Hero No Zero

Why Third, why freak

when I am my own nature

compact in all dimensions

the same legs, hands and a face

the sun and moon kiss everyday.

I read and write as the Ganga flows

swift and slow as the mood goes.

Today I am everywhere

Universities, Court benches and all

Yes I fly Mirage and Fire Bazooka

come debate with me in the bed room

I have the same urge to beat passion

Yes I am a Hero but always Third.

To your pity I have contempt

to your charity I spit fire

take me or leave as I am

I am no Third, no freak

I am my tune,

sing me if you can.

Sabita Sahu

Pay Back Time For Vandals

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Vandalism in India is very often a heroic feat. In the past marauders and vandal  - invaders   came from Afghanistan, Iran and other places to loot India to their heart's content, destroy places of worship, desiccate religious places, rape as many women as possible and carry thousands for their harems and return emperor style to their kingdoms and places to recount their vandalism and barbarism in heroic epics ghost written by gold - licking slaves. The East -India company, perhaps the first big corporation did the same things as the invaders did with some polish as they were answerable to the masterminds sitting in London. But in independent India  too whenever communal tensions flared up shops were looted and burnt, temples and masjids were decimated and trains, buses govt buildings were given as offerings to the bonfire of hate. But no one was found guilty of those crimes. Governments repaired the damaged assets with taxpayers' money. The vandal was a vote catcher and a prospective candidate for the ruling party.

But for the first time perhaps , the Uttar Pradesh government has taken a bold decision to make the vandals pay for the damages to state and private property after the CAA protest which ended up in violence in many cities of the largest state in India. The Citizenship Amendment Act was passed  in the Parliament  by both Houses to, as the Home Minister says, give citizenship to the refugees and it has nothing to do with the Citizens of India. The protest against the CAA was somewhat inexplicable as the cause did not have either a legal or a moral sting. Some political parties floated rumours that this law is anti- muslim and the idea of India was demolished by the law. The print and electronic media along with the new Lethal toy of social media fuelled the rumours with inflammable chemicals . In U.P, Delhi and Karnataka lumpen elements made the protest pitched battles leading to death of Indians both innocents and conspirators. The Delhi - Karnataka governments however, have not decided to collect fines from the vandals to repair the damages. The UP government has already confiscated the shops and the properties of the vandals and have noticed them to  pay the fines otherwise their properties  would be sold by auction to collect  the fines.

To a sane modern the whole thing appears to be somewhat odd. The identified vandals will certainly go to a court and the political parties and men like MIM chief will leave no stone unturned to prove their innocence in a court of law. The police being the scapegoat may come under fire from both sides of the political divide. I doubt whether the UP govt's stand would be vindicated by the legal temples. But the Kerala High Court in a different case and the Supreme Court of India in cases of a similar nature have given judgments which will support the  UP government's averment.

But a man who believes in Newton's  Third Law may agree to the UP government's intent. If public property could be destroyed to protest against a law made by the Parliament in a democratic country, Why should the tax payer's money be used to make good the losses? Why shouldn't justified moral revenge be accepted as instant law? If a group destroys public property the same group should be responsible for repair and restoration. What is wrong with it? If England and America could take war reparations from Germany after the World Wars why can't the UP govt. take the fines from the vandals? One may argue that England and America and other allied powers had the logic of the Victor: So does the UP govt. Once this happens, maybe in future the violent elements may stay away from burning busses and damaging public property.

The Indian political scene today is so dismal that no party in the Opposition thinks that about the greater good of the country. The parties have their ideologies, which mostly are ineffectual. The world has moved away from the Imperialism of the intellectual or the foxy machinations of a dictatorial state. The events of  Honk Kong are in no way a repetition of the Tiananmen Square. Things are fast moving. No group can armtwist a government to submission nor can blackmail the power group to concede points detrimental to the future of the country. The Rule of Law must prevail in a democracy which does not cater to majority or minority. If you have a pathological hatred for the ruling powers, never try to use that hate to win the love of the rulers. Democracy is a number game, defeat them with numbers not with knives and illegal weapons. The illegal migrants are used as weapons against the system today but the same illegals can drive out all legal frames when their numbers increase. Hence respect the Parliament and respect the Country if you think it is your own.

Draupadi's Revenge

Draupadi  the royal consort

of the  Pandavas, daughter of Fire

vowed never to tie up her hair

until she washed it with

Dushasan's blood.

It was an oath of a woman

scorned, a queen dishonoured

in the open court, vile, brute

strength was challenged

by nobility defiled.

It was a vow for her royal

dignity and feminine pride.

She was true to her words.

