Saturday, October 10, 2020

 

Remembering Mahatma Ayyankali on his 79th death anniversary

 

June 18 happens to be the death anniversary of Mahatma Ayyankali. We try to remember him at a  historic moment when protests are raging globally to uninstall statues of cultural icons who may have had a hand in the institution of slavery; though it may be unfair to judge the legacy of someone who was a product of their times with the  much more nuanced and egalitarian moral compass of the day. But those icons who continue to be exemplary for the democratic sensibilities of today will have an enduring legacy eluding the trappings of the time or the era we live in.

In a similar vein, I attempt a reappraisal of the legacy of Mahatma Ayyankali – the first organic Dalit leader of Kerala who lived through the fag end of late 19th century and early 20th century in Southern Kerala, whose legacy had to strenuously enter the hallowed portals of History after the social historians of his own downtrodden community had to venture into the art of history writing and retrieve the icon in him. I ascertain that there are two major reasons for this.

 

Firstly, unlike his fellow renaissance man Naanu Asan (more popularly known as SreeNarayana Guru) there was a dearth of educated disciples to theorize, contextualize and record in written script his words and deeds.  For Naanu Asan , there was Mithavathi C Krishnan(who had earned a law degree), Kumaran Asan (one of the foremost poets of Malayalam language), Sahodaran Ayyappan( a rationalist ,poet and one of the major proponents of Ambedkarite-thought  in Kerala) where as Mahatma Ayyankali had none. Both birth and death anniversary of Naanu Asan are state government holidays while those of Mahatma Ayyankali are commemorated only in Dalit countercultural spaces.  The first book-length biography of this champion of the downtrodden was published only in the year 1979 by THP Chentharashery. Secondly Marxists/Left learning social and academic historians had a dispositional eye for overlooking anti-caste struggles of Kerala and failed to deliberate on Mahatma Ayyankali’s brave initiatives to organize one of the first ever worker’s strike in recorded history. There is even a heinous evidence of Mr. EMS feigning his ignorance of Mahatma Ayyankali on the eve of his book on Kerala history. The students of history await a much more comprehensive intellectual biography of Mahatma Ayyankali, not to forget that such readings have to ascertain and construct legacies for Poykayil Appachan, KP Vallon, Dakshayini Velayudhan  and yet to be discovered icons from  cultural geography of Northern Kerala.

There are many aspects of Mahatma Ayyankali’s praxis that are exemplary to this day’s evolved sensibility when compared to that of another “Mahatma” ; Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.-whose is under criticism for his alleged racist viewpoints in South Africa and other African countries.

Firstly he protested the lack of access to public roads for Dalits . Borrowing a phrase from a reputed Bahujan poet PJ Benoy-“he was the light from the dynamo of his body” when he drove a bullock cart to yoke us through a path of renaissance.

Secondly transcended the notion of sub-castes and worked towards a “community-formation” within what is today known as Dalit. This has not been achieved by many subaltern political organizers to this day. Most Dalit organizations today have their cadres drawn from a single major Dalit caste and is not inclusive with respect to lesser organized sub-castes of Dalit communities. Mahatma Ayyankali’s organization was named Sadhu Jana Pariapala Sangham (SJPS)

He stoked the flames of protest demanding school-entry to toddlers of erstwhile untouchables when scorching un-touchability was prevalent in those times. This brave act of protest extended for about a year and the demand was not for separate schools for Dalit students, but unhindered entry into state owned schools. This Mahatma had the foresight to ensure that Dalits do not miss the train of modernity.

  

Recently the Kerala state government had renamed VJT Hall after Mahatma Ayyankali though most of his emancipator vision has been brushed under the carpet like land for Dalits, access to public education for Dalit, Dalit-Bahujans and others who had been denied till now,

Though statues and public institutions are nerve centers of our society and civilization and it was only after a massive movement that many public institutions and landmarks were re-named after subaltern icons and there is a flip-side to a mere renaming.

When the demands raised by Mahatma Ayyankali have not met their fruition, a mere renaming of a public hall at the heart of the state capital could result in a “safety-valve” to dampen the urgency for various human rights demands of the erstwhile untouchables. There are only a handful of aided-educational institutions owned or privately managed by Ambedkarite or Dalit caste organizations, , extreme “land-hunger” that Dalits and Tribals endure and accentuated by the failure of coordinated protests at Chengara, Arippa etc and none of the universities of Kerala ever had a Dalit Vice-Chancellor even when there were innumerable qualified academicians from this downtrodden community. Lets hope a new normal post all theses social struggles

Friday, November 17, 2017




THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACK BURKINI

I created the burkini to give women freedom, not to take it away “-Aheda Zanetti

 1
Burkini is a language
Terrifying those ignorant of its text.
2
Cops patrol her tan lines
Like dams patrol
Rivers flowing above danger marks.
3
All you need is in that bag:
Change into a garment
More palatable for the cops in uniform.
4
Some garments cling too close to your surname
Like a metaphor
Too loud for good poetry.
 5.
Sea surfing can be tiring
Like an infinite ebb and flow of a questionnaire.
Batting an eye lid can be a tad too immodest.
6
Tether yourself close to the beach.
Do not surf too deep into the ocean.
Never self-intersect in circles of knots and tangles.
 7
Bruises sustained from frisking
Metamorphose into festering wounds.
Gangrene could gnaw at your surname.
 8
Erase your footprints from the sands.
Waves of time rarely wash the footprints of a scuffle.
Prolonged scuffle can bury us all in a deep hole.
 9
Do you remember the first corpse
The sea sucked off a turbulent beach?
The sea spat it out after three days of frisking.
 10
The footprints of scuffle
Implicates you from shore to shore,
Blowing up all bridges between you and anyone.
 11
During this conversation
Some territory has been ceded across
The tan lines of your body. 
12
Your body stripped off the garment
Remains an evacuated language.
Can a language be a scarecrow?
13
History will catch up with you
In your rear-view mirror
Even if you are full throttle in your
Pursuit of happiness.

