<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">This Part 2 of the discussion on the ground situation in Manipur between a veteran journalist, academic observer and a social activist student unravels the scale and intensity of the hardships faced by the people of the State. Interaction anchored by senior journalist Anand Haridas. Watch Part 1, <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/a-closer-look-at-indias-northeastern-state-manipur-part-one/">here</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">.

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This Part 2 of the discussion on the ground situation in Manipur between a veteran journalist, academic observer and a social activist student unravels the scale and intensity of the hardships faced by the people of the State. 

How Long the Refugee Camp Existence for People of Manipur?

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s belated response on the Manipur violence, especially the sexual crimes that have sensationally unravelled over the past few days, is the focus of this AIDEM interactions.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Two young women socio-political-legal observers- Delhi based PhD student Kim and Supreme Court lawyer Thulasi K Raj- analyse the Prime Minister’s statement and the responses it has generated not only in Manipur but the country as a whole, with a special emphasis on the North Eastern States. Kim and Thulasi point out that beyond the emotional rhetoric, the Prime Minister and his associates in the governments at the Centre and the State have to take more substantive measures to rebuild Manipur and trust among the people.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s belated response on the Manipur violence, especially the sexual crimes that have sensationally unravelled over the past few days, is the focus of this AIDEM interactions.

Analysing Modi’s Belated Response on Manipur Violence

Two months on and embers of hatred in Manipur are showing no signing of dying out yet. Two academics from the hilly State, involved in relief work and a veteran journalist who covered the region extensively explain the larger factors that perpetuate the turbulence in the State.The AIDEM presents this detailed interaction anchored by senior journalist Anand Haridas in two parts. Watch part 1 here.<div class="mdp-liker-box after-content two-buttons style-border-fill row-right" style="--mdp-liker-bg-color-active:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color-hover:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-border:1px;--mdp-liker-radius:50px;--mdp-liker-text-color-active:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color-hover:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);box-sizing:border-box;font-size:initial;font-weight:initial;margin:0px;padding:0px;" id="mdp-liker-23106" data-memory="on"><div style="align-items:center;box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;margin:0px;padding:0px;"><div class="mdp-liker-description" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:medium;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;max-width:60%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;</div></div></div> &nbsp;

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Two months on and embers of hatred in Manipur are showing no signing of dying out yet. Two academics from the hilly State, involved in relief work and a veteran journalist who covered the region extensively explain the larger factors that perpetuate the turbulence in the State.

A Closer Look, as Manipur Continues to Burn

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Manipur government’s mind boggling order declaring Easter Sunday as a working day was withdrawn following widespread public protests, but the sectarian, undemocratic and unconstitutional nature of the government move continues to rankle the people of the State as a whole. In this interaction, Rev Dr J Lamboi Haokip, Indigenous Community Leader, Community Health Volunteer, Rev T Karang of Manipur Baptist Convention and social activist Hejang Misao discuss the situation in the State on the eve of Easter with Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, Managing Editor of The AIDEM.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The discussion highlights the colossal absence of people oriented governance in the State and the sectarian political manoeuvres, which aggravate the situation. The panelists underscored the need for concrete measures from the union government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to address the conflict situation in the State that has continued unabated over the past 11 months.

"Manipur Gets Back Easter Holiday, But the Misery of the People Continues Unabated"

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In this detailed interview with senior journalist Anand Haridas, Inner Manipur MP Dr. Bimol Akoijam dwells on of his multifaceted life, including his latest role as a politician, as well as his illustrious career as a filmmaker, writer and educationist.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">With the unprecedented majority he has got in the elections Dr. Bimol Akoijam has literally become the voice of Manipur. He highlights the gross and callous indifference that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown towards his trouble torn State and points that this would have grave consequences for the entire North East.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Dr. Akoijam also spoke at length about the roots of the Manipur issue, the dramatic changes in the higher education environment as well as the impressions he is carrying back home from Kadamakudy village, where he inaugurated the first International Film Festival. Watch the interview here.