Oath was never shaken

in forest or in disguise.

Was her vow to see the

dance of death,

to cause the end of mankind

by her stubborn resolve?

Could she not have

pardoned her offender?

Revenge is unheroic for a woman

rash value snatching away

the natural grace and honour.

History may justify

poets may argue

but humanity should not be

paused by infectious revenge.

You may agree or disagree

your choice, but to rise

above everything like an angel

in bliss, is the moral of history.

Sabita Sahu

Protest

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Protest by simplistic logic is dissent or disapproval; against an idea or law or religious - nonreligious value systems. But primarily it stems from a fear of survival constraints. This fear is at the root of all human activities. When the Czarist regime became tyrannical the havenots and suppressed revolted. Revolt, protest, rebellion , dissent are all close cousins. The tyrant too indulges in tyranny out of fear of his own survival. Any protest or revolt against  repression is also survivalist in its core. Therefore what is sacrosanct about protest? All religious teachers propound profound theories to live with some measure of happiness protesting against Nature or the Human Condition. They create gods of exclusive dimensions and often protest against each other's gods. In the pre- enlightenment ages fear induced physicality enforced its own logic only to survive. It was more emotional than intellectual. But when enlightenment dawned Reason was Supreme. Reason gave birth to Science, Humanism and Progress. But reason doesnot have well defined contours true for all ages and climes. The Romantics however, did not accept reason as the panacea of all problems. The French Romantic Symbolist poet Charles Baudelaire wrote, " There are but three groups worthy of respect; the priest, the warrior and the poet. To know, to kill, and to create." But how many human beings of any hue would subscribe to Baudelaire's perception?

In the modern world the State, Politicians and the Executive forces - the Bureaucracy, the Police and the Corporates are the destiny makers. The state is controlled by the politicians and the society by the other two groups. The producers -suppliers have their 'poets', that is innovators, the bureaucracy and politicians have their creative idealism. Religion in this system becomes a subsystem. But what we see today is a clash between the political law makers and the religious lawgivers. The politicians too are in a sense 'religious' groups for they believe in the ideals of certain master thinkers who had protested intellectually ( that is by Reason) against religious ideals. This protest aimed at  replacing the powerful religious Masters by their own Socio- intellectual rebels as they believed in Progress. It was nothing but a power struggle between two different ideologies: One believing  in Love, Submission to the unseen powers controlling human destiny and the other believing in human Power Controlling and guiding man's social destiny. Religious love was replaced by human love of man and the king or the President - Prime Minister took over. In the undeclared war between  Love and Power, the latter won as it became more acceptable for human well being.  But power of any kind is divisive: it is inbuilt, power is always challenged by rival aspirants for power.

What we see today is this clash of power groups, be it religious, political, economic or even racial. The Islamic state tries to push out of existence the Political establishments, Democrats protest against the Republicans, the Labour against the Conservatives, the Liberals against the Nationalists and so on. Today protests manifest in the form of sanctions by the World Power Groups  and terrorism by the weak. In India the Hindu Nationalists try to consolidate the secular values of India in a ruthless manner much to the chagrin of the religious minorities. Since the minorities, especially the Muslims feel threatened by the current power group they protest anything that is said or done by the ruling group. The Congress, Left Parties and others who indulge in appeasement politics have decided to protest laws that are meant for the general wellbeing of this country.

The CAA ( Citizenship Amendment Act) and the proposed National Register of Citizens hold no ghosts or hidden knives but certain groups feel that these laws are against their ideologies. The Muslim population in India is growing whereas Hindus, Sikhs, and Parsies in the  neighbouring Muslim countries have declined exponentially. The Indian administration aims at equal rights, equality of law and uniform civil code. But the minorities cling on to the religious laws and protest against the Government's new initiatives. The opposition takes this protest as an opportunity to overthrow the current political system. Hence protests are fuelled by them to create an atmosphere of unrest.

When protests turn violent the society loses balance. Bloody protest means an undeclared war. Such things are the repetitive features in human history. All these things happen and will happen because there is no Reason controlling human affairs. All protesting groups are motivated by reason only - they argue. But who will decide whose Reason is more life  sustaining?

Does Not Matter

The trees fell arrow struck

like soldiers in the battle field

Kurukshetra, Golgotha-

does not matter.

Flowers bloom in Princess’ garden

like stars in earthly forms
rosy, red, yellow, white-

does not matter.

Million couples marry,

Priest says, go and grow

as if he is the Lord God in heaven

they grew, multiplied-

does not matter.

