Mulayam Singh Yadav, fondly called Netaji (leader), was a true people’s man, a secularist, a socialist, a wrestler, a teacher, a politician and a leader par excellence. He founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992 and served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice and once as the Union Defence Minister. He was elected ten times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly and seven times as a Member of Parliament, and is the only leader to have held the position of the Leader of Opposition in both Houses of the legislature in Uttar Pradesh. He transcended his status as a regional party leader to emerge as a crucial player in national politics. He passed away on October 10 at the age of 82. His loss is mourned by millions in every part of India and the world.Born on November 22, 1939 in Saifai to Sughar Singh and Murti Devi, Mulayam became a wrestler and later started his career as a teacher at Jain Inter College in Karhal, Mainpuri. He would often motivate workers with his advice that it is possible to achieve anything if you set your heart and mind to it. Citing himself as an example, he would say he was born in a poor ‘kisan’ family with a few heads of cattle and a ‘kuchha’ home in a village that had no water, power, school or ‘pucca’ road. Impressed with his wrestling skills, especially his charkha daanv (sudden turn and attack) and his ability to defeat stronger competitors Nathu Singh, Samyukt Socialist Party MLA from Jaswant Nagar in Etawah, took Mulayam under his wing and thus became his first political guru. He organised Netaji’s meeting with the socialist leader Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. Lohia was impressed by Netaji’s efforts in organising bandhs called by Lohia in 1966, and then organising his meeting in Etawah. In 1967, Nathu Singh stepped aside and had Netaji contest the Assembly election from Jaswant Nagar. Mulayam campaigned door to door and called upon the marginalised to unite. He garnered a record 1.03 lakh votes and became an MLA. He was just 27 then.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/mulayam_singh_yadav_768x768_a131756ad0.jpg" alt="mulayam_singh_yadav-768x768.jpg"> Mulayam Singh YadavDuring the Emergency, Netaji was in prison for 19 months. In 1977, when the first non-Congress government was formed in Uttar Pradesh, he became a Minister. While in government, he reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes in cooperative institutions. This proved to be a political master-stroke – he emerged as a messiah of the depressed sections of society. A socialist always, Netaji was alive to political possibilities such as mergers and splits and was affiliated with many parties _ the Samyukta Socialist Party of Ram Manohar Lohia, the Bharatiya Kranti Dal of Charan Singh, and the Bharatiya Lok Dal, and the Samajwadi Janata Party_ before founding the Samajwadi Party in 1992. Mulayam was widely respected and was known to have friends across political parties. He was famous for keeping his word, developing and nurturing relationships, taking care of his people, simplicity and humility. He would always see off people personally accomopanying them up to their cars even when he was Chief Minister, and was believed to recognise lakhs of workers by their first name and location. He got more respect than one normally reserved for politicians because of his personality that transcended petty party politics.The idea of socialismMulayam’s biggest political contribution was to add socialism or ‘Samajwad’ to the political lexicon and ensure the idea’s place in the societal landscape of India. Samajwad always existed as an ideology, with its roots traceable to Hindu political and administrative thought and organisation in India. Mahatma Gandhi was the first and foremost proponent of socialism in modern India. This mantle was carried forward by prominent leaders such as Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Madhu Limaye, and Vinoba Bhave. However, it lacked force and focused practical implementation. It was under Netaji that ‘Samajwad’ as an ideology became a real political force and rallying slogan, especially in U.P. Ideologies are conceptual maps that help in interpreting contexts, and not just economic models. The importance he attached to this ideology was clear from the way Netaji campaigned for the politics of assertion of the backward sections of society, and articulated popular ideas and the concerns of the people. He would regularly raise issues related to popular frustrations over the lack of jobs, economic empowerment, equality, and national security especially vis-a-vis China, and stand up to the exploitative socio-political forces in the country. He had a deep personal commitment to this mantra of socialism. He not only built a coalition of India’s political elite around these issues but spent considerable time giving shape to a message that resonated with the masses by placing it in the context of the history of ideas. Netaji’s foremost priority was the fight for equality of access and opportunity and the struggle for assertion of subordinate and oppressed people. He became the embodiment of this struggle and leaders across the political spectrum found him genuine, humane and inspirational. His persona was above the usual vindictiveness in politics. Mulayam was different things to different people – he was ‘Dhartiputra’ for the backwards and downtrodden. He mainstreamed the politics of the Other Backward Classes and created a new political consciousness amongst this group, thus contributing to altering the political landscape of India. This gave him a ‘Mandal’ identity. In school, to save a Dalit boy, he physically confronted a group of tormentors all alone. He became ‘Dada Bhaiya’ for school boys. Senior bureaucracy had its own twist. When communal