KAHIHI

It was the Christmas time and Santa was bound to be around the corner. It was the time to go wishing for gifts from the white-bearded man. But we have to behave good for that.

Perhaps, the name at the bottom in Santa’s list might be that of Julian Assange, co-founder of the whistle-blower website Wikileaks. A man cursed upon right from the most powerful man on earth, the President of America, protested against by those fighting for privacy rights, branded as a terrorist by Sarah Palin, and still among the most admired men. He is a dark knight, the people’s choice for the Times Person of the Year, the messenger.

Standing for all that is good in the world, and hunted down by half the governments, he is a man we were waiting for, a man who stands up for the underdogs. Built on principles and ethics, an intriguing personality with a great philosophy behind his mottos, this man is courage personified.

A young Julian Assange was a part of a hacker group that had one of its mottos as share information. Perhaps a little inquisitiveness, personal experience and a strong sense of right and wrong has made this man we know today. Being one of the winners of Amnesty award and “one of the most influential person” he is still humble. A brain of unparalleled genius is transforming the now rotten field of journalism.

Greenday, the punk rock band asked the world, “Do you know your enemy?” and we didn’t till then. But today when the very basis of democracy is shattered by the bulk of secrets kept from the public we do realize who the enemy is. It is the regime, the very government that we elect and today Wikileaks has called for a change in this regime. The regime which wants to stay by covering their schemes, the wars they got into, the loss in those wars, is brought to open by these messengers. Julian Assange and his people revolted against the honor to obey, they brought down the silence which had been our enemy for so long. The new era for internet freedom has begun and this massive power of the internet is taming all those power-hungry politicos and bringing to the public all the dirty little secrets. 

This simple man, with very simple and straight philosophy, has showed to us the real face of the world’s most powerful democracy and the notorious secrets of other countries. A self-taught hacking expert and a computer-whiz, he is a revolution in the field of journalism, the press. The fourth pillar of democracy which sways public opinion in any direction, was till now a tool used by the governments to mould facts the way they want. We knew, the facts that we saw were not true, we knew there was also the “Other Side of the Story” but we stood silent. When incidents like 26/11 happened we thought we had enough of this silence. We rose up in violence and brought this government to senses that not always would we accept your facts. And this violence is the energy we seek now to bring reform. Wikileaks gave us channel to let this violence flow, a way to ask the government “what’s the truth?”

News supported with documents and material to prove the truth, is the new face of journalism. The sources are hidden but the documents echo the truth. The methods to acquire the documents are known yet “fool-proof”. And all this is the genius of one simple man. The power will now move in our hands when the foreman of control will be brought down, when his effigy will be burned.

But still one question lingers in the mind. Is it ethical?

Is it ok to steal the secrets of a government? And the answer lies in the fact, if we elect the people up there, we give them our trust votes then they should be entrust us about the annual spending, the wars and the losses suffered, the schemes carried out at international level. If not then the Heroes are waiting to spill the beans. It’s a choice upon the regime up there to decide. Either trust us with every step you take or acknowledge the fact that we do know who our enemy is.

In cricket, it is said that the hook shot, though most marvelous, is the most dangerous to play. Slight misjudgment and the delivery can hit you like an uppercut, enough to bruise you for rest of your life.

Quite similarly, Ms. Arundhati Roy, our very own, who gave India its first Booker, has been smartly facing the deliveries and surviving at the benevolence of many benefit of doubts.

However, this time, she seems to have missed it. She tried a hook at the Kashmir issue, which unfortunately didn’t go well off the boundary. The timing was wrong perchance. Or maybe the tact; one shouldn’t be playing every delivery between mid-wicket and backward square-leg on the leg side. Some other shot could have possibly made Ms. Roy win praise akin Tendulkar – “pride of the nation”. However, that did not happen so and instead Arundhati had to derogate herself with a taint of “traitor of the nation”.

