------------------------------------------------------------------------ * G * O * A * N * E * T **** C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANKA SERVICES For all your Goa-based media needs - Newspapers and Electronic Media Newspaper Adverts, Press Releases, Press Conferences www.ankaservices.com kam...@ankaservices.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Sandeep I have just seen Slumdog Millionaire. I think it is a pretty good film that will particularly appeal to Western audiences----no wonder it has 10 Oscar nominations. I regret that for now, I just haven't got the time to explain why I thought the film was good. I would be most disappointed if the people of India were prevented from seeing the film because of Shiva Sena protests. Such censoring attempts are dispicable in my view. Cornel --- On Sat, 24/1/09, Sandeep Heble <sandeephe...@gmail.com> wrote: From: Sandeep Heble <sandeephe...@gmail.com> Subject: [Goanet] Shiv Sena protests screening of Slumdog To: goa...@goanet.org Date: Saturday, 24 January, 2009, 11:14 AM ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * G * O * A * N * E * T **** C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANKA SERVICES For all your Goa-based media needs - Newspapers and Electronic Media Newspaper Adverts, Press Releases, Press Conferences www.ankaservices.com kam...@ankaservices.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fringe groups like the Hindu Janajargruti Samiti(HJS) create unnecessary controversies to gain a base for themselves. The Shiv Sena too has virtually no base in Goa. Religion is often used by these orthodox elements to pull the wool over the eyes of the masses. Such groups have neither love nor respect for Hindu and Indic values which are based on the principles of diversity and pluralism. A couple of months back, when the HJS made a noise over the screening of Hussain's documentary Film at IFFI 08, instead of calling their bluff and showing them their due place, the CM directed the authorities to cancel the screening. It is only after some Filmmakers and delegates protested that the Government relented and the documentary Film was screened. The documentary Film "Through the eyes of the Painter", showcasing the beauty of Rajasthan through the famed Painter's eyes, ran to a packed audience while the HJS volunteers who had threatened to forcefully agitate ran into their mouse-holes. The sad part is that Digamber Kamat has proved to be a leader without a spine. Instead of protecting the rights of freedom of speech and expression, he gives undue importance to such fringe radical elements. The role of the media too is deplorable. They blow these issues out of proportion giving a lot of undue mileage to such groups, when such groups hardly command a universal respect in the society. During the Ganesh Chaturthi Festival some years back, members of this group came to my house to lodge their protest against a banner we had displayed in the Mahalaxmi Temple Hall to promote our festival programme. Their complaint was a silly one: the Ganesha on the banner was playing a flute which was blasphemy as flute is a symbol only of Lord Krishna. This was followed by a 15th Century discourse on orthodox Hindu values where principles of pluralism and liberalism were shred into a million pieces. These members subsequently walked away in a huff, quite upset, as I was unwilling to bend to their diktats. In the same year, the mischievous streak in me could not resist putting a bow in Krishna's hands instead of a "Sudarshana Chakra", on our Tableau displayed in St. Inez on the eve of Diwali. (The bow is normally associated with Lord Ram). Here is a picture of that (http://tinyurl.com/dhrm54 ). And the Flute-Ganesha continued for another 2 years :-) It is pertinent to note that these radical groups understand neither the essence nor the spirit of Hinduism where the Gods have consistently been depicted liberally. During the Ganesh festival, one has to travel across the length and breadth of Goa, into its villages, particularly in cultural centres like Cumbarjua, Marcel and Ammona to understand what Hinduism is: a glowing tapestry of ideas. Some of these pictures are available at this link: http://tinyurl.com/aw3qnq A fitting tribute to India's living civilization was given by Mark Twain when he wrote and I quote: "In religion, India is the only millionaire - the One land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined". It is the cultural beauty of Hinduism that has made significant contributions to India's rich diversity, where Artists and sculptors have consistently played around by depicting Gods in the manner they imagine them, where scriptures and holy epics have consistently been re-written from different perspectives and interpretations, and where the very notion of thought-control is non-existant. Organizations like "Hindu Janajagruti Samiti" and 'Shiv Sena" are behaving like self-proclaimed moral custodians of faith and culture, trying to dictate to others what they should do, see, eat and drink. If such groups are given a free hand, they will destroy all that Hinduism has to offer. The Millionaire Nation will slowly and steadily be turned into a pauper. The need for the State to deal with such groups with a firm iron hand becomes therefore imperative. On a related note, Pradeep Dalvi's Marathi Play Mee Nathuram Godsey Boltoy is scheduled to run at the Kala Academy Auditorium, Panaji on Sunday, the 31st of January. In this play, the Assasin Nathuram has been glorified and Gandhi has been depicted as a Villain, likened to Kamsa and Ravana. Let's wait and see whether these groups are going to stage even a peaceful protest outside the venue against the vicious insult on the "Father of our Nation". Cheers Sandeep Heble Panaji-Goa