NOTES on the 10th PARALLEL by Eliza Grizwold

TENTH PARALLEL By Eliza Griswold talks about the 700 mile corridor North of Equator where 50% of Muslims and 60% of Christians live and fight over water, land, oil and other natural resources.
She traversed the land for 7 years and sometimes accompanying evangelicals like Billy Graham’s son Franklin Graham to Africa, to see the effects of their ‘labour of love’.
Recording what happens on the ground she notes that ‘ Religions like weather link us with one another, whether we like it or not’.
Daughter of Frank Griswold, presiding Bishop of Episcopal church who appointed Gene Robinson as a Bishop and caused worldwide shock and awe.
NIGERIA:
Even split between Christians and Muslims, tribes like Yoruba follow both religions.
A far off incident has violent repercussions in these lands, America attacking Afghanistan or the Danish cartoons of Prophet Muhammed.
4/10 of people here are unemployed. Due to ultra corrupt governments the locals depend on religious institutions for health care, education and for other secular rights.
Population in these lands is growing at an alarming rate thanks to the proselytizing forces working overtime to fulfill the GREAT COMMISSION among the non-believers.
Uthman dan Fodio – ethnic Fulani herdsman, in 1802 rose against the Western/Christian influences by calling the people back to the traditional mores. Women’s education was among what was considered one of the impurities that had spread through the missionaries.
Islamization of the continent was stemmed by the Tsetse fly, which caused sleeping sickness and sure shot death!
The Berlin Conference of 1885 lead the scramble for Africa, European nations divvied it amongst themselves with nary a thought about the original inhabitants, they were just numbers to convert or slaves to sell
Soon the British played the Muslim North against the Pagan South. Proselytizing was banned in the North, the Emirs were given a free hand and the missionaries a freer hand in the South. Many non-Muslims in the South thus converted to Christianity to escape oppression from the Emir’s Muslim North.
For Muslims the notion that there is a son of God is blasphemy, preachers who demanded money at churches, all these practices and beliefs caused enormous rifts and inevitable hatred among the poor people.
1904 – Herman Karl Kumm of Sudan United Mission determined to prevent the spread of Islam and followed the footsteps of the famous missionary David Livingstone, who himself was in Africa to fulfill the Great Commission, he deemed it his duty to convert. His wife Lucy Kumm wrote “Across India at the turn of the 20th century”. The Kumms set up the Church of Christ in Nigeria – COCIN, which functions to this day.
Matthew 28:19
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
19th century advancement such as Telegraph and Steamship made evangelizing much more easier. Towards this end the YMCA was started by John Mott in 1844. The worldview that everything was divided into good and bad, light and dark, that we flourished in opposition to the enemy.
These missionaries did advocate social changes and were definitely responsible for bringing many of the social ills to light or in some cases to a grinding halt – slavery, sati etc They believed that the main goal of the Muslims was to crush the Christian socially, economically and politically.
After 9/11 these fears seemed to come true and revivalism began in earnest on both sides. Religion grows stronger if it is practiced and for that one needs numbers. Thus procreation and conversion become very important tools.
The Quran says in “The Bee” (16:25) “ Call people to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good teaching”, since the Nubian kings fell to the Muslim armies in 1504, many have converted to Islam. Nigerians follow the Maliki school of Islam. The predominant view is that Sin causes desertification, since Africa is most affected by Climate Change. A common system here is of young wandering Muslim students from villages – ‘al majiri’ – going to live with their teachers. After they graduate they become, far from home and discipline, tough miscreants. After the end of dictatorship in 1999, 12/36 states here opted for Islamic Law. BOKO HARAM became a slogan of choice – against western education.
While in the Status of Dhimmi for Christians and Jews under a Muslim rule do not have much rights, many Christians believe that war with infidels and non-believers is scriptural.
Benjamin Kwasli and Peter Akinola say “ For Christians God has moved his work to Africa” They feel that they have to face the twin onslaughts of Islam and America! Same sex marriage for example is seen as the end of times, reminding them of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Gangs of students cause havoc in society so many young people join the church to escape and find security from these cults. The NASFAT is one such. Many churches there ‘compete for the faithful’.
Many Muslims from Northern Africa went to study in Iran after 1979 and to the Arab world and came back bringing what they thought was a purer version of Islam. They feel that ‘democracy is not for us…with its neo-colonialism’

