What is Fascism?

Perhaps this picture explains it best.

I was reading an article about the Nazis and the Second World War, etc., when this word Fascism leaped out at me. Everyday I come across many words that I do not understand, but I work out some kind of meaning based on the sentence, get some context, and move on. Some times I check in on a Thesaurus to know that word better. Today, I wanted to learn what Fascism means. And perhaps use it in conversations to impress the other mortals. So I Googled it. And since Wikipedia is the mother of all encyclopedias I clicked on that first.

So, what is Fascism? Let's see what these sites have to say.

Wikipedia:

"Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek rejuvenation of their nation based on commitment to an organic national community where its individuals are united together as one people in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood through a totalitarian single-party state that seeks the mass mobilization of a nation through discipline, indoctrination, physical education, and eugenics."

Really, Wiki? This is the definition you give to a person with little or no knowledge of this word?!

Lower your voice, you!

Urban Dictionary:

Fascism: The Bush administration 

I loved this one! :P

Dictionary.com:

A governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

Okay, quite easy to understand.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

A political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

Hmm.

I should now confess I already used Fascism in a conversation today. With a straight face.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Movie)

What a movie! One of the finest espionage thrillers I have seen in a long time.

The story starts with Mr. Smiley (Gary Oldman), a retired intelligence officer being assigned to find a mole in the British Intelligence Agency, a mole who is right at the top of the ladder, supplying information under the table to the Soviets. The movie features a perfect cast - apart from my personal dislike of the actor Ciaran Hinds, that is. I just don't like that guy, somehow!


There are no car chasing scenes in the movie, guns blazing, or any other James Bond-esque shenanigans. The story brings a simple point home - you don't really need all those theatrics to have a nail biting thriller on your hands. Yes, that means Gary Oldman doesn't pout his lips either. Take the hint, Daniel Craig. You might get nominated for an Oscar too, if you stopped that awful pout.

This is one sepia-tinted thriller that is a must watch.

Animal Farm

In his essay Why I Write, George Orwell speaks about his love for writing -

"I wanted to write enormous naturalistic novels with unhappy endings...."

Animal Farm might not be enormous, but it is definitely unhappy. When I first heard of it and decided to read it, all I knew about it was that it was a book about animals on a farm who could talk like people.

List of characters worth a mention -

Major, an elderly pig. He inspires the rebellion and sets down rules for harmonious living. However, he dies of old age soon after the rebellion.

Snowball the pig. He is one of the leaders after the Major dies, but is driven out of the farm by Napoleon's dogs.

Napoleon the pig. Uncontested leader after Major and Snowball. Responsible for the downfall of the farm. I hate this pig more than I ever hated any other pig.

Squealer the pig. Majorly responsible for spreading good words about Napoleon and suppressing feelings of dissent among the animals. I hate him more than Napoleon.

Boxer the horse. Accepts everything without question and works like a dog, only to be sent to the slaughterhouse when he's old.

Then there are the dogs who are feared by everyone and act as Napoleon's guards. The hens, who rebel briefly against Napoleon and are squashed. The cows, meek and defenseless; the pigeons, who act as messengers and try to get animals from other farms to rebel as well.

The story in a nutshell - It all starts with rebellion and the ousting of Mr. Jones and his wife, the owners of Manor Farm (renamed Animal Farm). The animals assume control of the farm under the leadership of the boar, Major. He lays a few ground rules for a peaceful existence that the animals refer to as the Seven Commandments.

Things work out great for the animals initially; ecstatic that they're not working for humans anymore, they work harder than ever and produce harvests the farm's never seen before. Slowly, it is noticed that the pigs rarely work but are almost always supervising or ordering the other animals about. This is put down to their superior intelligence and the animals accept the turn of events without complaint.

With the old boar Major now dead, the leadership falls into the hands of two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. Snowball is always full of intellectual ideas for the farm and how it could be bettered; Napoleon's only job is to undermine Snowball's ideas. One fine day Snowball is chased away by Napoleon's ferocious dogs and never seen again.

As the years fly by, Napoleon becomes supreme leader and dictator and the Seven Commandments initially written by Major are now altered to suit the pigs. Napoleon's descendants are now the rulers, not allowed to mingle with the other animals, the lower classes. The pigs' supremacy is now absolute, and they even start walking on their hind legs, just like humans.