(c) Chandramohan S

Friday, July 13, 2007

Salary hike for profs in India

This if done long back could initiate a reverse brain drain in Engineering and Management academia.As usual India is always late.but better late than never.

Indian Institute of Science Education Research at Pune ,Kolkatta and Buvaneshwar.
Integrated Masters after 12th 5 years. and Integrated PhD after Undergrad.

Institute of Space Science and Technology.Trivandrum. Kerala.
BTech and Integrated Masters in Applied Science.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Collapse of the US dollar?

If the US dollar collapses what could be the most important repercussions around the world?
Firstly what are the reasons for the possible collapse of the US dollar?
No.1.
Huge trade and Budget deficit of the US .America had been living beyond its means for far too long now .Trade deficit with China alone is $202 billion. ­The $US has declined 40% against the Euro over the last 2 years, and during this time America's trade deficit has continues to deteriorate.The decline of other currencies against the US dollar is not offsetting the balance.

No.2
China,Russia and Japan who have huge amount of dollar reserve are planing to shift a considerable amount of their reserves to the Euro .This will only hasten the lack of confidence in the dollar, creating a global lack of confidence in the currency, and setting it into free-fall. It will soon bring about the total collapse of the dollar, and the American economy.

N0.3
The US invasion of Iraq and hostile relations with Iran has prompted the Oil producing countries to shift crude oil transactions to Euro .This will also set the dollar into free fall.

Its impact on US and rest of the World



The collapse of the dollar will throw the world into a global depression. Those nations with large external debts will not be able to trade sufficiently to earn the income to service their debts, and will slide into bankruptcy. The economies of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK will also totally collapse, as a result of their indebtedness and not being able to service their borrowings. Crime will become rampant. Law and order will cease to exist. Disease will become widespread.
Though Asian economies will also be affected....they will recover after a mammoth turmoil.


Impact on India

Millions of Indians in US...academia and industry will fly back home back launching India into utter chaos.Back in India the IT/ITeS industry will collapse and Infosys/TCS/Wipro/Sathyam will close down.

Who will recruit the thousands of Engineering graduates passing out each year other than the IT firms which are closing now.?

Highly qualified Indian Engineers from IBM/Bell Labs/Intel/Microsoft and Profs from MIT/Berkeley/Stan/CalTech might soon be applying for Faculty positions in the Europe/India.(Will this make IITs/IISc/TIFR leading centers of Research as their highly reputed alumni have come back to their alma mater ?

Will the leading US Universities be able to attract and fund the bright students of Asia and Europe?
where will the toppers of IITs/Beijing University and other leading Asian universities go ?
so "brain drain" to the US will come to halt? and Europe will be the new destination?

I think this will give a great opportunity for India to 'rise and shine" in this post American collapse world.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Terence Tao



He is the Mozart of Math .Professor at UCLA at 24.
Fields Medalist .
Here is another article which has his Biography.

Here is his own blog.

Friday, July 06, 2007

US afraid of a Rising China?

US Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton says "lets not FEAR or IGNORE this rising dragon "....
America's charge :
China had "manipulated" its currency (exchange rate) and earned an "unfair" advantage in global trade ..especially against the US which had been living beyond its means for a very long time by now and weakening its own currency and fueled speculations of a "collapse of US dollar" and the like...
The trade deficit with China alone is $202 billion and rising ...

Hillary is "afraid" that the new US president will have to "face" a dramatically empowered China....complains that the present Bush administration has failed to "curb" China ..to initiate dialog on trade , undervalued currency and human rights....

Obama too ....
The Harvard Law Graduate ..Illinous senator Barack Obama ..the rock star politician and Hillary's closest Democrat rival is also pessimistic about China.. he says
"China has manipulated its currency for years in order to gain an unfair advantage over the United States in trade. Unfortunately, the Administration has failed to effectively challenge or change China's behavior"...

effectively "challenge or change" Chinese behavior is going to be his strategy ?

China embraced communism two year after Indian Independence....initiated Economic reforms two decades before India and has leap-frogged into the fourth largest Economy of the world by dwarfing even the "world colonizer" Britain,..

what has India been doing all these years? We "missed the bus " on too many occasions....

Few Disturbing facts for India....
China has leveraged largest number of people out of poverty in the shortest period of time .
Microsoft Research Center at Beijing has become the "hottest computer lab" in the World according to MIT Tech Review .
The article is here
This place finds special mention in Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat"..

Beijing University finds a place in top 15 Universities of the World...but the combined output of IITs and IISc put together is equal to that of second tier Chinese Universities ....

China has mastered "Neutron" bomb technology ...,possesses inter Continental Ballistic Missiles ..has befriended Africa for its natural resources to fuel its "over heating " economy ....
India is sleeping .....I guess

Monday, July 02, 2007

Trade unions in IT sector -Need of the hour?

What will happen if a left party controlled trade union demand for higher renumeration and the like from an IT firm like infosys?
There cannot be a worse nightmare for Narayana Muthy(Infosys Chief Mentor)....but is it necessary?

are the graduates from Engineering colleges made to work like slaves for a pittance of an amount?
Is there a mismatch between the number of hours put in by a "fresher" at these IT firms and the profit these firms amass?

Will such a move hamper the prospects of thousands of Engineering students hoping to get placed in IT firms ?


looking forward to your valuable suggestions.....

Should all the white collar job loving Indians in the IT field do a "collective bargaining"( in the form of a Union) to fatten their pay packet?

It seems working conditions in many IT firms are very deplorable....with huge health hazards and the like this