Movie Dasaavatram is the Flavor of the Season

Movie Dasaavatram is the Flavor of the Season
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Lord Vishnu has incarnated in various life forms through different ages in situations where Hindu religion was in danger. In Hindu mythology, there are ten incarnation of Lord Vishnu; Tortoise, Fish, Boar, Narasimha, Parasurama,Vamana, Krishna, Rama, Buddha and Kalki.

The Tamil movie Dasaavtaram staring Kamala Hassan has supposedly taken a cue from the 10 aavtars of lord Vishnu and its named as so. However its storyline does not seem to have any linkage with the avatars of Vishnu and its all about a deadly virus that find its way out of a well guarded lab in the US and is ready to destroy the world, but its impact gets mitigated eventually by the killer Tsunami waves that had hit the Coramandel coast in 2004.

It could really have been a great mythological movie, if the 10 avatars of Vishnu could have been fit into this story of good verses evil. Many movie goers who had gone to the theater with such expectations came back saying it’s a mish mash of a film having nothing to do with their religion.

Dasaavatram had a perfect opening with all hype and hula built around this mega film much ahead of its release. The Vaishnavites sect of Hindus filed a court case praying this movie hurt their religious sentiments. The Madras High Court rejected their plea on the ground that they were complaining without seeing the film. Then the Supreme Court was moved that too rejected the plea saying the contention lacks circumstantial evidences.

All this happened because the story line of the film was kept a well guarded secret. Its promo tend to suggest that the movie had strong religious aroma but when it was released in theaters on June 13, 2008, the moviegoers came out saying Dasaavatram had nothing to do with the Hindu religion.

The movie opens with settings in the 12th century Tamil Nadu which was a hot bed of fight between the Shaivites and Vaishnavites followers of the Hindu religion. The Shaivite King orders a Vishnu devotee Rangarajan Nambi (Kamala Hassan-1) to utter “Om Namah Shiva” (I bow before Shiva) who refuses to do so and instead says “Om Namoh Nariyana” (I bow before Vishnu). For this Nambi is punished and tied up with the idol of Lord Ranganatha and taken in a boat and thrown into the ocean. The character of Nambi ends there in the movie, only the idol of Lord Ranganatha resurfaces in the end, when the Tsunami struck the Coramandel coast in 2004.

The moviegoers are wondering about the connection of Nambi’s character with the rest of the movie. ‘Why this was there at all, it looked the last shot where the idol reappears, was meant to justify the opening,’ said Vijay who had seen the movie first day first show. He did not seems to be happy with the quick end of Nambi’s character and calls it a patch work not meant for this movie at all. ‘Perhaps Kamala Hassan was planning a period film and so shot this character with a different story line altogether, but that project could not materialize and so this character was patched up in Dasaavatram. Such things are common these days among the musicians and this has happened in this case as well,” Vijay said adding that the common people have been coned.

Another moviegoer, Raghav tries explaining this puzzle in a different way. ‘Kamala Hassan’s movies are like abstract paintings and one has to look at it from that point of view, maybe the linkages of Nambi’s character could be traced at the abstract levels to seek justification,’ he says.

Dasaavatram’s release was hyped up with the audio release of the film. Hollywood actor, Jackie Chang flew into Chennai with his bodyguards to attend the star studded function. Hindi movie’s super star Amitabh Bachachan too came to Chennai to attend the function. Controversy dogged the event, when bollywood’s sex bomb, Malika Sharawat who acts in this movie, sat on the stage with legged crossed in micro- mini skirt. While the 85 years old Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karaunanidhi, could only give her side looks, that too with one eye behind the dark glasses, the audience sitting in front had a theme for a dream that evening.

Dasavathram supposedly made at a whopping cost of Rs 60 crore created enough excitement before its release. The movie sold its audio rights to Sony BMG for close to 2 crore rupees. Theatres across Chennai were booked for the next ten days with almost all the multiplexes having 6 shows a days. In the end the promise of a cinematic extravaganza turned out to be a dam squib, just a flavor in the season of entertainment.

The film actually begins in United States where an Indian scientist Govind Ramasamy (Kamala Hassan-2) discovers that a deadly virus that could be used as a biological weapon goes missing from his lab. He launches a man hunt for it and the plot takes the line of “War on terror.”

American president George W Bush (Kamala Hassan-3) makes appearances on the screen several times, urging the rest of the world to combat this evil design. The American president is shown as a buffoon contemplating a nuke war.

The most interesting part of the plot is here the terrorist are not the Al Qaeda or of Afghan variety, as the Hollywood flicks tend to suggests but are reputedly referred as American terrorists. What the movie tries to convey that the destruction of the world could necessarily not be at the hands of turban headed Islamic jihadist, but the Americans wearing western cloths could also trigger the catastrophe.