SUDAN
Aristotle in Meteorologica – ‘In one region no one lives because of the cold and in the other because of the heat.’ It was assumed that the people of the Torrid Zone were descendents of Noah’s grandsons, sons of Ham, ‘servant of servants’ – a curse from the book of Genesis. Africa suffers then from slavery and blackness, a double helix.
Arabs marked the northern territory as Bilad-as-Sudan. Aetheopia referred in Greek Mythology means land of the blacks. Guinea, Nigeria, Somalia all mean ‘black’ in some way.
Africa received Christianity through a castrated slave from Jerusalem in the year 37. According to 8:26-36, Acts of Apostles, this eunuch, educated, oversaw the treasury of the Queen of Sudan. He was baptized by Philip, all this was punishable by death till 313 AD until Constantine declared it the official religion.
(Evangelion- Good News)
During Prophet Muhammed’s flight he entrusted his family to the care of the Christian ruler of Abyssinia, across the Red Sea rather than trust his own people. By 632 AD after his death, followers went across and landed in Egypt.
Coptic Christians in Egypt believed that Jesus was human and divine at once, while others believed differently. Due to infighting they lost to the incoming Muslims. Thus they became ‘dhimmi’ and had to pay ‘jaziya’ in lieu of military service.
Many years they lived side by side. Nubian women were expert archers and were said to put out 150 Arab eyes in one day. A treaty between both communities the BAQT lasted for 600 years, maintained the status quo. By the time the Crusades began and caused terror between the 11th and the 16th centuries, the Muslims in Egypt defeated the weakened Nubia kingdoms in 1504. For the next 300 years it was only Muslims here. Christianity was wiped out especially in Sudan. North Africans became Sufis of various tariqas. Now Christianity returned in 19th century. David Livingstone’s tombstone reads – “Christianity. Commerce. Civilization.” Abolishing of slavery became the clarion call of many missionaries. Sudan in 1870s was under the Ottoman Empire.Turks and Egyptians looted the land of Gold and Slaves.
Evangelicals play a huge role in the US Foreign Policy from behind the scenes. For example Billy Graham mobilized US Christians to oppose the evils of communism by ‘saving’ many brethern from the Soviet Union. After the 1st Gulf War many Bibles and Christian texts were sent to Saudi Arabia.
In 1991, post cold war Franklin Graham pitted himself against militant Islam, whereas Omar Bashir targeted mission schools and hospitals in South Sudan to take over the oil too.
1948 UDHR drafted by Eleanor Roosevelt, is seen by many Muslims as back door evangelization. So in retaliation in1990 many Muslims countries signed the Cairo declaration, which allowed countries to interpret Shariat as they wished. Soon evangelicals became victims of the rising tide of Islamic persecution. To protect the Christians in the frontline states, in 1998, IRFA – Religious Freedom Act was passed.
In 1990 a Brazilian evangelist created a map showing the ‘neediest people on earth’, this was called the ‘window of opportunity’ the 10/40 WINDOW, where only 3/100 were Christians and provided a great opportunity to find converts.
In 1885 Charles Chinese Gordon – hero of the Opium War, portrayed in ‘Khartoum’ by Charlton Heston, was murdered by the Mahdi. Mahdi fought against the excesses of the infidel West. Mahdi needed slaves, Gordon was an abolitionist. Mahdi was then murdered by Sir Reginald Wingate, who then had his bones thrown into the Nile. Soon it was declared illegal for Christians to preach in the Muslim North and both the regions were kept separate. Thus many denominations proliferated in the South and they were not united. The North though got all the infrastructure and the South nothing. In 1956 after independence the British gave power to the North. In 1949 the US Ambassador to Egypt, Jefferson Caffrey said “I don’t understand why anybody would be bothered by the fate of 10 million niggers”.
Sayyid Qutb’s belief was that ‘Islam clothed naked beings, brought them into the vast Islamic community, out of the worship of pagan deities.’
Hassan-Al-Turabi, head of Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan and architect of Jihad, watched Britain and Germany divvy up the Ottoman Empire. When the 1917 Balfour declaration was called upon to set up a Jewish state in the heart of the Arab world, Egyptians and Sudanese took to the streets protesting. Hassan Al Banna started the Al Ikhwan Al Muslimeen – the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. His men killed the PM in Egypt. He laid the foundation for global jihad opposing the secular Arab nationalist movement founded by Gamal Abdul Nasser – who was non-aligned hence America supported the Islamists against the Nationalists cause of the fear of communism.
Dinka chief – Ngok says that the South is blessed with resources which the North wants control over!