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PM Modi’s Indifference Towards Manipur Will Have Grave Consequences

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_2024_10_09_T110153_124_c54ac162fa.jpeg" alt="images-2024-10-09T110153.124.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_2024_10_09_T110153_124_c54ac162fa.jpeg 231w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_2024_10_09_T110153_124_c54ac162fa.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">The raging question raised by National Award-winning filmmaker and writer Joshy Joseph is “why is Aribam Syam Sharma being brushed under the carpet when it comes to selecting a film celebrity for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award”? Is it because Sharma is from the North East, an area marginalized deliberately by all and sundry linked to prestigious awards in the country? Or, is it because he prefers to live a low-key life away from the hullabaloo of celebrity circuses rampant in the media? Perhaps, it is a blend of both considering that he has been kept away from the Dadasaheb Phalke Award though he has won 19 National Awards and umpteen international awards over time.Joshy Joseph has taken great pains to make a long documentary on the filmmaker titled, “Aribam Syam Sharma- Laparoscopic cinema” [<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/jLfktXJFmK8?si=uuwBut-Nh4wpKwxM">watch here</a>], which, according to Joseph “is an attempt to locate this philosopher-storyteller in the universe of cinema today.” Joshy raises the question that if the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is not bestowed on Aribam Syam Sharma, now 88 years old, when will it be bestowed to him? Or will it ever occur to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to give him the award?<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:640px;" id="attachment_30159" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30159"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/3_Knq_Jl34_IE_Skug_ESW_8e_Usk_b0152c1265.jpg" alt="3KnqJl34IESkugESW8eUsk.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_3_Knq_Jl34_IE_Skug_ESW_8e_Usk_b0152c1265.jpg 235w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_3_Knq_Jl34_IE_Skug_ESW_8e_Usk_b0152c1265.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_3_Knq_Jl34_IE_Skug_ESW_8e_Usk_b0152c1265.jpg 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_3_Knq_Jl34_IE_Skug_ESW_8e_Usk_b0152c1265.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-30159">Director Joshy Joseph</figcaption></figure>Aribam Syam Sharma has won six National Awards as Best Director of feature films spanning 1977 to 2013. In 1991, he got the award for Best Producer for the film Inshanou which also fetched him the Best Director Award. Joshy has managed to use clips from some of Sharma’s old films such as Ishanou within his documentary. He bagged the Best Non-Feature film award nine times from 1990 to 2013 under different categories such as The Deer on the Lake in the Best Environment/Preservation category in 1990, Indigenous Games of Manipur in the Best Exploration/Adventure Film (Including Sports) in 1991 and Thang-Ta – Martial Arts of Manipur in The Best Cultural Film Category in 2000. And the list goes on. As if this is not enough, he has bagged three National Awards in the Non-Fiction category as Best Producer. In 1991, 1999 and 2013, he won the National Award in two different categories. One wonders if this is a record for a single person winning National Awards over 36 long years which is proof of the man’s tenacity, determination and excellence.Aribam Syam Sharma “obtained a Masters Degree in Philosophy from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan. He is a philosopher. He searches for the aesthetic values of every object and understands it thoroughly. And it reflects into his films. Interlacing the aesthetics into a story or a subject, he makes remarkable films. He has also mastered the finest nuances of Manipuri music both as a singer and a musician. In the field of theatre he has proved his mastery as director and actor; and in the field of literature as short story writer and lyricist. Aribam is a multi-faceted personality possessing multiple qualities! Emerging as a genius in Indian cinema, he is recognized internationally,” writes Meghachandra Kongbam, who has made a documentary on this man who is forever concerned about the Manipuri identity which covers the languages of the State, the culture, its music, theatre and its arts. Besides his own mother- tongue, Meitei, he knows English and Hindi, and can speak Bengali fluently. The deepest impression he carries about Indian cinema is in Ritwik Ghatak’s Ajantrik, a story about a small town taxi driver and his close and strange relationship with his jalopy, Jagaddal, which is running out of steam.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:640px;" id="attachment_30160" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30160"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/640px_Aribam_Syam_Sharma_Working_Photo_fa0f5c5e60.jpg" alt="640px-Aribam_Syam_Sharma_Working_Photo.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_640px_Aribam_Syam_Sharma_Working_Photo_fa0f5c5e60.jpg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_640px_Aribam_Syam_Sharma_Working_Photo_fa0f5c5e60.