Sparsh

Every beautiful poem is an act of resistance. —Mahmoud Darwish Literature is about recording what is forgotten, but also about living and recreating the life that surrounds us. Continuing from the series of the Poetry of Protest - 1 , Poetry of Protest - 2 , and Poetry of Protest - 3 , we will read a compilation of the resistance poems. Why? We are living in a consumerism and post-truth era without a memory, which accepts, without much resistance, ideological interpretations of the history, as dictated by the regime and enforced by its media. The solidarity of the protest can only be built by a form of literature that is emotionally compelling, contributes to the combating of loneliness, and makes the reader less terrified of themselves and the political powers which surround them.  Here is the curated list of poems with spirit of the protest: First they came ..--- Martin Niemöller   Unadikum ( I Call on You )   --- Tawfiq Zayyad The Will of Life   ---   Ab...

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson Continuing from the series of Poetry of Protest Part 1 and Part 2 , we are looking more in the power of protest. Protest is a sign of repression to overlook voice of love, reason and critical criticism. Looking for the identity, dignity, autonomy and culture in current scenario across globe, the inertia of the tradition can only be resisted by individuals of great integrity and confidence. Out of disobedience one starts being an individual. We live in a arbit society where pregnancies, marriages and divorces of D-type celebrities became the national news but there comes a threshold where the public's right to be informed on the matters like naxalism and corruption takes back seats.With the loss of confidence, the capacity of outrage goes. We are living in the ages where even speaking against Sachin Tandulkar, Shivaji Maharaja and Dr. Ambedkar is considered sin leave aside deemed demigods. The one sided mov...

A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps . . . Apart, unstirred by sound or motion . . . till Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps.

1- Why We Have More Sympathy for Baby Jessica Than for Darfur by Dan Ariely. VIDEO Focusing on the struggles of an individual appeals to our emotions and makes us care. As the numbers of people suffering get bigger, our cognition, calculation, and thoughtfulness are activated—and we care less ; A NGO on this concept is Rangde; 2- The danger of Being good : - The miracle of individual choice may be what is keeping us safe as a society. Some people just choose to be good, no matter what. This is the story of what happens to them 3- Freedom of speech and expression and the law of sedition in India : Text of keynote address delivered by Colin Gonsalves at the inauguration of Persistence Resistance 2011, New Delhi 4- Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks bluntly about politics and diplomacy, making the case that women's issues deserve a place at the center of foreign policy. Far from being a "soft" issue, she says, women's issues are often the very...

Tyrants always recognize the explosive potential of literature. An apparently harmless piece of text with simple words have power to make a common people realize his/her rights and dignity. I remember this year 2010 for mine introduction to Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poems. The book Dast-e-saba (The breeze’s hand) begins with a short introduction by Faiz himself, a small polemic on the responsibility of the artist. ‘The poet’s work is not only perception and observation, but also struggle and effort,’ Faiz writes : A full comprehension of this ocean of Life through the live and active ‘drops’ of his environment depends upon the poet’s depth of perception. To be able to show this ocean to others depends upon his control over his art; and his ability to set in motion some new currents in the ocean depends upon the fire in his blood and the zeal of his passion. Success in all three tasks demands continuous toil and struggle. One even as a writer also needs to give real direct...

I recall the scene in the movie "Dead Poets Society" where Prof. John Keating inspires his students with the beauty of poetry: We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer: that you are here; that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be? While most prefer to be didactic and dry to make a large statement at the expense of beauty, it is only one side of the co...

Life is seldom dull for the dissident like me. With too much energy combined with weak concentration forming restlessness is the disease thriving in me. So the seasons of either extreme energy or laziness surrounds my aura. I assume that mine cultural, social, economic and national background takes away the liberty to define myself. I will always be bounded by my social network, no matter what happens in the future. This identity question is really big and complex. I always think my past and say: Here lives a man amongst us who will stand up and question thyself " Who will right the wrong?" ; There was a man who dared to inspire change or spoke his hearts out while hurting the beliefs of his friends and strangers. Blog has become a part of my identity now. I love to write but unable to write or read these days. These days, I love my status updates on facebook. Entertainment is huge component of Facebook but its thinking component is much less than in blogging. Twitter is much...

I celebrated my 23rd birthday in mine native village with joy. It was not big celebrations and bumps but entirely new experience. I was able to recall my favorite rhymns of childhood days on birthday. 1 Tantan tantan ghanti baajee ,bache gaye school masterjee ne sawal poocha, bache gaye bhool master jee ko gussa aaya, jama diya rule bachoon ko bhi gussa aaya ,choed diya school; 2 Tam tamatar tam tamatar khayen hum angrez ka bachcha kya jaane angrezi jaanein hum 3 Nana nana bhookh lagi hai khalo beta moongfali moongfali mein dana nahi hum tumare nana nahi nana gaye delhi,wahan se laye billi billi ke do bachhe ,hum hain sache; 4 Motu seth sadak pe let gadi aaye phat gaya pet gadi ka no. 88,gadi pahunche india gate india gate pe khade sipai,motu seth ke hue pitai. 5 Ram naam ke kothare mein ho raha ttha match ram ne maara chakka,hanuman ne liya catch.