Dispatches from a pandemic's diary

To My Dearest Little Women,

I trust all of you are keeping safe and healthy. You might have wondered why I called you little women. Well, I don’t have a better name to describe this batch of 2020- Girls, still so young, but yet forced to witness so much turmoil and have thus evolved into thinking women. (Or in your words, ‘adult’.) While you were deciding between watching another episode of Sex Education or sleep, you were shaken out of your reverie and forced to reckon with the world- to fight for your freedom, your rights and now survive. Did I just jinx it when I gave my farewell speech, saying that you guys had seen it all?  From Brexit, Hong Kong protests, repeal of Article 370 in Kashmir, Revolution of Sudan, the assassination of Baghdadi, the crushing economic recession and the CAA protests? Not in our wildest imagination did we think that the worst was yet to come, that we would one day be witness to a pandemic, a world war like situation and the entire globe shuts down.

While being torn between my desire to consume more and more news, and drown in escalating anxiety, and resist the urge not to, for my own sanity, I couldn’t help but make a list of the lessons that we can learn from the pandemic, in the backdrop of what I have taught you over the last one year. (Geo-Politics and Dev Comm). So this is the exercise- if you have any insights to add, please do add to the list. Learning never stops.

1.     This pandemic is a perfect example of ‘The Butterfly Effect’ -when a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world; it causes tremors on another, says the Chaos Theory. COVID-19 has shown us the reach of the growing tentacles of globalisation, our relatedness and how everything is connected. All our actions have effects.

2.     We often take the World Wars for granted, don’t we?  It had become another page in our history textbook, another date to remember and yet another pointless exam answer to write. But now we can understand how it would have been for people to live through the wars.  To worry about resources, to scramble for good news, and hope in the face of crippling uncertainty.

3.     The Government is important- when we are in despair; we turn to the state for support.  Only the state can pass the right policies, keep the system running and take care of its citizens. And this is why it’s in our own best interest that we stay abreast of news and use that information to make important choices. To vote. To exercise our right wisely and choose the best.

4.     The pandemic while exposing the importance of the state has also given rise to one major thought- which form of government works best?  Communist countries with robust public health systems like China, Cuba and Vietnam have done very well in containing the disease, while neo-liberal democracies like Italy, Spain and the US have floundered. Is there a lesson here?

5.     Is there something called too much democracy? Is the cost of a free and open society, a total disregard for community? Is there something utterly irresponsible about individual freedom? To take USA as an example, even while the number of cases were sky rocketing in New York and the govt. was pleading with people to practice social distancing, college students were seen frolicking in beaches and pubs, indulging in spring break shenanigans and licking toilet bowls as a part of #Coronachallenge.

6.     We now know what oppression feels like. Lockdown used to be the parlance of the Kashmiris.  We now know what it means. Gaza. Palestine. Syria. Now that our lives have been painfully disrupted, we have a taste of what it is to lose freedom. And remember, we have only lost our freedom of movement.

7.     Did China conspire all this? Was the COVID-19 created by China to choke the world and attain global domination? Was the virus created in a bio- research facility in Wuhan to be unleashed on ‘troublesome’ Hong Kongers and snuff out democracy forever? China’s successful handling of the crisis and subsequent closing of its international borders has given rise to many Whatsapp forwards and articles insinuating that the Chinese orchestrated the COVID-19. Apparently, Chinese millionaires have bought shares in crashing companies worldwide ensuring China remains unscathed in the global recession that is surely to follow. Beijing hasn’t recorded too many cases and was never locked down. How was that possible? Well, we will ever know the truth. It’s perhaps also foolish to indulge in conspiracy theories, especially today when the fake news infodemic seems more lethal than the actual disease. In the face of growing racial discrimination, it’s perhaps best we ignore these theories and focus on reviving our societies instead.

8.     When we heard about the lockdown, what did we worry about most? Contracting the virus or the effect the lockdown could have on our minds? Most illnesses kill the mind before getting to our body. Is it still all in the mind then?  Mental health is as important as physical health, if not more.

