Monthly Archive for November, 2004

Seer tried to molest me: Tamil writer

By P C Vinoj Kumar in Chennai
Monday, 29 November , 2004, 19:35

In a sensational disclosure, noted Tamil writer Anuradha Ramanan has alleged that Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati attempted to sexually abuse her in 1992.
The 56-year old writer issued a five-page statement on Monday describing in detail how she got introduced to the Shankaracharya, and how he had allegedly attempted to abuse her.

According to the writer, she got an invitation from the seer in 1992 to visit the Kanchi math for discussions on launching a Tamil spiritual magazine. “At the first meeting, Jayendrar explained about the magazine and offered to make me its editor.”

Anuradha recalls that she happily agreed to the proposal. Subsequently, she claims to have gone to the math for discussions a few times along with another woman, who she has not identified. In the first few meetings the seer supposedly spoke about only spiritual matters.

However, she was shocked when at one meeting, he allegedly started talking in “vulgar” terms. “When I looked up from my writing, I was shocked to find the seer and the woman who had taken me there in a very intimate position.”

Anuradha alleges that the seer then approached her. When she protested, and began shouting at the seer, the other woman tried to convince her about her “good fortune.” When she tried to leave the place, the seer allegedly threatened her not to reveal about the incident to anyone.

Anuradha claims to have informed one of her friends, “a top lady police officer,” on what happened to her at the math. “The officer comforted me and asked me to give a written complaint. But I hesitated to lodge a complaint. I did not want to damage the reputation of the math, which was being held in high esteems by crores of people.”

The writer says that she had fallen unconscious even as she was speaking to the officer. “I was rushed to the hospital,” she recalls.

Anuradha also alleged that she received threats from the seer as well as promises of huge money to buy her silence.

Yes I was expecting this——first violence (murder) and then sex. But hey how do we know that the allegations have any speck of truth in them ? (this lady maybe a publicity seeking pyscho for all we know). Well for now I choose to believe her mainly because I love a good old scandal involving public figures….and if there is a trace of threesome/orgy in the mix.. well I am a believer !

There is something about morally orthodox religious figures and the sins of the flesh that seem to make them inseparable : the more the former fulminate against the latter , more are they driven to them. Rampant pedophilia among the Catholic clergy, homosexual excesses in religious orders of many religions, sexual peccadilloes of the Television Evangelists and now this scandal against the highest Hindu monk—-the more they tighten the screws on everyone else the more lax they themselves are. Besides Mullah Omar and my wife–both of whom have perfect parity between the orthodoxy they follow in their private lives and the orthrodoxy they impose on others I find all other moral figures of authority to be supreme hypocrites following two lines of behavior–one for themselves and one for others.

Well what can we do for the Shankaracharya? Christina Aguilera will be visiting India to discover her (yes you guessed it) spirituality. …and as she says “If you aint dirty you aint here to party”………..need I say more !

Veer Zara” the latest epic love story from the Yash Chopra house of saccharine marketable emotions (yeah aren’t they all) was released last week (or was it the week before last?). I haven’t seen the movie but I have a fairly good idea about what it will be–after all how different will it be from the millions of Hindi movies churned out year after year every Friday with the inexorableness of an Indian batting collapse.

It’s all about loving. One word symbolizes the Hindi movie industry–love. Now lest this seem like a rant against love, let me stress that I am no mean-minded ogre who is anti-love, I do sincerely believe it is the noblest of all human emotions. What I do not appreciate is that almost all Hindi movies have to be about it–without fail.

And even this is not the entire problem. The problem is that what passes for love in Bollywood products is of an extremely immature variety, usually indulged in by school kids. And this juvenility is pushed down our throats for years on end till people actually start believing in all that eternal, endless crap thing. I have no problem with Yash Chopra, Karan Johar and their ilk marketing love as a “product” through Rose Day, Friendship Day and any other day Hallmark/Archies want to do business on—after all they know that money is more important than love even if we do not. What however is a concern is that otherwise sensible people take these movies to heart and start believing that “someone somewhere is made for me” or that when you meet the person of your dreams, Lata Mangeskar will warble in the background “La la la la la la” or that shooting star will streak across the sky !

Of course its not all sugar and spice. Besides this kind of “so-sweet” puppy love there is that other kind of love which is even more infantile —the “obsessive” kind. Here love is all about never having to take no for an answer and the amount of destructive wackiness and garbled stammering you can engage in is directly proportional to the fire in your heart. Again a horrible role model which unfortunately many take to heart.