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-30160">Aribam Syam Sharma at work</figcaption></figure>Manipuri cinema celebrated 50 years of existence in 2022. The first full feature film, “Matamgi Manipur” was completed and screened in 1972. But it was “Imagi Ningthem” 10 years later which heralded on the global arena the arrival of a brave new world of Manipuri Cinema. Even as “Imagi Ningthem” completed its 40th year last year, and in celebration of Manipur’s first step into the celluloid world 10 years earlier, Joshy Joseph and his team completed a retrospect on Aribam Syam Sharma, the veteran film maker and virtuoso who is not only the director of “Imagi Ningthem” but also has been the tallest captain of this artistic enterprise in Manipur.Aribam is a man of few words. He avoids crowds including the media and chooses to keep to himself as much as he can. This is perhaps justified considering that the media has kept him away from its spotlight because it remains ignorant of the contribution of this great filmmaker to the cinema of India over many years.Aribam Syam Sharma stepped into the world of cinema as an actor, appearing in the first ever Manipuri film, Matamgi Manipur (1972). He made his directorial debut in 1980 with Olangthagee Wangmadasoo (Even Beyond the Summer Horizon), which has the distinction of being the longest-running film in Manipuri history, having a theatrical run that lasted more than thirty weeks, breaking the local box office records of Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:48.24%;"><img style="aspect-ratio:undefined/undefined;" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Olangthagee_Wangmadasoo_Manipuri_Film_Poster_27348a9a8a.jpg" alt="Olangthagee_Wangmadasoo_Manipuri_Film_Poster.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Olangthagee_Wangmadasoo_Manipuri_Film_Poster_27348a9a8a.jpg 156w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure>Joseph says, “I have used a clip each from his two films ’Imagi Ningthem’ and ‘Ishanou’ very sparingly in my film for furthering his aesthetics which is very personal and very rooted too in Manipuri culture. These telling illustrations of a very individual style of a filmmaker expressing through an actor’s entire body is a different take on cinema. He may not yield to the demands of cinema to use a close-up. His ‘technique’ of storytelling is primarily determined by the specifics of his culture. The ‘technological’ demands of cinema are willfully submitted to that of a broader primordial philosophic premise.”Joshy considers biographical documentaries are storehouses of unique stories for cinema. He has done a long documentary on Mahsweta Devi and one on Niraj Mahapatra, the noted filmmaker and cinema teacher from Odisha. He states that he had applied different cinematic styles to each of them. The one on Aribam Syam Sharma is the latest. done a couple of them applying different cinematic styles.Says Joshy, “the most challenging task is to get a biographical film to pulsate with a life of its own.. The camera is a spoiler and it is almost impossible to make a person remain in his/her own elements when the camera is around. You have to develop a rapport over a period of time with whom you make a film and simultaneously annihilate your shooting unit with some kind of black magic. There comes a chance for you to get into a love-hate playfulness with the person in front of your camera.”<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_2024_10_09_T110210_698_8051d994b7.jpeg" alt="images-2024-10-09T110210.698.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_2024_10_09_T110210_698_8051d994b7.jpeg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_2024_10_09_T110210_698_8051d994b7.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Joshy has steered away from detailing the biographical details of Aribam Syam Sharma’s life as this has already been covered very well by Haobam Paban Kumar as a tribute to his Guru.For the uninitiated, it would help to know that Aribam Syam Sharma lost both his parents at a tender age. His uncle and aunt brought him up and perhaps, so many years later, the pain of loss still seeps through the interview Joshy had with him during the shooting of the film. But one does not really know as he is a very, very private person and does not open out easily about his childhood, his growth, his life, and even, his cinema. When the reality of the loss comes back to him and the emotional turmoil this may have led to, it seems as if a play is being staged.Says Joshy, “I could persuade Aribam Syam Sharma into a kind of in-depth dialogue. I was planning a more or less conventional visual journey at that time. I did not view the footage for quite some years and when I gathered enough courage to experiment on the form, I decided to disarm myself from the visual flourish and confined myself to the contours of his face. I used exactly the opposite idiom in cinema which Syam Sharma himself abhorred. The camera surveys him through a close-up basically, keeping any frilling to the bare minimum. Syam Sharma was not quite convinced about my ‘counter-contour-cinema’. Then he saw the final film himself. His long association with my editor Atish Nandy helped us construct a collective idiomatic audacity. This film ideally should act as a textbook on culture specific cinemas of India.”<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_2024_10_09_T110159_722_8b71d4f77b.jpeg" alt="images-2024-10-09T110159.722.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_2024_10_09_T110159_722_8b71d4f77b.jpeg 234w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_2024_10_09_T110159_722_8b71d4f77b.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">The film is divided into six chapters, each one exploring through long dialogue with the director Joshy, Sharma opens up beautifully. “I had sent the rough cut to Syam Sharma who kept on watching it every night as a kind of ritual for almost a month. He had just one creative suggestion to make which was incorporated in the final film. Editor Atish Nandy and myself are keeping those mutterings from Imphal to ourselves. In retrospect, it appears that we were hit by an asteroid named Aribam Syam Sharma,” Joshy sums up. But to get a closer view, you need to watch the film.<hr>Watch the documentary film based on the life of Aribam Syam Sharma below:<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jLfktXJFmK8" title="ARIBAM SYAM SHARMA Laparoscopic Cinemascapes" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div>