9.     Guess who is having the last laugh now? History’s longest and happiest social distancers- Kim Jong-Un and the Sentinalese of course! (Separately, not together though: D)  Oblivious to the outside world and happy to be isolated.

10. Capitalism can be aggressive. Capitalism can kill people- America, the country that has never had qualms over waging wars against weaker countries (as long as its not on its soil) and destroying their economy to smithereens (while keeping their economy intact) - America that prides itself on being the stuff that dreams are made of-America that makes a hue and cry about a scrawny terrorist killing 10 people- is now grappling with an unprecedented crisis on its hand, with 500 deaths each day.  For a long time, they chose to ignore the crisis, called it the ‘Chinese flu’ and lived in denial. Also, they could not bear the thought of their malls and merchandise coming to a grinding halt- after all that’s the machine that runs America isn’t it? The country with the highest GDP in the world.   Alarming death rates have finally opened the government’s eyes and pushed them to place importance on public welfare over economy. It’s easy to pin all the blame on Trump, but it reeks of something more sinister, the corrupt moral fabric of America. The UK in order to not pick up the tab- since the govt. sponsors the NHS) decided to go for the long haul or work at herd immunity. Social Darwinism. Let life go on.Corona will kill the weak, the fittest will survive, and the rest will develop immunity, was the policy. So who will bite the dust? The poor and the old of course. It sounded like Hitler was espousing his model for superior genes all over again.

11. One thing is for sure. This pandemic is changing the world irrevocably. At a personal level we may now choose to be more mindful of our health and reorganise our priorities. At the global level, there will probably be two kinds of govt. control- greater surveillance of citizens at the cost of individual freedom and maybe tighter borders. Is social distancing giving rise to national isolation?

12. Is nature telling us something? Have we been grounded to repent for what we have done to the planet? Perhaps we are the virus and corona is trying to get rid of us. The surreal image of Olive Ridley turtles nesting along the beaches of Bhubaneswar peacefully, for probably the first time in their life is testimony.

13. The difference has not been more clear. What is essential and what is not.  While we recognise that doctors, nurses, health workers, police, researchers, cashiers, grocers, farmers, journalists and teachers are the essential services of today, it must be also taken into account that they are also the least paid.

14. The right to Internet is a fundamental, inalienable right.

15. COVID-19 has been a great equaliser- it can infect the homeless man on the street and the Prince of England. However it is a rich man’s disease- it has come from foreign travel.  Yet who seems to be paying the price? The hapless migrants who had disinfectant sprayed on them for no fault of theirs. If we cared so much shouldn’t we have sprayed it on the NRIS and tourists who came from abroad? Inequality is the biggest problem in our country.

16. I think we finally realise the true cost of development. Did we really need that fly over? Or that mono-rail for that matter? Should we be spending 3000 crores on a stupid statue, while our health expenditure is only 2% of India’s GDP? And should we elect such a government that chooses to do so?

17. Countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore. Taiwan, HongKong have done well in mitigating the crisis than much richer European countries and The USA. Which brings us back to the point; what makes a country ‘developed’

18. I have been curious of the crow sitting on the branch of my mango tree. Does it wonder where the humans have gone? Do the street dogs wish for our presence? What was running in the mind of the civet cat when he came running on the streets of Kerala?  Did they think it was apocalypse or did they celebrate their freedom?

19. Its time we check our privilege- we can socially distance because we can afford to. We have savings. We have enough resources to even bake cakes and post it on social media. It was also privilege to hang out with friends and to explore aisles and aisles of our favourite snack. It’s a privilege to say goodbye.

20. Indigenous people are right- we need to be in tune with nature. Listen to it, not encroach it. The more we eat into the territories of wild animals and snatch their homes, the more trouble we will find ourselves in.

21. If not anything else, this pandemic has made us self-sufficient. We can cook, clean and take care of ourselves, and sustainably too. And no, we do not need to shop so much online.

22. We are the books we read, the movies we watch and the music we listen to. We are the art we create and the craft we make.  In the darkest of times we turned to art to keep us alive and may we never forget that.

