“One should never direct people towards happiness, because happiness too is an idol of the market-place. One should direct them towards mutual affection. A beast gnawing at its prey can be happy too, but only human beings can feel affection for each other, and this is the highest achievement they can aspire to.”
Only a person who has experienced the quagmire multiplicity of pains can vent out his misery, couched in the façade of philosophy, in this way. One of the greatest Russian authors who held a prominent image in world literature, Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn makes a character from his novel, The Cancer ward, preach this line.
Solzhenitsyn had seen suffering at close quarters. He had smelled the filth of the Russian labour camps called Gulag, he had tasted the thick, cold blows of the batons; He had felt the sharp, draining numbness of existence in the camp; He has maintained a desperate effort to keep his mental stability during inhuman conditions.
Under the dictatorial regime of Stalin, Solzhenitsyn was accused of anti-Soviet propaganda when in February 1945, while serving in east Prussia he was arrested for writing a derogatory comment in a letter to a friend about the conduct of the World war II by Stalin. In the letter he referred to him as “the whiskered one”, “Khozyain”(the master) and “Balabos”, which meant the same. Solzhenitsyn was serving the Soviet union as the commander of an acoustic recognizance unit in the Red Army. He was sentenced to an eight-year term in a labour camp to be followed by permanent internal exile. During his term in the prison he tried to broaden his intellectual horizon through the Joycean virtues of “silence, cunning and exile” This was the normal sentence for most crimes under Article 58 at the time. Any person who posed as a threat to Stalin’s autocratic rule was arrested and put into the labour camps called Gulags. There were 176 separate camp complexes each comprising hundreds, even thousands of camps. Approximately there were 7 million prisoners in the gulag under Stalin’s rule. People were imprisoned in a gulag camp for committing crimes such as unexcused absence from work, petty thefts, anti-government jokes and so on. The treatments meted out to the prisoners were not only brutal and cruel but intolerable too. They were forced to do work which was mainly of a hard, physical nature. The conditions were unbearable and the gulag camps had high mortality rates among the prisoners. Life of the people after jail was also a bane as they were denied jobs and were forbidden to settle in cities. Thus, the gulag was a kind of a hell for the soviet dwellers.
A moral and spiritual leader, Alexsandr stirred the minds and the deepest emotions of the readers in his times and his works still carry the magic to posterity. A profound thinker and a deep humanist, Alexsandr translated the horrors of the inhuman conditions and the brutal treatment towards the prisoners in most of his works. One of his most famous works is One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich which portrayed the oppression of the gulag army men towards the prisoners and strongly criticised the sadistic intentions of Stalin and the horrors of camp survival. A man suffering from cancer, he poured out his feelings and his helplessness into words in The Cancer Ward. The novel, makes many allegorical references to the state of Soviet Russia, in particular the quote from Kostoglotov "A man dies from a tumour, so how can a country survive with growths like labour camps and exiles?" highlights the comparison between cancer overtaking the patient with the police state overtaking Russia. The First circle was also a document of the evils and the oppression in the gulag. The title is an allusion to Dante’s first circle of hell in The Divine Comedy. The Gulag Archipelago was a three volume work on the Soviet prison camp system. It was based upon Solzhenitsyn's own experience as well as the testimony of 227 former prisoners and Solzhenitsyn's own research into the history of the penal system. It discussed the system's origins from the founding of the Communist regime, with Lenin himself having responsibility, detailing interrogation procedures, prisoner transports, prison camp culture, prisoner uprisings and revolts, and the practice of internal exile.
Solzhenitsyn did not question his state ideology before spending time in the camp. But after the stint he suffered a jolt to his beliefs and strongly opposed the Soviet government. In the 1917 publication, The Red Wheel he warned the world against the dangers of communist aggression. Even in his last works-Rebuilding Russia (’90) and Russia in collapse (’98) he criticized the oligarchic excesses of the new Russian democracy and held it responsible for the dismay that the country was passing through. He also held a strong, critical view of the West in bringing out the evils of Soviet Communism. He was of the opinion that the west suffered spiritual weakness and there was nobody to look clearly at it. He also blamed the west to be a victim of vulgar materialism and strongly condemned its attack on Vietnam. But his biased and lopsided approach was not without any inexplicable views. While accusing the West of imperialism, he seemed quite unaware of the extraordinary expansion of his own country into regions inhabited by non-Russians. He never asked himself, why Marxism in other European countries led not to the Gulag but welfare states. His knowledge of the Russian history was very superficial and laced with romantic sentimentalism. Instead of blaming the Russian conditions, he blamed the teachings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels arguing that Marxism itself is violent. He strained the conclusion that Communism will always be totalitarian and violent, wherever it is practiced.