My take on Animal Farm - The book is a political allegory on the then situation in the Soviet Union; and I felt George Orwell was able to put forth the details of Stalin's rule beautifully. Accepted, the novel is depressing; but then so was Stalin's government.

The only thing that disappointed me was the manner the novel ended. I expected the animals to fight against the injustice that was meted out to them; however, they mutely accept their fate, their memories of good old days dimming day by day; they just have no idea that if they wished, their lives could be better. Maybe in some distant future Napoleon might have faced rebellion, but Orwell ended the novel before it could.

Nevertheless, the book is a must-read and a must-have in any library.

PS: You can also read George Orwell's essay, Why I Write. I loved it.

No Man's Land

Even terrorist attacks do not have this kind of magnitude. A magnitude that is baffling, to say the least.

1993 Mumbai attacks - 257 killed
2006 Mumbai train attacks - 209 killed
2008 Taj attacks - 173 killed
Number of people killed due to the Ayodhya land dispute - a whopping 2000.

History tells us Babri Masjid was built in Ayodhya after Babar defeated the Hindu king and took over his kingdom, and Hindu groups claim there used to be a Ram temple at the same spot. People, we were not even a speck of dust when all of this happened! I understand Ayodhya is a holy place for Hindus, but let us face it, the Mughal kings destroyed lots of temples. It wouldn't be feasible for us to cry foul now, would it?

Back in 1885 when a certain Mahant Raghubar Ram moved the court to build a temple at the site, Judge Col. F.E.A. Chamier ruled as follows,

"....It is most unfortunate that a Masjid should have been built on land specially held sacred by the Hindus, but as that event occurred 356 years ago, it is too late now to agree with the grievances. ..." (Source - WIKI)

So why hurt the sentiments of a group which had nothing to do with the original sin? I really do not understand the fanaticism behind a piece of land. Will a God come down and heap praises on you if you kill fellow men in His name? No, you just go to jail, you morons! I might be treading on blasphemous waters here, there might have been a temple, a mosque, but hey - in the end it is a piece of land. Of course, I will not deny that there is a teeny tiny part of my Hindu upbringing that is curious about the outcome, but it is not earth shattering. If anything I am worried about how the verdict is going to affect everyday life; it is just noon in the office and we are shutting down shop already, precautionary measures in place.

Where there is something to gain, our politicians are not far behind. BJP and VHP took advantage of the sensitive site and demolished the mosque in 1992, thus winning the elections. Today on the 30th of September, 2010, the verdict on who the land belongs to is finally going to be out - and I am strongly for the court declaring the Babri Masjid site to be "No Man's Land". Like a colleague suggested, perhaps it could be converted into a tourist spot. "People, so this is that piece of land due to which 2000 people are dead."

And no, they can never come back.

We are a secular country; two of my closest friends are Muslim and Christian, and never ever, ever, has religion come between us. It is unthinkable. Folks, I really hope you do not lose your cool and lose friends for the sake of land that you might never even see in your lifetime. A piece of land that couldn't care less about who was standing on it. And if today Lord Ram and Prophet Mohammed were alive, I am sure they would've said the same thing.

Like Bill Maher said -

"We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that. I think religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies."

The Red Corridor

Scenario 01: Two friends, barely out of graduation, get selected for a postmaster's job. They break for lunch, and decide to have a simple meal at the tiny dhaba across the road. No sooner than they leave the post-office that bullets start flying around them, and a fierce gun battle starts between insurgents and the CRPF. They duck their heads and run for cover.

Scenario 02: A bank manager drives to work, looking furtively around him for attackers. He goes to the bank, locks up all the doors from inside. For any customer to enter, they have to identify themselves before the locks can be opened. He tries to make the 50 km journey back home before dark - it would be too dangerous otherwise.

These are not scenes copied from Sholay, and the setting is not militant-infested Kashmir. The two kids are my brother's friends, and the banker is my father. For them, this is just any other day in a tiny village of  interior Orissa. Bridges getting blown off, railway tracks torn off are all absorbed with just a nod of the head. Commonplace.

Sounds incredulous, isn't it?