The world will never be the same again. You, young women are inheriting a brand new world. Rich from this experience, I know you will make a difference.

May we emerge scathed but stronger.

Until tomorrow.

Stay safe, stay sane!

Love,

Shakti Ma’am.

20 years later, Harry potter is more than a book for its fans, it's a way of life

They queue outside bookstores at 6 am, wearing black robes. While others are busy studying or out partying, they revel in spinning theories and writing fan fiction.  And “in their not so humble opinion, words are the most inexhaustible source of magic; J.K Rowling’s to be specific. Well, they are the Potterheads and they solemnly swear that they are up to no good, except when they are reading or discussing Harry Potter.

June 26^th marks the 20^th anniversary of the inception of the magical journey that is Harry Potter (HP) or the publication of the first book of the series,  ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. To commemorate the two decades of J.K Rowling’s wizarding world, Bloomsbury has republished the first book with special Hogwarts House themed covers. Harry Potter fans across the globe are paying tribute to their favourite series by taking part in literary events and theme parties. But no celebration of Harry Potter is complete without a celebration of its most beloved fans, the Potterheads.

Gayathri Potter Gopalakrishnan, as her Facebook profile reads is a self confessed HP addict with a never waning 16-year-old crush on Harry.  Like most Potterheads, Gayathri’s fondest memory is of waiting outside a bookstore for the release of a new title and shouting with ecstasy when the van carrying the books swerves into vicinity and sharing/reading the book with her sibling in 4 hour shifts. Later when the movies released, Gayathri and Varsha Bharath, her friend from college, wore hand- sewed robes, made witches’ hats and wands out of black chart and watched them, first day first show.

Last year during Navratri, Gayathri set up a small Harry Potter golu next to their traditional one. “Since I'd be at office during the day when guests came, I trained my 86 year old grandma to learn (and pronounce) words like "Quidditch" (after a lot of Ennas’? and forcing her to repeat it after me) "Monster Book of Monsters" "Hogwarts" "Spectrespecs" "Time Turner" etc. I wrote the words down on a piece of paper and she took it so seriously that she made every guest play a guessing game of what was what in my HP corner!”Gayathri giggles. An employee of Flintobox, Gayathri manged to convince her office to not only celebrate HP week but also come up with seven Harry Potter-themed DIYs to teach children the importance of the books.

Harry Potter, as a literary fantasy, seems to bewitch every coming generation. The books are fast-paced with a gripping plot and easily comprehensible English and are devoured by both children and adults alike. Thanks to its quality of being both simple and complex at the same time and replete with multiple layers, they make ideal books for re-readings. “Every time you go back you can take away something new from it. Rowling has put in so much thought and details into the side characters as well as the main. I think no matter what age or phase you are going through you'll find a character that resonates with you,”says Aurelia Frederick,HP fan and owner of Fred’s  studio, Chennai.

Can you imagine Nymphadora Tonks, Professor Trelawney, Dolores Umridge, Luna Lovegood and Bellatrix Lestrange riding the same cab? Yes, that happened. When ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ released last year, Gayathri, Sneha Sivakumar, her best friend from college and bunch of their friends attended a HP Witches and Wizards costume party at Phoenix Mall, Chennai. “It was definitely the craziest thing we had done as 25 year olds. We were so excited about the chocolate frogs, flavoured beans and a magical drinks that they gave us for for breakfast,” gushes Sneha. The six- member team won the prize for best costumes that day.

Over the years, mutual HP fandom has united several friends. Yogita Dakshina, a political communication graduate who works with an NGO, shares a HP tattoo with her best friend of nine years, Sneha Ramkumar.The friends tattooed a half of the snitch on the back of their hands, which when put together, forms the snitch as a whole. "I open at the close" is very symbolic of our relationship as friends as well,” says Yogita. This year, Yogita’s mother threw her a  Harry Potter themed party that started with a Hogwarts Acceptance letter and ended with personal wands and butterbeer for all.

Hogwarts is not just a fantasy school and Harry Potter is not merely a fairytale. Life lessons are aplenty in the book and often Potterheads use the book to guide them in life. Afterall, Dumbledore did say that "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the lights!" 