While her Booker might make us feel proud about the zeal, Ms. Roy’s subsequent acts have only made us feel sour about her ubiquitous performances. For no rhyme or reason, she has been pouncing on every opportunity that she thought could get her publicity and media attention, possible smitten by the honour and reputation that her cousin enjoys.

Arundhati Roy has many times critiqued on the right things. However, more than that, she opined about something that made her image and intellect spiral down. Whether she does it for publicity or to flaunt her astuteness, is something only she can answer or the media can speculate. However, parachuting between issues, like Narmada Andolan, Maoism, Kashmir, and similar, does give a sense of chasing media attention. Given that she has the caliber of winning a Booker, it doesn’t require any super intelligence about how to diplomatically tackle sensitive issues like that of Kashmir and Naxals-Maoists; she can be superbly imaginative about how to conjure up things.

The Guardian, New York Times, TIME, may all praise for the analytical views she has given on Afghanistan, Israel, Sri Lanka, Nuclear Policy but her words in India are certainly taken in a bitter tone, which if continues, can turn out to be a debacle for the pride & prestige that she once enjoyed in India.

It is unarguable that a writer like Arundhati will have myopic and distant imaginative about everything that is happening around and that she is born in a democratic-republic gives her right to expression. However, why do so through petty things that invoke more of blasphemy than eulogy. Ms. Roy has been and is a good writer – a story teller, which one of the most respected literary awards (Man Booker) also has testified. It is then surprising that her quest stalls at winning just one. Her research work too seems to be good, given the fact that she dig up issues that appeal to the masses. However, why not make use of those same research skills to come up with an unthinkable narrative that can fetch her a “Pulitzer”, may be. Or simply be like Hilary Mantel of Wolf Hall (2009 Booker Prize Winner), whose ultimate piquancy is to write, write, and write; keeping all other transient issues at bay.

It would rather be appreciated that Ms. Arundhati Roy gets evolved from and not involved in these issues of national unrest. Taking cues from these issues, glorifying them, building up characters, brewing up a fictional tale, and marching your way to the next the “Booker” or a “Nobel for Literature”, possibly looks more sensible at this time.

Your fans and book lovers surely don’t want to look at you as a “single book surprise”.

- Amol Redij

Octopus Paul is dead. Probably, world is mourning; Spain certainly; India too. For India is very sentimental about such topics – astrology, predictions, fortune telling; so what if it was an octopus this time and not a roadside jyotishi sitting with a parrot. Indians, by and large, balance well between getting emotional and credulous; hoping sides as per the convenience.

Had Paul not breathed his last on 26th Oct, we could have imported him to predict the Bihar elections and the subsequent KDMC one. At least Paul could have saved us from the pique of “Tu-Tu-Main-Main” sponsored by the Thackeray Bros. The animal could have, to some extent, lessened the cat-and-dog like fight.
  
It would have been a great sigh of relief for them, us, and the media channels to have known whether it was “Uddhav’s Rajkaran” or “Raj Uddhavast” that would ultimately triumph. It then doesn’t matter what the end result it but we love to hallucinate in the galore of predictions and forecast.

Though we tried to sideline Paul claiming it is something we have been practising since ages, with a parrot though, somewhere deep within we all believed in the octopus theory.

Any social gathering or a group in college or residents of an apartment, anywhere once it is revealed that someone can read a palm or forehead, people start flocking to that person rubbing their palm hard on the bum or wiping their forehead with the forearm, to know about their future. Such is the craze.

Once at a wedding, I came across a person who could read palm of the foot. I wasn’t surprised. It is quite possible. Girls, with ghagra pulled up to the knee level, were dying to show him their feet. He was closely looking at the foot of short dark boy and proclaimed, ‘a fortune awaits this boy in next 3 years, and he is going to be a rich man with a business of his own’. The boy was actually a helper of a caterer there at the wedding. It is more than 8 years now, the by hasn’t made any fortune, he still works under the Marwadi caterer businessman. I haven’t seen that foot-palm reader ever since, fortunately for him.