Through his works one can gauge each drop of blood that has moulded itself to the vibrant and breathing words which fumes towards the oppressors. A man bombarded with experience and overflowing with articulations, no holds barred, Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn was a prophet not only of his times but of the succeeding generation also.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
A view from the top
Sam smiled triumphantly as he walked down the shining marble floor of Apex international, graciously responding to the “Good Morning” wishes by the employees in the desk and the PR people stopping in their tracks. He had an air of self-contentment and was humming , inaudibly, under his breath. Once inside the lift, the façade of the dignified silent smile was substituted by a more natural grin. He had moved up the corporate ladder as swiftly as he was making his way up to the 20th floor now. He had just been promoted as the senior manager of the software company which was growing by leaps and bounds in the international arena.
After entering his plush upholstered cabin, he pressed the bell for the steward to attend to him. He was now the master of the show. He had all the luxuries of life now. Sam remembered how he had worked really hard to get his first job. All those sleepless nights, skipping meals and hard labour-just to make a mark-just to fuel his ambitions. All these had paid off. Sam luckily caught the fancy of one of his bosses in the marketing division and was generously helped by him to get a job in Apex at New York .
Knock Knock !
A short fellow in a black suit entered the room , his head bowed and a look of passive calmness on his face.
“Here boy. Bring me an Armitage—and make it fast.” He was checking some reports and did not look up while he commanded.
“Right away, Sir” replied the waiter.
Just as he made his way to the door, Sam glanced at him, for no apparent reason. Suddenly he felt like conversing with the man.
“Boy, what’s your name?” he asked with a smirk on his face.
The steward turned back swiftly. “Mike, Sir…My name is Mike” he smiled back.
“Oh Mike, tell me Mike, how long have you been working here?”
“A year, Sir” he smiled again.
There was no definite question in Sam’s mind but he was in a mood to linger on.
“So, do you like the work here?”
“I do, Sir”
Sam leaned on to his big leather chair. “So you are happy?” blurted out Sam and in the next instant he felt very disturbed again for a reason which he could not comprehend.
“My Parents are happy, Sir. They are very happy that I work in such a big office.”
It was as if the flood gates of emotions had been opened. Emotions gushed out of Sam’s closely guarded soul and took the form of tears in his eyes. With the blurred vision of reality, he managed to croak out-“You may go”.
The attendant politely bowed his head and went away with the same smile adorning his face.
Sam got up and came near the mirror. Was this Shyam Prabhat Saxena? He tracked his profile from head till toe. He was wearing a shining black Armani suit and was looking unnaturally neat today.
“Is that me?” His soul reverberated. Where is the Shyam who wore a cotton trouser and a casual white shirt to his first job? This was not Shyam. He is now what his colleagues call him as-Sam.
“My parents are happy”
The words still rang in his ears as they opened for him an avenue of long lost, long forgotten memories. Shyam remembered how he used to go out with his friends in Baroda , for a movie, 5 years back. How he used to enjoy the cluttered, dingy and occassionally smelly market place in Vasantnagar-how he used to come back from his office and feasted on the steaming ghee rotis made by his mother. He remembered the look of satisfaction in her eyes as she saw her son enjoying the food…
Where are those days? He might be doing a great job, earning lots of money, but is he at peace? Where are the lost days of simplicity? Everyone was happy with his job in India . But not he. He had dreams of making it really big one day. Shyam was a big shot excecutive now with a humungous contract salary, two cars, several attendants and a beautiful house in a posh colony.
But he existed alone. All alone. Life had shown him a dream and while pursuing that, he had moved so ahead that he could not see anybody in the vicinity now.
As he stared from the window down to the streets with microscopic objects moving around far far away from him, he felt cold, cheated and helpless. How long has he not called his parents back in India . They were still not able to believe that their son was staying abroad. It was a numb feeling but were they happy? There has been so many instances that Shyam had rejected a call from his father as he was in the middle of a meeting. He had always brushed off his mother’s willingness to stay with him in New york , postponing it for months, stating lack of time to arrange for it.
What has he done? What has he become?
Shyam could not take it anymore. He placed his head against the cool glass of the window closing his eyes with a deep sense of emptiness in his heart.
Knock Knock
It was the steward.
“Oh Mike, come in”,managed the Senior manager of Apex.
Mike brought in the tray consisting of the bottle of wine, a crystal clear glass and a tumbler of ice with tongs in it.
“Shall I make a drink, sir?”
“No”said Shyam. “I don’t need it”
He refused to be intoxicated.
Mike left the room with the same smile on his lips as Shyam, disillusioned, took up his phone to call back home.
After entering his plush upholstered cabin, he pressed the bell for the steward to attend to him. He was now the master of the show. He had all the luxuries of life now. Sam remembered how he had worked really hard to get his first job. All those sleepless nights, skipping meals and hard labour-just to make a mark-just to fuel his ambitions. All these had paid off. Sam luckily caught the fancy of one of his bosses in the marketing division and was generously helped by him to get a job in Apex at New York .
Knock Knock !
A short fellow in a black suit entered the room , his head bowed and a look of passive calmness on his face.
