Random notes

What are the net results of the educational reforms being implemented in Kerala and elsewhere during the last 15 years? From my personal observations I would say that students in general have become extrovert and in a sense bold.They don’t have any inhibition in presenting their opinions and notions about almost anything under the sun.But on the other side there are some pitiable aspects.They are not at all ashamed to be satisfied with whatever little knowledge they have about a topic and to pretend as if their understanding is full and perfect.Their interests and attitudes have become quite peripheral and pretentious.The educational reforms ,it has become obvious, aim at creating a generation capable of floating freely without any serious concern about anything in a world controlled by the forces of free market.
The subversive changes taking place in the field of education have affected quite adversely all walks of social life in Kerala.The disbelief and tension swelling up in social psyche have made genuinely serious cultural activities and communication impossible. Except a very few NGOs no one is there to take up the burning issues in social life.NGOs have their own limitations.They are often controlled by unfair agencies whose real interests are always kept hidden.In Kerala which is considered a strong hold of left politics to be apolitical has become the ideal of a considerably large section of the people .

...therefore I am

So far I was not able to stick on to any single medium in literature.My concept of literature and my ideas regarding it’s function also change quite often.On some occasions I took the stand that social and political content of a work of art is more important than anything else.This feeling or thought does not remain for long to grow into a conviction.I change.I will begin to think that form is far more important.Form itself is the meaning and message of work of art.The novelty of form and rhythm that one is able to realize in a work of art should be the criterion to judge it since it is the soul of the aesthetic experience that the work conveys to a reader.But I won’t stick to this stand for a considerably long time.Content,plot and the unpredictable possibilities that unfold in a story are the real thing,I will begin to think.And I may go a step further and declare:
What is there in a work of art if history does'nt make a reader feel it’s presence in it.

...therefore I am

I am interested in politics,literature and many other areas where people make their intellectual ,ideological and emotional investments.But after decades of my association with literature and other discourses nowadays I feel that my inner self is more attached to folklore and local history .I am engrossed by a strange awakening when I come across a new information regarding a folk custom or one related to the history of a remote village.During those moments I experience a serene pleasure which is incomparable and undefinable.Often I feel that my creative activities will take a turn to the better if I attain the integrity to be totally truthful to this emotion and attachment.

Random notes

A few days back I went to Neeliyar Kottam,a village temple near the Kannur University Office at Mangattuparmbu.It was to speak a few words facing the camera for a Documentary film being directed by V.K.Anil Kumar,camera man being Ameerali Olavara.The Documentary is a historical and realistic visual narration and analysis of the story of Kadinur Veeran a folk God of North Malabar whose performance is the most enthralling among the Theyyam performances.The emotional content of Kadinur Veeran’s story also is really great.The Documentary is expected to be ready for a public show by the first week of October 2011.I hope that it will be a commendable work since I had the feeling that the approach of Anil Kumar and Ameer Ali was of utmost sincerity and involvement.

On Spiritual Exercise

Often I feel terribly lonely and sad.There is only one way to escape from this. I have to train myself to feel serenity in my lonliess.I should involve in some sort of spiritual exercise which I myself should find totally independent and genuine.Perhaps I may not find a spiritual exercise suitable for me other than the activity of truthful writing.

A HEINOUS DECISION

T.V.Channels report that the Govt.of India will take a stand in the stockholm convention against banning Endosulfan.It is a strange,terrible and shameful decision.All the political parties,social activists and all those whose civic sense is alive should unite to raise their voice against this heinous decision.

