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Rabble Rousing Random Ramblings by S Jagadish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Raj Thackeray wants "classical language" status for Marathi
First, there was Tamil, four years ago. A week ago, it was the turn of Telugu & Kannada.
Given this, can Malayalam be far behind?
I'm not implying that Kannada, Telugu or Malayalam don't deserve the tag while Tamil does. What's the big deal about that tag? The same grants, research chairs, etc. could have been instituted without the need to have even created that separate category called 'Classical Languages'.
The decision to grant "classical language" status for Tamil was a political one, a needless and ridiculous one at that, merely to ensure that the DMK supported the UPA.
Very soon we'll have claims from each language's representatives insisting that they also deserve the 'classical language' status. What next? Sun Music anchors claiming "classical language" status for the language that they speak? Raj Thackeray leading an agitation to claim "classical language" status for Marathi?
The UPA, and all future governments, will have to get used to requests from all and sundry, perhaps including NASSCOM demanding that status for C, C++, Java, etc.
Labels: chauvinism, kannada, language, malayalam, raj thackeray, tamil, telugu
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Water - the flavour of the fortnight
First, it was Canada's nominee to the Oscars, Deepa Mehta's movie 'Water', finding itself in the final shortlist in the 'Foreign Language Film' category.
Then, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had their usual tussle over the Kaveri/Cauvery. This time it was after the tribunal announced its decision. This resulted in most folks rushing back home early last Monday, a bandh yesterday and a total blackout of Tamil channels from cable television.
Here're a few questions for the morons who're responsible for this blackout, as well as others who support their stand:
- Do you seriously think an act of not allowing Tamil channels to be beamed to homes having cable TV is likely to get those sections of the Tamil populace who're still siding with Tamil Nadu, over to your side? I've been pissed off far too many times with this militant brand of Kannada chauvinism. I've reached the end of my patience. You've now officially lost any sort or empathy I'd have ever had.
- Are you protesting against the tribunal's decision? Last I checked, there were no Tamilians in the tribunal.
- Have you considered the fact that the politicians know that a review of the decision can be sought. Why do you need to cause hardship to the population at large if a review application is on the cards anyway?
- The bandh is over. You've had your bloody say and way. Can we have the channels back please? How long is this going to continue? Until you chaps have gone through the 1000-page order and then decided on which parts of Karnataka each of you is going to own for causing chaos?
- I'm unaware of the number of Kannadigas living in Tamil Nadu. I suspect the number will be far less than the number of Tamilians living in Karnataka. Yet, had the judgement gone the other way, consider the reality that one of those Kannadigas would have been writing a similar post, not me.
- Would you like it if say a relative of yours, living in Tamil Nadu and unable to comprehend/speak Tamil, was told summarily by a TNEB official to bloody well talk to him in Tamil since he was living in Tamil Nadu?
- Would you like it if that said relative was asked to shut up and bear the absence of Kannada channels since he should sympathize with Tamil Nadu's protests when he was in that state, else he could pack his bags and go? The above questions aren't rhetorical. I've had these put to me by officials at BESCOM and by my cable TV service provider.
The third water related issue that happened was Professor Raymond Lafitte declaring the India-Pakistan slugfest over the Baglihar dam as a draw, as was reported here last November. His decision gives Pakistan the boasting rights while India can move on with the construction of the dam, with a few changes, as Nitin writes. In total contrast to the transparency that it demands of governments, the World Bank as of now, doesn't even have a press release announcing the decision on its website. Purely going by Pakistan's attempts to paint the decision as vindicating its stand, it seems a classical case of the Tamil saying 'Kuppara vizhundhaalum meesaiyila mannu ottalai'. This is literrally translated as "Although I fell flat on my face, mud didn't stick to my face", and is a metaphor for a hopeless attempt at saving face!
Labels: baglihar, blackout, cable tv, cauvery, chauvinism, dispute, india, kannada, karnataka, kaveri, oscars, pakistan, tamil nadu, water
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"No more remakes", swear Tamil and Kannada film makers
The following happened today, triggered by an event around noon.
Offices, shops, schools etc. shut down very early, in the afternoon in fact. There were incidents of stone throwing, tyre burning, dharnas etc. despite the presence of policemen. Tamil channels went off the air on cable television because the cable operators' association was also protesting.
No, these didn't happen because Rajkumar died again or because there was yet another bandh in support of Karnataka's claims over Belgaum.