“Here boy. Bring me an Armitage—and make it fast.” He was checking some reports and did not look up while he commanded.
“Right away, Sir” replied the waiter.
Just as he made his way to the door, Sam glanced at him, for no apparent reason. Suddenly he felt like conversing with the man.
“Boy, what’s your name?” he asked with a smirk on his face.
The steward turned back swiftly. “Mike, Sir…My name is Mike” he smiled back.
“Oh Mike, tell me Mike, how long have you been working here?”
“A year, Sir” he smiled again.
There was no definite question in Sam’s mind but he was in a mood to linger on.
“So, do you like the work here?”
“I do, Sir”
Sam leaned on to his big leather chair. “So you are happy?” blurted out Sam and in the next instant he felt very disturbed again for a reason which he could not comprehend.
“My Parents are happy, Sir. They are very happy that I work in such a big office.”
It was as if the flood gates of emotions had been opened. Emotions gushed out of Sam’s closely guarded soul and took the form of tears in his eyes. With the blurred vision of reality, he managed to croak out-“You may go”.
The attendant politely bowed his head and went away with the same smile adorning his face.
Sam got up and came near the mirror. Was this Shyam Prabhat Saxena? He tracked his profile from head till toe. He was wearing a shining black Armani suit and was looking unnaturally neat today.
“Is that me?” His soul reverberated. Where is the Shyam who wore a cotton trouser and a casual white shirt to his first job? This was not Shyam. He is now what his colleagues call him as-Sam.
“My parents are happy”
The words still rang in his ears as they opened for him an avenue of long lost, long forgotten memories. Shyam remembered how he used to go out with his friends in Baroda , for a movie, 5 years back. How he used to enjoy the cluttered, dingy and occassionally smelly market place in Vasantnagar-how he used to come back from his office and feasted on the steaming ghee rotis made by his mother. He remembered the look of satisfaction in her eyes as she saw her son enjoying the food…
Where are those days? He might be doing a great job, earning lots of money, but is he at peace? Where are the lost days of simplicity? Everyone was happy with his job in India . But not he. He had dreams of making it really big one day. Shyam was a big shot excecutive now with a humungous contract salary, two cars, several attendants and a beautiful house in a posh colony.
But he existed alone. All alone. Life had shown him a dream and while pursuing that, he had moved so ahead that he could not see anybody in the vicinity now.
As he stared from the window down to the streets with microscopic objects moving around far far away from him, he felt cold, cheated and helpless. How long has he not called his parents back in India . They were still not able to believe that their son was staying abroad. It was a numb feeling but were they happy? There has been so many instances that Shyam had rejected a call from his father as he was in the middle of a meeting. He had always brushed off his mother’s willingness to stay with him in New york , postponing it for months, stating lack of time to arrange for it.
What has he done? What has he become?
Shyam could not take it anymore. He placed his head against the cool glass of the window closing his eyes with a deep sense of emptiness in his heart.
Knock Knock
It was the steward.
“Oh Mike, come in”,managed the Senior manager of Apex.
Mike brought in the tray consisting of the bottle of wine, a crystal clear glass and a tumbler of ice with tongs in it.
“Shall I make a drink, sir?”
“No”said Shyam. “I don’t need it”
He refused to be intoxicated.
Mike left the room with the same smile on his lips as Shyam, disillusioned, took up his phone to call back home.
The Beatles assignment
Popular culture got a new name in the “Sixties”. It even got a new brand of music, a distinct hairstyle, a carefree lifestyle and a global phenomenon. It was called The Beatles. No Rock and Roll group had such a massive influence over the generation and the world as The Beatles. Comprising of the awesome foursome-John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals), the group is a timeless trend of what youth music and tireless popularity can be.
The Journey-Rise and Fall
John Lennon was the founder of a skiffle band in Liverpool called The Quarrymen. As luck would have it, he chanced upon meeting guitarist Paul McCartney at the Woolton Garden Fête, held at St. Peter's Church, one fine day, and he was absorbed into the group. Soon McCartney managed to bring in George Harrison, an aquaintance, to the group, inspite of the initial reluctance by Lennon about his age. Thus in 1957-58 began the journey of three of our heroes-young, confused and with passion in their hearts-a journey that would lead them (along with the later entry of Ringo Starr) to become the cynosure of millions of eyes and the delight of admiring pairs of ears. With the suggestion of the bass guitarist of The Quarrymen,Stuart Sutcliffe and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Lennon, the band changed their names to The Beatles after a "brainstorming session over a beer-soaked table in the Renshaw Hall bar." During an interview in 2001, McCartney took credit for the peculiar spelling of the name, saying that "John had the idea of calling us the Beetles; I said, 'How about The Beatles; you know, like the beat of the drum?' At the time, everyone was stoned enough to find it hilarious. It's funny how history is made." Soon the group went and hired Pete best, who played with The Blackjacks in The Casbah Coffee club.He appropiately filled up the vacancy of a drummer in the group. From 1961 to 1962 The Beatles made 292 appearances at The Cavern club, culminating in a final appearance there on 3 August 1963.Meanwhile Sutcliffe left the group and McCartney took over the bass.A significant change occurred in the group when Peter best, due to his controversial antics and incongruous nature,got dismissed from the group and in came Ringo Starr, the drummer of one of the top Merseybeat band,Rory Storms and the Hurricane. The first recordings of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr together were made as early as 15 October 1960, in a series of demonstration records privately recorded in Hamburg while acting as the backing group for singer Lu Walters. The Beatles' first EMI session on 6 June 1962 did not yield any recordings considered worthy of release, but the September sessions a few months later produced a minor UK hit "Love Me Do", which peaked on the charts at number seventeen."Love Me Do" would reach the top of the U.S. singles chart over eighteen months later in May 1964.
