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Over the past two weeks, I was in the US doing some concerts, including a sellout at Carnegie Hall that I’m very proud of. I boarded the plane back to Delhi on a real high from the successful shows and also the joys of having been there for Obama’s inauguration. But then, on the flight home to India, I read the papers and found out about the attacks in Mangalore and the subsequent move to ban women from pubs, and I found myself spiralling from a place of joy into utter despair.
It’s baffling to even try to argue with a mindset so bereft of logic. How is attacking women done in the name of their protection? What gives anyone the ability to morally police a section of society and go against their fundamental, human rights?
And which tradition, exactly, is it they want to rewind to? Do we take all of today’s “culture” with us as we move backwards, or is it only women and their freedoms they want to change? Perhaps it would be traditional enough if I abandoned the blouse British rule imposed on me, and walked around India bare-breasted? What if I were to share myself simultaneously between five husbands, like one of the most respected women in our mythology? Would this make me a paradigm of feminine virtue and Indian culture in their eyes?
It always annoys me when people speak of tradition as something static and frozen in time. Culture has always evolved. I may sometimes wish for an age before e-mail and constant text messaging, but it doesn’t mean I can remove technology from the world.
As a classical Indian musician, of course I have great respect for tradition and culture. People should always look back on the wisdom of the past and carry their heritage forward. But, they also have a responsibility to look at their customs with a critical eye and enhance tradition for future generations.
A five-year-old girl was raped in Delhi the same week as this attack. A woman in labour was turned away from multiple hospitals because of her shabby appearance. Where is all this “protection” they speak of? Instead of giving due attention to these atrocious incidents and ones like it, we’re forced to take up the mantle on behalf of ridiculous infringements to our own freedom. What a waste of time!
This Talibanesque limitation on our right to choose how to live our lives is truly frightening. The proposed ban on dancing called to mind their ban on music. (And by the way, what is traditional in India if not to express ourselves through dance?) If they can stop us from entering a place of leisure, what’s so different from a ban on entering a place of work? Is protesting against short skirts really so different from insisting on a veil?
We are so quick to glorify our progress, and yet have to deal with simple and basic infringements of human rights on a constant basis, whether for gender, caste or income level. When will this insanity end?
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Correction: Srk said he was a bigger star than Tom cruise!Remember the OSO days? :D 
Manoj - Hrithik may think Kites will make him international star ... similarly SRK thinks he is a bigger star ...
intezar kab tak hum karenge bhala
May be some Hrithik bhakth singing hoping Kites to release soon 
lol Shetty. And yes sounds like Jay visited lots of places. 
'I am going to support it till the end of my energies!'
LOL...manoj i am with you. I think movie will ...
Rocky 7 February 2009
11:34:28 am
Very good piece by Anoushka. agree 100 %
Re.-This Talibanesque limitation on our right to choose how to live our lives is truly frightening.
And these stupid acts also weaken the case against Minority appeasement because the lefties just love to throw these incidents (as well as the Malegaon) at you in response.
rks 7 February 2009
11:48:00 am
Agree Rocky, These things have no place in civil society. They must be dealt with iron hand. Mangalore incidence (CPI kin being attacked) is also deplorable.
Rocky 7 February 2009
11:49:39 am
Thanks RKS, for a while It felt as if Main Bhooton se Baat kar raha hoon !! LOL
Qalandar 7 February 2009
12:27:32 pm
Yes, the CPM MLA’s daughter was with a Muslim friend, and yesterday NDTV was reporting that boy’s whereabouts are still unknown…
Qalandar 7 February 2009
12:27:54 pm
Agree with you rocky and rks. Thanks for posting.
Qalandar 7 February 2009
12:30:49 pm
Rocky: rajniti par discussion shuru kar diya matlab bhoot jaldi bhaag jaate hain…
Rocky 7 February 2009
12:36:35 pm
Q- Dil Ke Bhoot kab Bhangege !! LOL
RKS- Forgot to mention that you are doing an exceptional Job as moderator, keep up the good work.
Even Beld knows he is kidding.
Rohit Ka Tamboo Char Bamboos par khada hai- RKS, Satyam, Q and Tango.
Agar ek bhee bamboo ukhad gaya to um um um ….. LOL !!!
Qalandar 7 February 2009
12:40:36 pm
Well said on RKS Rocky. And thanks for the shout out…you are too kind, especially as there are more than 4 bamboos, yourself included…
Rocky 7 February 2009
12:50:51 pm
Thanks Q, Is Dev D playing at your end, coz It’s not in Chicagoland.
Qalandar 7 February 2009
01:00:00 pm
Yes it is, I will be checking it out hopefully this weekend.
BTW, check this thread out, was thinking about you when I wrote this.
Rocky 9 February 2009
03:08:15 pm
Q- how was Dev D?
also when I click on the link mentioned by you, I get error 404 !!I am curious now !!
Qalandar 9 February 2009
03:17:24 pm
http://www.naachgaana.com/2009.....-february/
Haven’t seen it yet…
Rocky 9 February 2009
03:25:12 pm
LOL !! ( I am assuming yo mean the Credibility one )
I recommended Hazaron Khawishen Aisee to my Wife’s Brother and his wife- and they were furious- Jija Jee Yeh kaisee kasiee picture dekhne ko bol deto ho !!