All that happened following the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's ruling today. The overall perception in Karnataka is that the decision favours Tamil Nadu. There're accusations of Karunanidhi (ab)using his Lok Sabha seats to get the decision in his favour. This obviously indicates that had the Congress (I) administrators in Karnataka done their job in the previous election (In 2004, the Congress (I) won 8 seats in Karnataka while the DMK won 16 from Tamil Nadu in 2004) as well as when HD Kumaraswamy hoodwinked them last year to become CM, the decision on the river waters would have been in Karnataka's favour. I find that line of reasoning hard to accept.
Buses from/to Tamil Nadu were also affected. I'm unsure about the status of trains. I'm not going to take my TN registered (and lifetime Karnataka state tax paid for, by the way) two-wheeler out for a few days because of the thugs terrorists prowling the streets!
In fact, I'm fairly sure that the situation would have been similar in Tamil Nadu had the verdict been different. If anything, Tamil Nadu protests in an even more macabre manner, like ... umm ... by burning a bus with college students in it.
Yet, some good may come out of all this. Sources in the Kannada and Tamil film industries close to me revealed that they were actively considering stopping remakes. It is no secret that a lot of Kannada movies/film songs are heavily inspired blatant remakes of Tamil movies. It is also no secret that most Vijay movies in Tamil are remakes of Mahesh Babu's movies in Telugu.
Hence, film makers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have apparently agreed that Kannada movie makers will cease to remake Tamil movies until the Cauvery dispute is settled. At the same time, since Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have still not sorted out the Krishna river water sharing, Tamil film makers, especially those who cast Vijay, will not do a copy-paste job from Mahesh Babu movies.
It is my wish that this would revive the Kannada film industry and also provoke Vijay into exploring other types of roles as well.
Labels: cauvery, chauvinism, dispute, kannada, karnataka, kaveri, movies, tamil nadu, water
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Today is a state-wide bandh in Karnataka in support of the state's claim over Belgaum. Coming as it does barely a week after a legislature session was held in Belgaum and a decision taken to make it a second capital, it reeks of nothing but political one-upmanship.
As a result of the bandh, there're no activity. No shopping, no schools, very little public transport, no autos, no offices ... and more critically, no cable TV! I called up my cable TV operator and he declared proudly that I had no right to ask for telecast since I was in Karnataka and I should respect Kannada sentiments.
I've gradually lost respect for these so-called Kannada sentiments over the last four years that I've been here. Now I'm on the verge of doing an Arundhati Roy, and declaring secession from Karnataka. Since I'm anyway losing respect, I might as well point out that Karnataka would be among the very few states in India which has territorial or water disputes with each and every neighbour state. Belgaum with Maharashtra, Kaveri with Kerala & Tamil Nadu, Mahadeyi/Mandovi with Goa and Krishna with Andhra Pradesh. Maybe, just maybe, Kannadigas ought to read this line from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" (1599 - Act I - Scene 2 - Rows: 140-141)
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.A state government that cannot take a tough stand against a needless bandh is unfit to be in power. A judicial system which continues to be mocked by parties of all hues in spite of its earlier pronouncements on strikes, bandhs and hartals, needs to wake up and seriously re-evaluate itself.
Previous rabble rousing random ramblings about Kannada/Karnataka: Moratorium on non-Kannada movies, language paranoia in Bangalore, Bangalore's name change, reaction to Rajkumar's death and protests against Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi.
Labels: chauvinism, kannada, karnataka, strike
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Apparently the recently released Tamil movie Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi (Search for it: Google & Yahoo!) greatly affects the sentiments of Kannadigas.
That's why a bunch of Kannada activists chauvinists, wielding swords (or at any rate, they looked like swords), have protested the screening of the movie. They were unhappy with the title, which translates (approximately) to "Royal pain in the a@se, Pulikesi the 23rd". Their contention is that the title demeans Pulikesi, who ruled over what constitutes modern day Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Hence they want the screening of the movie in Karnataka to be banned.
Haven't these jokers heard of satire, for that is exactly what the movie is meant to be? So far, the government hasn't stepped in. But I'd not be surprised if the movie ban was supported by the government. After all, Kannada pride plays a huge role in politics here, especially since son-of-the-soil Deve Gowda's son is the Chief Minister. Given the history of militant linguistic & religious organizations acting as super-censors and governments too willing to accede to their demands, I'm fairly sure this movie won't be seen in movie theatres in Karnataka.