SOMALIA
USA and USSR vied for control of oil and access to the coastline. Somalia had a Soviet backed government, which fell in 1991. Siad Barre faced 17 failed attempts at starting a government. It is the longest running failed state on the planet. Islamic Courts Union rose in 2004 to challenge the warlords, US said that the ICU has members of Al Qaeda. Among them were moderates and hardliners – Sheikh Ahmed, Sheikh Aheys. CIA funded some of the warlords who promised help to catch Isa Tanzania.
Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006 backed by US, which feared a hostile Muslim government. Ethiopia’s Zenavi said ‘ War on Terror is a Godsend’ but this idea backfired. Ethiopians were called Abd- Slave. Abd – al - Biet (house nigger). Dar-ul-Islam The Horn – this is the land of Sufi Islam.
Highlands have Christians and lowlands have Muslims.
Black Hawk Dawn in 1993 Farah Aideed shot down US Copters killed 18
Militias like Al –Shabab started operating. Extorting. For food, security, power these militias collect taxes. Algooye Corridor. AID enters through here by paying up.
Dr Hawa Abdi. Dr Deqo Waqaf. Set camps for refugees and for women.
Warlords of course want stricter Islam and recently prevented her from running the camps.

(ERITREA)
Asmara a lovely Italian hill station. Independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Ethiopia and Eritrea are ruled by cousins who loathe one another. President Isaias Afwarki keeps container loads of prisoners – mostly Evangelists. King Menelik was King of Axum son of Sheeba and Solomon. Mostly Jewish till 4th century when they became Christian. Most believe that the Ark of the Covenant lies here. Siad Barre gave equal rights to women, a socialist, called the Mad Mullah. Mostly telecommunications and informal banking system worked very well despite having no government but US put an end to AL BARAKAT saying it was linked to Al Qaeda, later proved that it was not so.

