Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i Open Magazine

editor@openmedianetwork.in G VENKATARAMAN The cover story on Rohith Vemula (8 February 2016) was incredibly interesting. Rohith comes across as a good scholar and a thinker. He wanted equality, and his disappointment on this score must have made him a recluse in his last few days. What amazes me is that while many Dalits aspire to be engineers, doctors and politicians, and get admission to premier institutes, urban society still refuses to accept them, perhaps because they don’t come from the same background. One admires Babasaheb Ambedkar who focused on education, went to England and the US, and was recognised as a leader on his return. However, one wonders if he would have received the same acceptance had he not studied abroad. Suicide is not a solution. The only thing Rohith’s…

■ BENGALURU MOB ■ FOR stripping and parading naked a Tanzanian student India might be not just intolerant but also barbaric, given the absolutely shocking racist behaviour of an angry mob in Bengaluru. On Sunday, a vehicle driven by a Sudanese national hit a 35-year-old woman, killing her. Half an hour later, when another vehicle carrying four Africans passed by, the crowd that had gathered forcibly stopped it and dragged them out. Their car was set ablaze (in pic) and they were beaten mercilessly. A Tanzanian woman among them was stripped and paraded naked. And this was just the start of her ordeal. When she ran and tried to board a bus, the passengers threw her out. At the local police station, her complaint was not registered, and the cops…

IMAGINE, IF YOU will, a man going to the office of Delhi or Mumbai’s municipal corporation for a job interview. Since the man is an illiterate slum dweller, think of him as applying for a low-paying post, maybe as a cleaner of drains. Assume that he does not have to pay a bribe, is suitably eligible, but then, at the penultimate stage of the selection process, is asked whether there is a toilet in his home. If he does not have one, would he be wrong to wonder what that has to do with anything that his work would entail? Or imagine him in a somewhat better context, in the final semester of an IIM diploma, being interviewed by a private equity group during placements. And after a series of…

HISTORY IS SYNONYMOUS with turbulence; but even by its troubled standards, the churn in a single century between 1857 and the 1960s was unprecedented. Every single empire—ancient, middling or modern—collapsed: Mughal, Chinese, Japanese, Ottoman, Iranian, Tsarist, Spanish, Habsburg, German, Dutch, Belgian, Portuguese, Italian, French and British. Strategic stability, always a tenuous reality, went into a spin as post-empire and post-colonial states had to find new equations, not only with old masters but also between themselves and within themselves. Great empires linger on their deathbed, and it is difficult to pinpoint the precise moment of decline. There are few disputes however about a death rattle. The Mughals spent over 125 years in hospital, unwilling to die and unable to live after Nadir Shah smashed what was left of their pretensions in…

DICTATOR Robert Harris RANDOM HOUSE UK | 449 PAGES | RS 699 The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living —Cicero THE SECRET is out; Robert Harris is a fake. Posing as an ex-journalist turned thriller writer, Harris is really a time traveller. With the aid of some device he has invented—as mysterious as it is ingenious—he has acquired the uncanny ability to travel back in time to ages long gone, and the best part is that he can take us right along with him. So make yourself comfortable in the passenger seat, fasten the safety belt, and enjoy the ride, which transports you to Rome in the year 58 BC. The Roman Empire bestrides the world like a colossus, stretching from what is now…

MARGARET ATWOOD is a person obsessed with time. From Jaipur to Delhi—from keynote address to panel discussions to conversations—it becomes amply clear that time, both personal and global, are of particular interest to her. As a 76-year-old author, she refers to herself as “thousands of years old”. At the opening of the Jaipur Literature Festival, she said, “To have been invited to give the keynote here, I must be either very important or very old, and I suspect it is the latter.” In her conversation with Patrick French at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi, she spelled out the advantages of being either a young newcomer, or a wizened elder writer, and added that the worst time in a novelist’s life is in the middle. If she stretches out her seven-and-a-half…

SHE WAS IN PAIN, dipping her trunk into the Ramganga seeking solace from the ice cold waters. As she saw us, astride her own kin, approaching broadside, she squealed and wobbled towards us. For a moment I thought she was about to charge, but only a moment. She was distressed, hobbled and as she wheeled around we saw the extent of the wounds. The tiger had got her on her left hind leg, severing the Achilles’ heel with the precision of a surgeon cutting up a cadaver. The heel now hung from the leg like a rag, separated from the shank by a blood soaked gulf of torn tissue. She screamed again and the elephant we were on hesitated. The mahout wanted a closer look and rapped the animal smartly…

She Ain’t No Pushover Kangana Ranaut once again reminded us why she’s not someone you’d want to get on the wrong side of. Only days ago, when asked if she’d been unceremoniously dropped from Aashiqui 3, the actress had said: “Yes, many lame rumours are doing the rounds. Even a dumbass can tell where these rumours are coming from. I don’t know why exes do silly things to get your attention. For me that chapter is over and I don’t dig graves.” Interpreted by the media as a swipe at Hrithik Roshan— with whom Kangana was widely reported to have had a fling, and who was allegedly responsible for her ouster from the film—her statement quickly went viral, leaving the Krrish star with no option but to respond to the…

THE MAHATMA GANDHI National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Every year, especially in the Budget, the Union Government launches a slew of welfare schemes. Most of these last no longer than a couple of years. From that perspective, the longevity of MGNREGS is remarkable. But should one be surprised? Unlike the usual budgeted schemes, MGNREGS is an ‘open-ended’, demand-driven project. If work is demanded, then by law the Government has to cough up the money needed to run this scheme. In a country often wracked by severe macro-economic imbalances, the expense has caused much concern. There is another truth, however, one that is best expressed in the words. No government can afford to hold the scheme back. It is now a political necessity. Even a…