The first album of the group was Please please Me.The group started with their success in UK during 1962-63 with hit singles such as “Please please me", Till There Was You" and “I want to hold your hand”. Soon the songs branched out to the United States with growing popularity of the group among American teenagers. The record “I want to hold your hands” sold one million copies in just ten days, and by 16 January 1964, Cashbox magazine had certified the record number one.They were received among much pomp and fanfare in the States with fans waiting in queues and among the crowd for hours, just to catch a glimpse of their favourite idols. Other LPs such as The Beatles vs the Four seasons, The early beatles, Hear the beatles tell all (an interview with the members),Rubber soul, RevolverBeatles for sale, Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely hearts club band, Yellow submarine and so on followed and were translated into popular albums. Hits like “My Bonnie”, “Aint she sweet”, “I saw her standing there”, “She loves you”, “I will get you” generated mass hysteria all over the Atlantic. On 6 June 1964, A Hard Day's Night, the first movie starring The Beatles, was released in the United Kingdom.In June 1965, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed the four Beatles Members of the Order of the British Empire, MBE. In July 1965, The Beatles's second feature film, Help!, was released. The film was accompanied by the band's fifth British studio album Help!, which also functioned as the soundtrack for the movie. On 15 August 1965, The Beatles performed the first major stadium concert in the history of rock 'n' roll at Shea Stadium in New York to a staggering crowd of 55,600.In 1968, there began some unfortunate differences among the band members with Starr temporarily leaving the band and Lennon providing more time for his girlfriend, Yoko Ono. McCartney was also alleged to be very authorative in his dealings and leaving less space for adjustments. The Beatles recorded their final album, Abbey Road, in the summer of 1969. The completion of the song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" for the album on 20 August 1969 was the last time all four Beatles were together in the same studio.
The controversies
History says that almost all celebrities has had their share of controversies and their record of getting into scuffles, sometimes minor. With the contribution of papparazzi to that, the incidents are generally inflated and they register themselves in our minds in a major way.The beatles faced as much contentiousness as much they tasted success.During a prominent tour in Phillipines,The Beatles did not agree the breakfast invitation by the country’s first lady without realizing the disastrous consequences. They were viewed with utter contempt and disgrace from the countrymen. They had to face the ire of the people and the government there. Lennon’s controversial statement that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus now” sparked off lashes of revolt from the conservatives and the general public alike. Towns across the United States and South Africa started to burn Beatles records in protest. The group's two-year series of Capitol compilations also took a strange twist in the United States when one of their publicity shots, used for a Yesterday and Today album and a poster promoting the UK release of "Paperback Writer", created an uproar, as it featured the band dressed in butchers' overalls, draped in meat and plastic dolls. Elvis Presley, though a friend earlier, apparently disapproved of The Beatles's anti-war activism and open use of drugs, later asking President Richard Nixon to ban all four members of the group from entering the United States. Apart from these, The Beatles had to come up to terms with much more criticisms for their drug overdoses.
Beatlemania
The rage of The Beatles spread all over the world during their career. People went into extreme frenzy over the music of the group that dominated all other forms and groups over a decade. The mop-top haircut began to be emulated by millions. The black and grey suits belonging to the mod youth cult and their tight-fitting, cuban-heeled, ankle-length boots with a pointed toe took the fans by storm. Caricatures of The Beatles were incorporated in TV shows, video games and documentaries. Bands like Badfinger, The Monkeys, Oasis were termed Beatlesque for their adherence to the musical techniques practised by The Beatles.