Language chauvinism in Karnataka is nothing new. In fact, I've blogged about it a few times. In 2004, film producers & distributors sought a two month moratorium on the screening of new Tamil movies after their release. The government stepped in and made it a three week delayed screening process, which was ridiculous anyway.
Last year, on a visit to Hyderabad, I compared signs on buses, shops etc. there with those in Bangalore.
Last week, I noticed several boards along Old Madras Road which had been blackened out with some writing in Kannada. The only thing common to all those boards was that they had been written completely in English, without any Kannada on them.
Mind you, these so-called Kannada language protectors would in all possibility be sending their daughters & sons to English medium schools, possibly not even in Karnataka.
Labels: chauvinism, kannada, karnataka, movies
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Kannada superstar and thespian Rajkumar passed away a few hours ago in Bangalore due to a cardiac arrest. Read more at Google News and Yahoo! News.
Offices, shops and commercial establishments all over Bangalore (and indeed Karnataka) will have come to a halt by now because their managements are ensuring the safety of employees by dropping them off at their homes since there is trouble on the streets. There've already been incidents of stone throwing, stopping vehicles, burning tyres etc. in various parts of Bangalore, especially in/around where he lived - areas like Malleswaram and Sadashivnagar. I'm just about to leave for home as well, unsure of when I will reach home!
To the best of my knowledge, he died of a natural cause. It is unfortunate that he died. It is unfortunate that he died of a cardiac arrest. He was not assassinated. So why the hell should hoodlums, under the garb of professing their love for him and shock at his death, riot? What wrong did the innocent people on the streets of Bangalore do? Why should companies kill productivity by being forced to send employees home?
Update
Photos © Reuters
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Labels: bangalore, chauvinism, kannada, karnataka
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Bangalore's name change is official now
It is now official. With effect from November 1 2006, the word Bangalore will cease to exist in all official correspondence.
The question though is if it be Bengaluru or Bengalooru? Is the use of 'u' the clincher? I think they should just call it TCFKAB, i.e. The City Formerly Known As Bangalore.
The process will take some time. Will other places in Karnataka also be subject to this exercise? Is this decision as culturally significant as it is made out to be? Basically, do you care a f@(k? Sorry for the usage of the profanity, but I really think this is a ridiculous decision.
Does this name change mean some other city in India can change its name to Bangalore and attract investment? Or does this name change mean Bangalore Bengaluru Bengalooru Bengalooroo TCFKAB will get investment worth trillions of dollars and be transformed into Singapore within the space of a decade?
Labels: bangalore, chauvinism, kannada, karnataka, renaming
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The Karnataka Government is currently coming up with its action plan to celebrate fifty years of the state's existence (as Karnataka).
One of the suggestions, given by noted Kannada writer UR Ananthamurthy was to rename Bangalore as Bengaluru as part of the celebrations.
Why on earth would anyone suggest this, if not to rake up a Bangalore v/s the rest of Karnataka issue yet again? Why didn't he suggest renaming Mysore to Maisuru, or even pertinently to Mahishasuru or something like that? The city provides a rare instance of getting its name from a Hindu mythological demon, Mahishasura, slayed by Durga.
What next? Renaming important roads? Brigade Road to what? Old Madras Chennai Road to what? Perhaps rename Airport Road using the Kannada word for Airport?
Has renaming cities actually done any good? Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai, Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram, Calcutta to Kolkota, Calicut to Kozhikode, Cochin to Kochi, Pondicherry to Puducheri etc. Has any of these cities seen better living conditions, infrastructure, employment opportunities, lesser riots/chaos etc. because of the name change? Do the people of those cities necessarily feel better because of the name change? Does having the city named in the local language, as opposed to having British, French or Portugese influences in the name, make them feel proud about living there?
I venture to hazard a guess. No. I can certainly speak for myself. I couldn't see any difference between living in Madras or Chennai. I couldn't understand what the name change meant to peoples' daily lives. Unless threatened at gunpoint, and except in moments of weakness, I continue to refer to the city as Madras. Ditto when I refer to Calcutta or Bombay.
So what would be gained by renaming Bangalore as Bengaluru or perhaps even Bendha kaluru, given that the apocryphal story about the place's name. Is this paranoia at work again?
Labels: bangalore, chauvinism, kannada, karnataka, renaming
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What has happened to the money promised after Veerappan killing?
After Veerappan was shot dead in an encounter last October, the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were effusive in their praise for the various teams and task forces who were part of the operation to capture/eliminate the brigand terrorist.