Govind has an Indian friend who has a Japanese wife and he gives information to the American terrorists that the biological weapon is in house. The terrorists come looking for the weapon and in the process kill him and his wife. The Japanese wife has a brother called Narashashi (Kamala Hassan-4) in Japan who is a marital arts expert and he plans to take revenge against his sister’s killer. In the course of the hunt for the biological weapon, Govind travels to India. He is chased by a CIA agent, Christian Fletcher (Kamala Hassan-5), the villain of the film. The bio weapon is accentually parceled to India from US to an old woman, Krishnaveni (Kamala Hassan-6), who yearns for the return of her son. When Govind reaches India, he is hauled by a RAW investigative officer, Balram Naidu (Kamala Hassan-7). Naidu a light and interesting character is meant to provide comical relief to the audience.

The plot gets disjointed from here and characters get connected through some unconnected events and others quite predictably in an accidental way. Suddenly a Sikh pop singer, Avatar Singh (Kamala Hassan-8) comes up, who is fighting a loosing battle against cancer. The story then wavers to a social activist, Annachi (Kamala Hassan-9) who is fighting the sand mafia in Tamil Nadu. Then attention shifts to an eight foot Tamil speaking Pathan, Kalifullah Khan (Kamala Hassan-10) a buffoon of a character.

The movie ends up in a high voltage drama centered on the Tsunami of 2004, when Fletcher tries using the bio weapon to destroy the world but is sucked by the Tsunami whose salt water neutralizes the bio weapon.

As we see, the story of Dasaavatram is not only weak but quite complex. The high pace of the movie sustains the tempo of the movie that does not allow much of thinking. Music is mediocre, and songs by Hindi playback Himesh Reshammiya is terrible. The only saving grace is its background score.

This jumble mumble of a movie however stands out for its excellent technical work and versatile actor Kamala Hassan’s extraordinary performance in several characters. So excellent is his make-up and voice modulation that it is a difficult task picking any one character as outstanding.

Tsunami shots are perhaps the outstanding presentation in the movie. Top class visuals, superb special effects and the background score together created a big impression on the moviegoers.

In sum Dasaavatram may well go down in the history of Indian cinema as a unique experiment in the commercial circuit but its span may not last beyond a season of entertainment.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a working journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted a syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

"The 99" Comic Books- A World Class Brand

"The 99" Comic Books- A World Class Brand
Syed Ali Mujtaba


What is common between Spider-Man, Batman, and X-Men? Well they all are comic books with Judeo-Christian archetypes that shape the minds of the younger generation the world over.

However, since these characters do not sync with the culture of the children brought up in different traditions they can’t be superheroes to all.
In order to fill this void, a Kuwait based entrepreneur, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa has created a superhero comic series that incorporates an Islamic identity to the world of comic books.

A Ph.D. in clinical psychology and an M.B.A. from Columbia University, 37 year old Al- Mutawa, aims to provide positive and inspirational images to Muslim children drawing inspiration from Islamic history, culture and traditions. It is with this intention in 2003; he started the Teshkeel Media Group (www.teshkeel.com) whose growing success has already secured it two rounds of funding totaling $25 million.

Teshkeel’s core focus is to cultivate themes intrinsic to Islamic culture and deliver a unique, values based, multi media experience to children in the 9 to 12 age group with a global appeal. At the end its business goal is not selling comic books but, just as Marvel Comics (owners of major global superhero brands), to build Intellectual Property/ brands on a global scale and enable lucrative licensable business propositions.

Already, Teshkeel comic book sales are second only to Superman and Spiderman in the Arab world (which by the way are also distributed in the MENA region by Teshkeel), they are expanding to South and South East Asia, they have licensed merchandise being produced in France, are planning an animation series, and a whole theme park around its characters.

An Idea is born…

Al-Mutawa’s interest in creating children's literature began when he created a series of children's books that won him an UNESCO award. While practicing Clinical Psychology, the passion of writing for children always stayed with him and he knew the potential for marketing such concepts in his region which has the fifth largest children's population in the world.

Talking to Dinar Standard Al-Mutawa said that after a hectic few years practicing clinical psychology he needed a break from it and decided to pursue an MBA, however he wasn’t sure of his subsequent plans.

“That was the summer of 2003. I was in a cab with my mom and my sister. My sister basically turned to me and said: 'Naif- promise me you will go back to writing after school.'”

“This is where I was kind of fate struck and said to her, if it is for me to go back now, it has to be a concept that has the potential of Pokemon - otherwise it doesn't make sense, having a Doctorate and three Masters Degrees.”

