A long-winded discussion
From the Blog A Myth in Creation: Awais Aftab's Blog: A long-winded discussion - (Aati thought that if I posted this conversation, a lot of people would get offended. I’ll take my chances, I guess. I think if people read it carefully, they can see that the intention is not to offend. ) Aati: I have noticed a similarity between a lot of girls who grow up in liberal families, then don the hijab. Consider this my offensive and ignorant opinion, but I have noticed a lot of these girls were what you call ‘shallow’ before they ‘got religion’. Matlab, the girls who based the identity and worth on appearances, whether they were taught to or chose to, who was prone to peer pressure and people’s perspectives of her contributed a great deal to her self-image. That kind. Every teenager shows such behavior, but for some it rings true to their actual self whereas for others it is associated with adolescence and decreases as they develop a personal identity and a concept of their own worth. A lot of these girls, and I’m including Western women who convert, never seem to do that till religion steps in, slaps an identity on them, and tells them to stop focusing on their appearance. Me: Is it like moderates, which were previously too thoughtless to see their own contradictions, becoming more religious (or its opposite) in an attempt towards a consistent meaningful life. Aati: A lot of these girls don’t progress from moderate to conservative. It’s a ‘bad girl gone good’ or ‘Barbie goes Hijabi’. And they become the poster children for tableeghi jamaat. Me: Hmmm. Religion gives them an identity they couldn’t create for themselves? Aati: Exactly. So you don’t generally find women with a strong identity — whatever it is, with the exception of ‘religious’ — turn to religion this way . By this way, I mean donning the hijab, or burka etc. The ‘ visible ‘ ways. Me: What do you think Y would say about this? Aati: Y would be very offended! She would also jump into an argument with me to show me how wrong I am in so many ways. She jumps in to defend before hearing out and trying to understand what someone’s saying. But I have a feeling this is one thing where I’d have a LOT of explaining to do. She’s not a Barbie-turned-Hijabi though, and this would only add to her missing this trait in others. Me: So what kind of a Hijabi is she? The one whose true inner personality developed into that? Aati: Yes. She was a classic example of a curious mind seeking higher meaning — she found it in her Religion, you found it in Philosophy, and I found it in Love. I respect all three of us making a choice, even if I don’t agree with all the choices made. Me: I don’t really respect the-religion-that-must-not-be-named, and it makes me hard to respect people like Y. Aati: I try to respect TRTMNBN because blanket condemnations generally make me uneasy. There is both good and bad, while there is oppression and draconian punishments, there is also encouraging honesty and feeding the poor. My actual problem is with individual beliefs and values. Me: Then you shouldn’t say that you respect TRTMNBN. You should say that you don’t judge it at all as a whole, and that you only respect or disrespect individual beliefs Aati: No, I do try to respect it. Me: If you are justified in (trying to) respect TRTMNBN as a whole, then I am also justified in disrespecting it as a whole Aati: Lolz. Yeah. One can look at the negative aspects just as easily as one can look at the positive aspects. Religions are like that. They claim to be absolute truth, when they couldn’t be farther from it. Me: You know my minimum for respect? I cannot or will not respect any ideology or person who believes that I deserve to be killed or that I deserve to go to hell for all eternity. I cannot respect something or someone that doesn’t respect me. Aati: *hugs* That was for three reasons. 1. You are right. 2. I can empathize with you. 3. I was suddenly reminded of your maleness. Me: Maleness? Lolz. How? I think I sound like Nietzsche. ‘If there were gods, how could I bear not to be a god?’ Demanding that God respect ME Aati: According to my society, I am respected based on how much I am socially obedient. The way I am, threats of death and punishment are something I got used to since childhood. Same story with a lot of girls. The idea that we can be killed or punished isn’t ‘odd’ anymore. At its worst, it’s someone’s delusional raving or just a jest. At its worst, it’s something to brace ourselves against, a warning to heed, or a fate to escape. So for females like me, our minimum working standard for respecting someone moves away from the more ideological or ego-focused stance of being respected in return. I am not saying that’s how it should be, but that’s the way it is with many of us. Me: *hugs* (* Y is someone me and Aati both know, and you, the reader, won’t know. **Sorry, comments aren’t allowed for this post. If you have something genuine to say, please email me. If it adds something meaningful, I’ll post it on the blog. ) . Read Full Post
Deepika Plays Kalpana Dutta
From the Blog Speak Your Mind!!!: Deepika Plays Kalpana Dutta - After reading the post written on Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se, I got to know that Asutosh Gowarikar chose Deepika to play the role of Kalpana Dutta in the movie who was one of the key revolionists of the Chittagong revolution. He felt that Deepika had a strong resemblance of the real Kalpana Dutta, whose picture I have put up. I guess, she looks like Deepika’s mother. Chittagong revolution was also one of the difficult times as I have read and heard from a few people. And this movie will show something about that time. The Chittagong Armoury Raid took place on 18 April 1930 and Kalpana hurried back to Chittagong and came in contact with Surya Sen in May 1931.Kalpana was entrusted with the safe carrying of heavy explosive materials from Calcutta. She also secretly prepared ‘gun-cotton’ and planned to plant a dynamite fuse under the court building and inside the jail to free the revolutionary leaders, who were being tried in a special Tribunal.The plot was uncovered and certain restrictions were imposed on Kalpana’s movements. She, however, managed to visit regularly the village of Surya Sen, sometimes even at dead of night. In September 1931 Surya Sen decided to entrust Kalpana and Pritilata with a plan to attack the European Club at Chittagong. A week before the action Kalpana was arrested while moving out for a survey work in a boy’s attire. While in jail, she was told about the Pahartali action and the heroic suicide of Pritilata. Being released on bail, she went underground at the bidding of Surya Sen and in the early hours of 17 February 1933 the police encircled their hideout. Surya Sen was captured while Kalpana, along with Manindra Datta, escaped. On 19 May 1933 Kalpana, with some comrades, was arrested. In the second supplementary trial of Chittagong Armoury Raid case, Surya Sen and Tarakeswar Dastidar were sentenced to death, and Kalpana was sentenced to transportation for life. Being released in 1939 she graduated from the Calcutta University in 1940. Soon she joined the CPI and resumed her battle against the British rule. She turned Kalpana Joshi in 1943 when she married PC Joshi, the leader of the CPI. She went back to Chittagong and organised the Kisan s’ and women’s fronts of the party. In 1946 she contested, though unsuccessfully, in the elections to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. After 1947 she migrated to India and resigned from active politics. Kalpana Datta breathed her last at New Delhi on 8 February 1995. . Read Full Post
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