THE HAWA MAHAL in Jaipur is an unlikely backdrop for the book reborn as a visual sensation. Still here I am, braving the labyrinthine alleys of souvenir kiosks and other kitschy delights on a dusty winter afternoon for my moment with a book within a book within a… panelled rectangular space of pictures. Does this sound incomprehensible? Then any conversation on the future of the book—or the possibilities of reading—is nowadays caught between the techno-optimism of the market-savvy and the hardbound despair of the traditionalist. This afternoon I am walking into a space where arguments about the future of reading are made redundant by the language of viewing. A space where definitions—of ‘book’, ‘art’, ‘canvas’—collapse in a whirl of perceptions. In the hall of book(s)—which is not a Borgesian labyrinth…

HE NEVER CHOSE to attract attention. The quietest among five children, Manoj Bajpayee preferred to stay silent until provoked. Even today he remembers his first fight at a missionary boarding school in a small town named Bettiah, Bihar, where seniors tried to sodomise him. “I would always stay away from confrontation, but if there’s one thing I would fight against, it was bullying,” he says. When he came to Mumbai, his fight for a spot in the industry was again a passive one. “I don’t know how to be aggressive. I did not tear down the doors of producers. If I didn’t have work, I’d perform for my friends in my living room. That’s how I kept the actor in me alive,” he confesses. Today, sitting in the office of…

THOSE OF US with more than a passing interest in the fine arts tend to greet each edition of the India Art Fair (IAF) with a feeling of delight mixed with dread. If the thought of suffering ear-splitting decibel levels while patiently waiting in static traffic on the way to the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla sends shivers down the spine, then the prospect of experiencing a range of art from across the world inspires an equal excitement as well. Yet, year after year, even after one has braved the inner circles of hell and stepped into this oasis of a visual feast, there remains the problem of plenty. How does one absorb, let alone retain, the incredible variety of spectacle that is on offer at the IAF without succumbing…

THE REAL KICK Ritika Singh, who plays the talented boxer Madhi in Saala Khadoos, was first spotted by R Madhavan at a mixed martial art reality show called Super Fight League in Mumbai in 2012 CAST R MADHAVAN, RADHA RAVI, RITIKA SINGH, NASSER DIRECTOR SUDHA KONGARA THE BOXING COACH of this film takes inspiration from an unusual source—the military tactics of Genghis Khan. The strategy of the founder of the Mongol Empire was to destroy the arms, ammunition and food supply of the enemy, and then to feign retreat. When pursued, Genghis Khan would turn around and display an elaborate set of ambushes, which could encircle and trap the pursuing army. Retired boxer and coach Adi Tomar (R Madhavan) talks about an unlikely parallel that he sees between these military…

POP IDEA OF THE WEEK INDIA THERE IS A certain section in India which insists on its cultural primacy. Members of this affluent and vocal slice of society do what other affluent folks do—they watch and listen to international artists like Coldplay, vacation in foreign countries, and hang out in trendy bars and swish malls. The cultural engine of India, Bollywood, which once depicted stories of the underdog and the romance between a poor boy and a rich girl, has long abandoned those tropes to pander almost exclusively pander to this audience. Every story is now urbane, about the existential crisis of poor rich boys and girls, and about discovering oneself on road and yacht trips in international locations. Last year, this crowd were agog with the presence of Chris…

THERE MUST BE days when Narendra Modi wishes he could dust down the now famous hologram machine that transported his image across India during his whirlwind election campaign. The demands on any head of government are intense, and even more so when he is in charge of a large, economically significant nation. Modi cannot be everywhere and as Prime Minister he doesn’t have the option of using technological wizardry to get over the imbalance between the demand for his presence and his ability to meet it. Recent reports suggest that Modi is cutting down on his international travel and will be spending less time jumping on and off aeroplanes in 2016. His staggering amount of foreign visits since moving into 7 Race Course Road in New Delhi has certainly got…

High technology has traditionally meant exclusivity, conjuring up images of glittering product launches aimed only at the richest layer of consumers. This perception is set to change. Already, the largest technology companies in the world are focusing on wide adoptability. They are building products that will change the lives of millions through internet connectivity, healthcare and mobility solutions. In the coming months, India will likely see some of these critical technologies come into play. Security and emergency services Looking skyward It was in June last year, at the Paris International Air Show, that New Zealand-based Martin Aircraft Company entered into an alliance with regional partners across the world. From India, they chose the Gurgaon-based M2K Group, which has a presence in charter aviation. The deal will help bring the Martin…

GANDHI: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY PRAMOD KAPOOR ROLI BOOKS | 336 PAGES | RS 2,495 THOSE WHO fought for India’s freedom, our greatest generation, first and foremost, lived lives marked by sacrifice— a spirit that is often missing in our lives today. That sacrifice, as defined by Rabindranath Tagore, who gave Gandhi the name ‘Mahatma’ is this: ‘What, then, is the true meaning of sacrifice? It means that for human beings, the life of the body is not the best life, but the life of the soul. The material world which we share with the animals, is not the only world. We have higher needs, because we have a deeper and a higher life hidden within us. That hidden life is immortal. Our physical life has its immortality. Only those human…

IF YOU ARE an Indian, chances are that you have a family member or a close friend who has diabetes. That is, if you don’t have it yourself—such is the widespread nature of this condition in India. Latest estimates put the number of Indians affected by diabetes at more than 65 million; with another 70 million qualifying as pre-diabetics (a condition where the blood glucose level is above normal but not in the diabetes zone—implying that although you haven’t quite reached there yet, you are on your way). A recent study called CARRS led by V Mohan and Nikhil Tandon looked at more than 15,000 people residing in Delhi, Chennai and Karachi and found that at the age of 40, 10-15 per cent of these metro dwellers have diabetes. This…