small roofless boats were well-prepared to take us to the open sea. Obviously, all of us were expecting something extra to add to their mulling daily routine: waking up, having timely food and an evening meeting with friends in town or on social media. Of course, this was exceptionally amazing. It was a different kind of enjoyment, as it gave us a day to spend in the beautiful Arabian Sea.

Everything started as it was planned. Everybody came with preparations, expense, to celebrate the joyful day ahead. The sea was fascinating, full of charm and vigour, as if she was happy to see some exceptional guys and gals who set out to enjoy the sweetness and whole heartedness of their great host.

Our adventure began at dawn. The ferries with green flags started heading to Velliyamkallu. Many of us had no idea about where we were going and why. All that we knew was, we were going through the sea waters, to celebrate our day. Everybody took the seats according to their preferences. Some fought to sit on the sides of the boats so that they can sail in the sea with their hands. Boats were continuously tossed along with the rhythm of waves.

We became friends and close allies as soon as the journey started. Some fell in love with the green water and the pretty blue sea.I could see a girl in white choli who was not so mingled with us. She was talking to the sea, sharing her lovely feelings which she shared while sitting on the beaches on evenings. There were many like her, perhaps. Those who sang and danced were of course the majority. But those who meditated in silence knew the sea better, arguably. The sky was clear as glass, with a couple of straggling cirrus clouds, but nothing worth paying attention to. We were simply dancing with the waves. All together, it was a long awaited perfect day for a sea voyage.

The singing, dancing and chilling started while ferries crossed the sea from the shore. There were no safety precautions – as they are typically prescribed by the tourist boats taking you to the sea – as perhaps we knew that the love and care we had ensured each other was much stronger.  I cannot forget the moment when all of a sudden, water jumped into our sailing boat and many got wet. We were heading for the open sea by then. It continued again and again. The strong waves made almost all of us completely wet. Mobile phones, laptops, purses, bags and food packets had to be immediately shifted to the safer engine boxes of the boat. Still, we found many of those belongings wet and soaked. Those who cleverly evaded from the water pours of the waves were captured by other passengers who poured buckets of water onto them. Everyone was happy, because there was not a single person not being wet. All of us enjoyed those hilarious moments. The men and women with camera – after all we belong to media, you know – captured the happiness and fright that the sea created.

The sailors announced that we can’t move forward to Velliyamkallu, as the wind is wild and we need to reach the shore. It was quite disappointing, as we were eagerly waiting to see Velliyamkallu. The boats went ahead. Gladly, we reached the shore of Panthalayani Kollam (Parappalli), a historical place. The legend has it that Adam put his feet from the mountain of Silone, over here. The boats halted on the shore. All of us collected our Biriyani packs and had lunch together. After filling our belly, we visited the graveyards of Parappalli. There wasn’t any bell of ominous threat during our way till here. In Panthalayani we enjoyed swimming and sailing in its full vigour. We made it both thrilling and exciting.

After spending a couple of hours, we got ready for returning. The situation was the same and pleasant, while returning back – a more comfortable journey as there were no waves to jump into the boats.  We were in the heights of ease –singing, dancing and meditating. Before reaching Korappuzha, we landed in the river-mouth (estuary). Junaid jumped to the water as we all thought it was not very deep. But the sea taught us that over-confidence is not good. He couldn’t swim well as there was heavy flow of the river water to the sea. Our heart burned, all of us worried for a moment. He began to swim in a hurry. Somebody from the boat threw a rope and he was rescued. After those frightening episodes, the most exciting moments came here after landing the safe zone. Swimming and playing with the water. There were crazy groups of boys who chased their friends to “drown” them in water. Nobody was excused and escaped. After having a full bottle enjoyment, we returned to our dear ferry. And within ten minutes we reached Korappuzha Bridge. Having a hot kattan chaya and spicy parippuvada , we all took bus to Calicut vowing of another great trip, a wild trucking.

I remembered Kahlil Gibran: “the sea that calls everything back unto her call me, and I must embark.”As it occurred to his famous prophet, when would the ship return for me to leave my Orphalese.

 

‘We’: An Irresistible Guerrilla Act in Edit Room

If you want to know what political honesty is, watch this underground movie based on Arundhati Roy’s Come September speech. AYOOB RAHMAN shares an unforgettably brilliant movie experience.