 Our muse with getting predictions for the happenings in our life is abysmal. I usually don’t understand why people are so desperate to kill the thrill of their life.

Cricket channels too had started getting such fortune teller guests to predict the result of the match. The guests did all sorts of things with cards, numbers, stars etc, and gave some statistics. However, in the end, they do mention that the best team will ultimately win. Where is the fortune-teller’s skill then? Even I can make a statement like that.

Bejan Daruwala predicts the movement of the stock market. A reputed entity like CNBC and www.moneycontol.com believe more in what “Ganesha Says...” than what Gujral, Bhansali, Tulsian, etc say. Both the groups are useless anyways.

Channels make money for they know how to tap the emotional turbulence of Indians. We love getting exploited without applying even an iota of rationale to what we hear, see, and do.

Another instance where we love getting manipulated is “Vastu” and “Feng Shui”. Just because some Feng Shui consultant tells us to illuminate our home with bright red things, we buy all sorts of lustrous red that we can get and keep hoping that some great fortune will come kissing us. Feng Shui came from China. The climate there is extremely cold. In the colour wheel, red and yellow are considered to be warm colours, they depict warmth, heat. This is the reason why mostly in Chinese houses you will find abundant use of red and yellow; to possibly neutralise the effect of the cold climate. However, this may not be applicable in India. We already have a warm tropical climate, especially in Mumbai where humidity is so high.

But we are blinded by the sweet words of the astrologers, Feng Shui consultants, numerologists, and so on. By chance, if you make a fortune at all one day, it will be purely because of the hard work and dedication you put in.

Till then you may only dream to accumulate fortune, while your Feng Shui consultant and astrologer is collecting it by the way of hefty fees charged to you.

- P. K. Dastoor

History of mankind in short is war between good and evil. Even our Indian mythologies believe and prove it’s always ‘truth that triumphs’. But is the truth always the truth? Isn’t it’s definition incomplete without a lie? What is good without evil? These ever-puzzling questions have been marvelously raised in an intriguing Japanese anime–series, “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion”.

Produced by Sunrise, it is undoubtedly the best so far, showing almost every human emotion, and justifying the fact that ‘Good might do good unto somebody, but it’s still bad for another’.

Set in post world-war period in 2017 a.t.b, it’s a story about two superpowers, the tyrannical Britannia and The Nationalist Chinese Federation. The Holy Britannian Empire is a symbol of absolute tyranny for the Japanese, as they have stripped the Japanese of their rights, their freedom, and their name. The Japanese are addressed as “Numbers”, the residents of Area 11(the new name of Japan), for example.

The Britannians torture, harass, and indiscriminate the Japanese people. The Emperor of this kingdom, Charles VI Britannia, proclaims that “All Men are not Born Equal. Inequality is not Evil”. A kingdom whose ruler is that wretched is sure to be the same. There are rebellions among the Japanese to overthrow the regime. However, they are crushed mercilessly using a Humanoid powered armor called the ‘Knightmares’, a scientific innovation of unimaginable power, which constantly evolves throughout the series to become a formidable weapon for our scientists to ponder upon.

Lelouch Lamperouge, the hero of the movie, is a young Britannian student and vice-president of the student council at Ashford Academy, a carefree school with a carefree student council. Leading a simple life with his blind and physically disabled sister Nanally, of whom he is very fond of, he secretly harbors a ambition to overthrow the Britannian Empire. He never tries anything rebellious until destiny meets him on his track. That meeting sets off a series of marvelous and enthralling events that go on to change the history of world, and probably the perspective of the viewer about the true facet of truth. Lelouch though an ordinary Britannian, has an extraordinarily troubled past. The series is itself a revelation for him about his past; what he has believed and what actually has happened.  Often, a quiet and obnoxious boy, he has a brilliant strategic mind, owed to his exception chess playing quality, and a heart-rending love for his sister Nanally. He gets what he wants and doesn’t care who stands in his way.