“So in my mind I was thinking what reaction people would have against Pokemon...my next thought was my God what has happened to Muslims, what happened to the tolerance of the libraries of Baghdad and the libraries of Alexandria…then I thought of Allah and how disappointed he must be…my next thought was Allah has 99 attributes, and ironically this brought me back full circle to the concept of Pokeman and by the end of the cab ride I had the beginnings of the idea ” Al-Mutawa said.

That’s how the concept of “the 99” was born - creating a superhero adventure series--blending fiction with historical events in Islamic history and universal applicable Muslim values.

He adds; “the first round of financing was done in 7 months time and almost $ 8 million was raised from 54 investors from 8 countries. That’s why I say I have investors in the US, Mexico, China, Lebanon, Poland, Egypt. Around a million and quarter came from my business school classmates at Columbia University and the rest came from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, including four financial institutions, the leading retailers of the region,” Al-Mutawa said.

Teshkeel CEO Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa at the launch of the first Bahasa Indonesian versions of "The 99" by local publishing house, the Femina Group.

The launch coincided with release of "Fatah The Opener," a superhero of Indonesian origin. Toro Ridwan, a Jakarta teen discovers a mysterious stone that gives him the power to open and close instant gateways to any location.

“The 99” Adventure Series

Modeled on the 99 attributes of Allah, the 99 concept is based on the sagas of the battle of good versus evil. The narrative begins in the backdrop of 99 gems scattered throughout the world, each embodying one of the 99 characteristics of Allah. The setting is the thirteenth century sacking of Baghdad and the Spanish crusades and the action revolves around 99 individuals living in 99 different countries who become superheroes upon possessing one of these gems.

These characters are not all Arabs, but Muslims from all over the world. Jabbar, the enforcer, is a hulking figure from Saudi Arabia with the power to grow immense at a sneer. Noora, the Light is from the United Arab Emirates who can read the truth and help people to see it in themselves. Darr is the afflicter from the United States. Of the 99 super heroes, almost half of them are female and 31 of them wear hijab. However, none have the feminine characteristics. Batina, derived from the word meaning hidden, is superwoman. Mumita who hails from Portugal has unparalleled agility.

The 99 gems scattered around the world are a metaphor for the spread of Islam that takes on as many faces as the places it’s rooted in. The comic goes on to personify the modern Islamic Diaspora. Multicultural backgrounds are found in several characters. One such character is from Sudan but grew up in France.

Role Models

Commenting on creating heroes, Al – Mutawa says, “One thing that kept popping into my mind was the lack of real, proper modern day role models and heroes in our part of the world. Historical figures as role models have issues; it depends on what side you belong to. You know the whole George Washington conundrum...to Americans he's a political hero, to the British he's a political terrorist. So that’s the problem with historical figures in Islamic society as well. Except with the prophet Mohammad (pbuh), there are few people on whom everyone would agree as their hero.”

However, the concept of “the 99” doesn’t directly incorporate Islam, says Al- Mutawa adding, "it’s only about its positive values. When you read the comic, there's no mention of Allah or the Prophet (pbuh). Nobody is praying, nobody's is reading the Quran. There's no religion in the book. It’s based on the basic human values that we all share, the real virtues of Islam, the attributes of Allah…generosity, strength, wisdom, foresight and mercy. This is the essence of the 99,” he said.

Building a world-class brand with world-class talent

Al- Mutawa has assembled top tier talent for this job. “The writing is done by one of the writers of Xmen, the penciling and inking is done by the same people who work on Batman. Then I hired two of the managers that took Marvel publications through the 1990s. I have the former marketing head of Marvel working as my chief operating officer, and the former publisher of Marvel working as a consultant. Their expertise has made the 99, a top class product,” Al- Mutawa said.

The 99 comics have struck a universal chord and Al- Mutawa is a happy man. “Alhamdulillah we have licenses from two publishers...one in Malaysia,a publisher in India- Chandamama is doing all of South Asia except Pakistan. We signed with a French based publisher in Morocco that caters to North Africa. We sold a merchandising license to a Spanish company for back to school products. Pencils and bookcases, which are licensed, are coming to the market this August to December” Al-Mutawa said.

Talking about its circulation, estimated at over 20,000 copies per issue, Al-Mutawa says, “the 99 comics are always either the middle or the top of our sales compared to the Spiderman, Batman and others that we sell. Sometimes its number two or three in the market, but it’s always more than Archies, more than Hulk...always more than X men.”

“Also, we have licenses for novelties in Archies comics and cartoon network for the region. We just basically translate and put out their stuff. This is basically the Trojan horse technique, where every copy of all these other comics has ads for the 99 in them. Sometimes, free giveaways in those comics. We are seeing steady growth in terms of circulation,” Al- Mutawa said.



