Flies Have Conquered The Flypaper !

By Manuwant Choudhary

I am definitely not a talented actor like Alia Bhatt.

In school I did not even know `a' of acting but a dear friend who is no more literally compelled me into a small role of an army captain in the American play `The Moon Is Down' By John Steinbeck.

It was a real tiny role but I do not know what I did in it that got me selected for the main school play `The Death of A Salesman' again by Steinbeck. In it I had another tiny role Biff's studious friend...

In all my life the best compliment I received was from my English teacher cum play director, he said, "Your diction is very good."

Except then I did not fully know the meaning of `diction'. But I guessed it all came from the 11 years in an English medium boarding school.

In real life I was hardly studious and so I remember the plays more than the physics and math lessons in school.

If I sat for any exam today then like Biff I would flunk Math.

Although John Steinbeck is not an easy playwright to understand fully in school nor is the American English easy for an Indian who has not even dreamt of travelling to America, yet the play The Moon Is Down has stayed with me...deep somewhere.

In quieter moments I think of my friend and the play and also wonder why Steinbeck would ever think of writing a play like this...until ofcourse 2019...August 5 when Modi abrogated Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir and virtually turned the Indian army into an army of occupation and Kashmiris - a people under siege..

The Moon Is Down is the story of occupation of an unnamed nation in Europe by the enemy of England much like the Germans occupation of Norway during World War 2.

The occupying army thinks of a novel way to rule over the town by using its mayor to implement its sadistic directives....

The play is about character of not just the mayor but the people of the town and their resilience in the face of occupation - a free people.

Its also about the human needs of an occupying army.

Just when the Generals felt victorious over an entire town, an officer blurts out `Flies Have Conquered the Flypaper !'

This spreads fast into town and across the barracks and most of  the occupying soldiers too join the chorus on the futility of war and supremacy.

What happens when flies conquer the flypaper?

They all die.

(The Moon Is Down film should be watched by all Indians)

Milkshake Millennials !

By Manuwant Choudhary

When Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar banned alcohol in the state he said now Biharis will drink more milk.

I am not sure if that has happened.

So I decided to check out a milkshake joint...Patna's most happening place !

I found just a girl and boy sitting there enjoying their company more than the milkshake.

The girl X was slim and bright but simple..no make up or anything...a basic smartphone..jeans n t shirt.

The boy Y had this conversation style that was friendly and story-like..maybe he thought of the best stories that would make his girlfriend smile.

Like he told her how a young cousin from America came to Patna and disturbed his elder brothers pool game. His elder brother has a temper and he flew into a rage. 

For 15 minutes he shouted at his cousin. 

The cousin meanwhile just stood quietly and then when the shouting stopped he calmly told him, "What did you say? I don't understand Hindi."

They then spoke of where their friends are..the girl explained most are in Mumbai...mostly in the all girls Sophia College and a few in Mithibai.

The boy said most of his friends are in Delhi including one who talks too much..are with him and then he spoke of one friend in Mumbai who is all alone there..."He does not even know how to make new friends."

He went on..."My Bihari hostel room mate is so sentimental that when I left Delhi for ten days he hugged me and cried and weeped and said how will he be able to live without him."

The girl X was all smiles.

Then the girl X said, "But I do not understand why children of Army personnel write Army Brat on their facebook profile..."yeh army brat kya hota hai...??"

The boy Y, "Exactly, even I cant figure that out..lekin sab likhte hain...One of them ..his father is not even in the army still he writes Army Brat."

The girl X "Where is he from?"

The boy Y, "His father is from DRDO...thats not Army...at best he may have an Army canteen card..."

The girl, "I have one friend who does not write that..and only after months she told us she was born in Kanpur but her home is everywhere.."

Finally, the conversation turned to shampoos and hair...

The girl X, "The water in Delhi is so bad for my hair....I have to use all kinds of conditioners but still my hair is thinning..."

The boy Y, "Yes, yes...water is not just bad..its scarce too.."

The girl, "Yes, yes...paanee to Patna ka hee acchcha hai...lekin bas yahan paanee hee hai..aur kuch nahin..." (Water is good in Patna but then there is nothing else..)

For the millenials I would recommend this shampoo but in Bihar they may get arrested for this too - its made from real beer...

Normal Times In Kashmir !

By Manuwant Choudhary

One of my favourite images of my visit to Kashmir is this...a man enjoying his shave, his friend looks on and the barber could be a surgeon.

If everyone is arrested in Kashmir and they all start growing beards then what will the Kashmiri barber do?

I am not sure about investments pouring into Kashmir but what I am sure about is how difficult it must be for the ordinary Kashmiri to make ends meet in these `normal' times.


What we hear is that there is a Civil Disobedience in Kashmir. Shops open for only an hour, petrol pumps for only two hours daily. Its become the norm.

The Hindu pilgrims have been sent packing....Amarnath abandoned and the tourists dare not...the best hotel Centaur has been fortified into a prison for those who supported India over decades.


But a majority of Indians actually cheer whats happening in Kashmir..tv channels are Modi's cheering squad.

This worries me how baser human jealousies when exploited by a political party can turn a whole country into a lynch mob.

In all his who cares for the Indian constitution - or the principles of fraternity and brotherhood. Federalism is long dead.

In Kashmir they call it Revolving Door Arrests, but in India if you are in the opposition your time will come. The prisons are all reserved.

So everyone feels its simpler to join the BJP and Amit Shah claims every other day that the whole of India is joining the BJP, except Rahul Gandhi.