He cried- hey, stop

life is important don’t jump off

she whimpered what life

he ditched me after holy promise,

I’ve come to lift  you  to my heart

Is your love  lust for my body-

does not matter.

Come, it matters

Love matters

Beauty matters

Death too matters

For life matters.

Sabita Sahu

Buying A Gift

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

What shall I buy for someone special to me, nay the only one for me whom the sun and moon are not worthy enough as gifts? I was familiar with the gift galleries in the Airports of both my place of departure and the city where I would land in a few minutes, and never liked ever the idea of something expected of a lazy choiceless man to pick up easefully. After I landed and got a prepaid taxi  I settled down to an hourplus ride through jammed roads and dusty air made dustier by eyeless men and women on all sides. After checking in my hotel arranged by my hosts I came out looking for a taxi again to go to the posh  Esplanade ( Chowrangee - Dharamtala) to buy something  special for my love. Gold I cannot give her diamond she does not like: And images of Hindu deities in gold or silver I don't like. So metals were out of my choice box. The other things like cloud, space and juicy spring and wintry warmth have already been given. She likes cricket but not crazy like me, she loves fun and gathering but that is not a gift item. She likes Biryani but I have already promised her to eat together at Nampalli, Hyderabad. O' What a mind boggling situation in a slow moving taxi ! Well a local cotton saree may be of interest to her, a good one smuggled from a neighbouring country with a porous border! But she prefers something less heavy, skin friendly and soft! Ok I'll go for one. I paid the taxi off near a big mall ( suggested by the taxi driver himself ) and walked into it somewhat dazzled by the lights and the fanciful decor. Finally I stood before a stall which I thought was my bountiful destination.

Do you have Tulip cotton? The middle aged man blinked and nodded his head. Do you have skiey silk? The man wanted to avoid me, perhaps and pointed at another stall. I followed his  direction and found the shop. I repeated the same questions and also added a new  one: Do you have Seasonless Sarees in cotton or wool  or silk? The young man said, you will find all these only in Amegha street in Gariahat. But don't you have something here? He brought out a few stocks and said these are Bengal  Sarees, Beneras and Odisha sarees in cotton and silk and these are all season sarees . None titillated my choice but to please him I bought ,what he called, a Jamdani saree : cotton  and cheap. I came back to the hotel as I was tired and hungry.

Next morning  I had my presentation at 10.am and it was over by noon. My hosts gave me a Toyota and said you can move around and go for shopping since your flight is at 7 PM. The driver will drop you at the Airport before 5.30 pm. I thanked them and went for my lunch and planned to go to the Amegha street. In the diner I asked the Manager about the exact location. He said something which I could not follow, but sat in the car and asked the driver - Amegha street.

The moment the car crossed the gate, the driver stopped  as a silent Protest March of the Communists was going on. None dared to move through them. The road was theirs; had to wait for 17 minutes and then taking a left turn  we moved.  The driver parked at a crossing and said Sir, I'll wait here, you come to this spot.  I walked into a big shop and told them to show me exotic sarees. Nothing pleased me. The irate shopkeeper said - You go to Dhakeswari, you will get what you are looking for. I followed the direction and walked and walked. The other pedestrians too said the same thing -  just ahead Sir, please find that red compound and enter. By the time I saw the red sandstone walls I was at the end of my patience. At last when I fronted the structure it was a temple. Someone looked at my suited frame and went on his way . I was not welcome nor  was I inclined to enter. But who is this Dhakeswari and why? Well, everything is divine in this  country . But what gift shall I buy for her here?

I removed my shoes and entered ; asked someone in saffron for the sindur. He gave  me in a bel leaf. I gave him some money and headed back. But after a few minutes I discovered that I was in a different street beyond my recognition. The shops were gone, the crowds were gone. only a few  shops , a diagnostic centre and very few vehicles , mostly bikes, on the road. I looked at the bel leaf, red and shining, the best gift for my love which finally I held  in my hand: but where am I? Am I in my country or what? I asked some persons to tell me from where I had come and how to go back? None could advise me . It was time to head for the Airport. But I did not note down the contact number of the driver. How to contact him? I had my return ticket in my  coat pocket and enough money. In desperation I telephoned my hosts to instruct the driver  to move  towards the Airport and wait for me there with my suitcase. I waved a willing taxi to take me to the Airport and entered the taxi. While trying to leave a sigh of relief I noticed my hands - the bel leaf was not there. My gift was lost.

Midnight Flash

When thunder rolls

night tightens into 

a tough knot of blindness,

I open my hair and wait

for the sky wind

to bring messages -

I don't know from where.

I seem to hear words

endearing and full of

perhaps -love.