One of the recurrent themes of the book is the concept of good and evil. Rowling’s nuanced portrayals of the shades between good and bad and that they cannot be distinctly compartmentalised as right and wrong rings true for most fans.Themes such as love is the greatest magic of all, dementors as a personification of depression that need to be warded off with happy memories, equality and human rights are peppered throughout the books.Hermione stands up for house-elf rights (and magical creatures in general) and finally it’s the equality between all the creatures, the muggle-borns, half-bloods and pure-bloods that saves the world from Voldemort during the Battle at Hogwarts. Recent research studies have also corrobrated this idea, that HP inculcates values of empathy and love among its readers

"Every character in HP was flawed in someway and the series showed me that flaws are ok as long as you are willing to work on it. It showed me that being evil is a choice it’s not something people are destined for,” adds  Aurelia. The character Severus Snape is an example of this philopsohy and is a favourite of Sneha’s.Snape taught Sneha that everyone has their own story and it’s wrong to judge a person before knowing theirs. “It is our choices, Harry, far more than our abilities, which define who we truly are" - all my beliefs, everything, is wrapped into this one sentence,”adds Yogita

Besides these nuggets of personal philosphy,the books also serve as a substitute religion in a secular era. The great symbol of malevolence is Harry’s nemesis, Lord Voldemort who wants to rid the wizarding world of Muggles (people from non-wizarding heritage) and is obsessed with the idea of blood purity.These books thus teach that bigotry must be fought at all costs, and that tolerance and difference must be celebrated.

Varsha, Gayathri’s friend and Assistant Director to popular Tamil film Director Vetrimaaran, opines that HP was her first lesson on inclusion, that it’s ok to be weird. She identifies most with Luna, a character, who doesn’t fit into the traditional definition of ‘normal’.

Gaythri’s love for the series made her write a dissertation on ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban’ during her third year of graduation and Yogita for her part hasn’t stopped decoding the texts.She loves reading into the interplay of the motifs of life and death,and the ‘’normalisation of death”that Rowling often experiments with. Dumbledore’s quote, “And of course - its happening in my head, but why would it mean that it is not real?” speaks most to her.“Never kill your imagination; never belittle another person's mental health issues. Two teachings, from one amazing quote,” she says.

The Potterheads chorus that the Harry Potter series is timeless and that the current generation needs it more than ever.“We live in times when we have all the facts staring at our faces and we still choose to ignore what is true, what is right. I find myself increasingly being surrounded by a Rita Skeeter-reading, Dumbledore bashing, Muggle-born hating crowd of Voldemort deniers. Rowling's world- the kindness, empathy, humour, love and magic is more relevant now than ever before,” Varsha concludes.

It’s been 20 long years. Harry Potter craze, even after all this time you ask? Always, they say.

-Originally published in TheNewsMinute.com on 25th June 2017

Celluloid to Soulmates

Someone wise once said that sex sells. Maybe not. Love sells. Images of love surround us everywhere, through out our lives. Romance never goes out of fashion. Books, songs, and television show us how to find a love, how to keep a love, how to get over a lost love, or how to get a new love. These images are included in children’s cartoons, embedded in commercials, pop-songs and disseminated through love’s greatest perpetrator, cinema.

Love is the glue that holds most movies together, be it a thriller, horror or an action flick.  But is the love on screen similar to the love in our bedrooms? Does ‘happily ever after’ exist? It’s an interesting pattern that most movies end when the relationship between the lead pair begins. Films sell only the exciting parts of love. 

In recent times, barring a few movies such as the Marathi hit Sairat (2016), Indian cinema has failed to paint a realistic portrayal of love and its aftermath.

As people consume the media’s view of love, it’s becoming more common for relationships and marriages to be primarily based on a desire for happiness. When these feelings fade, people think love is gone. This mediated view of romance is now being referred to as “emotional pornography”, insinuating that just as pornography sets unrealistic expectations for sex and physicality, the media’s fanciful stories of love, wire consumers to expect Hollywood-style kisses in the rain and constant epic moments of dramatic love. How can real life compete?