When Arundhati Roy spoke at John Lennon Foundation, her words were so irresistibly powerful, charmingly lyrical and her voice so sweet that everybody would love to listen. She always developed a habit of speaking the unspeakable truth out, almost always about the most inconspicuous political mysteries. And often, she pays the price too, with a profoundly mystical smile on her face. These quintessential elements actively typified her famous Lennon Foundation speech ‘Come September’ too. It was all like a script for the anonymous video editor to make a path breaking documentary, titled We, which is being reviewed here. A yet unknown editor from Newzealand saw her speech and he used his exclusive collections of previous video footages and musical pieces to provide visual support and a wonderful background score to the words of Arundhati Roy. Result: a 64-minute documentary, a classic example of guerrilla media operation.

This underground documentary exposes every temptation of the American backed corporate globalization and its vigorous execution by the oligarchs and conglomerates. Visualising the powerful and lyrical words of Arundhati Roy, the documentary is produced and released by an unknown media professional. The editor once went to his colleague’s home for a friendly visit. He was quiet astonished by watching a video on his friend’s desktop: Arundhati Roy was giving her Come September speech. The charming language and powerful use of words attracted him and his friend permitted him to carry that speech with him. And after the six week tour with his girl friend, he made it a good documentary. All these information about the making has been provided by the maker himself in an exclusive interview to the website which is launched for the propagation of this documentary. The website accessed him in the email id in which he had originally sent the work to an Australian website.

The entire speech and the documentary deals with the despotic actions that America and the corporate giants did in Latin America, South Asia, West Asia and Africa during the past decades on the same date of September 11. For America, every foreign policy is essentially about meddling up in the affairs of several third world countries.  Arundhati says this with evidences and proofs. And she exposes the real and horrible facts regarding the multinational corporations, their politics of power, war, deception and exploitation.

Her portrayal is breath-taking with the irresistible visual support of We. It will give you the emotion of sitting in a classroom where the international affairs are taught by the most authentic professor-cum-activist, with full political honesty and intellectual sensitivity. The documentary finally advises the viewer to read and read what is happening around him, unless s/he will be screwed.

Today, the 64 minute documentary is being screened, spread and shared around the globe as a major weapon of the anti-globalisation and anti-American movements. This is available in several video sharing networks like YouTube.

Journeying through love

AYOOB RAHMAN listens to Pakistani qawali singer Fareed Ayaz and shares the mystical mood of his words and rhythm.

The mystical music of a team from across the border deeply touched the crowd at Calicut beach on the evening of February 18. The ‘sham-e-sufiyana’ by legendry qawali singer Fareed Ayaz and team from Karachi mesmerised the music lovers of the city with the genuine stuff of qawali, the mystical form of Hindustani music, in a Times of India sponsored programme. The calm and serene atmosphere of a late evening in the beach and the dark sky with sparkles of stars set the best ambience for it and the audience enjoyed the songs crossing the barriers of language.
The concert started with an introducing address by the maestro praising the Lord. He applauded the beautiful atmosphere where a number of people had gathered to listen to qawali which is not so very familiar to South Indians.

Times of India must have decided to celebrate their Malabar edition with this programme as they felt it has many things to do with the Muslim culture which is prevalent. The ‘topi’ wearing singers came out with highly spiritual lines and rhymes that left the spectators to journey through the worlds of love, death and paradise. Each and every song that flowed from Fareed generated strong cathartic emotions. He brought attention to the earthly miseries and urged people to get back to the Master of the universe. The songs were in praise of Allah and The Chosen Muhammed.
‘Once again I am in front of you with a message which is said by The God to his slaves before centuries and thousands of years; that is: there is none to be worshipped except Him’. The qawali concert took the rhythm with this words from Fareed Ayaz.
Ye samandar ka kanara… Ye hawa ye sama, ek maubud ka hone ka patha deta hai.. Alla-hu Allah.. Alla-hu Allah (this sea-shore, this wind and this sky let us know that there is one God, Allah) a mystical journey of hundreds began with these lyrics. People looked to where he indicated with his fingers, to the sea, the sky and the sand. In the ascending lines he explained the sovereignty of Almighty and praised him at its zenith. “If you wish you can make a slave an emperor, if you want you can make an orphan your messenger” the qawali continued.