We are talking about the home-bred, in-house gang of terrorists, AKA Maoists. The Maoist Movement which began as a simple fight for tribal justice has taken on alarming proportions. No longer can they be ignored as innocent tribals fighting for their rights, for food, for education. No longer can they classify themselves as Naxalites, guerrillas, or by any other damn name. They are terrorists, pure and simple.

The Maoist Empire is a staggering 1500 crore rupee corporation; their terror spans several states, most severely hit being Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, and Bihar. No, they don't spend a penny to help their fellow men; on the contrary, they extort money from almost everyone, including school teachers. They kill at will, most often than not tagging their victims as police informers. You can get more information on the Maoist modus operandi here.

Bridges, schools, railway tracks, telephone towers, buildings, nothing can escape their wrath. Their latest attack, blowing up a bus with a landmine and killing over 40 people left me open mouthed. Chidambaram says they get their weapons from across the border, maybe from China, and Bangladesh. Ah, what sweet neighbors we have! Pakistan, China, Bangladesh - kudos to you people! It wasn't enough that you took parts of our country with you, you had to continue poking at what's left.

If all of this terror and violence is one side of the story, the other, more important one is how little we have done to combat it. They keep gunning our security personnel down like insects, they kill civilians, they smuggle heavy artillery from across the border right from under our nostrils, and all we do is fart out a "strong statement" saying we will not take it lightly. Manmohan Singh declared them as the most serious internal threat to India's national security (Source: WIKI). Yeah, that should have them quivering and running for cover, right?

We have so many causes that get their quota of attention - Saving tigers, yes, they're important. Treating animals ethically, well, they deserve it. Going green, good for the environment. Do it. But hey, can someone focus on this cause, too? Maybe get to move the government to take stricter measures. At the very least, no more killings. Pull some security personnel from the thousands allocated to all those fatso politicians and place them somewhere where they can feel a sense of pride that they're involved in what they originally signed up for.

No more bloodshed, no more red. Let's say goodbye to the red corridor. I, for one, hate it.

Telangana and Me

Politics is not a topic that interests me; I guess this is the very first post in my blog concerning politics of any sort. But then, this is the very first time politics have affected me so personally.

Yoohoo, my first vote!

Yay! I voted today for the very first time! 25 years old, and I voted for the first time today? Uhhuh! Oh well, let me not think of that.

It doesn't matter that I had to stand in the blazing sun for almost an hour, it doesn't matter that I've got this big ugly blue stain on my finger; all that matters is I voted, and I sorta like the feeling! I hope all you guys out there voted, too. If you didn't, or couldn't, doesn't matter, you can always vote on April 23rd. Don't forget.

In the meanwhile, let me concentrate on getting this stain to disappear. It looked pretty cool at first, but now it just looks like a big stubborn blot of ink, and I've got a wedding to attend this Saturday. Maybe I'll have some comfort in knowing that none of my friends can boast of having had this stain, save for one or two. Hehe.

Update: Attended the wedding. A couple of behenjis asked me whether I accidentally poured acid on my finger. Jeeeez!

Acting Vs. Politics

What is it about these two fields, anyway? Are they one and the same, with just a thin line in between???

I really dont understand why successful actors, with a good name in the movie industry risk everything they have, and join the murky world of politics. This trend is not prevalent just in India, but in the US too(remember Arnold? Ronald Reagan?)... Ohh, politicians were always great actors, in fact, I wonder how they act so splendidly without ever enrolling in an acting school, heh.

After a spate of actors entering the political arena, the latest to join the bandwagon is our South Indian superstar, Chiranjeevi. I know its wishful thinking, hoping Chiranjeevi is going to make a difference, and that the lives of Andhraites are going to take a turn for the better; like some cine industry scribe put it, he never cared tuppence for the film industry people, and the people he knew; so how on earth can we expect him to do something good for the people of the state?

Political campaigns have a volley of actors at the helm, so much so that, people forget the real meaning of these meets, and flock just to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor/actress. Talented South Indian actress Soundarya lost her life when she was on her way to attend some similar meeting. What a meaningless end.

Even our dear respected politicians have turned towards acting nowadays; what with Laloo Prasad Yadav having an entire film named after him, and on his way to acting in his second, I seriously doubt whether these two industries are planning a merger.

Hmm. Should be quite interesting.