politics raised its ugly head he was referred to as ‘Mullah Mulayam’ by a few. To his followers he was ‘Netaji’. In essence, he was an enigma encapsulating all these identities or manifestations in his stride, and more.Transcending regionalismHis contribution to political thought, intellectual capital and political practice in India is unique in that sense, and sets him apart from contemporary leaders. His thought and politics were not limited to a region, unlike the leaders of most other regional parties, but was pan-Indian and universal in approach and application. Though a regional party leader, his impact was truly national and he defined and shaped national politics for almost five decades.Congress’ decline and Mulayam’s riseThere was hardly a political manoeuvre he did not know and use to outwit his political rivals. Netaji rose in U.P. politics during the politically transitory decade of late 1970s, late 1980s and early 1990s, which was marked by intense caste divide and communalism. He established himself as a true blue socialist who strongly and openly advocated the politics of assertion. He argued for and worked tirelessly to ensure reservation for the backward castes, instituted welfare schemes and grants, and maintained strictly secular credentials in sync with the ethos of the Indian Constitution.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/mulay_768x512_5251d61cce.jpg" alt="mulay-768x512.jpg"> Mulayam Singh with son Akhilesh YadavHis rise in U.P. politics coincided with the decline of the Congress, which, under the leadership of N.D. Tiwari, was voted out of power in 1989 and has not seen a realistic revival since then. The year 1989 was a watershed for Netaji. The Congress was reduced to irrelevance in U.P, which altered the national political landscape over time. The Samajwadi Party became mainstream, whether it was in power or in the opposition. Netaji became Chief Minister of U.P, the political hotbed of India, for three times and dominated its politics ever since he emerged on the political horizon of the State. His political journey, undertaken in the spirit of strengthening the political agenda and message of samajwad was full of twists and turns. In the course of his political caree, he opposed or supported the Central government on the basis of issues. The most prominent instance of his support was when he saved the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government over the issue of the nuclear deal with the United States of America. He was convinced that the deal was in the best interest of India and, despite his political and personal differences with the Congress, he supported its government when Left withdrew support. This was an instance where his nationalism trumped political prudence, all with his inimitable simplicity, charisma and endearing smile. He had an uncanny sense for the simple and the right thing. Even when out of power, Netaji remained at the centre of politicking. He dominated the government and opposition space completely for over three decades in U.P. After the Samajwadi Party’s historic win in the Assembly elections in 2012, Netaji passed on the responsibility of leading the government to his son Akhilesh, whom he had been grooming as an MP, while keeping a tight vigil on the party and government.Father and sonAn interesting episode illustrating Netaji’s fruitful intervention comes to mind here. When Akhilesh Yadav as Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the longest expressway in U.P. between Lucknow and Agra, Netaji was the chief guest of the ceremony. He asked the Chief Minister to go on record publicly and declare the proposed date of completion of this ambitious project. When informed that the timeline for completion was three years, Netaji wanted it to be completed in two years or 24 months and asked Akhilesh to make a public promise to stick to the deadline. Akhilesh agreed. It was completed and dedicated to the public in 22 months, a record in building an expressway to ever have been built anywhere in India. An ecstatic Netaji was the chief guest at the time of the expressway’s inauguration as well.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/express_highway_d3a491b024.jpg" alt="express-highway.jpg"> Mulayam speaking on the occasion of foundation laying ceremony of Agra – Lucknow Express WayNetaji’s death marks the end of an era. Sometimes, the way leaders are mourned unites societies and organisations. Death, and collective mourning provides a setting to encourage reconciliation, unity, and position the next generation as the torch-bearers as they inherit the mantle of the departed leader. Netaji’s death will cement his legacy, encourage a sense of pride and identity, and nurture cohesiveness and involvement in the Samajwadi Party and amongst its followers. He strengthened the Samajwadi movement by nurturing and mentoring a close group of leaders, who not only served the socialist movement, but will carry forward his principles. People’s emotional outpourings from across the country over the demise of Netaji gives us the hope that socialist and secular values will live, and thrive. Long after his death Netaji will continue to influence the project of building India as he had done in varying roles – as a leader of the government, the opposition and the civil society. India’s hope lies the future to be built thus!<hr><h4 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;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.2;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;">Subscribe to our channels on<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(247, 168, 16);display:block;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a>&amp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);display:block;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a></h4>