On Spirituality

I think belief in God is not essential for the attainment of spiritual experience.It comes from somewhere else.A state of pleasant weightlessness which can only be realised by shedding away the unnecessary burden of hundreds of petty concerns is what one feels in the beginning.It does not happen to everybody.In the normal case the seeds of spiritual quest should be there in you from a very early age.Or at a stage in your life you should reach a peculiar mental state characterised mainly by an indescribable lightness. Or some strange or unbearably painful things should happen in your life which may open your eyes to the knowledge that many things which you once considered invaluable are in fact totally worthless.What do we attain by such an awakening?Nothing but a sort of calmness followed by the pleasure of surging up a feeling or emotion hitherto unknown to oneself, from the unfathomable depths of soul.Who am I to describe this experience with this much authenticity. I am not a learned person,not a seeker of divine happiness,not even a humble student of spirituality. But I think even an ordinary human being can experience that strange and beautiful elevation of mind that we call spiritual ecstasy for a few seconds or an extremely short span of time on certain moments quite unexpectedly.One can’t have the bliss of those moments simply by wishing for it.Long strenuous mental preparation also need not lead you to those marvelous moments.Yoga,breathing exercises and the like also have nothing to do with spirituality.All such things may make you physically fit and mentally strong.But spirituality is an altogether different thing.You may feel it while sitting idly on a beach simply fixing your eyes on the waves,or while watching a lone bird flying back to it’s nest through the evening sky,or while witnessing a small child receiving a prize for participating in a competition.The magical touch of spirituality is felt when your ego or self gets totally dissolved in the immediate surroundings in the most peaceful,natural way i.e without any annoyance ,uneasiness or sense of loss.This is only one among the innumerable ways spirituality chooses for it’s unexpected entry and short time presence in the heart of an ordinary human being .

Novel Attempts

In Malayalam a general feeling has emerged recently among writers and readers
that novel is the medium most suitable for the comprehensive depiction of the human condition of this historical juncture.The close acquaintance with the translations of novels from Latin American countries,Turkey,Portugal and Spain published during the last five years might have worked behind this.More than that the influence of 'Atujeevitham' the novel by Benyamin which has been very widely read so as to become a house hold name among the literature reading public in Kerala might be there. Anyhow it is an interesting fact,and a little bit funny in certain cases that hundreds of people,among them a large majority making their maiden attempt in writing,some of them at the age of 65 or 70, are seriously involved in writing novels.

A meaningless Megashow

In Kerala politics has become something like a drama with a message which is not a message at all. Chief Minister V.S.Achyudananadan is the only character in it capable of arousing interest and enthusiasm among the people.All other leaders of both the U.D.F and L.D.F have lost their credibility.They all miserably failed in attracting crowds in the recent Assembly election Campaign.Even Mr.A.K.Antony whom the U.D.F confided the strenuous job of detaining the V.S wave cut a sorry figure. What in fact do the youngsters for whom V.S has become an emotion expect from this strong old man?I think for them he is a replica of those brave invincible heroes who single-handedly fight ten or fifteen villains and make them flee for life in the big screen.Not only the youngsters but the common people as a whole believe that V.S. would be able to put all those embodiments of corruption and arrogance known as political leaders behind the bars,if once again he is given the chief ministership.
People take no serious interest in political philosophy of the parties and their election manifestos.They know that corruption is rampant among the leaders and they want to see they are punished for looting the public money.They have the strong conviction that except V.S there is none in the political scenario of the state to wage a war against corruption.Their political knowledge and interest end there.It shows that politics is loosing it’s grip over the society.It is loosing it’s meaning.Ultimately it is becoming a big show in which reality is replaced by virtual reality.
One can say that in Kerala finally politics also has become postmodern.

Random notes

Reaching at a genuinely new and appropriate form of narration is the most difficult step in the process of writing a novel.A literay work can fall in the category of novel only if it depicts in detail the evolution of several issues and struggles that formulate the spirit of an age. Innumerable styles have been experimented by novelists in the construction of plot and at times a writer may feel that all the possibilities have been totally exhausted.He/She will have to swim in troubled waters for hours and hours to reach the shore of conviction regarding the form fit for his/her work. Novel is an ambitious literay form.Every novelist tries to travel into the depths and breadths of all areas of human experience and knowledge connected with the plot of the novel.Among novelists some have an inborn ability to keep safely in their memory all the minute details of external realities they witness at any stage in their life.But those who are deeply interested in the inner plays of human mind are generally indifferent towrds such details.Writing a novel is more laborious and painful in their case.Milan kundera,s ‘TheCurtain’ An essay in seven parts brought out in book form by Faber and Faber (2007)presents many a brilliant observations on the history and value of the novel in Western civilization. To have an understanding of a critical historical situation ,Kundera says,we need a great novel that grasp the human content of that situation.Nothing can make up the absence of such a work.’

