Letter to Aindri on her 2nd birthday

My dear Chimpu,

It seems that this name is sticking on to you despite your mother having decided for a lovely 'Nysha' as your pet name.

But even if it gets replaced by something else, in this letter, it is going to stay so.
At 2, you have become taller, noticeably, and little thinner (rather less chubby than first).

Year 2016, has particularly been a weird year. I would be with a lot of people to believe that it was not really a great year.
Definitely not for us with you being hospitalized twice, once in June and other in October.

But the remarkable thing about both of these incidences, which was heartbreaking for us to say the least, was the grit that you exhibited.

For a tiny tot, going through rigors of hospital, it was from you that we derived strength.

Let's put aside these bad memories...
In your second year, we moved into our own house, precisely on 4th September, 2016.

You got a lot of space to run around which you did really well. We think you like the house. Well, like it or not you have to stay here.

We made our regular trips to Bangalore and Odisha and you seem to be making our airport visits very tiring. That is because you refuse to be at one place even for a minute.

Also you became choosy with food and making your mother's job pretty difficult. Plus, there is something that has been another hallmark of your second year.
That of you keeping us awake for large parts of the night. You wake up at unearthly hours and refuse to sleep for hours at stretch.

You have now begun to sing many nursery rhymes, thanks to all the YouTube videos we 'have' to show you just so that you eat. Also in the meantime Doraemon cartoon has replaced all others as your favorite. (So much so that your mother is baking a doraemon cake on your birthday).

You have a liking for Bollywood songs, be it Bolna, Gerua, Janam janam, ae dil hai mukkil or others and you are humming couple and more lines of them. That makes me think you can start learning singing sometime later. You have started identifying restaurants, be it associating fish at Ocean Pearl or MTR.

By now you have graduated from monosyllables to 6-7 word sentences. And most of which makes perfect sense. And in the process you have learnt how to butter your mother and me and get things done.

Sometimes I wonder if we have been good enough parents in this year. I think it is a genuine concern that most would be having. Trust you me chimpu, we have tried.

In your third year there will come a bigger challenge and perhaps a big reason for your Papa to be worried, of you going to crutch or some equivalent of that. It is true that we are a little overprotective of you but that will be let loose gradually.

At this point I hope the blog sustains few years until when you are able to read it and understand it. Also I hope I will be able to continue writing these on your birthdays.

With all the love in the world...

Papa

PS: The clear, innocent eyes with which you watch me and your smile and laughter are things which melts the heart.

Banished from Bengal - book review of 'Exile - a memoir' by Taslima Nasrin

The Bengal in the title refers to both West and erstwhile East. Both which banished writer Naslima Nasrin. Even if the accusations against Ms Nasrin, dominantly being her fanning religious extremism and of her being a mediocre writer are to be believed, the life of exile she was relegated to (and written about in her book ‘Exile – a memoir’, translation by Maharghya Chakraborty and published by Penguin) speaks loudly of the failure of a State (two States in fact) to protect an individual and its machinations to stifle freedom. The book also brings to the fore a strange love that Taslima Nasrin has for India where she continues to live, largely due to her courage and conviction, at the face of massive resistance and near lack of substantial support.

The book is a powerful account of an individual, a writer, a female, who has been let down by the powers that be. The book is a commentary on how vote bank politics trumps basic human rights. The book is a testimony to the humongous and nearly unlimited State power. The book is a note of how personal relations, friendships, acquaintances fail to stand up in times of adversity. Taslima Nasrin’s Exile is a book that through its diary entries, poems, newspaper testimonials makes all the above points and makes it strongly.

In the first chapter titled ‘Forbidden’ Ms Nasrin writes how the words, which she calls epithets, of ‘whore’ and ‘prostitute’ have become cherished for it reminds her of the stand against patriarchy that she has taken and the reader, provided one is unaware of her work in general, is given a glimpse of what a woman has stood up to. 

22^nd November 2007 was the fateful day, and a chapter “Farewell, 22 November 2007” has been devoted to it, when after applying immense pressure on Ms Nasrin to leave Kolkata, where Muslim religious fundamentalists were protesting against her, she made an exit to Jaipur, from where she was to eventually live in ‘exile’ in various safe houses of New Delhi.

Taslima Nasrin has given the reader an image of her happy self in Kolkata, prior to her becoming a captive at the hands of Indian State. How she set up her house, was happily writing, was socially active and how all of it was snatched away from her just because a state government (then a CPM government) could not rein in fundamentalists and rather sought recourse in sending the author away.

Ms Nasrin asks the right questions about Muslims, which a vast majority of people wonder about. At one point (pg 153) she writes “I feel that the ‘moderates’ do not even exist.” She invokes Gandhi, Mandela, a host of editors, poets throughout the book who have given her strength to fight the mighty State and who have praised her valour. The book ‘Exile’ is also about how friendships (be it the Mr B, a minister in UPA government or any other) have ditched her in time of need and through that becomes relatable to the average human.

The powerful sections of the book are where Taslima Nasrin writes about her love for India and her dislike for the comforts of Western world where she spent 11 long years before coming to Kolkata. This narrative comes along at various points in the book. A Bengali first and then a Bangladeshi perhaps is how she has chosen to put it.

The outright disgusting part of the book is where she describes her exile of nearly 8 months in various safe houses of Delhi. Stripping a human being of basic freedom of meeting people, availing medical facilities, going about a normal life is a gross violation of human rights and Ms Nasrin was subject to that. She has provided a disturbing account of how due to lack of medical help her blood pressure situation got worse and which eventually led her to bite the bitter pill and leave India.

Maharghya Chakraborty, a PhD scholar at CSSC Kolkata needs to be commended for a wonderful translation. The literary prowess of Taslima Nasrin has been done justice to in English it can be safely said. The narration is gripping, fast moving and accommodates literary flourish along with some lovely poetry in vast sections. There could have been more clarity on the timeline of events in general. The book is a highly recommended one for those who would like to learn more about Taslima Nasrin, her love for India, her fight against religious fundamentalism, the coercion of the State, machinations of governments, and much more.

Book Review - Fables from India

 

Fables from India by Uday Mane has 23 short stories which revolve around Indian characters and its villages and towns and hence the "from India" part. The book opens with 'What Do I Seek?' which is a poem. May be the authors love for poetry has been given place. The first Tale, "Prince of Aramadia"sets the mood for rest of the stories. It is very Indian, with theme of sacrifice, divine intervention, bringing back to life (wife of the protagonist in the story) and is highly predictable.

Almost all the stories lack the element of surprise, the twist of tale that marks a good short story (without having to be O Henrysque; okay I just made that word). To be fair to the author stories like "Secret Keeper's Secret" do intrigue the reader for quite some time but their number is miniscule and the consistency is lacking.

There is inconsistency (though it does not matter much) in the length of stories. From six pages long to two page long, they do not hold the attention of the reader well. And then there are some stories like the last one in the book (Langu's Calling) which begin well but do not reach the pinnacle and become dampeners.
Perhaps the book is targeted at kids who can derive some moral lessons (there are quite a few of them) and hold on to very short stories well. The book does not work for adults.