Teshkeel recently announced partnership with United Entertainment & Tourism Company (UETC) of Kuwait to develop the region's first superhero theme park featuring THE 99 characters.


Licensing “The 99”

He laments that there is a relatively small market size for comics, but acknowledges the fact that the opportunities on its intellectual property aspect are tremendous. “We never expected to make money publishing comics, this is more of a way to develop the IP” Al- Mutawa said and adds it’s panning out well. “Newspapers are paying us money to publish the 99. In Kuwait a newspaper is publishing the 99 story every Friday. So does a paper in Saudi and in Abu Dhabi as well,” he said.


"The 99" Village

Cashing in on the intellectual property Teshkeel Media has recently partnered with United Entertainment & Tourism Company (UETC) of Kuwait to develop the region's first superhero theme park featuring THE 99 characters. THE 99 VILLAGE will be created on the site of UETC's existing amusement park in Jahra, Kuwait. It is expected that THE 99 Village theme parks will soon follow throughout the GCC.

"This is incredible if you think of the history of theme parks in the past hundred years or so, only a handful of concepts have got the license.” he said.

Moving further on IP, Al-Mutawa says he is working on the idea to develop “the 99 animated television series. “Inshallah by the middle of next summer we will be announcing a major animation partner. Right now negotiations are on with a few, all of whom are top tiered international players. We are also negotiating a direct DVD dealership with somebody in Hollywood,” he said.

Al-Mutawa has received a second batch of financing of $18 million from an Islamic investment bank. The bank has a Shari'ah board and has approved the activities as ‘Islamic.’ Al-Mutawa says, “I don’t want to get into the controversy of halal or haram, because I am convinced that only this type of activity would take Islam in the media out of the gutter.”

A trailblazer in Muslim Life style products, Al-Mutawa’s vision is to see “the 99” become the first and foremost series in the world. “My dream is to make “the 99” a global IP asset, an effective global brand. Right now it’s just a seedling that needs the right nursing” he concludes.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com.


The copy right of this article is with Dinar Standered.
http://www.dinarstandard.com/mlm/99Comic051908.htm

The Unwind Center and a Summer of Love

The Unwind Center and a Summer of Love
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The Unwind Center (www. unwindcenter.com) celebrated its 10 years of being in Chennai with a vocal music festival - called “Summer of Love” on May 31, 2008. My friend, John Christian, the director of the Unwind centre, had invited me for the show. John who uses to live in the US returned home to start a English music school and do some social service in Chennai. He called the place the Unwind center where young children were taught English music and to play the western musical instruments. Now there are two Unwind centers in Chennai and one in Bangalore.



Every summer the center organizes English music concerts. I still remember as a reporter, I had gone to cover the June Rock concert JRO in 1998. There has been looking back for the Unwind center since then. It has been hosting local musicians and bringing musicians from abroad as well. I have attended the one, in Bollywood music director Sandeep Chauta participated. Sandeep the music director of the movie “Maast,” jammed along with local guitarists for quite a long time. The next Unwind activity was my interaction with Pakistani Sufi band Junoon. My write-up on this can be checked in the following links.

http://mujtabas-musings.blogspot.com/2007/12/pop-group-junoon-does-act-of-mercy-in.html

http://www.junoonforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=501&sid=309040a0d72ffcb98220e3be95857df3

The 10th year celebration of the Unwind center was called a summer of love. “Summer of Love” is not just a catchphrase but has a purpose, learning to love the people around you more, is the main theme, said John explaining to the audience gathered at the Museum theater Egmore. It’s to provide clean music without drugs and alcohol; it’s to counter the gun culture that’s becoming popular in our schools, and the bomb explosions that are recurring these days. Finally, “Summer of Love” is all about showing concern and compassion towards the underprivileged that need more than just NGO projects, John concluded.

Ahead of the “Summer of Love” festival there was a training session from April 15 to May 20, comprising 12 days of vocal training, one-and-a-half hours every day. There were three batches comprising of more than 10 people who learned 10 songs by artists of their chosen stream. The tutors from Chennai, Bangalore, Coonoor and the U.S taught the best choral to them. It all culminated in a two-day live performance On May 30 and 31, combining voice and dance called “Summer of Love.”

It was quite fun being there at the Museum theater. Most of the English songs of the 60 and 70s were sung. There was the Beatles, the Carpenters, ABBA, John Denver, Simon & Garfunkel, Brotherhood of Man and Billy Joel, Cat Stevenson and many others. The talent of students trained at the Unwind centre that actually formed the main part of the signing was amazing.