INDONESIA
The Jemaah Islamiyah wants Indonesia to be an Islamic state and is opposed to western civilization in general. The JI helped Hambali plan the attack on the American Embassy in Djakarta but failed bombing the one in Philippines instead. They want the whole region from Indonesia to the Philippines to be Islamic. They were responsible for the Bali bombings too.
8/10 in Indonesia are Muslims. After Suharto’s government collapsed in 1998, 2004 democratic elections were held.
Nowiana Malewa is the only survivor of the attack on school girls wherein 3 Christian teenagers were beheaded by an Islamic group. A lot of counter terrorism funding comes from US and Australia and many in Indonesia have a stake in letting the situation continue as is.
In Poso the land is blood-soaked with the battles between the Christians and Muslims as is Sepe a Christian village that is totally charred. Even so many locals of both religions turned against JI after the beheadings. They call the Arab fighters “zolim”. Unclean and dirty.
A land of syncretic beliefs, where folk beliefs, mythology and mysticism mixed and influenced the purer strain of Islam from the 7th century, these conservative strains were dividing the local populace and breaking communities. The parents in many cases turned out to be more liberal and tolerant than the children.
For example, burying the dead posed a problem. After burials there was singing and dancing as per ancient custom but it was now frowned upon. Previously there was a lot of inter-marriage but now the once mixed villages are segregating.
Netherlands Missionary Society among other missionaries converted a lot of indigenous people into Christianity – especially the Celeb – the sign of such villages being Dogs and Pigs and Arrack not found in a traditional Muslim villages.
Any battle fought locally has a potential to take on a global face what with Youtube and other social media devices, now Nowiana is a famous figure among devout Catholics, receiving gifts and messages of help from around the world. Internationalizing any conflict has become inevitable. Though the evangelicals hate the Muslims, the local Christians do not.
BATAK – ethnic group – In 1834 missionaries were assigned to convert them. Before Islam came to the islands in 13th century, most of the land was Hindu or indigenous. Islam came via India through trade. As in North Africa, in Indonesia too, Islam was advanced through inter-marriage. In 1511 Portugese destroyed the Muslim kings of Malacca and pushed them into Aceh – razing mosques to build churches on them.
Dutch landed in 1596 and Protestant influence replaced the previous Catholic identity. The government banned all religions except Christianity and likened Islam to the Devil - as Evil. Christian instruction was mandatory in all schools, customary law being promoted over Islamic law. The Dutch wanted to keep a tight grip on Oil discovered in Indonesia. 1907 – Royal Dutch Shell was established. This lead to a common belief in these lands that Christianity was the religion of the oppressors.
After independence in 1945 Aug 17th Sukarno had the daunting task of forming a single nation from 17,000 islands! He adopted the Panchasila, belief in ONE God, humanitarianism and nationalism, consultative democracy and social justice. Unity in Diversity much like Nehru and India after Independence.
Islamic militants had fought along with secular or left wing nationalists for Independence. They were now outraged. They joined Dar-ul-Islam, to battle neo-colonialism and imperialism. So after 22 years, in a coup , Sukarno was brought down and Suharto a pro-Western , anti-Communist leader was lead to the high seat. Cold war darling of Kissinger and Nixon.
Many Chinese following Confucianism now became Christian to avoid confronting the state. Soon revivalism and reawakening followed on both sides. Suharto to build his image among the devout took to funding and building of mosques and appointing Muslims in high positions.
Here the Christians are mostly highlanders and farmers while the sea faring merchants have been Muslim. Much of the world’s Cocoa comes from Indonesia, once the price exploded, Muslims started buying off land from the poor Christian farmer and this caused more resentment and local conflicts. Local power struggles lead to violent conflicts.
400 churches in Indonesia have been bombed, burned or closed. Christians can no longer build churches in Muslim areas unless the majority Muslims living in that area approve of it and there are 90 Christians to begin with. This is a new law in effect from 2006.
Proselytizing creates competition and this leads to violence. So now in lieu of Churches rich Christians gather in hotels and preach safe topics like Health Wealth and Hygiene to attract members.
Rev Ruyandi Hutasoit – 56 yr old urologist and evangelist, wants to increase the number of believers from 9% to 50% and is Indonesia’s public enemy #1, accused of Christianization the CCC mission professes to reach the entire world by Gospel.
Under the 2002 Child Protection Act, which prevents missionaries from preaching to the children, now the missionary activity has somewhat stemmed. It is believed that Australia and its Christians are behind the separatist activities in the country.
Aceh – afte the Tsunami , all kinds of groups congregated to preach and convert in the guise of help. Soon Islamic law was implemented and the vice and virtue squad came into being. So anyone not wearing a hijab could technically be arrested but as in most cases ‘Shariat did not apply to those in power’.
Corruption, poverty, poor governance made Muslims take to religion to help and solve their problems.
Jihad Magz
Laskar Pelangi.
Democracy is bullshit we want Allahcracy.