When the sky clears

the knot melts away

in the sunshine I listen

to a loud range of

disconsolate rubbish

and then I love the world.

I love the world for -

its mysteries,

its drum shot riddles

and then I discover -

Love.

I rush out with my

flowing hair, coughing,

sneezing and panting

to catch the fleeting words

the sounds and the  silences

of the bygone centuries.

when flowers bloom,

birds  fly in sky,

everyone moves  their way

to be rooted somewhere

I never bother and ignore

all that men and women

loved and hated- I realize

no I was never in love.

Sabita Sahu

The World Of A Woman Writer

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

The first consciousness of woman was that she was made out of a supernumerary bone of Adam's ribs; she was the other without any authenticity of her own. This  definitely  has caused a silent psychic rebellion in woman. When she referred to herself, after the title of Simone de Beauvoir's path breaking book Second Sex, she became more conscious of her secondary status  in nature's scheme of things. The reproductory process makes the woman more conscious of her place which is, if not, subservient or secondary, at least that of a  vassal to carry someone's seed and give birth to a child without having the right of ownership. In the Indian context the woman was given a separate role, the role of what we call today, a homemaker. But the idea behind it was definitely quite imaginative. When men and women moved from nature to culture, the woman was given a role of a grihalaxmi, the deity of the house- home, she would make it beautiful, hospitable and a self-sustaining world. But in practice she was  a womb, a slave without any say in decision making. She should be obedient and responsible for the  order in the home. Only in those rare cases where love enriched life she had at least the identity of a sweet life -partner, a separate person who could absorb the man in body and mind. But this was rare, few and far between .

But the rigour of patriarchy became somewhat soft when Bernard Shaw ( Candida) and Ibsen ( A Doll's House) and other writers gave  the woman a separate thinking mind. Candida and Nora had to fight for identity although the losses were irreparable. Education and the suffragette movement gave the woman a sense of liberation. She sub-consciously adhered to the idea that   a woman is not born, she becomes a woman, a Beauvoir assertion which gained currency. The European theatre had some changes in the backdrop and wings. But liberation came around the 30s of the 20th century.

But in India the scene began to change only after the Independence. The rigidity of religious rituals , superstitions, the gender bias and suppression gradually slackened after education at par with the West began in Urban Centres. Woman started speaking in public and also started writing in English. Toru Dutta, Sarojini Naidu and others were the pioneers. The local languages too got a big boost when English masterpieces were available even to the middle class readers. But till date a large population in India is tradition bound and superstitious as the light of modern education has not yet dispelled the darker regions of Indian mind. Women are still repressed and do not have their voice to speak and write. The local languages have a few women writers but no one dares to write her true feelings. Yes many talented writers  are now openly voicing their feelings.  Mahasweta Devi, Kamala Das, de Souza and Silgardo and many others have led the foundation of women writing in India not to speak of Booker winner Arundhati Roy.

In the context of Odisha the women writers are now getting into prominence. After Kuntala Kumari Sabata who for the first time made us aware of a feminine psyche, today we have Prativa Ray whose novels and stories have  retouched the mythic past with a modern brush. Prativa transforms  Draupadi and Ahalya into contemporary  women of substance. Her women do not transgress the accepted norms of inherited culture  but they are sophisticated and refined. They are not feminist rebels  but are more humanistic with an ethical core. Prativa Satapathy in her poetry gives free rein to her native passions without sacrificing  the essential feminine. There are more than 50  women writers in Odisha who are now following feministic footprints but they have not yet established  the humane kind of feminism. But occasionally there are sparks in their poems and stories which may turn into viable conflagration.

But seldom we find in them a  cosmic vision of pure womanhood. They project woman as suave, spirited and free agents of the society. Archana Nayak, Mamata Das, Sanghamitra and Aparna Mohanty are quite bold voices in Odia literature. Aparna Mohanty, Prabasini Mahakuda, Ranjita Nayak try to project  women as free and flamboyant in self- pursuit. Aparna Mohanty even writes freely about feminine sexuality. Paramita Satapathy in her long and short stories tries to combine the mystic  with diabolic in a fair way. But we are yet to see a woman's vision. The mystery of sex, the mystic of relationship and the larger feminine reality are still half revealed. Only in Prativa Ray's latest novel 'Praptesu Prithivi' we get a glimpse of today's reality in all its lucid details without, however, the much needed redemption. Adventure, heroic passion of the feminine kind are yet to be visualized  by the woman writers . Yet they have now created a language without phallocentrism, leaning more towards the poetic, the delicate and even the sublime. But the goal, purpose and the cool serenity of the feminine essence are still illusory.

