A Maoist Morning

Woke up at my usual timings, about 9:30 (and that too when threatened menacingly by mom). Brushed and gazed upon the newspaper. Damn! Those Maoists slayed some 30 policemen (including an SP!). Now this is too much. All the stupid state governments seems absolutely helpless against the hit-and-run tactics of these (severely misguided) guerrillas. So much so that the Islamic terrorists nowadays seem puny to these Chinese wannabes (with the Central government actually corroborating the fact).

I remember a few days ago, when this Lalgarh operation was at it's height, I happened to be at a mobile shop buying a recharge voucher. At that moment an extremely lean and thin man, with dense shoulder length hair, draped in clothes that might give even Mahatma Gandhi a run for his money, entered the shop. The guy was surely a tribal, that was quite evident. With a sort of stupid smiling grin eked on his face he slowly made his way over to the counter. He wanted to buy a mobile. He looked around a little and thereafter engaged in a lengthy discussion with the saleswoman (who was extremely fat, I might add). And there was I standing in a corner, looking rather suspiciously at this newcomer. All this tribal-maoist-lalgarh thing had made an impact. All tribals or even tribal looking people could now be branded as Maoists.

Two days later I saw (again) two rather tribal looking people on a motorbike near the aforementioned mobile shop. The first thought again in my mind was - 'Maoists'.

I really hate myself for that. This is like branding a whole community with the guilt of one. This is what war and hate makes us do. This is the same thing as saying that every Muslim is a terrorist, and that every damn Assamese belongs to the ULFA. This is what happened to the Irish during 'The Troubles' when every Irishman was thought to be the IRA, and this is what's happening now in this 'Global War on Terror' - whole communities are being branded for life.

And nobody's feeling sorry.

Lilja 4-ever: A Review

Now what is this? It's a Swedish film (though mostly in Russian and not very famous). And how I came to know about it is a little story in itself.
I am a fan of the Bourne film series, and just out of curiousity (I simply love to read about my favourite films) I was researching about the whole series. While going about it I came across Oksana Akinshina who had a small role in the second Bourne film, The Bourne Supremacy. Reading further about her, I found that she was in a highly acclaimed film 'Lilja 4-ever' by a Swedish director, Lukas Moodysson a few years earlier (in 2002). From the inrefutable Sir Wikipedia I came to know that this film was about poverty and human trafficking in Europe. Hmmm... for a person like me sitting in India, it is sometimes a little tough to visualize such evils (usually associated with third world countries) amongst the picturesque slopes of Europe. The user comments in IMDb further tempted me, and at last I decided, "Yes! It must be viewed." And indeed it was.

Shot in a partly documentary manner and set in some former USSR republic, it is an extremely bleak drama about a girl named Lilja (pronounced Lilya). It's the story of her downward spiral as her life goes from bad to absolute hell. The starting scene with the Rammstein song 'My Heart Burns' sets the harsh tone of the film as it tries to highlight the dual issues of human trafficking and sexual slavery. The sex montages are successful in juxtaposing the ugliness of the world and of the men who take advantage of another's distress and the innocence of Lilja. Volodja's character is also quite touching, especially the rooftop scene with Lilja. The story and the charcterisation both score well, and speak volumes about the talent of Lukas Moodysson. The movies is sad, but it's sad for a reason.

Plus factors: Realistic direction, strong story, good characterisation, good acting.
Minus factors: Poor editing, poor sound mixing.
Overall: It's good, but could have been really better.
My IMDb score: 7/10

The Great Question of Article 377

The whole country at the present moment seems to be in the throes of a second sexual revolution, with the spotlight on the 'criminality' of homosexuality. The government's favourable approach to decriminisation of homosexuality has almost light up a thousand candles for the homosexuality community. The almost daily rallies and gay pride parades are a testimonial to this fact. Intellectuals are having a field day espousing the cause, while the conservative circles are expectantly demonizing the move.

Well, as for taking sides, let me declare that I severely denounce Article 377. I vehemently believe that the government nor the police should have any right to censor or regulate own's sexuality, unless and until it is physically injurious to others. And if two consenting adults choose do something a little differently, and nobody's getting hurt, and nobody's complaining, what damn case can the police possibly have? Terrorists, militants, robberies, rapes, murders, scams, the police have already enough shite on their hands rather than bothering about this.

As for the Article 377 itself, I am presently not clear on its physical implications conviction-wise it had on the society till now because, frankly speaking, I never heard a person being 'convicted' of being a homosexual. So its only evident effect is the suppression of homosexuals, and disabling them from being open about their sexual status. And this is bad enough. Living a life with a major part of your personality suppressed is certainly not my idea of a life worth living.

Down with 377!!

Islamic Bicycles??

It's seems that Iran's an innovative palce, and it's mad mullahs quite creative after all! Not a day seems to pass without the (so called) leaders thinking of new and exciting ways to control the people. What are they so worried about? Read this, and then get a load of the new bike.

Iran is to start manufacturing "Islamic bicycles" for women that conceals their figure, the government newspaper of Iran reported on Thursday. "This bike has a cabin which conceals half of the cyclist's body," the newspaper said. Elaheh Sofali, an architect of the project, told Iran it would encourage women's sports in the Islamic republic. Faezeh Hashemi, a daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was instrumental in encouraging women to take to the saddle in the 1990s when she was in charge of women's participation in the Olympics. But she was opposed by Islamic hardliners.

Well really, that's what happens when you hand over the reins of power to a couple of madmen. Imagine yourself in a cabin on your cycle! My, my I would die laughing. But certainly this is not a very humorous thing back there in Iran. The question is whether the bicycle will be mandatory for women or merely an optional alternative. If obligatory, then "Islamic bike" will take civil rights restrictions in Iran to new lows.

Well as far the reports go, it all seems to be another 'Islamic' decree. But some rather funny conspiracy theorists have already started blaming some 'mad businessman', who according to them, is trying to monopolize the bicycle market!

Well, any guesses for the next 'Islamic' decree? Even while walking down the road, cover yourself in tin boxes (apart from the burqa of course)! More 'protection' you see...

PS: Iran's human rights case is already too famous to be talked about. The exact context of the video below is not clear. But it is apparently a woman being arrested as part of the "wear your hijab correctly or else" crackdown in Tehran. Note the nice kick at the end. Such videos are abundant in mighty Youtube