“Har cheez musabbibe sabab se mango… (Ask everything to the Creator)
minnath se khusaman se adab se mango…(Ask with happiness, faith and fear of God)
Bande ho agar rab ke toh reb se mango… (If you are the slave of God; ask him)
Yeh mangne ka tareeqa hai is tarah mango (This is the way of asking and you ask like this)
Then the coming lines tell the audience to make the prophet Muhammed as the mediator between the creature and his Lord.
Joh Allah main fana ho jaye, vo matha hi nahi (He who is killed for Allah never die) Fareed said in another song. Then came the songs with the theme of love and human relations. He evoked the gathering to be enlightened with pure love and to keep harmony between Hindus and Muslims. He reminded them about being the sons and daughters of same parents. In one fo teh songs about love, he sang in Urdu: If love crosses its limits, it becomes an illness; but, if it doesn’t cross the limit, is it love?

The team was surrounded by the spirited audience after the event. People rushed to pass their love and support to their Pakistani counterparts who came with abundant love and prayers. Fareed Ayaz was supported by his team members Abu Muhammed (Deputy of the team), Gayur Ahmed, Imadudheen, Gulam Akram (chorus singers) and Ali Akbar(tabalist).

Letters of Hope and Despair

A review of the Kovalam Literary festival

Binoo K John, Zakariya and Fatima Bhutto at KLF

When the fourth edition of Kovalam Literary Festival was wound up on the evening of October 2, at Kanakakkunnu palace in Thiruvananthapuram, it was a semi-disappointment. The title sponsor, Deccan Chronicle, had advertised in the official website of the festival that it will have a Pakistani flavour, this time: famous authors Mohammed Hanif , Ali Sethi and HM Naqvi would read out from their best sellers. None of them turned up, except, of course, an enlightening Fatima Bhutto. Not even the Chinese writer Lijia Zhang, nor those Kashmiri authors. Contributing no legacy of political upheavals to the contemporary Indian writing, it ended calm and quite. The negligible presence of Malayalee litterateur was also remarkable despite the sponsors casually classified the event as Kerala’s own global literary fest.

Anuradha Ray gives her autograph

Fatima Bhutto, the Karachi based writer whose recent book Songs of Blood and Sword was critically acclaimed, emphasised the need for arranging conversations and interactions between the people of India and Pakistan. She is the grand-daughter of slain Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the niece of Benazir Bhutto. Her inaugural address, the spectacular and diplomatic KC John memorial speech, created an exhilarating mood, through the organisers failed to maintain it in the following sessions. She analytically talked about the bilateral relationship, tensions and trade between India and Pakistan and her speech was concluded with a call to the emerging youth of both countries to take on the responsibilities of bringing peace to their respective nations. Fatima talked about the conditions in the West Asia and South Asia with an updated and insightful perspective. This was enough to feel that she is a promising political mediator in the region, making her political activism in her powerful penning. And through her speech, she reiterated that she has nothing to do with the last six letters of her name.  “We (people of India and Pakistan) are the same. You are like me. We need more people-to-people contact to promote peace. Our destinies as countries are inextricably linked as our past were… Justice is within the borders and not outside it. India and Pakistan have the largest migration history in the world with the biggest displacement… When we parted, the world shook,” said Fatima.

Meena: politics for a cause

After the inaugural session, thanks to the loose organising and the annoying absence of the much anticipated politically inspiring writers like Basharath Peer, Palash Mehrotra, Mohammed Hanif, David Davidar and Rahul Panditha, the programme became nothing more than a small and light gathering of the literati without much constructive or path-breaking ideas or arguments to debate about. Sessions started becoming dull. The mood of the event just turned to the sharing of light moments with a few authors and their light-weight admirers. Whenever some members of the audience attempted to raise politically charged questions and comments, the organising team soon interrupted as though they just wanted the applause for the latest titles being read out.

Anuradha Roy read from her new title A folded Earth, a best seller which tells the story of Maya and Mikle and after that Aswin Sanghi read from his latest and No 1 best seller in India Chanakya’s Chant which retells the biography of Chanakya in fiction. Interacting with the audience, Sanghi said that most of the readers want pulp fictions, and that he too knows the market of his own books. Prof. Motty Lerner, dramatist from Israel talked about his plays and opined that tragedies are the best form of literature to bring social change. Audience were just wondering how Lerner and Israeli writer Savyon Liebrecht, whose parents were Holocaust survivors, chose to duck the comments and questions on the atrocities of the Zionist state upon the poor and armless Palestinians. They often justified the acts of Israel as the reaction of over-protected and post-traumatised people.

from the cultural eve

In the concluding sessions, Meena Kandasamy read poems from her latest collection Miss Millitancy. She was incredible with her charming and powerful political poems on castiesm and other upper class phenomena. Obviously, she made a difference in the fest by her no-nonsense, strong and beautiful presentation. Then, Kanika Dhillon, a super star script writer, read from her novel Bombay Duck Is A fish, a narration of Bollywood by an outsider. And finally Fatima Bhutto read from her hugely successful memoir Songs of Blood and Sword and responded to the questions of the audience.