My friend Swaroop, was the main person conducting the entire event single handed, as well playing the guitar. He had a great interactive session with the crowed and made every one sing with him playing the guitar. The entire audience was involved in the singing activity and it was fun to see the old and the young get distracted from their mundane activities. Swaroop really had a big hand in that.

In between well known local soloists and rock musicians too gave their performances. However, my find was Ms Suniti Sarthi, who is a student of the Unwind center. Currently in college, she has already become a rage on the college cultural festivals. She sings Whitney Huston with so much of confidence, that one can close once eyes and visuals the song in the movie “The Bodyguard.” Suniti already has started getting musical offers and I am doing a video interview with her soon. This girl is going to go places and its early days for her.

As part of the summer festivities, the voluntaries of the Unwind centre every year distribute thousands of packets of cool butter milk to the traffic policemen standing in the hot sun and also to the construction workers in Chennai. The unwind center have also built accommodation for the widows and other destitute. It’s also running a school for poor children.


I have been following the activities of the Unwind centre for the last ten yeas and can certainly say with confidence they are doing great service to the cause of English music in Chennai as well serving the humanity in this great city.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Indo-US relations, Casablanca figure at EWC Day

Indo-US relations, Casablanca figure at EWC Day
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Chennai: The annual day of the East West Center (Hawaii) alumni association in Chennai celebrated its annual day on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at the Madras Boat Club (founded in 1886).

The guests gathered at the StrokeSide hall of the Boat club were treated with a talk on the Indo- US nuclear deal, screening of the classic movie Casablanca, Cocktail and a very sumptuous dinner hosted by Mr PM Belliapa, the president and the alumni of the EWCA Chennai Chapter.

Frederick J. Kaplan, Consul, Public Affairs, Consulate General of the United States of America in Chennai, was the chief guest of the evening. Professor Gopalji Malaviya, Head of the Department Defence and Strategic Studies University of Madras and Randor Guy, the celebrated cinema critique were also the guest of honor of the evening.

Two glittering mementos that the EWCA Chennai Chapter received at the Hanoi conference for being the “outstanding chapter” among the entire EWC chapters spread over the Asia-Pacific region, were prominently displayed at the venue.


P M Belliappa, the president of the Chennai Chapter of EWCA, welcomed the guests and spoke about the importance of the EWC and the activities of the EWCA Chennai Chapter.

Professor Gopalji Malaviya presided over the talk “Indo-US nuclear deal a retrospect, and outlined the Indo- US relationship from the independence of the country. He especially mentioned about the Indo-US relationship that’s witnessed in 1960 and 70s and told that a sea change has taken place from then and now.

Delivering his keynote address Mr. Fred Kaplan said that United States and India are marching ahead in cooperation in various fields and future growth and development of relations between the two countries is very promising. Leaving aside, the energy issue which is just one aspect of it, the US Consul, said, there are positive indicators of cooperation in many areas like higher education, health, and security. He talked about the people-to-people cooperation and said that the two countries have an extraordinarily close relationship.

During the interactive session, Dr H K L Rao, and Fathima Muzaffer made their comments and observations. After that on behalf of the EWCA Chennai Chapter, souvenirs as token of appreciation were presented to Fred Kaplan, Gopalji Malaviya and Randor Guy.

This followed by cocktail to recharge the energy and after that Mr Randor Guy took over the floor to explain the off screen anecdotes of the movie Casablanca. He said even though he had seen Casablanca for the 45th time he was still excited to see it once again.

Mr K.B. Sankaran, a EWC member complimented Mr Randor Guy for his wonderful introduction of the movie. “There could be no other guy like Rador Guy. He is an encyclopedia on Hollywood movies,” Sankaran, said.

The EWC Alumni, Dr Syed Ali Mujtaba, Dr Rajamani, Dr H K L Rao, Mr K. B Sankaran Mrs Roopa Nagrajan, Mrs Vsanthai Rnganathan, and Fathima Muzaffer were present on the occasion. Many of them accompanied their spouse, relatives and friends. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and every one thanked Mr PM Belliapa, the president and the alumni of the EWCA Chennai Chapter for keep the banner of the EWC Hawaii fly high in Chennai.

The East West Center, Hawaii, is an internationally recognized education and research organization established by the US Congress in 1960 to strengthen understanding and relations between the United States and countries of the Asia-Pacific.

Through its programmes of cooperative study, training, seminars and research, the center works to promote a stable, peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific community. In the mandate of EWC to build a healthy society in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States government is its leading and valued partner.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He was a Jefferson Fellow in fall 2003, at EWC Hawaii He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Fingers Crossed at Nepal’s Republican Utopia

Fingers Crossed at Nepal’s Republican Utopia
Syed Ali Mujtaba


Nepal is at the crossroads. The 239-year-old Hindu monarchy has been consigned into the dustbin of history. A constituent assembly meeting on May 28, 2008 in the capital, Kathmandu, overwhelmingly voted to make Nepal "an independent, indivisible, sovereign, and secular and an inclusive democratic republic nation." Thousands of people came out on the streets nationwide to celebrate the declaration of republic. The government announced a two-day public holiday in celebration of the republic.