Indian Connection
The group spent the early part of 1968 in Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh, India, studying transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.Their prime intention behind coming to India was to discover inner peace through meditation under the effective guidance of Maharshi yogi. They wanted to transcend the constraints of Materialism and purify their souls.With their venture in India the Western press followed them all the way to the country and tried to shed light on the till now unexplored abysses of the Ashrams in India. Their time at the Maharishi's ashram was highly productive from a musical standpoint, as many of the songs that would later be recorded for The Beatles (White Album) and Abbey Road were composed there by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. Harrison showed his socio-political consciousness and earned respect for his contribution for arranging the Concert For Bangladesh in New York City in August 1971 along with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.The Beatles were also known for their use of unconventional use of instruments. They used Indian instruments like sitar in “Norwegian wood” (The Bird has Flown) and the swarmandal in “Strawberry fields forever”.
source : the internet
The Journey-Rise and Fall
John Lennon was the founder of a skiffle band in Liverpool called The Quarrymen. As luck would have it, he chanced upon meeting guitarist Paul McCartney at the Woolton Garden Fête, held at St. Peter's Church, one fine day, and he was absorbed into the group. Soon McCartney managed to bring in George Harrison, an aquaintance, to the group, inspite of the initial reluctance by Lennon about his age. Thus in 1957-58 began the journey of three of our heroes-young, confused and with passion in their hearts-a journey that would lead them (along with the later entry of Ringo Starr) to become the cynosure of millions of eyes and the delight of admiring pairs of ears. With the suggestion of the bass guitarist of The Quarrymen,Stuart Sutcliffe and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Lennon, the band changed their names to The Beatles after a "brainstorming session over a beer-soaked table in the Renshaw Hall bar." During an interview in 2001, McCartney took credit for the peculiar spelling of the name, saying that "John had the idea of calling us the Beetles; I said, 'How about The Beatles; you know, like the beat of the drum?' At the time, everyone was stoned enough to find it hilarious. It's funny how history is made." Soon the group went and hired Pete best, who played with The Blackjacks in The Casbah Coffee club.He appropiately filled up the vacancy of a drummer in the group. From 1961 to 1962 The Beatles made 292 appearances at The Cavern club, culminating in a final appearance there on 3 August 1963.Meanwhile Sutcliffe left the group and McCartney took over the bass.A significant change occurred in the group when Peter best, due to his controversial antics and incongruous nature,got dismissed from the group and in came Ringo Starr, the drummer of one of the top Merseybeat band,Rory Storms and the Hurricane. The first recordings of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr together were made as early as 15 October 1960, in a series of demonstration records privately recorded in Hamburg while acting as the backing group for singer Lu Walters. The Beatles' first EMI session on 6 June 1962 did not yield any recordings considered worthy of release, but the September sessions a few months later produced a minor UK hit "Love Me Do", which peaked on the charts at number seventeen."Love Me Do" would reach the top of the U.S. singles chart over eighteen months later in May 1964.
The first album of the group was Please please Me.The group started with their success in UK during 1962-63 with hit singles such as “Please please me", Till There Was You" and “I want to hold your hand”. Soon the songs branched out to the United States with growing popularity of the group among American teenagers. The record “I want to hold your hands” sold one million copies in just ten days, and by 16 January 1964, Cashbox magazine had certified the record number one.They were received among much pomp and fanfare in the States with fans waiting in queues and among the crowd for hours, just to catch a glimpse of their favourite idols. Other LPs such as The Beatles vs the Four seasons, The early beatles, Hear the beatles tell all (an interview with the members),Rubber soul, RevolverBeatles for sale, Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely hearts club band, Yellow submarine and so on followed and were translated into popular albums. Hits like “My Bonnie”, “Aint she sweet”, “I saw her standing there”, “She loves you”, “I will get you” generated mass hysteria all over the Atlantic. On 6 June 1964, A Hard Day's Night, the first movie starring The Beatles, was released in the United Kingdom.In June 1965, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed the four Beatles Members of the Order of the British Empire, MBE. In July 1965, The Beatles's second feature film, Help!, was released. The film was accompanied by the band's fifth British studio album Help!, which also functioned as the soundtrack for the movie. On 15 August 1965, The Beatles performed the first major stadium concert in the history of rock 'n' roll at Shea Stadium in New York to a staggering crowd of 55,600.In 1968, there began some unfortunate differences among the band members with Starr temporarily leaving the band and Lennon providing more time for his girlfriend, Yoko Ono. McCartney was also alleged to be very authorative in his dealings and leaving less space for adjustments. The Beatles recorded their final album, Abbey Road, in the summer of 1969. The completion of the song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" for the album on 20 August 1969 was the last time all four Beatles were together in the same studio.
The controversies
History says that almost all celebrities has had their share of controversies and their record of getting into scuffles, sometimes minor. With the contribution of papparazzi to that, the incidents are generally inflated and they register themselves in our minds in a major way.The beatles faced as much contentiousness as much they tasted success.During a prominent tour in Phillipines,The Beatles did not agree the breakfast invitation by the country’s first lady without realizing the disastrous consequences. They were viewed with utter contempt and disgrace from the countrymen. They had to face the ire of the people and the government there. Lennon’s controversial statement that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus now” sparked off lashes of revolt from the conservatives and the general public alike. Towns across the United States and South Africa started to burn Beatles records in protest. The group's two-year series of Capitol compilations also took a strange twist in the United States when one of their publicity shots, used for a Yesterday and Today album and a poster promoting the UK release of "Paperback Writer", created an uproar, as it featured the band dressed in butchers' overalls, draped in meat and plastic dolls. Elvis Presley, though a friend earlier, apparently disapproved of The Beatles's anti-war activism and open use of drugs, later asking President Richard Nixon to ban all four members of the group from entering the United States. Apart from these, The Beatles had to come up to terms with much more criticisms for their drug overdoses.
