Talk they do!

The Argumentative Indian
(Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity)
Author: Amartya Sen (2005)

https://www.amazon.in/
Argumentative-Indian-
Writings-History-Identity
/dp/0141012110

The teachings of my history teacher, LKK, in Form 3 still ring as clear as a bell to this day. Comparing India's fight for independence to the Opium War in China, he pointed out that the primary difference between China and India was the written language. No doubt, each part of China had their unique dialects, and a person from one end of the country may not be able to communicate with another person at the other end; they could thank Emperor Shih Huang Ti for giving a unified script. 

India's predicament was that it was not only divided by language but also by writing. Each region had its own spoken language and its own scripts as well. The British found it very convenient to employ their 'divide-and-rule' tactic. What LKK failed to mention was that Indians were argumentative, even among themselves. 

They have been arguing about everything for a long time. With scant understanding of the events happening around them, they try to make sense of what they see. Unlike a multiple-choice question, its answers are not fixed; the interpretation of weather, space, and beyond is anyone's guess. For ages, Indians have been dedicated to defending their POV, making it a national pastime. 

Adi Shankara, a sage in the 8th century CE, is said to have travelled to the four corners of India, thereby marking the boundaries of the subcontinent. He engaged in numerous debates with renowned scholars from various philosophical schools to explore unanswered questions about Nature, space, life, and the virtues of daily living. Shankara, from the South, of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, believed that our consciousness is an extension of the concept of God. In other words, our Atma is part of the Great Consciousness, Paramathma. He used to participate in month-long, intense discourses across Bharat. His famous debate was with Vardana Misra. Misra was from the Mimamsa school, which studies the Veda and attempts to interpret the Vedic texts and our actions (karma).

The famous debate between Shankara and Misra was presided over by Misra's wife, Ubhay Bharati. She was also a renowned scholar. When Madana Misra was finally cornered, she took her husband's place to continue the discussion. It is said that both the husband and wife later joined Adi Shankara's school. 

Pattimandram
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50956076@N08/4674835676/

This tradition of debating simple topics related to daily life can often be seen on Tamil cable networks. One of the popular shows here is 'Pattimandram', hosted by scholars fluent in Tamil and various local speakers. Some speakers actually earn a living by speaking at different events in various towns throughout the year. Their mastery of the language is impeccable, and their stage presence is electric. The show leaves everyone in stitches and offers mental nourishment. 

Another example of the argumentative Indian is aptly illustrated by India's Republic TV and, more recently, by most Indian YouTube news channels. It is common to see multiple small screens, each with people shouting loudly to prove their points. It often results in the anchor having the final say, while other viewpoints are simply lost in the noise. 

A debate between a charioteer and a warrior who developed cold feet on the eve of the war, which would pit cousins and uncles against each other, evolved into a lengthy holy scripture on virtue and worldly obligations. It is the Bhagavad Gita. Imagine a single counselling session extending to 700 verses, divided into 18 chapters. Not only that. The Bhagavad Gita is actually part of a larger epic, the Mahabharata, which is seven times longer than the Iliad and the Odyssey put together. It is filled with dialogues, dilemmas, and alternative perspectives. The incessant arguments and counter-arguments spread over volumes of debates and disputes make readers convinced that truth is not a singular concept, but is a spectrum. Arjuna's hesitation about going to war may actually carry some weight, as the post-Kurukshetra era reveals carnage and tragedy that will be remembered by generations to come. The Pandavas and Kauravas were never the same. Even Krishna's descendants became decadent and wayward. There is a case against just 'just doing it' and 'hesitating'.

The humiliation of Draupadi
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Draupadi_
Vastraharan,_Raja_Ravi_Varma.jpg

When the world discusses India, the favourite bashing is on its perceived injustice based on gender, caste and treatment of its minorities.

When it comes to gender equality, at a time when women in other parts of the world were seen but not heard, Indian women played pivotal roles in their societies. An essential character in the Mahabharata, Draupadi, is not just a pretty figure but a wife to five husbands. The Upanishads tell the story of a sharp, intellectual female interrogator named Gargi. Jhansi Rani and many female warriors fought valiantly against the tyranny of the invaders. In 1925 and 1933, the Indian National Congress Party appointed a female President. For the record, the British had their first woman leader of a major British political party in 1975 with Margaret Thatcher.

India had its own complicated system of labour distribution. It ensured the proper functioning of society. The changes in the world economy and the intrusion of foreign powers, who attempted to simplify the system using their own yardstick, created a cruel caste system. It started a hierarchical system based on one's birth. 

India's internal societal reforms had started addressing the issue. Various offshoots of Hinduism, like Buddhism and Jainism, were reactionary movements against Brahminical orthodoxy. The Hindu Bhakti movement and Sufis tried to break social barriers. Many philosophers, poets, and thinkers were from non-Brahmanical groups. Vyasa was a fisherwoman's son. Vyasa was a reformed thief.