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Mulayam Singh Yadav, fondly called Netaji (leader), was a true people’s man, a secularist, a socialist, a wrestler, a teacher, a politician and a leader par excellence. 

Mulayam Singh Yadav: A Socialist who Wrestled with Forces of Social Oppression

Zahira Rahman, writer and academic, remembers Hilary Mantel, the legendary novelist who chronicled Tudor history.Hilary Mantel, the much-celebrated author of Wolf Hall, died at the age of 70. She passed away “suddenly and peacefully”, said a report in The Guardian. When I read this piece of news, I was reminded of the lines from her second Booker-winning novel Bring up the Bodies : “Death is your prince, you are not his patron; when you think he is engaged elsewhere, he will batter down your door, walk in and wipe his boots on you.” A brilliant chronicler of Tudor history, Hilar Mantel, who incisively and intimately sketched kings and queens in her famous trilogy _ Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and the more recent The Mirror and the Light _ seems to have chosen, as it were, the hour of her departure to almost coincide with the ascension of another monarch to the throne of England? So that she could avoid another dig at the powers that be. Like the one in these lines written by her: “the way we maltreat royal persons, making them one superhuman, and yet less than human”.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/mantell_768x557_26c20d97b2.jpg" alt="mantell-768x557.jpg">She was wary of drawing parallels between the royals of the present and those of the past. “I think simply because I prize the long view so much. And that’s why I won’t make the parallels. I think that if you do, it turns real people into these kind of fantasy figures and unfortunately, they’re not. They’re real, present and dangerous.” She is not in awe of the monarchy though she twice received recognition from the British Empire for her literary achievements. She is Dame Hilary Mantel. She made light of the recognition in her interviews talking about it as a bit of recognition for making an impact on culture. She said: “There’s no British Empire and it has no practical meaning.” She is fascinated by the machinations of Power and, for her, writing is all about exploring the human puzzle, not to solve it as in a mystery thriller. Her subtle questioning of the process of life and the complexity of its players is deeply political. She considers the act of writing an inherently dramatic activity, and not merely cerebral: “It uses up the whole of you.” She was described by her longtime agent as other-worldly who saw and felt things that we ordinary mortals missed. She talked of her novels as different from orthodox accounts of history and said “not because I know better but because I think differently.” She said her approach was similar to that of the theatre: “I am entering into a dramatic process with the characters rather than sitting in judgement on them.” She could be scrupulously honest and was known to be an intrepid researcher. Someone whose engagement with pain (from endometriosis which was left undiagnosed for years ) had helped in some sort of disappearing act -she studied law and worked as a social work assistant in a geriatric hospital- that saw her emerge triumphant after, with her astounding literary output . She says it was her chronic illness that made her a writer…” Because you have only a little bit of energy left and you have to ration it. ”<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/hilari_768x611_adbb5913fc.jpg" alt="hilari-768x611.jpg">In one of her interviews, she spoke of an unhappy childhood that left her with traumatic memories of a strange household where her mother, father and her mother’s lover were living together and she went into a kind of hibernation to avoid being questioned constantly by the villagers. Her protagonist Thomas Cromwell, of whom she presented a starkly human picture, does not speak much too; it’s mostly the workings of his mind that the readers of the trilogy have access to. Far from a much-maligned historical figure, he emerges as a sensitive genius who lends his perceptive mind to the disturbed Henry VIII . Her beguiling narrative of Cromwell’s life is an engrossing tale of power. She said in an interview that Cromwell interested her because his whole project seemed unlikely. She talked of him as the man she met who wasn’t there: “You are concerned with the inner workings of someone who by definition is turned to the outside world and there is a limit to how much Cromwell knows himself.” Cromwell was a man with a vision, with grand plans that he led to fruition but his journey was so precarious that he was in terrible peril at each step. And “everything is in equipoise and one breath could destroy him.” The consequence of a mistake was calamitous, and you paid with your life. “I am, as I think a lot of authors are, concerned about the speed at which we are consuming history now, the way that the past, the very recent past, is being made into a version and real-life people walking around have to live with their representatives and so on”<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 post-colonial nationalist in us has always been taught to hate the British and their monarchs and yet England and its history and landscape is always some returning memory for the postcolonial reader: Uncannily familiar. Mantel’s record of the stories that have been displaced in space and time fascinate us forever because she plays on our need for, the struggle for, our “little meed for Power.”<hr><h1 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:30px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.2;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;">“മരണം നിങ്ങളുടെ രാജകുമാരനാണ്, നിങ്ങൾ അവന്റെ രക്ഷാധികാരി അല്ല”</h1><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;">ഈ ലേഖനം മലയാളത്തിൽ വായിക്കുവാൻ <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/remembering-celebrated-author-hilary-mantel-the-legendary-novelist-who-chronicled-tudor-history-ml/">ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക</a>.

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Hilary Mantel, the much-celebrated author of Wolf Hall, died at the age of 70. She passed away “suddenly and peacefully”, said a report in The Guardian. 

“Death is your prince, you are not his patron.”

<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;">Ha San, a reputed visual content creator, pays a unique tribute to Godard in his signature style of poignant storytelling through images. It is quite a Godardian homage to the master filmmaker. Ha San also maintains an audiovisual journal on Facebook titled ‘Dairy of a Young Film Maker’.

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Ha San, a reputed visual content creator, pays a unique tribute to Godard in his signature style of poignant storytelling through images.

A Young Film Maker’s Visual Tribute to Godard

<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;">Social Activist and Writer Teesta Setalvad remembers her long association with legendary artist Vivan Sundaram.<hr><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;">Subscribe to our channels on&nbsp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a>

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Social Activist and Writer Teesta Setalvad remembers her long association with legendary artist Vivan Sundaram.

Teesta Remembers Vivan

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Have You Planted a Tree along the Road and Nurtured it for 10 Years? Here's a Treebute.

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Uma has passed away But Durga is immortal

<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>

വലതുപക്ഷവുമായുള്ള-സംവാദത്തിൻ്റെ-വ്യർത്ഥത-1.png

Salutations, Dear Siddharth Tagore Or Farewell to Thee, Blithe Spirit*

Malayalam (ml)

Tamil (ta)

English (en)

Hindi (hi)

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Kannada (kn)

THE-AIDEM-FTR-1-770x470.png

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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