MALAYSIA
Orang Asli – the original people. Juli Edo an anthropologist is one of them. Palm Oil tree plantation is responsible for 80% of the deforestation. Called ‘Mushrikun’ or polytheists they were hunted by slave traders and they not wanting to convert to Islam in the 15th cent, fled more and more inland. Now logging threatens them and their livelihood and could cause a cultural genocide. These people are unfortunately targeted both by Muslims and Christian missionaries and there is a race to ‘save their souls’.
Malaysia invests heavily in Iran and Sudan. Provides military aid to Sudanese armed forces. Being smaller than Montana its practices are not scrutinized much.
60% Muslim, 20% Buddhist, 9% Christian and 6% Hindu.
1700s the British took over from the Portugese and the Dutch and brought in Indians to work in rubber plantations and the Chinese to work in the mines. After independence in 1957 – United Malay National Organization was formed and the Malays were assigned the term ‘Bhumiputra’ sons of the soil and were deemed the original inhabitants. Mahatir Mohammed continued this plan to develop his country on the basis of Islam and now Malaysia is a well known Halal Hub- where Halal products are manufactured and distributed on a large scale.
46yr old Lina Joy was prevented from converting to Christianity from Islam as apostasy is taken very seriously here. Christians cannot proselytize to Muslims. In 2009 Malaysia banned Christians from using the word Allah.
The Orang Asli are caught in the middle. Malays are paid upto $3000 to marry and convert the aboriginals to Islam. Since Christians allow them to keep their ways, many become Christian. Malay government forcefully settled the Orang Asli in camps, where once they lose their land and habits, they lose their ways and culture, all is gone, finished. The Orang Asli believe that there are spirits in this world, good and bad, hence permission needs to be asked for each and every act, apologies need to be said to them, from peeing to cutting trees. The world to them is a single entity. Much like the Native Americans. (and Hindus of course)
Otherwise it is 75 ringgit to get converted and one receives gifts and hand outs officially for Eid and other holidays.
South Korea is second to the US in sending missionaries abroad.

PHILIPPINES
Gracia Burnham and Martin Burnham were kidnapped by the Abu Sayaff – Bearer of the Sword - in 2001. This gang is tied to Al Qaeda. As is the Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia. They have interwoven training camps, inter-marriages, same violent purpose.
The Burnhams evangelized in the remote regions of Philippines for 17 years through the New Tribe – ntm.org to fulfill the Great Commission.
14th- 15th cent Islam reached these shores. 1521 Magellan planted huge cross across Cebu. Muslims rose against the Catholic invaders. They were named Moros, after the Moors in North Africa. In 1898 US claimes victory over Spain and buys Philippines for $20 million. Meanwhile President McKinley a devout Methodist had plans ‘ to educate the Filipino, to uplift and civilize….’ Only Corporations like Del Monte and Dole were allowed to own land and plantations not the Muslims/Moros.
Now Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia.
TAUSUG people a Moro sub-group subsisted on agriculture. They were seen as the native americans of Philippines, uncivilized and brazen. In need of taming. In 1906, Islamic fighters revolted against Black Jack Pershing – a man who fought the natives too – this conflict was more the result of US interference than a tradition Christian and Muslim fight. America has infused more than 100 million dollars here which has only helped to escalate the local conflict. State supported military and paramilitary called Ilaga or rats perpetuate horrific violence in the name of Christianity.
Meanwhile Balik Islam, Back to Islam movement lead by Ahmed Santos took root in the Moro homeland – the Mangroves and Marshes of Mindanao.

HIEROPHANY
A space where the horizontal secular and the vertical sacred worlds meet.
Relativism and Dynamism help us understand our identities and help us with where we are going.

Rockstar is such an inane term, as insipid as the film!

Must we always live off borrowed ideas when all we have to do is just look around us, behind us, within us, at what the Art and Music of our own land and culture tells us?

