The Republic of Nepal

I am a monarchist. I believe that constitutional monarchy is the best form of government. On 28th May 2008, Nepal ceased to be a monarchy. I watched Nepali television, thrilled to be watching history being made before my eyes. Yes, thrilled. Thrilled because I believe, like most Nepalis do, that it is better to be a Republic than to be under a king as universally unpopular as Gyanendra. I could not help being struck by the irony of the fact that the brand new National Assembly had gathered yesterday evening at the Birendra International Convention Centre to formally abolish the monarchy. The event took place inside a building named after the king who will, I firmly believe, always reign in the hearts of the Nepali people - King Birendra. I share with many Nepalis grave doubts about the official version of what happened in the Narayanhiti Palace in June 2001. My posting of an official portrait of King Birendra and his family here is meant to convey to my Nepali brothers and sisters that I feel their pain (which I'm sure seven years have done nothing to dull) at the loss of their beloved King Birendra and his family, but I also congratulate them warmly for getting rid of King Gyanendra and constituting themselves as a Republic. I wish the Republic of Nepal a happy and prosperous future.

The Berlin Memorial

As if to mark the opening of the Berlin memorial to gay and lesbian victims of the Nazi regime, on Monday, the day before the opening, the French TV channel TV5 telecast Un Amour a Taire (top picture). The next picture is a TV grab on the night of the 27th. This is a still from a looped video installation inside the grey concrete memorial. One can watch the video by peering into the window on the concrete structure. The next image (thanks to the newspaper Berliner Morgenpost) shows German politicians gathered at the Tiergarten for the opening ceremony. The most poignant presence is that of the Mayor of Berlin. Klaus Wowereit, in a blue tie, is openly gay. The fourth and last image (from the newspaper Berliner Zeitung) is that of the memorial.

Nazi persecution of homosexuals (by the way there is only one recorded instance of a lesbian being persecuted but she was persecuted because of her race - Jewish) began in 1933 with the destruction of the Institute of Sexual Science founded by Magnus Hirschfield. Hirschfield is written about at great length by the novelist Christopher Isherwood in his 1970's autobiography Christopher and His Kind.

In the Shadow of the Pink Triangle

It was entirely by coincidence that yesterday evening, of the two movies I rented for my weekend film festival, one was The Bubble (Israel, 2006). When I was watching the movie I was unaware that on Tuesday, 27th May 2008, in Berlin would be opened a memorial dedicated to all the homosexuals who perished in Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. So what does a film made in 21st century Israel have to do with the Berlin memorial? Just this: in the film the two lovers (one Israeli, the other a Palestinian Arab) go to watch a play in Tel Aviv one evening. The play? Martin Sherman's play Bent (1979). As you may well know the play deals with the persecution of homosexuals in concentration camps. From the play Ashraf learns the gesture of tracing a line along the left eyebrow with one's index finger to express love. In The Bubble we see him do it twice, both times out of the sight of Noam, the man he loves. The film belongs not only in an intertexual web with Martin Sherman's play but also with the French made-for-TV movie Un Amour a Taire (A Love to Hide) which also deals with the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. When the Berlin memorial is opened on Tuesday it won't be the first such memorial. There is one in Amsterdam which was inaugurated on 5 September 1987 and there's another one in Sydney, Australia. But this most recent memorial's location in Berlin is especially significant because it is the first one on German soil.

It's a democracy yet!

Here are Thursday's front pages. I'll let the front pages of 22 May 2008 speak for themselves!:-)

Singrrrrrrrr!

Even a few hours ago I was planning to write a blog about a French musical that I saw yesterday evening (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) and speak of my amusement at the way in many scenes the wallpaper matched the frock of Catherine Deneuve, but breaking news from Nandigram and Singur has swept all that aside. Nothing captures the thrill of unfolding history better than newspaper front pages and live images on TV. While I have to wait another six hours for the newspapers to come thudding down on my living room floor I can atleast give you some TV grabs that will, hopefully, bring home to you the thrill of this historic moment when the people of Nandigram and Singur roared against state terror! All you who gave your lives to protect your land, you have not died in vain! All you who have voted against state terror, my congratulations! I have no words tonight that can adequately express my joy. Bravo, Nandigram! Bravo, Singur! If only the people in the cities were as brave as you are. Thanks to the brave people of those two villages, I'm proud to be a Bengali again!

Compelled by Humanity

Those Calcuttans who feel that even walking down the streets of this city on a hot May afternoon is better than sitting at home and pretending that all's well with the world did just that on 9th May 2008: they walked in accordance with their conscience. This was the second time that angry, conscience-stricken, humane Calcuttans took to the streets to protest against the systematic violence being perpetrated by the state against those who cannot defend themselves anymore. As Aparna Sen said from the truck when the march ended at Chowringhee, "We are being accused of taking money for these protests! We are being accused of doing this for our own publicity! Those accusing us are so deeply implicated in politicking for selfish gains that they don't realize that there may be something called the compulsion of simple humanity and nothing more." The last time such an anti-state-terror march took place there were a million marchers and the media was out in full strength to cover it. This time only a few TV networks sent outdoor vans to cover the march. Does this mean that for the media, anti-state-terror protests in Calcutta aren't sexy anymore? (The story of tens of thousands of ordinary, otherwise apolitical citizens marching down the streets in Calcutta without ANY support from ANY political party was not deemed worthy of even a mention in The Telegraph, for example.) Nonetheless, the protests will continue, with or without the help of the media.