Waiting for a Paradigm Shift

Unless a paradigm shift takes place in the attitude and approches of the Marxists in India they will soon get pathetically marginalised in the political life of even Kerala and Bengal.There are atleast three or four things that they should take seriously into consideration with a view to bring about a total change in the policies and practices of the Party.
The Party should admit the fact that unless it has a different agenda the people won’t attach any importance to it’s criticism of the economic policies of Manmohan Singh Govt.It is quite evident that the peoople do not expect a revolution armed or otherwise and they have begun to believe that if India moves forward in the direction of development it has chosen at present things will change for the better.The communists can at the maximum tell the people that the Central Govt. is becoming a slave to America.People know that but they are lead by a blind belief that whatever might happen India could save herself. More than that there is a wide spread feeling that there is no effective alternative to Multinatinal Capitalism and it’s manifestation in all fields of life which is named Globalisation. Everybody knows that even the Marxist leaders have begun to say openly in a mocking tone that talking against America and globalisation for anything and everything is meaningless.In such a situation the Party should formulate realistic policies and programmes taking into consideration all the economic,social and cultural changes that have taken place in the world in the era of globalisation.Otherwise it will have to practise against whatever it preaches and it’s functioning will become totally outdated in the nearest future.Even otherwise there is no meaning in continueing in an ideologically schizophrenic condition.
The party leadership from top to bottom should get trained to behave with due human consideration to the common man. Passing resolutions in high level meetings admitting that there is impertinence in the behaviour of some local leaders is meaningless.Leaders should not be trapped in the dilema of not knowing what is impertinence and at the same time declaring that impertinence will not be tolerated.
The Party leaders of all ranks should learn to be thoroughly democratic and truthful in all their dealings with the people.During the last six decades after independence the vast majority of Indians have got familiarised with all the positive and negative aspects of Democracy. Their mindset has become totally antagonistic towards any sort of authoritarian rule.At present no one including the communists won’t have the self confidence to argue with strong conviction in favour of Stalin’s Russia or Mao’s China.They also will admit that freedom of expression is as important as any other primary necessity of life.
As I wrote this much my mobile phone rang.A close friend during my college days was over the phone after many years.Our lengthy conversation reached many contemporary issues and at one point he said :Hereafter You should never waste your time thinking and writing about politics.Politics has become a different discourse in which only professional politicians need take interest.It is a business of the politicians,by the politicians and for the politicians.All others should abstain from this.Of course at times it may interfere in your life.Show the prudence and intelligence to save yourself.Apart from that you need to do nothing and even if you wish You won’be able to do anything meaningfully.

Kanam and Kaippad

Kanam and Kaippad two documentary films scripted and directed by Babu Kambrath are the results of extremely careful and committed directorial efforts.Both the films got national and international recognition.Kanam tells the life story of a midland hill and Kaippad gives us an authentic visual description of agiculture done in marshy lands near estuaries where the river joins the sea.I felt a personal attachment to these films because some of the scenes in Kanam were shot at Madaippara and almost all the scenes of Kaippad were shot at Muttukandy near Payangadi.I am familiar with both these places for more than five decades and in my creative writings their role is more important than that of any of the characters in them.Both the films are very much lively and fully capable in creating a keen ecological awareness among the viewers.These films take us to the inner rythms of nature which we usually miss in the hurry and haste of day to day existence. Here we see the birds, plants,flies,fishes and human beings participating enthusiastically in the celebration of life being conducted by nature.If you view things from a different angle you may find an element of over idealisation of nature in these films.But what we have to remember is that when the notion that everything on this earth is there for men to squeeze out it’s essence for his pleasure or to make the most profitable sale controls our very sense of nature even the most irrational mystification of nature is totally agreeable and justifiable.What Babu Kambrath has done in his films definitely demends our admiration and praise.These films teach us how unfamiliar and beautiful are infact those realities which we think quite familiar and mundane.That is the magic of art!