This fascination with Jim bhai would have been alright if only we had a history of producing rock bands and a society wherein music concerts were de rigueur but alas! except from Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur I know of no other state where metal mania is taken to a rockstar level. I mean I have a huge problem with the usage of the word 'rockstar' too, that seems to have crept into daily usage about 2005-2006 in the urban Indian dictionary to mean a 'cool' person, which in turn crawled in about 2000-2001, when impoverished for employment Indians found Y2K jobs on the Jersey shore.

To co-opt phrases, mannerism and music smacks of lack of originality, self esteem and utter disregard for one's own heritage. Knowing what one has and then going forth and learning, evolving and collaborating is a different 'ball-game' (another word in our lexicon which we use with panache nowadays, in a country where saying 'love' directly was frowned upon) altogether! a Bismillah Khan saab is allowed that, a Ravi Shankar, a Rahman. Not JJ. or any Joe Joe or Johny Come Lately.

Here this dumb dodo not only behaves like a retard but talks like one too. Methinks the Sadda Haq ought to come from Jats angry at this generalized portrayal of a whole region not from the standard shots of flag-bearing or stone pelting or sword wielding - Tibetan, Kashmiri, Khalistani separatists - oops! they forgot the Naxals, Maoists, Telanganawallahs, Kukis, Nagas, Meitis..... The 'bhaabhi-chipkoing' scene was a riot but apart from that this poor Haryanvi from Pitampura suffers from the Macaulay syndrome, wherein we bastard children of his educational policy are still paying the price by thinking not just in English but also of and about and for.

The posters on the wall of his brick baraati are strewn with one of those guitar-strumming 'dudes' who is undoubtedly very evil and inspiring but is this what we want, a man who is rootless, disconnected with his own language, environs and family? existensial angst aside, he seems to be suffering from laziness. His behaviour whether in the canteen or outside it when singing to the bored bus stop by-standers did not for a moment have the magic to transform, which ANY music ought to, as Sri Shankar Sastry will tell you (watch Shankarabharanam and the famous Pop versus Classical music scene). If the cops haul him away, am I glad! Thank you Paapey! This boy belongs in the lunatic asylum! Disgracing poets and singers alike.

A poet, a composer, an artiste is no doubt abstruse, a little removed from reality, over sensitive to the point of being crazy and full of unknown, unexplored anguish waiting to burst forth - creatively. This - note to script writers - is the State of Being. Next comes the Process. How does the damn anguish find a channel, what does it take to give it shape, a structure, meaning, an aesthetic...the nitty-gritties you know. Then finally comes the Product. The song be it that or a painting, a sculpture, a blog, hell a tweet even! What we see in the film Imtiaz, of once-upon-a-time- you- were- my- hero promise, is a BY-PRODUCT of the creation and the creativity itself based on a false premise of romantic pain and other absolutely ridiculous assumptions.

If that was the idea from the get-go, show me the drugs, the groupies, the hysteria in full monty, mass suicides and no shit about 'neat and clean' theek? No sir, that would not gel with the desi audience so what to do we are like this only, we will steal parts-of-an-idea, remain clueless about the most basic facts of life (such as for Art to be meaningful a fullness is essential before you can empty out, a lot of discipline, insane amounts of hard-work and a limitless passion for your Art) and then go forth making mincemeat of every scene, peppering in a few supposed sufi like melodies and voila! dish is served.

Rumi was a blissful soul, his relationship with Shams (of Tabriz) whatever its nature brought out that said couplet that dares to have inspired this pedestrian fluff. Eastern systems including the Islamic are based on Ecstasy and Joy as a given. We are not looking for pain when there is none. That is the assumption be it from the Hindu theory of Karma and Reincarnation (wherein you choose your life by your own actions, there is no Godly interference and such nonsense, you get what you deserve, hence we are not really very charitable either) or Islamic where there is nothing but submission. Of giving up, of accepting, of letting go. So where does the question of possession come in?

