"Sita Sings the Blues" - A Storm (if even), in a Teacup?

"Horrible depiction of the most revered scripture of ancient India. Nina Paley has no rights to compare herself with Sita." (Reel 13)



Nina Paley's animation film "Sita Sings the Blues", released this month, was recommended by a friend who normally refrains from giving recommendations, and so I had to see this one.

As we all know by now, religion and the rendition of it in any artistic genre, comes under immediate and intense scrutiny. The Danish cartoons on Muhammad, M.F. Husein's paintings of Hindu gods, Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, or the most recent controversy about a "South Park" episode on Comedy Central, created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone; all of these have received unprecedented coverage in the press, worldwide. No surprise then that Ms. Paley has been receiving hate mail after 'Sita Sang Her Blues' in the voice of a 1920 jazz vocalist Annette Hanshaw. Moreover 'Sita', the much worshiped epitome of Indian womanhood, has a"Betty Boop Goes Hollywood' appearance in the film as she croons and swoons to the fickleness of love and lovers; a far cry from the sari clad traditional image of Sita in Hindu mythology.

Ms. Paley had several things going on simultaneously in the film besides the plot line of the Indian epic, The Ramayana. She inter-twined the story of Sita with the story of her own heart break in marriage, all within an 80 minute movie. Clearly, this was taking a monumental risk given our current day religiously sensitive audiences. Ms. Paley was obviously willing to take that risk and more because she introduced yet another controversial feature in this film; she had three commentators with pronounced Indian accents interpreting events in the Ramayana, and they did it with obvious uncertainty like that of second generation Indians living in the US. Those comments are made in a lighter tone like the one used among close friends, but to an avid Hindu they could easily sound blasphemous. Nothing the three say is really new or essential and yet Ms. Paley chose to have them in the film. The movie was certainly not ground breaking, in fact quite ordinary as far as the storyline was concerned; a lack-luster retelling of an ancient epic. Hanshaw's jazz vocals were perhaps the saving grace. Luckily for the movie maker, the Western audience, seeing an Indian Epic in animation mode, may perhaps be intrigued and then impressed by what Ms. Paley created because, “We see so many films, and when you come across one like this, you just feel like you’ve stumbled upon a gem.” (Alison Dickey, a film producer and one of the jurors at Spirit Awards).

I don't think I would recommend the movie though"Sita Sings the Blues" has definitely generated immense interest among staunch Hindus as also with Hindu bloggers who feel affronted by Ms. Paley's blasphemous presentation of 'their gods'. Consequently the movie will draw an audience, recover its making cost, and the artist Ms. Paley will not be faced with penury for having ventured into new grounds. No artist deserves that fate; certainly not Nina Paley, a respected comic strip writer.

Arizona's new Immigration Law Legitimizes Racial Profiling by Local Cops.

"The broad anti-immigrant bill passed by the Legislature this week makes it a crime to be in the country illegally and gives local cops the job of demanding documentation if they have reasonable suspicion someone lacks it.

The need to carry proper ‘papers’ falls squarely on Arizona's Latino population -- including those born and raised in the Grand Canyon State. The bill invites racial profiling and ignores the fact that Latinos are an intrinsic part of Arizona's history and its future."

Hopefully, Gov. Brewer's new Law will be challenged and proved unconstitutional, or else we will have stood by yet again and watched McCarthyism rear its ugly head, this time against the undocumented Hispanic population. Governor Brewer, a Republican, has incited the wrath of the Latino population across the country, who 'not long ago were courted by the Republican Party as a swing voting bloc'.

Earth Day 2010

Save The Earth

I am old.
Been there since time eternal.
Mother of all species.
Respected, revered, restored, and reaped
in times forgotten. But now..
eroded, evacuated, embedded, and raped.
Droughts and earthquakes are worries no more.

Darfur, Iraq, Israel, and Hiroshima,
all but parts of me.
Dented and cracked irreparably.
I cry, weep, hurt, yell, and scream.
Divided, amputated, suffocated, and mutilated,
searching a lebensraum
in my very own universe,
while my progeny tightens my noose.

Daniyal Mueenuudin - Capitalizing on his Pakistani Identity and the Short Story Genre.

Reading Daniyal Mueenuddin's "In Other rooms, Other Wonders" felt like a walking-tour in feudal times, where one saw the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak interacting within the established parameters of a system which may or may not be justifiable to the onlooker. The onlooker, in the course of the tour, notices that there are no apparent hard feelings on either sides; both sides simply live out the given and the achieved, and all within the norms of a feudal Pakistan.

This debut collection of short stories by Mr. Mueenuddin won him the "Story Prize" for outstanding short fiction, and in his acceptance speech, he wondered, “If I were Bulgarian, no one would read my work...I should give half of my paycheck to the Taliban.” It was perhaps this comment of his that made me pick up this book, and finish reading it within a matter of a few hours. The stories are all linked, as they unfold in or about the house of a feudal landlord, Harouni, but the characters in each of the stories are different. There is Hassan the cook, Saleema the heroin addicts wife, Lily the socialite, Rafik the trusted servant, Murad the environmentally conscious businessman, Husna the landlords servant-mistress, and many more such colorful characters that have the reader entranced.