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Why is Aribam Syam Sharma Neglected When Mithun Chakraborty Gets Phalke Award

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Dancing To Her Tune

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An Unwritten National Autobiography

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_6258d15665.jpeg" alt="images-1.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_6258d15665.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_1_6258d15665.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">People who read literature in India knew him, MT Vasudevan Nair. Language was no hurdle for his works to reach out beyond the state borders of Kerala. While Malayali diaspora took a handful of nostalgia along to the places they went, a little bit of MT was also in that.Today, the big business of literature finds translators to translate anything that moves. All tetrapods of literature are given awards that stink of corporate imperialistic nexus. But MT belonged to a different era when blood recognised blood, genius recognised genius. He got translated not once but several times.Basheer, Takazhi and MT were the triumvirate that could transcend the borders and stand tall among the Indian modernist literature. Yes, MT’s literature also had a fair amount of auto-fiction but he hoodwinked it with the magic of text. He was a persuasive minimalist both in writing and in person.An unsmiling MT could generate generations of readers who could smile through tears. MT wrote about a collapsing social structure that divested the old feudal class with their ill-gotten properties. But their social capital remained intact and could exert a lot of influence among the readers by becoming the surrogate emotional ethos of a transition time of Kerala’s socio-political history.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:1196px;" id="attachment_31084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31084"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg" alt="mt-1024x575.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31084">MT during his Interview with Sabha TV (Watch <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NttnjeaVqn0">Here</a>)</figcaption></figure>When society evolved into a different being altogether, MT turned to the treasure trove of myths and itihasas to eke out allegories that explained the pain of loss, of class, roots and love. His literature spat on the face of bigotry, whether it was religious or familial. He was so stoically poised in his literature that none could have challenged him and expelled him from the world of literature.MT’s literature spoke of love and separation as vehemently as he wrote about the changing social complexions. But he was not sentimental. There was something in his writing that touched some chord in every reader. Before initiating themselves into Ambedkarite politics, the Dalit ideologues also, in their torturous nights of youth, pined for MT’s characters.Those who call the modernists, Dad Vibes, have really lost the sight of the forest while focusing on shrubs and thicket. MT was a forest that moved, as in the great tragedies. He remained a serious writer while the post modernists fell in the trap of publishers and wrote lightning stories and became laughing stokes.MT remains, so is the MT critique. That’s the beauty of a great writer’s life and of course, death.</div></div>