Guilt Consciousness

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Logicians and intellectuals distinguish between guilt and crime. I don't know whether guilt is less bloodletting than crime, but crime they say, is an offence punishable by law  and guilt is an offence. Choicelessely I have to accept this distinction. If a man kills his wife for adultery, it is a crime but if a man cheats on his wife it is guiltiness! Nietzsche calls guilt, 'bad conscience', and by way of illustration suggests a debtor's promise conveniently forgotten over time. He knows that he has to pay back but he does not. This part of his memory is internalised. He moves in the society, meets his creditor often with a sheepish smile, if confronted repeats his promise to reply but doesn't. This man has definitely a bad conscience but the recognition of his guilt is below the surface. He deliberately forgets his social moral responsibility. All those who are in politics make tall promises to people. For instance Modi promised 'Good Days' ( Acche Din) but he himself knows that his own definition of Acche Din is a mysterious self deception. But in his monthly Radio broadcast to the nation- Mann Ki Baat- he has never confessed his guilt. But does it mean he has a clean conscience? The atrocities  committed by the East India Company have never been publicly admitted : Does it mean the British do not have guilt conscience? A guilty mind whispers his guilt to his lifeless pillow while fidgeting in the bed at night. But is it ever redeemed?

Instances, however, are aplenty, of people who never realize that they have done immense harm to people while trying to further  their ambitions. One of the most "sinful", illustrations of guilt is in the Mahabharata: Dronacharaya, the Guru, the Teacher of the  Kaurabs and Pandavas, who never taught Ekalavya demands Gurudakshina of him when he saw his brilliance as an archer. Ekalabya was of a low caste tribal community and could not get access to any  Guru of Drone's calibre. But he had an earthen image of Drona and worshipped it as his guru. By demanding the left thumb of Ekalabya without any rights, with a view to incapacitating him as an archer for the rest of his life the guilt which Drona  committed borders on crime. Guilt is not  a mistake, it is a bloodless crime which ought to weigh on the mind. But no man who is not publicly condemned or judicially punished ever realizes that he has done  immense harm to a human being. Bhisma in the same Mahabharat took the vow of celibacy only to facilitate marriage between his father Santanu and Satyabati. Was it not a betrayal of the kingdom? When he did not use his moral authority as the most respected in the family to avoid the Draupadi denuding scene in the open durbar, was  he not guilty of inhumanity against the daughter-in-law of his clan? I take these instances from our ancient epic only to avoid known examples of our times. But what I intend to prove is that guilt is more criminal as it betrays a Being's worth in life. The wonder, however is that such guilty persons never suffer from self-flagellation of the soul or psyche or innate moral sense.

The dalits complain of repression and torture by the so called higher castes over long centuries. But does this guilt  ever shame the higher castes? Manu and other social scientists who classified the society by creating  hierarchies cannot be faulted for God has created human beings alike but has given different mindsets to people. Manu's class and caste system created a social organism which operated as a cohesive unit. One part of the Organism must think and plan, another must protect the Organism, a third must earn and feed  and another must do the execution of things  by physical leg work. Otherwise if all parts do the same  function the organism will lose all dynamism and could become effete. By merely faulting the  social thinkers  who created a system of social dynamism we are irrationally blaming a group that sustained life systems. And to remedy an imaginary law we create a sense of guilt artificially in a section of society that was more capable, agile and intellectually alert.  Moreover the 'accused' are no more available, so are the victims. By reservation we create  a new order where the capable are  deprived of their rightful place: and by placing the undeserving above the deserving we create a new anomalous system where suppressed anger  surfaces pushing away the unconscious guilt of remote generations. Those who have reversed the order of the system are they not guilty  of the new class system of bureaucracy, judiciary, management gurus and the labour class?  The same system of the old Masters operates in the present day world with new nomenclature. And there are guilt ridden smiles which turn violent in no time.

We are all guilty of being born for we have to do many things harsh, cruel and sinister to survive. Love is betrayed , trust is belied, promises are broken, facts are violated every moment in our reality: If we feel guilty the human race cannot survive.

Tribute

Am I a tourist here

alone aimless and lost

in the crowd of homes,

hotels and exotic temples!

 

I searched for a friend

who glanced at me  and moved on,

I searched for a partner to share

the gloomy destiny of the earth

but lo! 

He hopped on to commandeer me

to live in his nest for good!

 

But I am now free, 

no more tourist 

in search of curiosities,

come and visit my cottage

join me in my song

my celebration of life's afternoon

my cottage is home and temple, 

a poetic tribute to the Maker.

 

Sabita Sahu