In the relaxing absence of selfies and mobiles, Rama and me watched the waves of Bay of Bengal and sands of Marina Beach take to each other; a let go follows a let in, as it was, is and will be. Like the many dissents pebbling the Marina; protests more than the sands and salts of Marina; none minded the bits of waste, of this and that. Dissents were over; ashes of violence remained in all; the sea did not give up on the shore. As none knows (all appreciate) much about the jugalbandhi of waves-sands, none till date has touched on a single factor tuning the protest orchestra: jallikattu, Mao, Naxal, Kashmir, drought, pride in a civilisation, distrust of all institutions, dislike of power, a free for all freedom ....they were all there .... except that the jallikattu bulls had no say; or rather, might have had a quiet say. Mahatma Gandhi, sculpted by D.P. Roychoudhri, and in place since 1954, nodded at the many protests festival, with no clenched fists; and when the fisticuffs and beat ups started, stood upset as he always has; will this day be important for calendars. Two crows were resting on his shaved head the noon we were there praying for Gandhi going live. A fine gentleman, a citizen of Singara Chennai, admitted to having no clues to the happenings; Singara Chennai lost its Singara the afternoon when the police and power took over, said a lady to us; 'protests there have to be like it always has been from Tuka and Kabira and Gandhi times; Marina scored; am surprised there are none in modern India in the last few years when youth strings kites to exuberance and the old watch in dismay. Never been much for bans; a civilisation cannot be built on hurt animals and nature, is something to be felt and realised. They were all in black; men and women; why in black, asked Rama; me had no answer. Prefer protests in white. Think old man Gandhi was always in khadi whites; Tuka and Kabir might have been in whites. In me times, perhaps the JP movement and students action in Gujarat did switch on talk of alterations and changes which never happened; new days were not born. And the Lokpal movement in New Delhi. A grossly unequal society needs protests; that's the basic democratic minimum. In Singara Chennai, for Rama and me, Marina, Gandhi and New Woodlands at Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai are a must. We have never missed them. At Woodlands, were ushered in by Nepalis and served by Nepalis, idlis, masala dosas, puri-aloo bhajis; did they cook it?; talked to a Nepali who has been in Singara Chennai for four years, far from the Himalayas, picking up a little Tamil; wondered why customers never spoke in Hindi when me asked him: Kaise ho bhai. At Valasarvakkam, young Bengalis from Burdwan at housing sites; laughed as me spoke in Bengali. Isnt it time they protested. In Amchi Mumbai and Singara Chennai digging open spaces for housing sites is a constitutional obligation on builders; laws do not restrain them; in another 20 years, they will build malls at Marina and Marine Drive to push vikas. Isnt it time, for protests against lawful lawlessness?
Monday, February 6, 2017
Protests
In the relaxing absence of selfies and mobiles, Rama and me watched the waves of Bay of Bengal and sands of Marina Beach take to each other; a let go follows a let in, as it was, is and will be. Like the many dissents pebbling the Marina; protests more than the sands and salts of Marina; none minded the bits of waste, of this and that. Dissents were over; ashes of violence remained in all; the sea did not give up on the shore. As none knows (all appreciate) much about the jugalbandhi of waves-sands, none till date has touched on a single factor tuning the protest orchestra: jallikattu, Mao, Naxal, Kashmir, drought, pride in a civilisation, distrust of all institutions, dislike of power, a free for all freedom ....they were all there .... except that the jallikattu bulls had no say; or rather, might have had a quiet say. Mahatma Gandhi, sculpted by D.P. Roychoudhri, and in place since 1954, nodded at the many protests festival, with no clenched fists; and when the fisticuffs and beat ups started, stood upset as he always has; will this day be important for calendars. Two crows were resting on his shaved head the noon we were there praying for Gandhi going live. A fine gentleman, a citizen of Singara Chennai, admitted to having no clues to the happenings; Singara Chennai lost its Singara the afternoon when the police and power took over, said a lady to us; 'protests there have to be like it always has been from Tuka and Kabira and Gandhi times; Marina scored; am surprised there are none in modern India in the last few years when youth strings kites to exuberance and the old watch in dismay. Never been much for bans; a civilisation cannot be built on hurt animals and nature, is something to be felt and realised. They were all in black; men and women; why in black, asked Rama; me had no answer. Prefer protests in white. Think old man Gandhi was always in khadi whites; Tuka and Kabir might have been in whites. In me times, perhaps the JP movement and students action in Gujarat did switch on talk of alterations and changes which never happened; new days were not born. And the Lokpal movement in New Delhi. A grossly unequal society needs protests; that's the basic democratic minimum. In Singara Chennai, for Rama and me, Marina, Gandhi and New Woodlands at Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai are a must. We have never missed them. At Woodlands, were ushered in by Nepalis and served by Nepalis, idlis, masala dosas, puri-aloo bhajis; did they cook it?; talked to a Nepali who has been in Singara Chennai for four years, far from the Himalayas, picking up a little Tamil; wondered why customers never spoke in Hindi when me asked him: Kaise ho bhai. At Valasarvakkam, young Bengalis from Burdwan at housing sites; laughed as me spoke in Bengali. Isnt it time they protested. In Amchi Mumbai and Singara Chennai digging open spaces for housing sites is a constitutional obligation on builders; laws do not restrain them; in another 20 years, they will build malls at Marina and Marine Drive to push vikas. Isnt it time, for protests against lawful lawlessness?
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