Rewards were announced immediately, to the tune of over Rs. 100 crores from the two state governments. The problem though, as is usually the case with the Indian babu-dom, is in its implementation. Several members of the Special Task Force have borrowed or invested heavily in anticipation of a substantial reward.
The dithering over who is eligible for what reward, how to equitably distribute the money, etc. means that there could be a long wait ahead.
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An experience to savour at the Indiranagar RTO
After reading Atanu Dey's experience with the Pune policemen, I had to share my experience last Friday at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Indiranagar, Bangalore.
I needed to take a learner's license so that I can go for my car driving lessons. I'd already been through driving lessons three years ago but due to sheer laziness, I forgot to give the driving test before the learner's license lapsed. Now that my back has been pounded several times due to my long journeys to Bannerghatta Road, and the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Krithi to manage Jaagruthi from the pillion seat on my bike, I had to make progress on my license so that I could eventually buy a car.
The driving school guy took photos from me, asked me to fill out a form and then left me, along with two other hopefuls, at the RTO. Apparently we needed to sign in front of an official so that our learner's license could be processed. We joined the queue, which already had over 100 people in it, at 1030 am. After over an hour of waiting, with the words "abhi dilli door hai" reverberating in my head, one of the chaps who'd come along with us said that he had stood in the queue the previous day. So I asked him what on earth he was doing going through the ordeal again? He said that the counter had closed for lunch the previous day at noon. There were many people in front of him in the queue. He had made a few inquiries and people either said that the counter would open at 2 pm or that they had no clue and it depended on the whims and fancies of the staff. He chose to exit and come back the next day.
Apparently a day is not a long time in Indian government institutions. Which is why he was standing in the same queue the next day, with no respite in sight. The queue meandered through the corridor. Ours wasnt the only queue. There was one for those taking the learner's license driving safety test, one for changing the address on your vehicle registration certificate, one for paying the road tax, one for the master, one for the dame and of course, one for the little boy who lived down the lane. You get the picture!
As the clock struck twelve, I began to wonder if the counter would be closed indefinitely, as it apparently had been the previous day. The officials then acted with feigned urgency. One chap walked the entire length of the queue to collect everyone's forms. I had hopes that he'd put them on the desk of the officer who'd painstakingly sign every one of those forms. Then this chap would come around the queue, collecting our signatures and the entire drama would be over soon. Obviously I was wrong, for the chap was not to be seen for a while. I walked to the start of the queue, hoping to check if that fellow really worked at the RTO or not. I did spot him, and it did seem like he worked at the RTO. But I was prevented from going any further by other irate folks, who had apparently been standing in the queue since 830 am!
Bangalore right now isn't exactly a time to enjoy the afternoon sun. So I obviously started feeling thirsty. I tried hunting around for a water cooler to quench my thirst. I was told there was one, at the other corner of the floor we were standing on. I didn't have any enthu to walk all the way there. So I chose to barge into one of the department offices to check if they had any water for a thirsty man. I went to one counter to inquire about the water. Without even looking up, he pointed me to the chap next to him. I went to that chap and after being courteous enough to look at me, he pointed me to the end of the section where I saw a plastic container with tumbler on top and a tap to let the water flow.
I only realized after I got there that there was no water in it. I asked one of the people at the nearby counter and he brusquely told me that if there was no water, there was no water and that I could go and search elsewhere. I asked him about how they had water if there was none in the container. He said that someone filled up the container at 1 pm and I could come back then. Finding it hard to believe that he and his colleagues, who seemed to be enjoying themselves at my discomficture, were so uncouth and heartless, I was seething now. I asked him how people visiting the RTO to get something done were expected to search for water. To this he replied, insensitively, if I may add, that it wasn't his or the RTO's duty to provide water to public. I was now on the verge of blowing my top. I asked him if he realized what he was saying. He continued to maintain that it was none of his concern.
Since shouting at him would have done nothing to my thirst or my chances of getting a license, I told him that he was a heartless and crude person and that he should be ashamed of his behaviour and stormed out of the office and went back into the queue. My wait finally ended at 230 pm when I was summoned to sign in a register. I tried hunting for the officer in charge of the RTO, but he must have been slunk away for a movie after a long lunch interval. Thank God it's Friday, eh?