Despite the plethora of enchanting characters, the characterization per se, in all of the stories perplexed me no end and made me research the short story genre, and I was reminded that "the short story tends to reveal character at a crucial moment rather than to develop it through many incidents". This was truly an 'AHA!' moment for me. I felt I had finally put my finger on the theme underlying all the stories, and strangely enough, it was being delivered through some masterful characterization. All, or at least most of the protagonists in the stories are pro active, to begin with, and develop as they go along, even change, but then, all of a sudden, without an explanation or a fight, these protagonists stop and give up, with a sense of deja vu almost. This willful 'giving up' after a certain point, is replayed in almost each of the eight stories. It was this pattern that bothered me each time I finished a story. Now I see that Mr Mueenuddin was working to a plan! He did not want to sermonize or undermine the intelligence of his readers by handing out moralistic tales. Instead, he churned out eight interesting stories with intriguing characters, who all stop short on the last leg of the race they are in, and have the readers wondering why they do so. This was truly brilliant use of a literary technique by Mr Mueenuddin, to eliminate didactic without compromising on the power or the lure of the work.

To a western reader, the book has the lure of romance since it allows for an extended peep into 'other rooms' that are housed in a culture that is alien to a westerner, and thus the scenes witnessed are like the 'other wonders' that fascinate; perhaps a part of Mr Mueenuddin's plan as a writer. Having lived in the west for a major part of his life, Daniyal Mueenuddin must have sensed the cravings of western readership that is still intrigued by anything remotely associated with the Islamic world, and so Mr. Mueenuddin delivered and won. Not intending to undermine Mr Mueenuddins literary achievement in any way, but I would be curious to know how this collection of stories was received in Pakistan. Did it receive any national awards, or did it go by unnoticed like many other debut writings since there was no novelty in it for the Pakistani reader? I would also keep an eye out for his next book; will it have a different setting? Will he select a different genre this time?

"In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" is undoubtedly a very interesting read, and a must for those who enjoy or want to explore the short story genre.

'Fearless and Outspoken' President Sarkozy Adressess "World Leaders Forum" at Columbia University!

President Sarkozy's addressed the "World Leaders Forum" at Columbia University on Monday, March 29, 2010.

Here are some points I jotted down from President Sarkozy's speech and from the Q & A session that followed:

"ours is a multipolar world...today strength and power mean dialogue....the US and France must redesign a new idea together...if we don't do that no one else will...(we)have a totally open and a free discussion....call a spade a spade....(because)the world is interlocked and interdependent.... "

" ...world economic reformation cannot stand still....any Frenchman who comes to the US always a suspect...a socialist trying to regulate Capitalism....but a market economy and unbridled capitalism will no longer be accepted by people for too long....do you think we can defend Capitalism when there is so much injustice...it is impossible to defend...what happened 18 months ago must never happen again...I don't want it and I will not do it....Europe and US can redesign the rules to a better world economy....a barrel price for oil that is say $80/-....regulate the world economy, the commodities....design new criteria to gauge growth...how our economies grow differently...use education, our people's well being to measure our economies.....market economy creates value, a productive economy...over last 5 years world economy become a speculation economy....not a system in which I wish to live.... an absence of rules kills off freedom...."

"...a world of balanced rules....UN Security Council...not a single African country has a permanent seat... or a single Arab country....India does not have a permanent seat...Japan does not have a seat...no representatives of 2.5 billion people of the world....is that reasonable...not a single country from Latin America that has a permanent seat....does that make any sense to you...is it thinkable to you?...world governance must be reformed...to manage the conflicts of tomorrow...everyone has to be on board for world governance..."

"...alliance between US and Europe is of vital essence here...you need us and we need you...when NY was attacked the world democracy was attacked...when faced with terrorism we cannot stand divided...we don't want nuclear weapons to fall in the hands of terrorist...the world needs an open America, a generous America ...that shows the way... is attuned to the sufferings of the world..when you chose Obama the entire world placed its hope in you..."

Q & A session:
"...we admire your university system....equality is not uniformity, it is tailored to the needs of each and everyone...France has to open it's universities to creativity...university reform in France...change is difficult...it worries, goes against habit...a statesman must pursue change...we must be judged on what we produce..."

"Health Reform in US...we rub our eyes in disbelief...the poorest of America left out is astonishing...can't simply let people die who don't have the means...I admire Obama for what he did..."

"Economic crisis in Europe...27 countries who at one time at each others throats for years...decided to work collectively....16 countries decided we'd have the same currency...if we'd let Greece fail the crisis would have flared up...like when you walked away from Lehman the crisis flared...solidarity is essential...we are interdependent..."

Diseng'aging'

Yonder, no net exists
to capture heart and eye.
Ideas alien appear
pulling minds apart

Moving away?
Not really...
a pushing away,
perhaps.

Who moves,
and who's the pusher?
Differently appear,
depending on the eye.
It could be you,
or maybe I;
regardless,
a separation
can't deny.

"Disengagement is an inescapable process in which many of the relationships between an aging person and other members of society are severed, and those remaining are altered in quality" [source: ­Cumming and Henry].
Fellow blogger "Smorg" has a very informative post on this subject.

Passing of the Health Care Reform Bill - Heralding Winds of Change?

"Wind of Change"



" A woman (Nancy Pelosi) pushed the health care bill through the House. The bill’s most visible and vocal proponents included a gay man (Barney Frank) and a Jew (Anthony Weiner). And the black man in the White House signed the bill into law."
Charles M. Blow, NYT

Health Care Reform Bill Passes - Obama Delivers, And Will Deliver More!

Health care Reform Bill Passes

219 - 212

President Obama Delivers!

Raises hopes of Immigrant Workers at Washington DC rally...