AMIDST all the journalistic churning that takes place in India, rarely do we stop and say here is something truly remarkable. When a Tree Shook Delhi by Manoj Mitta and HS Phoolka is one such special offering that turned up on our desks at Civil Society for review. In fact, so taken were we that we did a long interview with Mitta and then decided to ask him to do a piece on why they wrote the book. His piece with pictures appears on the next two pages.
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___________________________________________________________________________________‘I was captivated by the whitewash’
IN that fateful year of 1984, I was still a student in my hometown Hyderabad. Although I did not witness the carnage or know anybody affected by it, I somehow could not get over the fact that such a massacre had taken place at all, that too right in the capital. The idea of writing a book on 1984 occurred to me, though, about three years later. The seed of the book was planted in 1987 by a story I broke, as a rookie reporter in The Times of India, on the first ever indictment by an official probe of a Congress leader in connection with the slaughter of Sikhs.
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___________________________________________________________________________________THE National Foundation for India (NFI) celebrated 15 years of its existence on November 5 and 6. Along with a seminar, NFI chose to show the work it has been supporting through an evocative photo exhibition titled, ‘15 Years of Making a Difference.’ Sudharak Olwe, former NFI Media Fellow and winner of several awards shot the pictures.
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AGE has not blunted Krishna Sobti’s candour and pluck. She has a long list of titles which have won literary acclaim. Her epic, Zindaginama, was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award, some years ago. Most of all Sobti has a special place in the hearts of women for her unabashed portrayal of women as strong characters. Author Nirmal Verma described her as ‘the most authentic living voice of Partition and Independence,’ at the launch of the translated version of two of her books, ‘To hell with you Mitro,’(Mitro Marjani) and ‘Memories Daughter’ (Daarse Bichhudi), by Katha.
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AGE has not blunted Krishna Sobti’s candour and pluck. She has a long list of titles which have won literary acclaim. Her epic, Zindaginama, was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award, some years ago. Most of all Sobti has a special place in the hearts of women for her unabashed portrayal of women as strong characters. Author Nirmal Verma described her as ‘the most authentic living voice of Partition and Independence,’ at the launch of the translated version of two of her books, ‘To hell with you Mitro,’(Mitro Marjani) and ‘Memories Daughter’ (Daarse Bichhudi), by Katha.
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___________________________________________________________________________________LISTENING to Anita and Shallabh Ahuja in Paris, the fashion capital of the world, makes one hopeful. The irony intensifies when we learn what they offer: stylish handmade goods from lowly, windblown plastic bags that litter the bylanes of Delhi, using a low-tech but innovative process devised by Shallabh, Anita’s husband, a BIT, Pilani engineer. With zeal and magic reminiscent of Mary Poppins and her chimney sweeps, Anita is sweeping clean the streets of Delhi and converting trash into products that companies like Benetton, Ikea and Habitat are ordering.
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___________________________________________________________________________________NITIN Das says his mission is to make ‘extraordinary films with ordinary people.’ He has recently completed a magical film about a young boy who finds a solution to global warming from a monk in the Himalayas. The film, ‘Global Warming-A Fable from the Himalayas,’ is storytelling at its best. Nitin proves that it takes less than eight minutes to make an impact. The film is powerful, yet simple and subtly humorous. The entire cast was from Kaaza, a small town in Spiti Valley.
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___________________________________________________________________________________ONE evening Jasmeen Pathreja, a student at the Srishti School of Art Design and Technology, was walking down main CMH road in Bangalore. "It was about 6 pm,” she recalls. “It was not completely dark, nor lonely or quiet. I usually look at people when I walk. A cyclist went past me, completely nonthreatening. I suddenly felt something cold soaking through my clothes. He had spat his paan on me.” As if being groped, squeezed or leered at isn’t enough, women are spat at on the streets of cities by lascivious criminals.
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___________________________________________________________________________________WHAT are the joys of the ancient art of storytelling? Ask Mahmood Farooqui, who after degrees in history from Oxford and Cambridge returned to Delhi to perform the Dastaan-e-Amir-Hamza. You could catch Farooqui just about anywhere if you are plugged into the small circle that relishes his performances. It could be in The Attic, a nondescript mezzanine in Connaught Place, or at the India International Centre or at an admirer’s home.
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___________________________________________________________________________________THE job of a good cartoon is to make you stop, smile and think. KP Sasi, 49, can make you go a step further and act. Cartoonist, filmmaker and activist, Sasi, 49, believes that film is a powerful medium of social change. He is the soul behind Visual Search, a group in Bangalore that makes such films. “If media fully understood the relevance of social films in promoting a positive society, it would make a lot of difference,” says Sasi, humble, but confident. He has made over 20 documentaries, three feature films, several short films and music videos on social issues.
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___________________________________________________________________________________ARUN Maira is one of those unusual business managers who have grown far beyond business. His ability to apply his managerial experiences to problems in different situations is reflected in his book, Discordant Democrats.’ Maira analyses how to make democracy work in India, a pluralistic country with a population of over a billion. India speaks in many languages and dialects and follows several religions, sub-religions and castes. There are huge disparities between people in opportunity and in standards of living.
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SHOWING off the elaborate work on ‘her’ saree and ‘her’ many bangles, eunuch Laxminarayan, who was born in a Hindu Brahmin family, said: “My name is Laxmi, and that is sufficient by way of introduction”. Gender barriers were transgressed with ease and flamboyance during a fourday international documentary film festival in New Delhi.
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___________________________________________________________________________________THE genre of documentary cinema or the short film is often the thin line which separates the tenuous threshold of reality and fiction. In that sense, when third rate reality shows of failed actresses dominate the living consciousness of mainstream media and urban drawing rooms, the Asian Women's Documentary Film Festival held in Delhi celebrating Women's Day on March 8 was a brilliant moment of creative revelation amidst all round mediocrity.
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___________________________________________________________________________________BEING Male, Being Koti’ by first-time film maker Mahuya Bandyopadhya is a halfhour documentary that explores what it means to be a ‘gender variant’. The film celebrates the lives of a group of Kotis, a sexual minority, who are biologically men but through mannerism and emotions conduct themselves with an enhanced degree of feminism. The film has been shot in Kolkata with Pratyay, a rights-based support group.
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___________________________________________________________________________________THE best photographers are always struck by wanderlust. They travel far and wide to capture a vignette of the world and generously share it with others. And so Flore Lamoureux, a French photographer, has traveled to 40 countries since 1999. She brought to India, country she loves, pictures of children from round the world. Why does she take pictures of children?
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IT all started about two years ago. Urvashi Butalia, founder and head of Zubaan, a well-known feminist publishing house, wanted to visually map the history of the women’s movement in India from the 70s. Along with her colleague Jaya Bhattacharji, she sent out a request to more than 200 women’s groups for visual material.Top
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URVASHI Butalia, Zubaan’s enigmatic founder and director spoke to Civil Society about the struggles, campaigns and movements led by women in India. One thing is clear: over the years the women’s movement has grown bigger and more influential, though it still has many miles to go.Top
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