Beatlemania
The rage of The Beatles spread all over the world during their career. People went into extreme frenzy over the music of the group that dominated all other forms and groups over a decade. The mop-top haircut began to be emulated by millions. The black and grey suits belonging to the mod youth cult and their tight-fitting, cuban-heeled, ankle-length boots with a pointed toe took the fans by storm. Caricatures of The Beatles were incorporated in TV shows, video games and documentaries. Bands like Badfinger, The Monkeys, Oasis were termed Beatlesque for their adherence to the musical techniques practised by The Beatles.
Indian Connection
The group spent the early part of 1968 in Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh, India, studying transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.Their prime intention behind coming to India was to discover inner peace through meditation under the effective guidance of Maharshi yogi. They wanted to transcend the constraints of Materialism and purify their souls.With their venture in India the Western press followed them all the way to the country and tried to shed light on the till now unexplored abysses of the Ashrams in India. Their time at the Maharishi's ashram was highly productive from a musical standpoint, as many of the songs that would later be recorded for The Beatles (White Album) and Abbey Road were composed there by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. Harrison showed his socio-political consciousness and earned respect for his contribution for arranging the Concert For Bangladesh in New York City in August 1971 along with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.The Beatles were also known for their use of unconventional use of instruments. They used Indian instruments like sitar in “Norwegian wood” (The Bird has Flown) and the swarmandal in “Strawberry fields forever”.
source : the internet
A party under a moonlit sky
Unparalleled bliss visits me twice a year, when my father comes back home. Among the premeditated celebrations I try to fit in those two weeks, one of the most enjoyable is the lavish get-together that we hold. It’s essentially a small gathering attended by friends from our colony and is generally held on our sprawling terrace under a moonlit sky and a makeshift bulb.
Preparations begin in the morning of the D-day with all the families arranging for their culinary contributions. We, being the host, get the terrace cleaned and organize the event to the last detail, giving equal weightage to the snacks bought as well as the music equipments arranged. The party usually begins at eight in the evening with some inevitable latecomers sneaking in till 9’o’Clock with a ritualistic excuse of “Sorry, had some work to do.” or “Oh ! Was it 8 p.m?”
We sit on large mats and improvised bedcovers, munching on chips and sipping cold drinks. While the parents sit together with their alcohol, casual Sunday wear and conversations that push behind the materialistic pursuits they engage in everyday, people of our age group together to discuss the latest movie or criticize the current scandal in the locality. Music plays on in the background which suffers a constant threat of being reprimanded by the elders for invading their territory. Soon, dinner is served in neat melamine plates and we break into an innocent fight to have the lion’s share of food on them.
The party is followed by some light discussion gradually veering towards philosophy (With the stars twinkling, a light breeze blowing, full stomach and heavy eyes, I would not blame the theme of our discourse). The gathering comes to an end with guests leaving with filled stomachs and fulfilled souls and the resonance of the party lingering on for days.
Preparations begin in the morning of the D-day with all the families arranging for their culinary contributions. We, being the host, get the terrace cleaned and organize the event to the last detail, giving equal weightage to the snacks bought as well as the music equipments arranged. The party usually begins at eight in the evening with some inevitable latecomers sneaking in till 9’o’Clock with a ritualistic excuse of “Sorry, had some work to do.” or “Oh ! Was it 8 p.m?”
We sit on large mats and improvised bedcovers, munching on chips and sipping cold drinks. While the parents sit together with their alcohol, casual Sunday wear and conversations that push behind the materialistic pursuits they engage in everyday, people of our age group together to discuss the latest movie or criticize the current scandal in the locality. Music plays on in the background which suffers a constant threat of being reprimanded by the elders for invading their territory. Soon, dinner is served in neat melamine plates and we break into an innocent fight to have the lion’s share of food on them.
The party is followed by some light discussion gradually veering towards philosophy (With the stars twinkling, a light breeze blowing, full stomach and heavy eyes, I would not blame the theme of our discourse). The gathering comes to an end with guests leaving with filled stomachs and fulfilled souls and the resonance of the party lingering on for days.
The Emergency emerges from the dusty files...
The Emergency emerges from the dusty files…
The voice of the voiceless, the immense discomfort and the gurgling rage gets restricted in the silent stutter of the constrained souls. They grunt, they gripe, their eyeballs almost pop out of their sockets in a lame attempt to get their voice heard. But there is vacuum everywhere. They cannot listen to their own shrieks; they can only look at their throbbing veins and the futile tears leaving an evaporating coolness-the only consolation-the possession of personal tragedy. For centuries, people, to whom injustice has been meted out, have been concealing this self of theirs. They come out in sudden snatches of idiosyncrasies when they question their own existence…what is the purpose of this life? Why has it happened?
