[Reader-list] Osip Mandelstam and Varun Gandhi: a clear contrast

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Dear Inder
 
I am looking for the text of the complete speech made by Varun. Do you have any access to that?
 
I have read snippets in the Press and heard beeped out sound bites on TV but that does not give me an idea of what exactly he said and in what context.
 
Hope you can oblige.
 
If Varun was stoking communal passions then not allowing him to contest the elections would be only a minor rap on his wrists. If guilty, he should suffer much much heavier penalties. 
 
Kshmendra 

--- On Tue, 3/17/09, Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Osip Mandelstam and Varun Gandhi: a clear contrast
To: "reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 11:11 PM

Varun Gandhi, the grand son of Indira Gandhi,  is a BJP canditate for
coming Lok Sabha ( parliamentary elections ), who was recorded on
camera while giving lecture to people in Philbit, UP ( north India ).
Both police and Election commission have issued notice to Mr. Varun
Gandhi for his inflammatory communal speech, with the intention to
gain votes for his party. Sad, if he is allowed to contest elections
after this incident.



On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 10:57 PM, Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> The name ‘The Pale of Settlement’ in Russia was given to a region in
> which Jews were allowed, and beyond which Jewish settlement was
> generally prohibited. Osip Mandelstam was born to such a Jewish family
> in 1891, But this is why he got himself killed in 1938:
>
> Stalin Epigram
> We live, but we do not feel the land beneath us,
> Ten steps away and our words cannot be heard,
> And when there are just enough people for half a dialogue,
> Then they remember the Kremlin Highlander.
> His fat fingers are slimy like slugs,
> And his words are absolute, like grocers' weights.
> His cockroach whiskers are laughing,
> And his boot tops shine.
> And around him the rabble of narrow-necked chiefs –
> He plays with the services of half-men.
> Who warble, or miaow, or moan.
> He alone pushes and prods.
> Decree after decree he hammers them out like horseshoes,
> In the groin, in the forehead, in the brows, or in the eye.
> When he has an execution it's a special treat,
> And the Ossetian chest swells.
>
> Amazing, in his poem ‘ Black Sun’ which he wrote about Palestine
> issue, I see his poems on  all the subject. Even in Translation his
> words dance.
>
> Mandelstam's own prophecy was fulfilled: "Only in Russia is
poetry
> respected – it gets people killed. Is there anywhere else where poetry
> is so common a motive for murder?"
> Here, I remember, Abdul Sattar Ranjoor, the poet/activist in Kashmir
> who was killed by extreme Right wing forces in 1990. Hazrat Sarmad,
> the great poet saint too was killed by King Aurangzeb for similar
> political reasons. Right now, 90 year old MF Husain, is facing death
> threats from same Right winged politics. There is a strange history
> behind great poets, particularly those who spoke against the
> establishment.  The moment you defy the order, the powerful, the
> ruler, the convention, the superstition, you give birth n enemy,
> irrational but strangely potent. Meera was poisoned for defying the
> Royal order and for her expression of Poet’s choice. Lal Ded too was
> thrown out by her Orthodox-Brahmin in-laws for her poetic utterances
> and wisdom of being. There must be no. of cases when wise  and
> sensible people had to face the wrath of rulers.
> Strange, that we had to listen to Varun Gandhi, whom I remember,
> published his first book of poems few years ago. I guess, after
> demolition of Babri Mosque, former PM Mr. Vajpayee jee too published
> his book of poems. Some Artists added brush strokes to his verses and
> exhibited at Lalit Kala Academy, even.
> Strange that, this brand of poets dont write about their truer
> intentions directly, as we see in how poets who get themselves killed
> or exiled. So we have ambitious poets who can provoke people to kill
> each other, and in turn get rewarded even.  Strange, we have musicians
> and poets, these days, who are delighted to get rewarded by the same
> state who sings songs for their erstwhile politicians as and when
> election times are nearing. These days, on National TV, we often hear
> Jai Ho, how Nehru ji brought industrial revolution, Jai Ho, how Indira
> Ji brought Green Revolution, Jia ho, How Rajiv Ji brought IT
> revolution, Jia Ho, So vote for Congress, and if you don’t like this
> party, then vote Varun Gandhi, their own cousin, on the other side of
> the fence.
>
> With love and regards
> Inder salim
>
>
>
> --
>
> http://indersalim.livejournal.com



--

http://indersalim.livejournal.com
_________________________________________
reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
Critiques & Collaborations
To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in
the subject header.
To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list 
List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>