There were two book launches, too. Suresh Menon’s biography of legendary spinner Bishen Singh Bedi and a good novel by Shehan Karunatilake Chinaman.

An Alternative World is not Far Away!

With his friends, AYOOB RAHMAN attends the Gandhian Varthamanam at Thrissur and shares the emotion and grace of an alternative conference, which convinced him that a better world is possible.  

Shivani Kagnikar, an old farmer from Belgaum, came all the way to Thrissur to become part of an alternative conference in which many sessions were scheduled to be on his role model Mahatma Gandhi. It was unsurprising that at the venue of Salsabeel Green School, where the Gandhian Varthamanam was organised, he met many people from his state Karnataka and even faraway places with certain things in common. They all wanted to join the event conducted by a few invisible organisers targeting some highly enlightened participants.

Salsabeel Green School at Kiraloor, Thrissur, a different kind of School, became the venue of yet another apparently different and unique event on October 5 to 9, 2011. About 500 activists from across the country gathered here and shared their experiences and concerns over an array of issues. It was an alternative conference that seriously spanned the issues in politics, education, food security, energy and gender. The people included the leaders of agitations at Plachimada, Kadikkudam, Laloor and lot more. They spoke straight forward, from their heart, never feeling the so-called communication barriers of formality and establishmentarianism. From school children (but very active and political) to Narain Desai – perhaps the only living person with a whole host of intimate affiliation to Mahatma Gandhi – sat together and communicated with each other. The atmosphere at the vast and green campus of Salsabeel was ideal to conduct such an event of alternative politics and lifestyle. It’s not exaggeration to say that a casual visitor might mistake it for a family meeting or wedding ceremony: that was the kind of familial spirit the event created and shared among the participants.

On October 5 evening, the Gandhian Varthamanam was officially inaugurated by Prof. Samdong Rimpoche, the world-famous Buddhist monk and the Prime Minister of Tibetan Government in exile. In his highly spiritual speech, he said that the people are suffering from fear and insecurity everywhere in the planet, foreseeing the complete destruction of the world. “The only possible way to survive the scare is to take the teachings of Gandhi, through love and non-violence”, he added. After the inaugural session, ‘Gandhi Kadha’ was presented by Narain Desai, the veteran Gandhian who spent his early 20 years of life with Mahatmaji. Gandhi Kadha, which continued on every evening between 5 to 8, was the highlight of the five-day event. The live Malayalam translation of Gandhi Kadha – which was originally told in Hindi – was provided through FM radio.

It was an intriguing sight to have people from different localities and with different outlooks and to see them getting closely associated with each other from the first day itself. Nobody was a stranger. All of them blended into the new environment with great ease. They should have necessarily believed that they had gathered there seeking for alternatives in their way of living and thinking. There were various sessions for talks and debates on different themes like Hind Swaraj, economy of permanence, food security, education, health and gender justice held in parallel on forenoons of 6, 7 and 8 October. The speakers of the day shared common stage every afternoon to interact with the audience about their queries and they patiently listened to the comments and criticism from a highly active audience. These highly academic and informative sessions were intended to create awareness among the people about possible alternatives in these particular areas. However, at times, talks in these sessions were criticised for want of politics and a proper sense of direction.

Participants with K Sahadevan, the chief organiser of the programme

SIAS Media School was an active part of the grand event. The moments that we enjoyed most, forgetting everything behind, were the overnight informal sessions. We tried to make close chats with many guest speakers: great human beings, but very simple and sweetly approachable. After ‘Gandhi Kadha’, every evening there was ample time for informal meetings and discussions with each other including the speakers and chief guests of the event. They seemed to be real role models who force us to believe that this world is a beautiful place to make our lives meaningful. They all sacrifice their so-called priorities and advantages only to facilitate for others who do not have such living conditions. They had generosity of spirit with which the world actually survives. The esteemed guests with enviable experiments and experiences under their belts shared their memories and accomplishments with the curious people around them. Each word was politically inspiring. Polite and humane gestures reminded of a world we have lost and left behind in search of greed. The soul murmured: a better world is possible, a more beautiful world is possible!

