One tight slap to the pompous , attention seeking .......

[vichu1947]

https://medium.com/the-deep-chronicles/ ... c1fd750d5e

[sureshvv]

Too much of "left" bashing for my liking. Would have been enough to stick to the topic on hand.

[ramamatya]

https://medium.com/the-deep-chronicles/ ... c1fd750d5e

Never knew the real, vehement and strong forces behind puppet TMK. Quite a revelation.

[RSR]

What passes for the 'LEFT movement' in India today is a caricature of what it was in the 1907-1957 decades. In those five decades, some of the noblest revolutionaries and freedom fighters and intellectuals in India , Asia and the West were all supporters of not merely political equality and social equality but Economic equality as well. The list of leaders with Socialist orientation is very long and includes Vivekananda, Lokamanya Tilak, Barathy, MPT Acharya, Gandhiji, Vinoba, Jawaharlal, and almost all the great patriots of Hindustha Republican Army , Juganthar Samithi and the entire old guard of the Left movement in Bengal. ( some great and venerated names. Surya Sen, Sibnath Ghosh, HarikrushnaKonar, Acharya Narendra Deva, Achuth Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta and many more.) The debate was not about Socialism but about the methods of organization and struggle and international perspective. Can Thulasidas Ramayan be used as clarion call for organizing a militant and just Kisan movenment? Definitely. as narrated from personal experience in the first few chapters of Nehru;s autobiography 'Towards Freedom'. That was in 1920!.. True. Marx and Lenin's aversion to Organized Religion is very much misunderstood by half-baked black shirts parading as leftists in tamilnad and India. ..It is the height of ignorance to pose religion and spiritual yearning against socialist organization of society. There are any number of Purandharadasa sahithyams against casteism and untouchabilty. The Left in India today is a den of philistines and morons. ( little different from ISI and infamous 'fascists and nazis' of the pre-second worl war years. Despite nearly a century of tradition, they are a minuscule force in India . and have no presence anywhere except in Kerala and Bengal.. ( even there, facing utter rout soon). I request forum members not to judge the glorious tradition of Left movement by the silly and idiotic prattles of the so-called Liberals , all of them double-dyed bourgeois and yankee yippies.

[shankarank]

RSR, the doyens of freedom movement did not have the hind sight we have now. In any case, wealth concentration with Zamindars when all industrial activity destroyed by the British , required that kind of thinking then.

But in today's complex march of technology and markets, over regulation can strifle competitiveness. Already you see how one stroke of regulation with demonetization strikes at the root of many an economic activity. At least this was done for a purpose to make economy conform to the rules. The rules are archaic - so this feels like a over regulated economy. It is now the rules that need simplification, otherwise they will up build and eat up like cancer.

As regards organized religion, there is not such a thing in India except those of the other faiths! So Periyar did a big favor in fact to Indians when religious leaders met him after his "There is no GOD" declaration. The dialogue goes like this. He asks the Christian if he would accept Allah, Christian says no, and he turns to the Islam guy and asks him if he would accept their God and Jesus. The muslim says no. So our man declared , he only said something in total , that they were already saying in parts! There seems to be no account of any dialogue with the Hindu denominations.

Our people did not understand then that Periyar did a big favor to them!

[RSR]

