Kartikey Sehgal

Background.

[Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra and the financial capital of India. In the 21^ST century, 50% (or more) of Mumbai's population lives on streets. Politics is very competitive. Currently, politicians are dividing people on linguistic lines for the sake of votes.

The hard-working Mumbai resident must do anything else but fall for political games, but he is frustrated with pathetic working conditions, filth, corruption and is ready to believe that his misery is the result of outsiders; people who come to live and work in Mumbai.

This story, however, concentrates on political games in Maharashtra.]

I had correctly said that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is using Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for political gains in Maharashtra.

[Raj is likely to be shielded by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Shiv Sena is a political partner of BJP and NCP could use MNS to fight them in the next elections.] Source

NCP is now hinting at support to MNS.

A senior leader from NCP said in a television interview that people must respect Marathi ethos and culture. It is not important for non-Marathis to learn the language but they must not disrespect local customs.

He was, however, not forthcoming on how local Marathi culture is being disrespected by people from other states.

“I am not saying learn the language. At least respect the language, sentiments and the culture of the state.” Source

NCP is trying to be different from Shiv Sena by stating that learning Marathi should not be cumpolsary for non-Marathi people. The party could use this distinction as a political advantage in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

If Raj becomes more popular in the coming weeks, then you may expect NCP to offer absolute political support to him. The current conundrum in Maharashtra is similar to the Jammu and Kashmir ‘land’ problem (here and here) where politicians divided people along religious lines to gain electoral support for the forthcoming elections. Political parties in Maharashtra are trying to gain Marathi votes by creating a sense of panic about ‘outsiders’ destroying Marathi culture.

The real issue is what MNS terms as ‘inadequate representation’ to locals in jobs in Maharashtra. They claim that they are upset about North Indians coming to Mumbai to apply for jobs. The issue surely has nothing to do with any culture or language being disrespected.

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Is NCP controlling MNS? Considering how Raj Thackeray, with his little experience in politics, is being drawn into political discussions and  interviews, it is hard to believe that political players see no potential in him.

Why else would they not want Raj behind bars? Perhaps NCP is gauging his popularity among the masses. They may like to offer him political support before he is jailed; A jailed Raj could become a hero and his political gain could be used by NCP in the next polls against Congress and BJP.

Congress may not like to see Raj in jail after reading NCP’s favourable stance towards MNS. If Raj’s clout increases then they may offer lucrative posts to NCP and win them over. Raj would then be left without an ally.

Therefore, it’s possible that NCP is controlling MNS.

Kartikey Sehgal

[The author visits a pandal during the Durga puja festival and appreciates the effort to make it an artistic event. Certain unconfirmed names have not been mentioned]

Festival is the celebration of culture. You don’t have to be an anthropologist to partake the songs, dances and Gods during the ongoing Durga Puja.

In the last three days, I have listened to Bengali music and listened to Rabindranath Tagore’s idea of music and literature. I have listened to proud references to Bengali filmmakers Ritwik Ghatak and Satyajit ray. All of this in a simple pandal where the decorations are more symbolic than exaggerated; where the richness of clothes matters less than the will to appreciate art; where actor and singer Shekhar Sen‘s style of greeting takes you right into the festivities:

“Hello Kartikey. We have been praying to you. Only we Bengalis pray to you out here. Nobody else does”

The reference is to Lord Kartikey (Kartikeya) who occupies a place among the worshipped Gods.

The crowd was distracted during the performances, children wailed and some ladies discussed shopping. But this didn’t deter Shweta Sen, the event organiser, from reading out a self written commentary on Rabindra Sangeet and singing some Bengali songs. Shekhar Sen mellifluously sang a Bengali bhajan and a children song after explaining its meaning in Hindi.

We listened to paeans to Vitthal in the form of a Marathi song by a classically based singer, which was followed by two film songs by the winner of a music contest.

Today, I saw a classical dance, which was described as classical fusion by an admirer.

The ongoing program may not be exhaustive in terms of content or popular in terms of audience but it is an effort towards imparting meaning to a festival through good art. This is important considering that entertainment programs in the bigger pandals are highlighted mostly by remixed film songs and loud music.

I may visit the pandal in the remaining few days as well.

The pandal hosts artistic performances daily.

Kartikey Sehgal

Depth and Outline

I went to the sea and the waves were eager to meet me.

A Marathi television channel crew was shooting an entertainment program near the sea. A crowd of men had gathered to look at the shoot and the girl in green who is the anchor of the program.

The anchor sat on a rock.

The director of photography (D.O.P) placed the girl on the right side of the camera screen adjacent to the rocks on the left side. He should have done the reverse; placed the girl on the left side and kept the rocks as a distant background; given the anchor an outline, space and power in the frame.

The D.O.P also tilted the camera during the shoot. He shouldn’t have, considering that the edges of the rocks were uneven, jagged and already provided the frame with a positive disturbance. If the anchor is straight, and the rock edges make crosses in the background, then why tilt the camera to spoil the effect?

The anchor was wearing green and should have shared space with the sea. Dark green and black don’t always make an ideal photograph. The D.O.P could have considered a high angle shot with the girl and the sea in the same frame. This would have also matched the casual approach of the anchor and the program.

Perhaps the crew considered taking another shot of the anchor after raising her to another rock. This would have added depth and space to the frame (see photo below) but they dropped the idea.

The anchor laughed and asked the people to disperse. The shot was taken and they could see her in television.

Click to enlarge

Photographs: Kartikey Sehgal