After this informal interaction we gathered beneath the trees or on wet grass to make the nights live with our cultural performances. Many of the campers especially those from VIBGYOR Family Thrissur, MCJ family SIAS, Kanavu Wayanad and CAMP& M School Edappal did not sleep all those nights. They were finding immense joy and happiness in singing, dancing, acting and performing. Somebody even commented that there were enough good artists, singers and performers to form a professional troop.

The organisers deliberately chose to remain behind the curtain. In an era where everyone competes each other to take credit for the each thing done and often even undone, this self-effacing attitude of an activist group was just reassuring. They organised it brilliantly and remarkably. The delegates or guests never felt any inconvenience. Everything was well-arranged. The extraordinary students from the hosting school of Salsabeel did manage everything right from boarding, cleaning, distribution of food, arranging sanitation and bathroom facilities, and most of all, setting up brilliant bedroom feelings in their classrooms.

Prof. Samdong Rimpoche along with the students of Salsabeel green school, plants a tree

It was striking and startling to see that the complete expense for the conducting of such a nice and great event was taken from the not-so-full pockets of these organisers whose number is about 50. A first quality food, nice shelter and sanitation were the privileges of each participant. And when the final session was being wound up, K Sahadevan, the convener of the programme informed the audience, with a mystical smile on his face, that after meeting all the expenses they have saved 358 rupees as surplus! Participants were literally crying with joy and happiness, as statements like this emotionally evoked hope and love about life. When the event was about to conclude there was an irresistible overflow of feelings. Somehow all the participants were emotionally attached to each other.

Max’s Advice to the young writers….

  The next time you run into problems with a writing project, imagine the sort of help a great editor might provide: Max Perkins . . . was famous for his ability to inspire an author to produce the best that was in him or her. More a friend to his authors than a taskmaster, he aided them in every way. He helped them structure their books, if help was needed; thought up titles, invented plots; he served as psychoanalyst, lovelorn adviser, marriage counselor, career manager, money-lender. Few editors before him had done so much work on manuscripts, yet he was always faithful to his credo, “The book belongs to the author.” (A. Scott Berg, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. E.P. Dutton, 1978) From 1910 until his death in 1947, Scribner’s legendary editor Maxwell Perkins nurtured and inspired such authors as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Rawlings, Ring Lardner, and Thomas Wolfe. And somehow, even near the end of his life, Perkins found time to counsel would-be writers as well. In May 1945, he responded to a young serviceman who had sought his advice about a writing career: I think, in truth, that the best writing of all is done long after the events it is concerned with, when they have been digested and reflected upon unconsciously, and the writer has completely realized them in himself. It is good journalistic writing that is done quickly while everything is still new, but not the best writing. . . . As to perhaps a couple years of college, I should think that might be of great advantage, in a general sense, but don’t try to learn about writing there. Learn something else. Learn about writing from reading. That is the right way to do it. But then it can only be done by those who have eyes and ears, by seeing and listening. . . . [T]he way they teach literature and writing in college is harmful. It results in one getting into the habit of seeing everything through a kind of film of past literature, and not seeing it directly with one’s own senses. . . . I would say that a couple of years in the newspaper business was much better for one who wanted to be a writer than a couple of years in college. But there are, of course, other advantages that come from the college. (Editor to Author: The Letters of Maxwell E. Perkins, edited by John Hall Wheelock. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1979) Perkins, of course, was writing in a different era–years before the proliferation of creative writing programs and the decline of the newspaper business. Yet I think the heart of his message holds true. In a letter to another hopeful young author, he said, “What really makes writing is done in the head, where impressions are stored up, and it is done with the eye and the ear. The agony comes later, when it has to be done with the hand, and that part of it can gain greatly from seeing how others do it, by reading.” By the way, though we’ll never be able to call on Perkins to help us with our writing, we may soon get to see a version of him on screen. According to a story in The Hollywood Reporter this week, Sean Penn is in discussions to play Maxwell Perkins in a film appropriately called Genius.