A truly spiritual person understands the essence of all religions. Shining examples are Smt.MS SUBBULAKSHMI, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalaam, from the recent generation. and from the period of Bengal Renaissance and freedom movement, we have Raja RamMohanRoy, Kesav Chandra Sen, Ravindranath Tagore, Bagwan Sri.Ramakrushna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda,Barathy, Sri.Narayana Guru, Rev C.F.Andrews,Shirdi Saibaba, (innumerable sufi saints in Persia and North India, still deeply venerated in numerous Dharhas) Dr.Annie Besant, Sister Niveditha, and many more. Every religion has a set of spiritual values, the underlying principle of all the great religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism and Brahmo movement is Universal brotherhood and Unity of all beings. Depending on the place of their genesis, the wording may differ. As often mentioned by Acharya Vinioba Bhave, our Isaavasya Upanishad also begins with Easaavaasyam Idham Sarvam. and often quoted ' Aekam Sath. Vipra bahudho vadhanthi'. Gandhiji put it briefly in one sentence as ;God has no religion'.. William James ( brother of the novelist Henry James) has described the various forms of such experience in his famous book 'Varieties of Religious Experience'. .. All atheists miss this essence . and crude atheists much more so. .. There is an unavoidable link between Religious Experience and Life and the related rituals. That is the essence of gradual building up of mental maturity. From sarguna brahmam to Nirguna brahmam.
From the particular to the Universal. ( Vinoba's defense of Idol worship). and Naama Sankeerthanam.
Atheism in the ultimate analysis is the mindset of utterly self-centered petty bourgeois. ( Marx's critique of the the bourgeois slogans of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. conveniently sidestepping the issue of Economic exploitation caused by the notion of sacredness of 'private property'.
-------------------------------------------------------
There is absolutely nothing wrong in organized movements. Ramakrishna Mission organized by Vivekananda is doing great work. Nothing wrong with 'Authority' either. ( Engels on Authority'). It depends ultimately on the AIMS . Without proselytization, , the ideas cannot spread. Buddhist sangams are an example. So also of Jains in ancient South India, They did wonderful work among the common people. Brahmins also did much service to society and I believe, persons of true brahmanical values like simple life, dedication to learning and spiritual values and service to society are still in abundance. The best antidote to the disease of crude atheism , surprisingly is in the writings of Marx and Fidel Castro. .Vinoba 's lyrical loveliness in his 'Discourses on Bagavath Gita' ( lectures given to co-inmates of prison), published by Sarvodhaya Prasuraalayam, Madurai , ( mere 50 Rs) has sold MILLIONS of copies. The thamizh translation has sold lakhs of copies.
Narayana Guru also fought and won against superstitious, arrogant and cruel caste practices but HOW nicely Sir! Barathy has written wonderingly about SNDP yogam. Guru taught Sanskrit to common people!.. EVR 's fascist nonsense is at the root of cultural decadence in Tamilnad. Compare the life of V.V.S.Iyer with that of EVR who slandered V V S iyer . and started it all. There is absolutely no use in engaging in any debate with 'well-fed', 'ill-read' blackshirts. It is hoped that those who approve of EVR ,are aware of the Erode Road conference and how Com.Jeevaanandham, differed from EVR and left the organization to dedicate himself to the cause of property-less toiling people and anti-0imperialist socialist movement. And his lectures on Kamba Ramayanam ( not criticizing by extolling not only its literary beauty but its spiritual message also).are famous openly admitted by Kalaigyar Karunanidhi himself. /// A cry in the wilderness to yankee cranks. ( Certain things cannot be put in twitter-like sentences). Due 'apologies' to Nick one among the mods I presume, who protests agains my 'walls' of posts which nobody ( like him) reads . No problem at all. Not meant for people like him a stranger to all the things mentioned here.... No more posts in this thread. Time can be spent more usefully and creatively.

[harimau]

TMK claims to have listened to and analyzed MS's music recorded at various stages in her life and has reached the conclusion that after the early 1960s, her music -- by being predominantly Bhakti-oriented -- demonstrates her being in a mental straight-jacket imposed by the expectations of the Brahmin crowd and her own husband Sri Sadasivam.

I remember an interview in which Ellis R Dungan, the director of Meera, recalls that MS fainted when the scene where Meera merges with Lord Krishna was filmed.

Not pretend to faint for the film. Because that was not required for the film.

Actually fainted as she was overcome with emotion.

Could that emotion have been anything other than Bhakti?

In that case, the transformation of MS started with her last movie, in the mid- to late-1940s. It took another decade or longer to completely manifest itself in her music.

Her association with Kanchi Mahaperiyava and her singing and recording of devotional music such as the various suprabhathams on several deities would have certainly had a major impact on her music becoming Bhakti- and bhava-oriented.

Instead of considering these, if TMK analyzes her music in the abstract, we have to conclude that TMK chose to cherry-pick the evidence he wanted rather than to make an honest attempt to understand the evolution of MS and her music.

[sureshvv]

To speculate (even based on some hearsay) about her husband's influence on her career is beneath contempt. It would be like us speculating that TMK's forays into politics is designed & forced on him by his wife.

[shankarank]

Here is more hearsay: A nephew of One Mr V. Krishnamurthy - part of Rajaji's Mahabharatam effort ( I heard something like a translation to English) , recalls (second hand) the conversation that his uncle VK had with Sadasivam , around the time of marriage! VK tells Sadasivam , you have acquired something precious. Now it's up to you whether that should shine only to select few or to a broad array of people.

V. Krishnamurthy belongs to the family of a lawyer V. Krishnaswamy Iyer who was his Grand father. The common initial indicates that. Informed persons may confirm!

This conversation happened yesterday (around TMK's articles) and this narrator is my Colleague!

But then I don't know why we should deny Sadasivam's role in this whole thing. At that time a broad outreach meant Sadasivam and MS had to do what they did!

If MS were to be left to Bellow her music out, the old way , she may not have reached a lot of people actually, given the tumult of the times. There were lot of people like Madurai Somu who were Bellowing out who were also not accepted by the citadel. Even though the citadel worshiped MS outwardly , we know or guess the whisper campaigns behind , what they thought and what they talked. So it does not matter. They were both outsiders throughout!

[harimau]

To speculate (even based on some hearsay) about her husband's influence on her career is beneath contempt. It would be like us speculating that TMK's forays into politics is designed & forced on him by his wife.

Speculation on the street is that TMK is angling to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

[sureshvv]

I used to think he could not be any worse than the bunch already there. Now I am not too sure! And in any case, that would be a bad selection criterion.