Geass is a power of the kings. A mind power, which accustoms to whom it has been bestowed. This Geass is a binding contract between an immortal and a human that implies the fulfillment of a wish of the immortal by the human. It is an unparalleled power beyond the science humans have achieved. In an interesting meeting, a witch called C.C, gave this power to Lelouch. This C.C. then becomes an integral part of the rebellion that Lelouch leads and in knowing his past and the answers he is finding. Lelouch has an ability to turn the will of the people he sees, and make them do things he wants them to. As there is limitation to every power, he can cast his Geass only once on a given person. Though the Geass has an everlasting effect, the tests that he carries out for testing his only weapon are also amusing enough.

The first war that Lelouch fights with this Geass against the Empire is almost with no resources and a handful of rebels. However, it was enough to strike fear in enemy’s heart or that of Prince Clovis, the King of Area 11. Then he adorns the mask of Zero, a rebel with a cause, a dangerous enemy, a powerful leader and a fighter for the injustice against the unarmed. What Zero embarks on is a dangerous path of treachery against a powerfully armed and scientifically dangerous Empire. But the rebellion he leads is not for Japan but to create a world wherein Nanaly could live in peace and with love. His ambitions take him to form a group of rebels known as The Order of Black Knights. Leading this group he gets recruitment in many forms even from Britannians who are fed up of the regime. One such man is Diethard, a byte-hungry media-man. His involvement in the rebellion shows the power of media the way it can transform a terrorist into a hero. Diethard states an astonishing fact that ‘Journalism is not information but Human Creation’. What is stated about the power of media in here is also a present-day situation in our country.

Suzaku Kururugi, best friend of Lelouch and his worst enemy, is a flaw in all of Zero’s plans. Always in Zero’s path Suzaku wants to change the system of Britannia from within. Lelouch and Suzaku are on the opposite sides of justice each going for the same heading. Suzaku, also like his friend has a troubled past, which is slowly revealed throughout the story. CC, the witch is depicted as a heartless immortal but still very endearing in the end. Charles VI Britannia the Emperor is bestowed his power of Geass by C.C. and another V.V his brother. The short forms do sound odd but their names are not known even after the series ends. Another mystery. One of the more characters that strike the viewers is Euphemia, a really lovable and kind girl just like Nanally.

Having a varied cast as such it gets into action with the murder of Prince Clovis wherein the viewers get another hint as to who Lelouch is. Introduced as the successor of the Throne of Britannia the shroud of mystery begins to grow around Zero. Even the Black Knights do not know of his identity. For them, he is a man alone who will lead them to victory, who will liberate Japan an idol to follow. For him they are chess-pawns to checkmate the king. Based on such startling human nature it slowly enters the supernatural world of Geass.

What becomes of Zero and his rebellion the Black Knights and his passion to murder the Emperor Charles is too thrilling to watch. What Zero is, is a mixture of coldness, strategy, winning and an unmatched oratory, ironically all for the sake of his love for Nanally. The story has a serious tone; however, some of the most comical characters like Count Lloyd, nonetheless a genius, even it out.

The end is so superbly done that none could ever have predicted it. The simple end shown and the way Zero builds his Empire of Black Knights for the downtrodden just destroy the very basis of our foundation that ‘the good can never be bad’.  What are the reactions of every character in the series, their motives for the actions they take, the nature of the actions they take justify themselves slowly and gradually. There comes a point wherein you have no idea which side is good and which is bad. They are both the same. In the end even the truth can’t be justified without a lie. The whole point of the series being epic lies in the fact that it’s still a good versus evil battle but here the good takes a turn for the worse.

'Behind every Great man there is a Crime’ this is what the series tells in the end. That there cannot be only good and only bad, both coexist. There is no definition of good and evil it’s only a perspective. But in the end it’s still a human world where everything just cannot be perfect and it shouldn’t be.