But hey aren’t we making different kinds of Hindi movies these days? Aren’t we bolder in showing sexual desire? Actually no. If you look at these supposedly “bold” movies , besides offering some very watered down juvenile titillation they follow the Hindi movie stereotype to the “T”.

In kinder though less gentler times, sexual desire was the prerogative of the lascivious “Lolitaaaa” Shakti Kapoor kinda crowd (the underlying assumption is that physical desire is an emotion felt only by rapists )— the hero would be this virginal guy who would run around trees and have sex with the heroine only if her life was threatened by falling into ice-cold water and it was needed for her to survive (Aa Gale Lag Ja, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati)–definitely the most noble reason ever conceived for indulging your hormones. Those who had consensual pre-marital sex (Aradhana) based on pure physical desire usually met with tragic consequences (should teach you better than to be in a room with Sharmila Tagore in a towel).

Even worse than a “lusty” guy was a sexually liberated lady. They were usually the villain’s molls–Mona and Sona or the dusky cabaret dancer on whom the dejected hero wastes away his savings and his youth. The 90s brought about a change in that clothes and dance routines hitherto engaged in by vamps were now done by the mainstream heroines—but the moral code remained intact. Such sensual behavior was usually engaged in dream sequences , bumping and grinding was ok but sex was not, and it was exclusively the hero she was jiggying with–the only man who would ever occupy her heart and sarkailo khatiya.

Older men and younger women–a no no. Yes there was Lamhe but the love story between Anil Kapoor and Sridevi was extremely juvenile and improbable (it was a Yash Chopra movie) and lacked any kind of emotional depth. Even worse is the coupling between the older woman and the younger man—the older woman is invariably an unhappy alcoholic and must be mandatorily dead by the 15th reel ( Dil Chahta Hain). Extramarital affairs (with the exception of Shyam Benegal movies) are also looked upon as a fault of the scheming other woman (Biwi No 1) , a mistake (Silsila) or just plain prostitution(Aastha)—- it is never about guilt, loneliness, incompatibility or desire. (Noone would dare make “Bridges of Madison County” in Hindi–no sir !)

Alternate forms of sexuality are an object of gross comedy and/or downright hatred. Ever since Anupam Kher painted his hair green for the homosexual villain in “Mast Kalandar”, gay people have been portrayed as effeminate, neutered or plain vicious –marginal, damaged, visually distinctive people unable of having a relationship. The supposedly bold “Girlfriend” pandered to the worst stereotypes of lesbians (the lesbian angle was totally a titillation device) and had the patented Bush-approved message that love is only possible between a man and a woman.

Whether we like it or not, movies influence us more than we think they do. Hindi movies portray an unreal idealized rose-tinted view of life and love. I understand that Hindi movies are escapist song fests where people can get away from the horrible world raging outside the air-conditioned confines of the theatre. But with its monochromous harping on only one color in the whole spectrum of inter-personal relationships (loosely called “love”) Hindi movies close our eyes to alternative definitions and make us judgmental and intolerant of any kind of relationship that does not meet the norms the movie moguls set for us.

The Shankaracharya is in chains. And what a triumph for democracy in India to be able to see one of the highest office holders of the Hindu order being made to walk the walk by the cops. If we could only now extend this concept of justice to political leaders and to the Islamic clergy in India then well that’s ramrajya for you.

If you follow Indian politics you know the deal. His Holy Lordship has been accused of plotting the murder of a Muth (his holy order)’s adminstrative official who threatened to expose him. It seems that the last time the Shankaracharya tried to visit China the said man filed a high court petition against his visit and in the ensuing controversy our Lordship’s trip got cancelled. The reason the official filed his complaint was one worth noting: evidently as a lead figure of the Hindu community he should not cross “kalapani” else the Shankaracharya would officially no longer be a Hindu. Well I don’t endorse murder or anything but any person who could come up , in all sincerity, with a such a ridiculous objection in this day and age deserved a lobotomy at the very least.

Of course I totally expected the moral indignation and fulminations of the extreme right VHP/RSS on this affront to Hinduism. What I couldnt fathom that this has been dubbed as a Dravidian conspriacy—-whats that? A conspiracy hatched by Rahul Dravid…..no wonder his batting has been under the weather of late. Take on a Shankaracharya and no wonder the ball gets between his bat and pads onto the stumps.