Disqus - Latest Comments for Vidya

Re: The Sanjay Subrahmanyan Show - Episode 10 - On Dandapani Desigar with Sriram V

Vidya — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:34:15 -0000

A little digression from Desikar as such but I was wondering about the source of Sriram's comment in this podcast about Bharatidasan being notorious for not liking his poetry to be notated. This to me largely seems to me a misconception and a cliche. We are talking about a poet who established a Tamizhisai Kazhakam (and subsequently an Azhagisai kUttar kazhakam) as early as 1941 a good two years before Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiyar and who even wrote Tamil lyrics for Tyagaraja's compositions (to prove the point that Tamizh compositions can be sung with Sangatis) and published his own and several other poet's lyrics( incl Pa.Jivanandam's varna mettu based on Tyagaraja's Amrtavahini composition )in early Tamizh periodicals such as Kuyil. Infact his writings have been routinely set to tune and published in the magazines he himself ran by several folks like Kanchipuram Ko.Dandapani Pillai and Chidambaram T.R.Perumal.

Re: Another “Born Free” - Christian, the lion

Vidya — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:18:56 -0000

May be I am a cynic but something about this video screams 'fake' written all over it.I do hope I am proved wrong :)
And btw first time commenting here so might as well add this:
Saw yr 'Untitled' somewhere on this blog and found it to be interesting on many levels - the link has gone missing - Is there a url somewhere?

Re: Another “Born Free” - Christian, the lion

Vidya — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:00:17 -0000

I snopesed it and it says its true after all.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/christian.asp

Re: You have the power

Vidya — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:31:33 -0000

Shripriya,
49-0 is awesome, I wasn't aware of it! I wish these energies do get focussed and do not mean to sound pessimistic.

But how does one prevent a bunch of political parties buying out people and making them vote? When it is the question of the next meal to eat or the security money provides I am sure there will be hundreds willing to take it.

Are we as citizens willing to take a stance and not paying that bribe to the official who does something for it? The parties and politicians are not something that have descended out of the skies but they are made of the same material as the people. Corrupt people create corrupt politicians. Whether it is the issue of copyrights, corruption, environment , or even filing an FIR / complaint or going to the court why do we as a nation lack ethics, take easy routes and never go the legal route? So how do you think politicians would change without this essential internal character change among citizens?

Re: Wearing Sindoor as a White Woman

Vidya — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:31:48 -0000

But most societies do that in one or another - like wedding rings.

>Yes but don't both parties in the marriage wear these rings.

I am Indian, raised in India and live in the East Coast too. Growing up, I've felt that these symbols -
the mangal sutra, the sindhur etc were one-sided and oppressive. There is a tendency to
mark out the marital status of the woman whereas it does not matter for a man. Even today,
there are rituals performed (even amongst my own relatives) called Sumangali prarthana where only married women and women whose husbands are alive are allowed. So I stopped wearing these symbols sometime in my teens when I started to think for myself and never wear them.

Many explanations and retro-fitting analyses of why the kumkum ranging from retro-fitted leadoxide theories(that one is surely bogus from whatever texts I have read) to freudian symbolisms of blood and
feritility, have been put forth by many. Social traditions and indicators do not always need an economic explanation. As I see it, these are merely marks of a 'supposedly special' status just like the sacred thread - a symbol that marked out a 'special status' for a caste.Here it is an ideal state every woman ought to aspire to. It is this rationale that I find extremely objectionable and would rather not wear such marks. Of course one can always reclaim these symbols and keep it for external beauty and treat it as a cosmetic , that then again is a choice.

Re: When No means NO!

Vidya — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:17:38 -0000

Nice post. What annoys me is this.. When one points out such things out in Tamil / Indian movies all I hear in response is "Oh you take these things way too seriously". We become the ones who overreact!!

Thanks, Vidya! I know - that sort of comment gets to me too! The whole 'we are like this only' attitude pisses me off, big time! Is clamouring for sensitivity and expecting quality overreacting? I don't think so!
We should keep at it till the others give in!