The promise of a republican utopia has generated a great deal of expectations in Nepal. The people of Nepal have entrusted their faith in the Maoist leadership that they would quickly address the issues of their country that’s long been neglected due to feudalistic nature of the Nepalese political system. The Maoist in turn has made the people believe that the worst is over and Nepal and the republican utopia is the correct path for the recovery and reconstruction of the Himalayan nation.



However,the skeptics cast doubts over the Maoist claim and say to keep the fingers crossed and watch whether the Maoist would live up to the expectations. Their reasons are obvious. Nepal ranks among the poorest countries of the world, with a per capita income of just USD 260 per annum, and 42 per cent of the population below the poverty line. Poor connectivity afflicts much of the country, with isolated and dispersed populations in the hill areas largely unconnected by roads. A large proportion of the cultivable land and of the rural population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. GDP growth has tended to lag behind population growth – with a consequent decline in per capita incomes, and a rising population in poverty. Worse, Nepal has one of the most rapid rates of population growth in the region, adding 11.25 million to its year 2000 population of 24.43 million by 2020, to realize a 46 per cent augmentation at 35.68 million. The current population is already estimated to have exceeded 29.5 million). This will push up population densities from 166 in 2000 to 242 in 2020, creating unbearable burdens on the country's resources, which are already stretched to a limit.

Given the magnitude of the problems, the agenda of national transformation that the Maoist has taken on their shoulders looks to be a Herculean task. They could only accomplish this either in engagement with democracy or end up resorting to totalitarianism. Under democracy it would be really a hard task to take drastic action against those who actually control power, influence and wealth in Nepal. The stratified social order there makes the task much more difficult. In such case, if they fail to deliver at least some economic relief to the people they would be testing their patience once again. That means Nepal has moving towards totalitarianism if wants to address its problems. At this stage it’s really hard to say which side the pendulum would rest but suffice would be to say that the worst is not yet over.

The only high point about the change in Nepal is that an insurgent group that has been waging an armed rebellion against a state is able to capture power through the democratic process. This is something remarkable feat in the annals of the insurgent movements. The Maoist leadership has to be saluted for the timing of the judgment to jump into the democratic bandwagon. They should also be appreciated for the realization that the power necessarily do not flow from the barrel of the guns. The Maoist of Nepal defiantly provides lessons to many similar groups waging similar ideological war in South Asia.

However, South Asia has some unofficial rules that’s never been preached but masterly practiced to capture power. The various groups that operate here have one point agenda to acquire power by manipulating democracy, to suit their ends. And after having doing so, the commitments and promises vanishes into the blue and priorities to self aggrandizements. This is true about Nepal as well.

Nepal’s struggle for democracy began after monarchy took over the reins of power in the early 1960s. It’s more than 30 years hard struggle that a multi party democracy system was restored in Nepal in 1990. High hopes were pinned on the democratic forces but they failed to change the lives of the ordinary people. What they did was to keep fighting among each other as who would loot the country. In a span of 10 years Nepal saw more than 12 governments. When the so called democratic forces made a mess of the governance, the monarchy had to assert. Thus began the third phase of struggle for democracy in Nepal and the rise of the Maoist.

The rise of the Maoist was more due to the inefficiency of the democratic forces rather than the ills of the Monarchy. But the Maoist did not choose to attack the democratic forces, because if they demonized them, their quest to capture power may have eluded them forever. They knew if they said they would establish a Chinese, Russian or Cuban model of governance, they may not have any takers. So they engaged themselves with the democratic forces, but at the same time differentiated by raising the bogey against the monarchical order. This was a tactical move to gain legitimacy, through popular means.

As far the Maoist is concerned so far they had a dream run in Nepal. The classical theorist and the text books Marxist would relish at the feat of the Maoists leadership. They have translated the Marxian-Hegelian theories into practice and shown it to the world. However, how they would reorganize the country, is another story that is yet to unfold?

The popular perception is the Maoist commitment to pluralism and parliamentary democracy is unquestioned. However given the plethora of the problems that Nepal faces, it would be really unrealistic to fix them under the present framework of governance. This means after five years the Maoist leadership would be asking for another term and then another term. Can they tackle all the ills of the country in 10-15 years of time frame? What’s the guarantee they would not fall prey to the endemic corruption and ineptitude that has afflicted Nepal's other political formations?