Myths are aplenty and cardboard characters rule the roost in cinema. A girl who for years has been utterly unable to commit as a result of some deep-seated emotional trauma can suddenly become fully capable of having a long-term, meaningful relationship, and the boy who's had his heart stomped on can completely forget about what just happened and start anew with the girl. The fact that there's no psychological truth to either of their behaviours is immaterial to the filmmakers. In real life, we have to live with relationships going unresolved. Endings are messy, people are obstinate and there are misunderstandings abound. People don't change unless they really want to.

Director Mani Ratnam, renowned for his sensitive and realistic portrayals of romance in films such as Mouna Raagam, about a couple forced into marriage and Alaipayuthey built on the premise that there is more to life than driving into the sunset, delivered two romance films in recent times that have a skewed understanding of reality.  With ‘OK Kanmani’ (2015) Ratnam went back to the time-tested formula of’ love at first sight’ and the delirium following it. The success of the movie has proved that the trope is still popular, however unrealistic. In Kaatru Veliyidai (2017) he seems to suggest that love is the cure for all problems, even when the relationship is abusive in nature and is ill advised to stay in one. Most filmmakers argue that the audience voluntarily seek such fairy- tale like movies to take a break from the harsh realities of life.

Besides setting unrealistic relationship standards, cinema is also criticised for glorifying violence and passing off deplorable behaviour in the guise of romantic overtures. What for some might seem as stalking, as per Indian movie standards is “normal behaviour”, as many movies cultivate the idea that a woman will eventually fall in love with a man if he pursues her hard enough. Such behaviour does inevitably affect an audience’s assumptions about how to conduct themselves in similar situations.

The film Darr: A Violent Love Story by Yash Chopra (1993), where Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) is obsessed with Kiran (Juhi Chawla), who is engaged to another man, is an example of a movie that legitimises stalking. Rahul carves her name on his chest with a knife, decorates his room with her photos and discusses her with his dead mother. He even kidnaps her to force her into marriage but is eventually killed. The film catapulted Shah Rukh Khan into mega stardom.

Over the past 20 years, the deranged and thwarted stalker has evolved from nominal villain to an outright hero. In the Tamil film 7G Rainbow Colony (2004); the protagonist is an unemployed wastrel, whose sole ambition is the pursuit of a girl who moves into his apartment. In a particular scene the ‘hero’ is shown climbing up a drainpipe to leer at the girl through her bedroom window, and in couple of occasions even forces himself on her.  Eventually, she gives in and ‘falls in love’ with him. The film was a huge box office hit and was remade in several regional languages. One of 2013’s biggest hit Rhaanjhanaa was of a similar premise.

A majority of the 309 cases of acid attacks reported in 2014 across the country were against women and a large number of them are suspected to be the result of failed or spurned relationships. Cinema’s heroes exhibit subtle stalking and psychopathic behaviour and it is ironic that people condemn it on the streets and applaud it in films.

It has been almost a year since Swathi, a young, Chennai based techie was brutally murdered in the early hours of June 24^th(2016) by a man who routinely stalked her and was supposedly miffed that she didn’t reciprocate his romantic advances. At that time, popular film critic Baradwaj Rangan in his column for The Hindu, countered The NewsMinute’s article on the role of cinema in glorifying stalking and violence.

Mr Rangan called for more research data and number crunching before people began blaming movies for increasing violence against women. My recent research paper titled ‘Celluloid to Soulmates: A study on the impact of films on the perception of romantic love among the youth’ may finally shed some light on the disturbing relationship between the silver screen and its young patrons.

As a part of the research study, 500 youngsters across South India (250 male, 250 female) in the age group of 18-23 were chosen. The most popular films of 2015 (Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English) were picked and the common romantic motifs running through the films were culled out. The respondents were questioned on the content and tropes found in the films.

Top Findings of the Research Study

1. Romance films are enjoyed equally by both men and women. Though romance films are pegged as ‘chick flicks’ in the west, India doesn’t have this clear demarcation as most Indian films have romance weaved into them. Films are the preferred recreation choice and are enjoyed by both men and women alike.

