My Musings

Musings....... I thought I had done justice to the 2019 protests through my previous Musings. Later I realised my folly that I had just touched the tip of the Iceberg.  In fact the seemingly small protests had snowballed into huge protests with its geographical extent extending into both hemispheres. Now it’s been dubbed the Global Protest Wave of 2019 !!  Confining myself to Latin America in my last article was a deliberate attempt to highlight the ply of the people in a hitherto lesser known part of the world. However, I now realise I have opened up a Pandora’s box and would not do justice without writing about protests elsewhere.   ASIA  Hong Kong  The 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill was seen as a threat to Hong Kong’s autonomy from the People’s Republic of China. These protests of the people were similar to the Occupy Hong Kong Protests of 2011 and the Umbrella movement of 2014 where the protesters were mainly fighting for social and economic...

Musings....... 2019 was a year of protests and most notable of them were the Latin American. Also called Primavera Latinoamericana or The Latin American Spring, these protests have rattled institutions and corrupt governments.  Even thought that part of the world is not oblivious to protests against establishment, what stands out this time is the spontaneity of the protests with immediate triggers being trivial to say the least. Venenzuela Most well known country from the Latin Americas, especially all the way down here in Kerala. We have had our Communist Finance Minister emulating Venenzuelan Schemes in Keralas budget at one time. Malayalis fixation with Communism, the everlasting fight against the Bourgeois and the emancipation of the proletariat - a dream which seems to have lost its way- finds solace in giving examples from far away Cuba and Venenzuela for prestige. However, the state of those countries and its impoverished people do not give us any hope. Nonetheless I d...

Musings....... I cannot help but write!! The situation in India is pathetic right now to the extent that if I write on any subject other than this, there is a high chance of myself be labelled insensitive. Words like Destruction of Democracy and carnage of secular India are just understatements. Popular protests and demonstration have been the hallmark of Indian democracy - Satyagraha the term and theme coined by our own Mahatma. Peaceful protests in India is spiritual emancipation of the masses according to Gandhi. The recent amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1955 is testimony to the fact that we are being ruled by a fascist, right wing government with an agenda of making Secular India into a “Hindu Rashtra”. Myself being a Hindu I would like to state categorically that I won’t be happy living under a Hindu king!! Gone are the days of Kings and Monarchs. We live in modern day Democracy under Rule of Law!! Matter at hand is Citizenship Amendment Act ( CAA) Without much ad...

Musings....... Kurds The Kurds are an Iranian ethnic group native to mountainous regions of Western Asia known as Kurdistan which includes Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Northern Syria. Hence we can see that the Kurds do not have a state of their own. Estimates give their population between 30 and 45 million. Majority of Kurds belong to Sunni Islam sect but many also belong to Shia Islam, Alevism, Yazidism ( Nadia Murad fame ) Yarsanism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Kurds have an autonomous region in Iraq named Kurdistan region. The Kurds speak Kurdish the native language besides language of their native origin like Arabic, Persian and Turkish. The Kurdish Nationalist movement emerged after World War I with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire which had integrated the Kurds through use of force and repression. Present situation - Turkey- The Kurds have formed the Kurdistan Workers Party ( PKK) a militant organisation which fights the Turkish Government for cultural and politi...

Musings....... I happened to watch the recently released movie JOKER in a multiplex with my better half and the experience was one of a kind. I am no movie critic but am finding it hard not to write.  Being an ardent fan of Batman as a child and having watched both editions of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Night, it was with childlike curiosity that I awaited for JOKER as were millions of fans of the franchise the world over. It was not dampening that the other DC movies such as Suicide Squad or the Justice League had bombed at the box office because the trailer to Joker has something to it. Todd Philips the director has enthralled us all with his comic The Hangover trilogy , or Borat for that matter.  However with Joker, Todd Philips has elevated himself to the echelons of filmmaking. Acting in the titular role as Joker, Joaquin Phoenix has played the role of his life.  The role an actor will be remembered for life. Joker is probably what Titanic was for Leonardo DeC...

Musings....... My Gandhi....... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or Gandhiji, the Mahatma as he is known has always been a part of our lives. Growing up in India there will be no single person who wouldn’t have been influenced by Gandhi even in present times. From his picture in the currency notes to Gandhijis famous Talisman in our NCERT school textbooks, he remained a part of our childhood. Gandhijis talisman aside, in New Delhi where I grew up as a child, Gandhi filled our daily life as in statues in front of the Parliament House, or the Gyara Moorthi statue depicting the Dandi March/ Salt Satyagraha. Our knowledge on Gandhi evolved from our textbooks.  On how he as a child regretted lying to his parents and upheld high moral standards of truthfulness since then,  on how he as a young man ate meat to regret it immediately or sought sexual gratification and again repented.  Honesty and Truthfulness became the cornerstone of Gandhijis mantra. Then we learnt of how he ...

Musings....... News everywhere seems to revolve around Climate change.  There has been no time in recent history that Climate change has received such comprehensive coverage in the mainstream media.  Suddenly Climate change and Global Warming seems to sell. This is good news. However the transformation has not been easy. We have seen many mainstream media houses showing reluctance, -especially in the western countries and developed nations- the so called NORTH countries- to accept and give importance to issues of climate change. So what has got about this transformation of sorts. You could say US President Donald Trump is one of the reasons for the change in attitude of the press.  At least the mainstream media in US ,which is at loggerheads with their President has resorted to disagree with whatever he stands for and says.  Taking to Twitter to dispense important policy matters have made the media there as mute spectators losing relevance. The other reason be...