Chai Chalk Chatter

The history of regional politics in India starts with the Dravida Khazakham (DK) that asked for a separate South Indian State owing to widespread resentment and subsequent protest against the imposition of Hindi. It was this assertion that lead the Central Government to adopt the three language policy and the official Language Amendment Act, 1967. In its more radical form, it could be argued that the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was a direct result of the sending of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) into Sri Lanka. The atrocities committed by them in the Northern Part against the Sri Lankan Tamils and the alleged support of the Tamil Nadu Government, that led to the inaction and security lapse on its part – leading to the eventual assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. In essence, the existence of the all India cultural mainstream has led to the rise of regionalism among all ethnic groups that do not associate with the Aryan race, be it the Dravidians of South India or the Mon...

The young man asks me - “Bhaiya, I understand Irom Sharmila did a lot of great things but didn’t you see how the people reciprocated?” “What was the result of her long protest, which was so selfless and all for the people?” “Did she manage to get the AFSPA removed?” I had no words to respond to that. I was rather perplexed in sheer amazement at the display of such nihilism on the part of such a young man and it took me some time to gather my thoughts but nonetheless, to defend my argument, I replied. I replied by saying - “See, it doesn’t matter what the protest achieved, the very fact that people across the country knew that someone was going to such extremes to protest against a repressive state apparatus serves the purpose of such a protest”. After all, it was an act comparable to what Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt had done by throwing that puny bomb at the Central Assembly in Delhi, in order to make the British realise that “It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear”. Th...

I was reading an article on scroll.in, shared by a friend on Facebook. This small piece of writing was initially meant to be a comment on her post but when I started putting my thoughts to words, it became too long for a Facebook comment and in fact became a culmination of the thoughts that the respective article managed to congregate, in my mind. For the original article, please follow: http://bit.ly/2uaC8xp I grew up in the traumatic 90's and the early 2000's. Even as a kid, more importantly a non-tribal kid, being called a 'Dkhar' (an outsider) was a very normal thing in the beautiful Scotland of the East. Children tend to have their own quarrels but them being of the racist nature, at such a tender age speaks about a cultural conditioning drowned in hate. I remember the incident discussed in the article and I also remember the shattered glasses. It was like the Scotland of the East's very own 'kristallnacht', except that it was in broad da...

Images in history can definitely be used as a primary source of information but in my opinion, the absence of content can render them open to all kinds of interpretation and this is dangerous. The probability of this misinterpretation increases drastically with the passage of time. Such happens because, unlike a timely photograph where people normally understand the context – with time, this understanding diminishes. Unless there is text associated with a photograph to explain it, it becomes very difficult, even in the first instance to understand a photograph. Let’s take the example of the photograph below: Unless someone actually mentions that the respective photograph is from Auschwitz and the pattern on the wall are from the scratches of victims, who were gassed by the Nazis, it is extremely difficult to understand what the photograph is all about and this is my point.  Such is not always the case though, if we take the example of another famous photograph – Kevin...

In its ruggedness lies its simplicity and in this simplicity lies its essence. An essence that people probably don't understand. The so called hippy idea, the stereotypical one, associated with Himachal is in fact all that they actually get. Understanding nothing, of what, it actually is, or anything of whatever it ought to be.  I pity the people lost in their petty worlds. Understanding nothing of what their world is and what they are looking for.  The posh crowd in their fancy clothes wants everything yet knows nothing of their needs. This nothingness is just so suffocating that I fail to understand how someone could be so platonic. I was not prepared, yet I write. I don't have any right to, yet I do. This nothingness is just so killing. I feel so helpless, yet such is life - for I know, all the light of Shiva and the wisdom of Buddha are in vain - none are actually going to change. If such is freedom, I don't want it. So, yes, yet again, I am a rebel and a loner...

With the liberalization of the Indian economy, a number of new players have entered the media sector. Although the intervention of the machineries of the state apparatus, has relatively reduced yet the interests of the Corporate houses have managed to replace it. In a world where TRP's are more important as compared to journalistic ethics, the media houses are bound to fall prey to the factors that influence the media, most importantly the political economy of the respective media houses. The flow of money and political will influences, to a great extent, the discourse generated in the media. It is obvious that, owing to these factors, a particular media organization is bound to have political affiliations. It is a very well known fact that western media organizations such as CNN and BBC work towards promoting the ideologies of the West - be it western cultural intricacies or the free-market agenda of the Bretten wood institutions. For instance the coverage of the U...

When the world stood still to watch the demise of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, we the Shillongites - with our fancy cellphone cameras and loud mouths created a celebration of the sad moment. Yes, I was there and this, out of utter disgust, is what I have to say.  At least, the crowd, gathered outside the hospital, where our beloved ex-president breathed his last, were present there and that is the least amount of satisfaction that I can get out of it.  The only contention that has remained with me even after a year of the passing of such a great visionary is the fact that - we as humans of Shillong couldn't give him the fair amount of respect that he undoubtedly deserved, even at his death. We shamed the memory of the man by sticking out those fancy cellphones and recording the entire event with flash lights on. Where was then, the civility and the mannerisms that we Shillongites, so astoundingly boast of? Yet again when the world mourned the death of the gr...