What we see happening is actually a gross violation of our constitution. Someone needs to go to court on this....why has Modi not declared a National Emergency? Undeclared Emergency is unconstitutional.

Makes sense.

At least Indira Gandhi used an article from the Indian constitution to impose the Emergency.

And except for one IAS officer no one has even resigned. 

But the Congress govt. did not have morals and this government has sent a Chandrayan 2 to look for morals on the moon.

I don't believe in giving free advice but when things reach a nadir even a person like Dr. Manmohan Singh chose to speak up about our economy.

Yes, India actually needs this guy who bathes in a Duckback raincoat.

At least Modi's left hand Amit Shah should hold an umbrella for Dr. Singh when he steps out of this bath in these normal times of India.

Given a chance my father could have prevented the Partition of India - Neelima Dalmia Aadhar.

The Locked-up Kashmir !

By Manuwant Choudhary

The Indian government need not have arrested the former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and lady Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah - when they have already locked up the people of an entire state after demoting it to a union territory.

But this morning at least one positive news on NDTV that relatives have been allowed to meet the former chief ministers.

Omar Abdullah has grown a beard but is allowed his walks in the garden. We still do not know the condition of Mehbooba.

But first lets see how the Indian media report on Kashmir.

And actually not surprisingly the Times of India does not carry a single report on Kashmir.

The Wire has a first person account of Murtaza Fazily, a Ladakhi who says Ladakh had never even asked for a Union Territory status and even now a majority don't support it. Its a personalised account of how he managed to speak to his father after 20 days and that too through a government land line.

It also carries a report on Nazir Ahmed Ronga, a former President of the Kashmir Bar Association, he was arrested on August 4 itself, a day before article 370 was abrogated, under the Public Safety Act. His crime: "His ability to get voters out to vote."

His colleague says, "Its a crime to be democratic in Kashmir."

The Hindu has a report on Kashmir's `Revolving Door Arrests'. So far under this 1500 young people have been arrested and let off after a week..but the arrests are a continous process, it says...anyone can be arrested under this on charges of being a prospective stone thrower !

It also reports that on any single day there are at least 40 stone throwing protests in Kashmir, the least being 8 incidents on just two days.

But whats worse is there are no official centralised numbers on the arrests made so far...

Most Indian newspapers say Kashmir is in a lock-down...but the fact is Kashmir has been locked up.

Medical needs are suffering and even doctors who voice the issue are placed under detention.

Violation of such human rights can never be an internal matter of any country.

The Hindu has another interesting story on how India secretly armed the Afghanistan Northern Alliance and its fighter-in-chief  Ahmed Shah Masaud against the Taliban...(So is that not getting involved in the internal affairs of another country?)

Ambassador Bharath Raj Mutthu Kumar was called by the `Commander' and in a meeting Massoud dramatically threw his trademark cap on the table and said, "This is all the space I need to fight for my country."

Indian Express has a detailed report on the Indian officials who are in charge of locking down Kashmir and their credentials.

Still no report on how ordinary Kashmiris are surviving in all this...

The Foreigner !

By Manuwant Choudhary

I am not sure why but I have these photos of Kashmir lying on my bedside table for years from a road trip 20 years ago. I also keep this  laminated photo of my late editor Behram Contractor.

So sometimes I browse through them and wonder how much India has changed. The other day I was chatting with a 28 year old girl from Dehradun who said she is a journalist, a field researcher and an investigative reporter.

But when I told her there are very few journalists in India these days she insisted there are many and the numbers keep growing.

Its only later that she got it, "Oh you mean unbiased reporting. Nobody buys that anymore. Also you must make enough dough to survive. Today we work for corporates and political parties to help them disguise information as the truth."

Amazing.

But I think 20 years ago journalists had some respect I think. The only time someone called it a business was one activist from the Narmada Bachao Andolan who asked me, "Aapka business kaisa chal raha hai?"

I looked at him startled, "Like what business? I am a reporter." (In fact, my newspaper lost some big advertisers because of my reporting)

But I have always been a student of Kashmir so this journey remains among my favourite.

It was a solo trip on a day Kashmir was oberving a Black Day and I took the only Ambassador going from Jammu to Srinagar.

All along the journey I worried about what might happen in the next 5 minutes but the anxiety grew as we reached Srinagar.

I had never been there before and knew no one.

As I got down from the car a man looking like an Afghan receives me and tells me, "You are a journalist. You will be going to Ahdu hotel. But I own a houseboat and if you don't mind I'd like you to stay there. If you don't like it then I will drop you to Ahdu."

I stayed in the houseboat. The next morning I took a bus from Srinagar to Leh.

The houseboat owner booked the bus ticket and a window seat for me.

But when we got onto the bus I saw a foreigner sitting on my seat.

The Kashmiri fought with her for me..no one has ever fought on my behalf as much.

Its only when I told him to let her have the seat that he cooled off. 

I took another seat.

On way there were many checkpoints and Indian soldiers would get on an off checking the bus. One checkpost even had a photograph of Iran's Spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini !

Midway from Srinagar to Kargil some Gurkhas got onto the bus and they asked for IDs from every person on the bus.

And I mean every person.

Until he came to the Swiss girl.

She showed him her Swiss passport.

The Gurkha guard turned his gun towards a gentleman sitting beside her. He shouted, "Passport?"

He replied, No passport."

The Gurkha getting angrier, "Passport..please show.."

Its only when other passengers intervened that the Gurkha laughed out loud, "Oh, sorry you Kashmiri. I think you foreigner. "

I must be the only passenger on the bus who was not asked for an identity card or passport.

I still wonder why.

Wanted Chanakya & Chandragupta to Save India