The Indian Emergency [25th June 1975–21st March 1977] was a 21-month period, when President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, upon advice by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, effectively bestowing on her the power to rule by decree, suspending elections and civil liberties. This is one of the most controversial periods of Indian history. The opponents, mainly the Janata Dal, under the leadership of Jaiprakash narayan, rubbished the Congress victory of the 1971 elections,as being won by fraudulent practices. Jaiprakash Narayan started an agitation in Bihar protesting against the Central government through satyagrahas. Under his initiative, people ceased to cooperate with the government directives and revolted against the government. This minor agitation was attempted to be quelled by the iron grip of the emergency period, so as not to take the shape of a nationwide movement.
Emma Tarlo’s “Narratives of Emergency” spotlights on the long lost and the blood smeared history of the period as she steals a look behind the rusty cupboards where the unheard and uncared for voices are dugged in dusty files.They haver been silenced by long years of negligence and concealment by the authorities. The unsettling memories can be comprehended once the accounts are read through. The book is a document of the terrible insecurity of the victims of the emergency, muted and blinded by the Government who tried and succeded in shoving the incidents under the realm of insignificance. The actual scene was not projected to the world. The state ensured the regulation of the public memory and many a witnesses were gagged and strangled by the fear of worse consequences.
The book holds up the true picture of the injustice and the wickedness of pseudo-democracy prevailing in that period. The government tried its best to underplay and pass off the incidents as brief “moments of madness”.
Under the veneer of a grand 20-point plan which had its share of discrepancies, attrocities were rampant. Ms. Gandhi started dislocation and relocation of slums in order to “beautify” the capital. Under the sword of her mother’s dictatorship, Sanjay gandhi also started compulsory vasectomy against the will of the people. Those who revolted were mercilessly beaten up.Terror ruled everywhere. Women were raped, shops were looted.All these mayhem caused much discomfort and disturbance to the common people who were shaken beyond their belief. Violence took the shape of a necessary ritual and upheld the alibi of its cause to move forward a society. This shattered the image of India being an essentially non-violent country.The much propagated “clean up” drive was more aimed at sweeping the poor to the outskirts of the capital so as to “beautify” it. This enforced localisation was a serious constraint for the people.
The state took a backseat during the procedings.. Corruption was rampant ; bribery and red-tapism prevailed everywhere. It is alleged the Indian “Hitler” even put the corrupt officials to high posts.Emma Tarlo, as an anthropologist, pierces through the documents as “evidences” and not mere “paper truths”. She stumbles upon the recorded monstrosity of facts from where emanates the soft silent sad music of human existence and thread between the individuals who share the common sentiments of pain. Emma records how the resettlement colony of “Welcome” soon turned into a den of criminals and all sorts of unsocial activities began to take place following the lack of adequate attention.The dearth of human kindness was felt everywhere.
Indira Gandhi, in her public speech, sounded artificially grandiose in stating that she was arresting people for the betterment of the country.and termed it as “necessary”. She pledged to reprimand the groups wedded to terror and murder. Press censorship was implemented and it invited the ire of journalists and eminent thinkers all over. It sent waves of protest as the press was gagged from voicing out any anti-government opinions. Journalists were jailed and seriously threatened. There are records of journalists killed during the emergency. The police was perceived everywhere as the mafia of the country, chucking tear gas shells everywhere and beating up protestors mercilessly. When asked, the uniformed figures had only one thing to say- they were only following orders.
Thus, the period of Emergency is a serious blot on India’s democratic record. The government fed on the carcasses of innocent thousands to maintain power and dominance. The story of people’s suffering is brought forward poignantly by the book and it opens the dam of the sorrow and lays bare the inhuman treatment by the government and the irreparable damages made to the people. Emma Tarlo embarks on a nostalgic journey to the past and discovers a whole new space of suffering souls, till now silenced by oppression and negligence. The book opens up a tunnel of soulless existence and portrays the picture of a helpless present looking back at a terrible past and staring at a bleak future.
The voice of the voiceless, the immense discomfort and the gurgling rage gets restricted in the silent stutter of the constrained souls. They grunt, they gripe, their eyeballs almost pop out of their sockets in a lame attempt to get their voice heard. But there is vacuum everywhere. They cannot listen to their own shrieks; they can only look at their throbbing veins and the futile tears leaving an evaporating coolness-the only consolation-the possession of personal tragedy. For centuries, people, to whom injustice has been meted out, have been concealing this self of theirs. They come out in sudden snatches of idiosyncrasies when they question their own existence…what is the purpose of this life? Why has it happened?