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MT: A Forest that Moved

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An ‘Overture’ Stringing The Pope, Yesudas and the ‘Songster Chaplain’

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/1_cc9df0fe47.png" alt="വലതുപക്ഷവുമായുള്ള-സംവാദത്തിൻ്റെ-വ്യർത്ഥത-1.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_1_cc9df0fe47.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_1_cc9df0fe47.png 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">When old age shall this generation waste,Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woeThan ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is allYe know on earth, and all ye need to know.” (John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn)<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/6_904b2e9f2a.jpg" alt="6.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_6_904b2e9f2a.jpg 147w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_6_904b2e9f2a.jpg 470w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Siddharth Tagore, Founder Director of Delhi’s <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/artkonsultindia/photos">Art Konsult</a> Gallery is no more. He cannot be contained in such a cold statement, so matter of fact like death itself. Besides the gallery, he founded magazines such as Art and Deal, Travel and Deal and many other publications. Even when he knew that he wouldn’t make any profit out of the publications, he invested money in them because he knew art wouldn’t survive without the literature surrounding it.&nbsp;Yet another venture of Tagore’s was an auction house, namely Art Bull. The name was perfect for a bullish art market of the 2000s. But the glitch was this: Siddharth Tagore was not bullish. Nor was he bearish. He was cherubic, complete with a benign smile on his face and a burning cigarette between his fingers. Whenever I came out after having a meeting with him, I would ask myself, was he cut for this business?&nbsp;Tagore could have been a poet and dreamer like his internationally renowned namesake of yesteryears.. After the pandemic period I met Tagore after a gap of four years at the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre where Art Konsult had organized a group exhibition. After the inaugural function, I shook hands with him and I realized that his hands had lost the firm grip though the warmth remained. “I have not been keeping well,” he told me.&nbsp;<div class="gallery galleryid-31051 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:30px -8.96875px 0px;padding:0px;" id="gallery-1"><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg" alt="c-768x993.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 121w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 387w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 580w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg" alt="b-768x985.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 122w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 390w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 585w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/a_7888f94e4b.jpg" alt="a.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 121w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 385w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 577w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure></div>Then on another occasion, at the same gallery, I met him again, this time without the crowd. He preferred to wear a pair of fading blue jeans and white shirt, a reminder of those romantic 1970s when every youth in West Bengal dreamt of poetry, love and revolution. Jeans and Shirt were the uniform of love and revolution. I think, when Tagore came to Delhi as a young man, he carried those qualities along, plus his sense of dressing. Lovers in those days smoked rather constantly and drank Old Monk Rum.&nbsp;On that day when I met him, Tagore told me that he had quit smoking, which was news to me. I couldn’t have imagined the man without a cigarette between his fingers or at least a packet of cigarettes to fuss with. I understood the gravity of the situation.&nbsp;Then again, we met when Praveen Upadhyay of the Progressive Gallery at Laddo Sarai organized a talk session with art professionals that included Tagore, Prayag Shukla, Vinod Bharadwaj and myself. Tagore was supposed to talk about the art market. When the mike was handed over to him, he fussed with it for a while and said that he always wanted to make it big by promoting young artists, but somehow, he never made huge business.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:689px;" id="attachment_31054" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31054"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg" alt="7-768x511.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 235w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31054">Siddharth speaking to the media at Art Konsult</figcaption></figure>Then I remembered Tagore telling the same during the market boom years that lasted in India for around ten years starting from 2005 to 2015. In 2008, the world market had collapsed, but the Indian art market using its cunning and reserve withstood the pressures and dragged the impending failure for a few more years only to revive itself by the beginning of the third decade of the new millennium.