2.Romance is main course and not dessert. Relationships often take precedence over career, studies and family. The want, or the need to find ‘love’ is very strong among the youth. Interviews held highlighted that respondents have had at least one serious relationship by the age of 20 and all have a special person in their life, that they were currently interested in or had something going on with.

3.Movies provide lessons on love and intimacy: Young minds are impressionable, and while waiting at the brink of their first relationship, or after having navigated through many unsuccessful ones, they seek for some kind of guidance to steer their way to a happy ending. Talking about love and romance is considered taboo in Indian families. In the absence of a social system that doesn’t judge couples in a relationship or encourages youngsters to air their concerns and raise questions about love and romance, many draw inspiration and conclusions from what they see on media. Cinema seems to provide entertainment and the education. In cases where parents set bad examples, or a person has had a relationship that went awry, they tend to become vulnerable and seek movies as a form of wish fulfilment. Perhaps if romance was accepted more openly in society, there would be a greater possibility of youngsters choosing real life models.

4.Young believe reel is real:  As research indicates, youngsters believe in most of the romantic tropes present in movies.‘Soulmates’, that someone ‘perfect’ is waiting in the wings for everyone or that one needs another person to ‘complete’ them can be misleading. Often this is the reason why people either never find themselves in unhealthy relationships or change partners frequently in the hope of finding someone ‘perfect’. This leads to disappointment and depression. Many fail to realise that the ideal never exists and the perfect relationship is a myth actively propagated by the media. The second ranking trope is ‘true love’. Life is often not fair, and people clamouring for true love and believe that love can change everything often put themselves on the path of disillusionment. It is surprising to see that many believe in serendipity/happy coincidences. Movies often depict dramatic moments of serendipity such as ‘bumping into a handsome stranger in a store,’ or striking instant chemistry with a cute co-passenger’ culminating in a fairy-tale ending. However the odds of such events organically occurring in life are extremely rare. Movies are responsible for encouraging youngsters to believe that their life could be as exciting as their protagonists in their favourite movies.

It is a cause for worry that many are of the opinion that if one’s partner truly loves the other he/she would know what’s running in their mind. This confirms that the biggest cause for relationships to fall apart is this lack of communication and unrealistically expecting one’s partner to read their mind. People also seem to believe in pre -requisites such as instant chemistry being vital for a relationship, opposites attract or that outlandish gestures are necessary to exhibit true love. In reality, chemistry may build over time as demonstrated through the success of arranged marriages in our country, and people who are complete opposites may not endure a long-term relationship. Research has shown that shared interests and friendship are the cornerstones of any successful relationship. ‘Love is the cure for everything’, ‘love will ultimately find a way’ and ‘unrequited love is beautiful’- belief in such motifs could be life threatening.  A person may wait all his life for the elusive ’love’ to show up, only to end up missing out on other opportunities.

When asked to name their favourite romance films of the year 2015,a majority picked the Tamil film ‘OK Kanmani’, followed by the historical love saga ‘Bajirao Mastani’(Hindi) and the Malayalam cult hit ‘Premam’ .The common motif running through these movies include love at first sight, love is eternal and that love conquers all.

5. Youth are in denial: Many of the respondents recorded that though the films they watch don’t affect them personally, they do know of people who are. This is an example of the ‘Third person Effect/Hypothesis’ first articulated in 1983 by the sociologist W. Philips Davidson that predicts that people tend to perceive that mass communicated media messages have a greater effect on others than on themselves, based on personal biases.

Though as adults youngsters should be able to tell the diffrence between overromanticised love and healthy realistic realtionships,these tantalizing and persuasive images of cinema are affecting their behaviour and hopes for romance.

Filmmakers are not obligated to take the moral high ground or inculcate social messages through the films they make. However they could perhaps invest in showcasing realistic portrayals of love, or explore its different facets and ramifications.

The author first presented the research paper at the ‘Breaking the 4^th Wall -Media Meet’ at Christ University in August 2016. It has now been shortlisted for the ‘ReTrace 7^th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology’ in Austria, November 2017.