Blind-Lovers

Under the milky sky,
On the sandy seashore,
near the blue boundless ocean;
holding hands, walking close,
lived two lovers;
loved ones called them blind-lovers,
Not for they were blind,
but for their infatuated love,
for they never see the immortal trees,
the breathing sea and the unnerved birds,
but only their calm and pacific and unbroken love;
people cherished them,their serenity,
their utopian dreamlike perfection;
people contemplated their wedding,
as an ode to eternalise their undiluted love and affection;

Near the church on the parched dunes,
wedding chimes reverberated,
perfumes filled the air and tunes,
and the aisles daintily painted;
with the sky unnaturally white,
and the silent sea beholding,
appeared the blind-lovers holding hands,
like a fresh pearl out from a vivid ocean;
all eyes turned and glazed,
yearning to witness the union,
union of the two pure oceanic souls;
elated lovers closed their eyes,
feeling the climatic joy,
enthraled to embark on a new life;

just then, as if destined,
the sky turned unnaturally grey,
wind tumultous,
and sea furious,wrathful and fray,
as if some malignant force,
bounced the vast bowl of dark sea,
from its complacent composed slumbering prose;
tempestuous waves tossed and writhed,
the bells,the dunes,the hopes and the dreams;
the woven strands of connected lives broken,
and the place but a sea of rubbles and screams;

transported to an unknown land,
tears flooded the blue stone eyes

Freedom and censorship: Always the twain shall meet!

Censorship has long been the tool of kings and rulers in the history to kill the voices that they considered were against them. But it has never been this tough to use it as today. In this day and age, when the rajah-prajah principle holds ground no more, when each liberal citizen; be it a king or a beggar, a devil or a wise; craves to be heard, to be respected, to have their fingers in every pie, is it really now possible to drive a fair bargain between all the different voices with the sword of maintaining the delicate balance between the conflicting interests of different religions communities and their ideologies, hanging over the head?


Especially in the religiously sensitive, conservative and fast developing country of ours, where there is a huge conceptual gap between the people who stick to old traditional parochial mindset and the people who are fast shedding it to get clad in modernity and open values, can they be really brought on to a common ground and made to walk together without some hard-pressed compromise? In India where the politics is fast growing out of mai-baap politics to a more participative one, can the government now afford to ignore the populist mood and fare their own agenda? And is it feasible now for the dyed-in-wool hardliners to dictate terms on the lines of karma and dharma in this cyber-age? Moreover, can the chains of cast religion community ethnicity ever let us ‘think’ freely?


The quandary of freedom of expression and censorship


Some consider the freedom of expression a sacrosanct entity not made to be tampered with. Some say it’s like nuclear weapon, good to have and develop, but can at times be disastrous if fell into wrong hands. Some believe censorship is necessarily required to preserve the sanctity of freedom of expression. Others differ saying it throttles the freedom of expression in one swoop! In reality, in the realm of freedom of expression, it’s little difficult to follow it oneself and let others practice it at the same time. Here it’s indeed difficult to put both your legs in the same boat! One never comes to consciously realize when he started voicing for censorship standing in the land of freedom. One never knows if he’s using freedom as a tool to fight with others having the same or as a shield to protect, but the weapon does have some chinks!


Yes we all voice for our freedom of expression but what we usually express is generally about others and for them to hear. As Berlin puts it: "No man's activity is so private as never to obstruct the lives of others in any way". Therefore,can the speech of unreasonable hate and prejudice, or even the reasonable one, be a qualifier under the name of freedom of speech? What if it offends or depraves certain sections and leads to a boil? Who will then foot the bill of the damage caused by the freedom abuse? Is then the censoring only solution? Can anything and everything be presented and made acceptable under the transparent decorative wrap of creativity, artistry, and freedom? Today when most of the dissents and protests are curtailed by the crack of the whip and censorship and then it’s in turn is challenged by the freedom of expression, the question begs: can these two really co-exist without each other??


Who will draw the big line? and where?


The uphill battle for the freedom of expression is being fought since ages. But deep down, we know that a line needs to be drawn somewhere to differentiate it from freedom abuse. But who is ready to blow whistle and call foul? Who can take up the mammoth task of deciding for billions what’s right and what’s wrong? On what basis? And will that be acceptable to majority and also the minority?
Hundred questions, few answers. Welcome in the complex and fuzzy map of the world having two indispensable states- freedom of expression and censorship!


Victims of the freedom of expression:


There are countless who unknowingly and inadvertently became the victims of freedom and censorship.
Turning the clock back a little to name the few:


Late Mr. M.F. Husain’s nude paintings of deities: an art misunderstood!


[Firstly, let me make this clear: my views on his paintings are personal and are in no way intends to malign his name or character. I have always had the high regard for him, towards his soft-spoken mild and benevolent personality. I condemn (it’s disheartening) the vicious threat he received due to which he was forced to live and die in exile. The prolific consummate artist and a great human-being he was, he has been a constant source of inspiration for me and he truly lived up to the title of ‘Pablo Picasso of India’.]


Mr. Husain had a special fascination for culture and values of Hinduism. He went the whole hog studying sincerely the fundamentals and philosophies on which it’s based. He believed that “in Hindu culture, nudity is a metaphor for purity“. He might have been right (I think he was). The ancient temples of
khajrao and the opus of kamasutra