The other option before them is to assert that the power could certainly be secured under the shadows of the gun. In such case Nepal would to turn to another totalitarian state as it is the case with most of communist ruled states. However, that would be another story for another day to tell.

Right now in Nepal the bees are fighting for honey; all are struggling to reach the beehive. In the bandwagon the Maoist are also there. Will they deliver the promises after they start sucking the juices of power. All this will be known only after a considerable time have lapsed. Right now as an optimist, one must welcome the change in Nepal but at the same time keep the fingers crossed and watch the drama unfolding at the Himalayas.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
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The other side of Jeffrey Archer you must know

The other side of Jeffrey Archer you must know
Syed Ali Mujtaba

On Saturday the May 24, 2008, a man who calls himself the greatest story teller on this planet was in Chennai. The celebrated author was none other than Jeffrey Archer, who was in the city to promote his latest book 'A Prisoner of Birth.'

It was packed crowed at the leading book store of Chennai called Landmark. The master story teller really got a huge attention over here. I presume more than 1000 copies of his book must have been sold that evening. I saw more than 500 people queuing up with two books in their hands to get the authors autograph, perhaps one for him and other for the aunt who lives down the lane. The enthusiasm of the crowd undoubtedly demonstrated that Archer is the top man in this business of story telling today.

The author was at his best when he made the concluding remarks of his speech. He said, ‘ladies and gentleman I am coming to India again this winters when the English cricket team tours this country.’ He received a thunderous applause for saying that. The crowd loved him, as he goes on; ‘I want to see the English team demolish Indian team on their home turf.’ Every one becomes silent as his monologue continues.

“India has won the toss and elected to bat first. Shewag and Tendulkar open the innings. Shewag out for zero, Tendulkar back into pavilion for 3, Ganguly spoons up a catch at silly point for 9, Lxaman and Dravid could add only another 25 runs. How much was all that, he asks, have you counted the score? I guess India is on taters at 37 for seven and its time for lunch! The crowed gets unnerved. Jeffery Archer has brought them down from ecstasy to gloom. He then delivers the punch line. Well folks don’t frown at me; I am just a story teller, Its Jeffrey Archer saying you goodbye.

Jeffery Archer spoke for about thirty minutes and then he interacted with the crowd for probably another thirty minutes. This was to develop a personal rapport with his readers but those who observed him silently, he exposed the wicked side of his personality to the core.

After hearing him I was not impressed, he left a poor impression on me and sounded an arrogant character with very inflated ego. His remarks that after Margaret Mitchell's “Gone with the Wind,” he is the most salable author in this world and while JK Rowling’s Harry Potter had 14 rejections, his first book, ‘Not a Penny less, Not a Penny More’ was rejected by 18 publishers, were all attempts to blow his own trumpet.

It was really appalling, when during the Q&A session he hurled personal innuendos at least on three occasions. The most atrocious was when he rebuked at the guy who perhaps escorted him from the hotel. This person was supposed to moderate the Q & A session, but since the crowed was overwhelming; he could no way control them. Jeffery loathed at him, ‘you fool, you cannot handle this,’ just leave it alone, he said and told the audience, you know this guy in the car was teaching cricket to this Englishman! The boy's face was red. I felt sorry for him.

The second instance was when a person was trying to tell him that he had read his latest book but was unable to clearly express himself about the characters of his book. “You little twig, don't open your mouth again you are spoiling the party,” Jeffery said.

He repeated himself again, when at the end of the session one person who was desperate to ask him a question. This man shouted; ' Sir, let me be the last one.’ “Who the hell you are to decide that, you got to be Jeffery Archer and stand over here, to do so,” Jeffery Archer shot back.

During the course of his speech, Archer took a dig at the Indian press with a much concocted view. He asserted that the front page of the Indian newspapers have Bollywood news and gossips, who is sleeping with whom types and the Obama- Hilary story figures on the 36th page. Every Indian knows that dailies here have a maximum of 16 or 24 broadsheets and all of them have political news on the front pages. It seems Jeffry Archer was talking about the British press calling them as Indians.

He did made fun of the traffic system in India and told the audience he had harrowing experience traveling on the Indian roads. “I want to be the transport minister here to fix things right” he said for which he received huge applause.

What I could gather from Jeffery Archer was he is an English gentleman of the Victorian era age, to whom India is still a colony of the British Empire. During his talk he hurt many but none took objections to him. Every one seemed to be overwhelmed by the aura of his presence. He got away with all his innuendos because people here were unable to understand him clearly. Indians worship their heroes to the extremes and can sallow any insult hurled at them. Had he been speaking to an audience London, I am sure shoes and slippers must have been flying at him. The problem with the Indians is, they are not exposed to such talk shops. Once they hear many such characters like Jeffrey Archer, they may be able to judge themselves.