This incident was obviously nothing about corruption, unlike what happened to Atanu. Perhaps it was. Perhaps I should have given him Rs. 10 to point me to a cold water dispenser. This is an indicator of the attitudinal change which needs to happen among the various institutions which are apparently setup to serve us, the people of India.
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Karnataka government making helmets compulsory
The state government has made it mandatory for two-wheeler riders and their co-travellers to wear helmets. The rule will be brought into place from June 2005. This has obviously provoked a section of the two-wheeler population into airing their views.
My view is that wearing a helmet is obviously a good thing, considering the fact that experts believe it significantly reduces the chances of head injury in the event of an accident. But I do not believe that the government should impose it on the population. Less interference by the government in everyday life will never be a bad thing. Instead of making helmet-wearing mandatory, I think the better way off would have been to let two wheeler riders decide if they wanted to wear one or not. After all, if you give them a license to drive on the roads with the knowledge that they are capable of taking care of themselves (and others), then you must acknowledge that they are sane enough to decide their fate.
Of course, this should come with a caveat. The government will not pay any ex-gratia money in case someone not wearing a helmet died in a road accident, especially if it can be proven that had that person wore a helmet, he/she could have survived. This would reduce the subsidization of careless drivers, and their helmet-less victims, by those who do not belong to either creed. Insurance companies should also do the same thing. Essentially your medical or life insurance would no longer be valid for a claim in the same scenario.
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I dont know if the fact that the Tamil Nadu police caught Veerappan has anything to do with yesterday's heavy downpour in Madras and other parts of Tamil Nadu. I doubt it, given that Veerappan was killed yesterday night. But still its tough to not see the coincidence. In Tamil, we frequently say "bayangarama mazhai peyya pogardhu da" if a totally unexpected event occurs, something like say Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi greeting each other cordially in public. Veerappan's killing certainly warrants a cyclone, if we go by that scale!
The Special Task Force established by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have done a superb job in eliminating this menace. He has killed so many elephants, smuggled so much of ivory, hacked down so many sandalwood trees, killed so many able police officers & commandos, kidnapped several people and held them hostage to ransom. He deserved to die the way he did. Perhaps now, the people of Gopinatham will heave a sigh of relief that the stigma associated with them is gone forever.
Interestingly though, I noticed that his famous moustache, possibly modelled on 'Sivaji' Ganesan's portrayal of Veera Pandiya Kattabomman, seemed trimmed. Invariably, this raises questions on whether it was really Veerappan. It is extremely critical that the STF completes the DNA testing as soon as possible to confirm that it was really him.
It is pathetic though to see the TN government indulge in one-upmanship with political rivals over the elimination of Veerappan. Jayalalitha harped on the fact that she had done what the DMK had not. Damn it. This removes a big problem between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri issue is still around, as is the issue of the moratorium on movies. Perhaps this is the best time for both states to practice the Pervez Musharraf doctrine - eliminate the maximal positions and the issues will resolve by themselves tomorrow.
Nitin dramatically announces that we got him, in true Texan ishtyle. Any chance of a daaku-mentary?
Labels: kannada, karnataka, musharraf, pakistan
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The decision of the Kannada film producers lobby and the Karnataka government to continue with the ban on non-Kannada movies is part of their continued efforts to force people to watch crappy Kannada movies. Those who dont know Kannada shouldnt live in Karnataka, presumably that is their campaign - modelled on the Shiv Sena's "Mumbai for Mumbaikars" 25 year old movement. Ramachandra Guha touches upon this issue briefly in his contribution in last Sunday's magazine supplement of 'The Hindu'.
Labels: chauvinism, kannada, karnataka, movies
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An increasing culture of intolerance and lack of imagination means that movie goers in Bangalore and all over Karnataka will not be able to watch films made in other languages until 2 months after they've been released. I am not sure if this applies to English and Hindi movies, but certainly Tamil films have been affected.
As usual, this move is allegedly to protect Kannada cinema. From who? Better made, bigger profit movies made in other parts of India. So Kannada film producers/directors will continue to shamelessly rip-off movies made in other South Indian (mostly Tamil and Telugu) languages, rehash movie songs to no end. But they will complain when they dont get audiences and takers for their crappily made movies. The truth is perhaps that Kannada movie watchers have already seen the originals of many of these movies and have decided that the remake just was not worth watching.
This is a typically ostrich-like defence mechanism. When you're in trouble, do everything to ensure that the competitor doesn't do well. Your product cannot be to blame, can it?
Labels: chauvinism, intolerance, kannada, karnataka, movies
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