The Indian Emergency [25th June 1975–21st March 1977] was a 21-month period, when President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, upon advice by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, effectively bestowing on her the power to rule by decree, suspending elections and civil liberties. This is one of the most controversial periods of Indian history. The opponents, mainly the Janata Dal, under the leadership of Jaiprakash narayan, rubbished the Congress victory of the 1971 elections,as being won by fraudulent practices. Jaiprakash Narayan started an agitation in Bihar protesting against the Central government through satyagrahas. Under his initiative, people ceased to cooperate with the government directives and revolted against the government. This minor agitation was attempted to be quelled by the iron grip of the emergency period, so as not to take the shape of a nationwide movement.
Emma Tarlo’s “Narratives of Emergency” spotlights on the long lost and the blood smeared history of the period as she steals a look behind the rusty cupboards where the unheard and uncared for voices are dugged in dusty files.They haver been silenced by long years of negligence and concealment by the authorities. The unsettling memories can be comprehended once the accounts are read through. The book is a document of the terrible insecurity of the victims of the emergency, muted and blinded by the Government who tried and succeded in shoving the incidents under the realm of insignificance. The actual scene was not projected to the world. The state ensured the regulation of the public memory and many a witnesses were gagged and strangled by the fear of worse consequences.
The book holds up the true picture of the injustice and the wickedness of pseudo-democracy prevailing in that period. The government tried its best to underplay and pass off the incidents as brief “moments of madness”.
Under the veneer of a grand 20-point plan which had its share of discrepancies, attrocities were rampant. Ms. Gandhi started dislocation and relocation of slums in order to “beautify” the capital. Under the sword of her mother’s dictatorship, Sanjay gandhi also started compulsory vasectomy against the will of the people. Those who revolted were mercilessly beaten up.Terror ruled everywhere. Women were raped, shops were looted.All these mayhem caused much discomfort and disturbance to the common people who were shaken beyond their belief. Violence took the shape of a necessary ritual and upheld the alibi of its cause to move forward a society. This shattered the image of India being an essentially non-violent country.The much propagated “clean up” drive was more aimed at sweeping the poor to the outskirts of the capital so as to “beautify” it. This enforced localisation was a serious constraint for the people.
The state took a backseat during the procedings.. Corruption was rampant ; bribery and red-tapism prevailed everywhere. It is alleged the Indian “Hitler” even put the corrupt officials to high posts.Emma Tarlo, as an anthropologist, pierces through the documents as “evidences” and not mere “paper truths”. She stumbles upon the recorded monstrosity of facts from where emanates the soft silent sad music of human existence and thread between the individuals who share the common sentiments of pain. Emma records how the resettlement colony of “Welcome” soon turned into a den of criminals and all sorts of unsocial activities began to take place following the lack of adequate attention.The dearth of human kindness was felt everywhere.
Indira Gandhi, in her public speech, sounded artificially grandiose in stating that she was arresting people for the betterment of the country.and termed it as “necessary”. She pledged to reprimand the groups wedded to terror and murder. Press censorship was implemented and it invited the ire of journalists and eminent thinkers all over. It sent waves of protest as the press was gagged from voicing out any anti-government opinions. Journalists were jailed and seriously threatened. There are records of journalists killed during the emergency. The police was perceived everywhere as the mafia of the country, chucking tear gas shells everywhere and beating up protestors mercilessly. When asked, the uniformed figures had only one thing to say- they were only following orders.
Thus, the period of Emergency is a serious blot on India’s democratic record. The government fed on the carcasses of innocent thousands to maintain power and dominance. The story of people’s suffering is brought forward poignantly by the book and it opens the dam of the sorrow and lays bare the inhuman treatment by the government and the irreparable damages made to the people. Emma Tarlo embarks on a nostalgic journey to the past and discovers a whole new space of suffering souls, till now silenced by oppression and negligence. The book opens up a tunnel of soulless existence and portrays the picture of a helpless present looking back at a terrible past and staring at a bleak future.
Rambling in rain
Its raining...
and its cold too.cold that injects my weakly guarded strong soul. cold that spears down to the core of sensitivity and tickles the cartilage of the destitute lonely that wanders through unchartered streets.
The streets are dry. the wind is hollow and the destiny of that empty street is designed by the pattern of surging sameness found in the dry crumpled leaves of an existence that has ceased to breathe fresh.
The pain jabs and the throat becomes parch.it sends shivers which culminates in goosebumps. the ears buzz and the vision blurs...
what am i? where am i? how am l? ahen am i? who am i?
who is i...
Monday, July 14, 2008
The pitter patter in my dreams.
Blogging will be a luxury now. Its a new city, a new episode, a new beginning with the roots becoming stronger and the music turning fainter (I am making an effort though)
"Steady" will be buzz word these 10 months or so.
...And there's no place like Kolkata on this planet.
I dont miss nothing....
"Steady" will be buzz word these 10 months or so.
...And there's no place like Kolkata on this planet.
I dont miss nothing....
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