His, hers, mine. Such empty concepts. Borrowed ideas. A mish-mash of thoughts.

Either you say okay, I want to fuck her and I couldn't before coz I was too chicken so now that I am famous and all the girls seem to be tripping for my silly jacket let me go try my luck and I swear by Bollywood-Ki-Kasam, I will watch your silly antics, God Promise, but this! Claiming to be all holier-than-thou, a love that is boundless - ha! my ugly right toe! Fighting class differences and every issue on this planet - oh so sad na - to what? to fuck? THIS is our idea of Love? of Music? From the land of Meghadootam. From the land of Natya Shastra. From the land of Kama Sutra for fuck's sake - it tells you how to seduce, go read it pronto!

This from a land which has created artistes and musicians and dancers and lovers without professing such antics and ardor. They come and go quietly in full resplendence. In knowing that doing what they love at any cost, even at the cost of death or separation is worth it. Not because they will be 'famous' one day, that they will push it away bitterly when it comes ....arre be thankful na, grateful ki people love you. It is not something to be scoffed at. It is something that should make you cow down in humility. Yes, I have heard Bismillah Khan saab sitting two feet away from him for a whole day, bless his soul and there was a musician for you with all the fame and all the humility and all the poverty. Undeterred, secular, spiritual. No half-baked anger there. No fuck failures. Pure pleasure in doing his job ie playing the Shehnai.

So let us first get down to the brass tacks of defining ki what is Sangeet. Then let us decide ki yeh banti kaisay hai. Do we need pain to produce art or is art the self expression of sensitive beings who by their very nature feel more pain not the other way around. Then let us decide where sex fits into all this. Does it? This was my issue with Black Swan too. One does not need to be a lesbian or a murderer to portray the same. That is the idea of dramatics - to show what you are not. That is what dance in India is, it is a Natyam - which means Drama which includes Bhava, Rasa, Laya (while Nritta is pure dance - ie only steps) Show us through your chosen medium O Artiste! how you look at Life, give us new eyes, a new way to see the world. Do not increase our pain by behaving like a nincompoop. Your Muse ought to be your own Self. If it is OUTSIDE of you, there is no bloody respite. That is why from Byron to Rodin to Picasso great artistes yes were such shitty human beings, such bastards to women.

The Eastern system produces, at least it did, wholesome beings. Where Art and the Daily Life intersect. Wherein to be a great artiste ( and this does NOT mean a truckload of paparazzi and a fistful of fights at every turn) you need not hurt every human you encounter.

That is why we are so illiterate about our own systems - ancient minds - coz we go to Stephens! We are taught by Jesuits that we are are born sinful and that redemption must stem from pain and sorrow and all things grey and terrible.Do I sound like a right-wing-ranter. I hope so! I am so tired of this bull-shit passing of as a great Indian attempt at God-Knows-What.

The less said about the characterization of the lead actress the better. She wants to what now? Watch a porn film in a seedy Old Delhi theatre? A place where women are picked up to be gang-raped in day light! Nice. How exciting for the men though no? To see someone as exquisite as Nargis and with the surname like Fakhri, to see her desire to be sexual, to watch sex, to want sex, to....you get it. We are so stuck in the Mooladhara Chakra. Will we ever rise up, will the kundalini remain in that sacral zone?

Oh! Should I be mentioning the lackluster and overbearing parents, sisters, friends, mentors. People seemed to love Katana - the role was well conceived as was Dhingra's but everyone in the film seemed to be play-acting except Ranbir - and I don't even care two hoots for him. No spontaneity here, no getting-lost-in-the-moment feel. All carefully put together like Lego blocks and it shows. The struggle to patch it up.

Did I tell you it was about a girl from Kashmir? No? Never mind you'll find the clues all over the place. In fact in every shawl, phiran, kurta, bedspread, runner......