&nbsp;Had Tagore acquired a penchant for failure despite his resilience in running a gallery, publications and an auction house for over three and a half decades ? Did he enjoy calling himself a failure in the art market? Was he romantically involved with the idea of failure even when he kept others who were with him in the business, floating? I don’t know for sure. But Tagore remained grounded and rooted; he tried his best to keep himself away from the nefarious market practices.&nbsp;There were a few people who stood with Tagore in his highs and lows (lows that lasted for not some months but for years together), never deserting him, following his orders. Prashant Seal and Rajula Bisht are two people I remember. These two people have been so close to his heart and even after his twin daughters joining him in the business, both Seal and Bisht never lost their position as the confidantes of Tagore. He loved them like family.&nbsp;I met Siddharth Tagore in 1995. He had started Art Konsult in Hauz Khas Village. Meena Tagore (now Meena Varma) was with him then. Late Vijayan Kannanpally was the editor of Art and Deal. With the growth of art scene, Tagore’s gallery also grew in stature. Art Konsult was one of the few A listed galleries in the city. Tagore took it to South Delhi’s art district, Laddo Sarai during the boom years and later relocated it to Hauz Khas again.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:562px;" id="attachment_31055" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31055"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg" alt="0-768x512.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 234w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31055">Siddharth Tagore with art critic and curator Jyoti A Kathpalia at the Art Konsult, New Delhi</figcaption></figure>It was in his Laddo Sarai phase that I joined him as the Editor of Art and Deal. It was the same when he decided to start Art Bull and Travel and Deal. I brought out around ten issues of Art and Deal between 2010 and 2013, with a gap in 2012 when I joined the United Art Logistics to establish the United Art Fair. Tagore literally lent me to the other organization with a promise that I could walk into the editor’s office at any time that I wanted. And I did go back.&nbsp;As a part of Tagore’s team, he gave me full freedom to edit the magazine and curate exhibitions. I curated a few shows and introduced a few new artists of which some are very reckonable names in today’s art scene. The exhibition ‘Merging/Submerging’ was a showcasing of contemporary photography art and ‘R.A.P.E’ (Rare Acts of Political Engagement), an all-woman show responding to the brutal murder of Nirbhaya in Delhi. This exhibition was a super hit and was discussed in all the print and television media. Art Bull did do a couple of exhibitions and auctions. I did not take much interest in it though Tagore hoped that his auction house could change the scenario and also break certain monopolies. Tagore also initiated an Art History Lecture series which I conducted on his behalf.&nbsp;Siddharth Tagore remained true to his calling. With a kind of detachment, he sponsored exhibitions that he knew well, would not bring any business. He was an avid collector of folk and tribal art and together with Meena Varma, he initiated an organization called ‘Art of the Earth’ for promoting the folk and tribal art of India, much before the ‘folkploitation’ of today’s art market became rampant. Tagore helped whoever came to him with a request for an exhibition or an immediate financial relief. &nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:640px;" id="attachment_31053" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31053"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg" alt="3-e1734762508660-669x1024.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 102w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 327w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 490w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 653w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31053">Siddharth Tagore signing the <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://amzn.in/d/4TijcgO">book</a> “Ganika- In the visual culture of the 19th-20th Century India” at the Art Konsult</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg" alt="4-560x1024.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 85w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 273w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 410w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 547w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">When artists in Calcutta packed their wares and set out for Delhi, they knew Siddharth Tagore was there if nothing else worked (perhaps he was their primary destination), along with cigarettes and Old Monk Rum. He never discouraged the people who came to him with a clear intention to exploit. He was not cautious about relationships that brought him a fair amount of heartburn. As I said elsewhere, Tagore was a poet in his heart, with a heart ready to bleed for love and art.</div></div>

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