My report on Jeffery Archers function in Chennai, received an interesting reaction from friend Matthew Maycock, who wrote to me from London. Matt writes; “It is interesting to see the response to Jeffrey Archer got in India. In the UK he is quite broadly reviled for his many recorded indiscretions. These include: being sent to prison for perjury, fraudulent investments, dodgy share deals, various 'pays vice-girl' stories, potentially robbing Kurdish refugees of significant amounts of money, while also being implicated (with Mrs. Thatcher's son amongst others) as being involved in the failed coup of Equatorial Guinea. The Conservative party, of which he was once President, has long ago thrown him out. This is a man who should not be receiving any acclaim.”

However, in spite of all this all this I think Jeffery Archer tour was a huge success in India. He toured six cities in the country and each of them drew packed house. Indians are mad about him. The market survey says more than in Americans, Japanese or Australians, Indians read Jeffery Archer. His pirated copies are sold on the Indian traffic light signals.

“I got to say this back home,” says Jeffery “if you are not sold on traffic lights, you have not arrived in India.”

Jeffery was saying, “some one asked me, why I am doing all this, you have made enough money, you got a villa in Cambridge, a penthouse in London, an apartment in New York, what more you want Jeffery? Archer replies; “the crowd that gathers to listen me, they jostle to have my view; they queue up to get my autograph, all his motivates me to keep on going. I want all this to go on forever and I am going to keep on writing for next thirty years,” he said.


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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a working journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

“Charming You!” - A Date with Mona Gill

“Charming You!” - A Date with Mona Gill
Syed Ali Mujtaba


Well I am not a soldier, some of my friends are, I had nursed that desire to be a soldier at certain point of time in life but as it moved on the idea vanished into the blue. However, this again brushed my heart yesterday (May 23, 2008) when I heard Mr S. Muthiah, speaking about Inder Gill, one of the doyens of Indian army.

It was a story telling session at the British council Chennai, organized by the Association of British scholars, of which I am a member.

Mr Muthiah a living legend, a madras historian, was at his class when he was narrating the World War campaign from his book “Born to Dare” that chronicle Inder Gills life.
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Since I did some reading and research on the British policy during the World War II, I could feel the punch in Mr Muthiah’s narration.

His talk was essentially centered on Inder Gill’s heroics in the Greece campaign; the blowing up of Gorgopotamos Bridge, the training of the resistance movement in Greece and other details.

Frankly, I had no clue about Inder Gill, so every word from his chronicler seemed amazing. Mr Muthiah was on a song describing Inder Gills life and times.

Inder Gill was born to a Sikh father and a Scottish mother and grew up in England. He had major part of is career in the British army, and participated in the Greece and Italy campaign during the Word War II.

When the war was drawing to close, he moved to India and became the first Indian trainer at the IMA academy, Dehradun. During the pre Partition days, he was chum of Pakistani General Tikka Khan and along with him supervised the division of the British Army’s assets between India and Pakistan.

Inder was in the thick of action during the Jammu and Kashmir raid in 1948. He was there in action in 1965 and 1971 wars. Inder was described as the architect of the 1971 operation as he used his experience of trainer during the WWII, to train the Mukthi Bahni troops to lead guerilla warfare in East Pakistan.

With a baggage of war heroics behind him, Inder became a legend and many interesting facts about him was brought out by Mr Muthia during hour long talk.

The most interesting part was Monoa Gill; wife of Inder Gill sat through the entire story telling session. Lady Gill must be in 70s still looks as gracious as ever. When Muthiah told the audience that she was an ace para-trooper, the youth in her frail face sparkled.

I was watched her with fascination, as she was listening to her husband’s heroics described by his chronicler.

After the talk I tried to pick up a conversation with her by wishing her Good Evening. She was quick to acknowledge, and asked me whether I knew these stories before. I feigned ignorance and she said nothing wrong, you are not an army guy. I told her it was quite an education to me to know some one as great as Mr Inder Gill.

Lady Gill said, she feels very nostalgic when such talks were organized and she misses her husband much who left her many years ago. You see I am growing old too; I am not keeping good health. For a moment I had to act pope to her. I tried to sermonize that every thing that’s born in this world has to die one day; no one can escape that fate.

However, there are certain individuals like Inder Gill for whom William Shakespeare has especially written these lines; “His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world ‘This was a man’!” Hearing it, she exclaimed, “Charming You!” It’s a while now; those words still rings my ears.


Please check up the link to read the review of the book “Born to Dare” by S Muthiah.

http://www.newindpr ess.com/sunday/ sundayitems. asp?id=SEB200804 19041941&eTitle=Books+ %26+Literature&rLink=0