Prolixity is not something alien to Indians, it seems. They love to talk. In one interview, Sadhguru, the new-age guru, was complaining. He was saying that all the chaiwallas (tea sellers) knew about everything. I suppose that applies to all professions too, such as barbers, taxi drivers, and milk sellers. Sadhguru went on to say that they are well-versed in politics, governance, scandals, cricket, Bollywood gossip, and inside information about the world's best-kept secrets. The only thing he did not know too well was how to make good tea!

VK KrishnaMenon
https://images.app.goo.gl/joZkADWkx3dtHUJK6

Another glaring example is how VK Krishna Menon of India delivered the longest speech ever given before the UN Security Council. In 1957, over the course of two days, he delivered two speeches, totalling approximately eight hours, on India's position regarding Kashmir. Even he could not stand his own talk. He soon collapsed after the speech.

Free speech and the freedom to express oneself are not exclusive to the West. It had been part and parcel of Indian and Eastern tradition. The richness of the tradition of argument makes a significant difference to subcontinental lives today. Persistent arguments form an essential part of the people here. Democracy is closely tied to public discussion and interactive reasoning.

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A Rallying Cry!

The War Against Indians(2025)

150 Years of Betrayal, Suppression and Injustice in Malaya & Malaysia.

Author: Suthan Mookaiah

At the outset, the author does not claim the book as a literary work. He professes to merely inking his lived experiences. The sales of his books are a legitimate revenue source for him, as he funds upliftment programmes in Tamil Schools through his movement, Maatram.

Sollayah grew up in Taman West Country, a former estate land in Kajang. He saw the estates in Malaysia flattened in the heady days of Mahathirism. In the rapaciousness to make Malaysia a developed nation by 2020 and produce mega-millionaires of a certain denomination, the country was in heat. There was a land rush. Apparently, nobody, including the Indian leaders who were meant to represent them, had the inkling to think of the millions of Indians who had at least two to generations of a family whose world only revolved around the rubber estates and their surroundings.

Nobody thought of having the ex-estate workers vocational training or structured living programmes. Most economic developmental ideas initiated by its leader went into disarray. The Tamil schools were left unfunded with their structures in deplorable states. Community leaders of other groups were smart enough to care for the down line whilst the Indians were busy fattening their own coffers and running down each other.

The author's father had the wisdom to send his son to be educated in a national school (as compared to a Tamil school, as most nostalgic ex-estate dwellers would) despite the financial restraints. The author's father was odd-jobbing as a grasscutter. Suthan's studies enabled him to secure him a comfortable remuneration overseas. He returned to his homeland around the turn of the last decade and decided to pay back to the society he grew up in.

Through his movement, he tries to expose the decades of systemic marginalisation of the community after the collapse of the plantation economy. He tries to give dignity to Tamil Schools and stop the indiscriminate destruction of Hindu temples. The criminalisation of Indian youth is worrisome.

The author suggests the community to use the power of social to learn and disseminate useful information to hurl up the community to sturdy grounds.

He sells his book through the TikTok shop.

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Normalising woke culture?

Kadhalikka Neramillai (No time to love,  காதலிக்க நேரமில்லை;  Tamil, 2025)

Director: Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi

https://www.moneycontrol.com/entertainment/kadhalikka-neramillai-ott-release-
when-and-where-to-watch-this-romantic-drama-starring-jayam-ravi-a
nd-nithiya-menon-article-12936421.html

It would have been just another Netflix recommendation that I would have ignored. Having such an unoriginal name, which had been used before, did not excite me. For the ignoramus, in 1964, the Tamil cinema was taken back by Sridhar's superhit. Its psychedelic, picturesque Eastman moment came to be defined as Tamil cinema's first rom-com. The hit song. 'Visvanathan, velai vendum!' became to be sung as the voice of defiance of the oppressed.

My interest was piqued when a YouTuber of a channel I follow went into a tirade trying to tear down Netflix and its moviemakers for thinking out of such a crass movie. Other Tamil movie reviewers were kind to the movie, praising it for its modern approach to storytelling and refreshing filmmaking. They probably did not want to offend the First Family of Tamil Nadu, as the ruling CM's family is involved in the film's direction, production and distribution. My YouTuber accused Netflix and the producers of trying to tear down every fibre of decency and threaten to destroy the Indian way of life. The prescribed Indian or Tamil way of living, where a female is supposed to follow specific rules regarding sex, weddings and patriarchal lead, is torn down.

The movie starts with a rebellious daughter, Shriya, working as an architect in Chennai, asking her mother how sure she was that her unmarried daughter was still a virgin. The mother almost faints whilst the father ducks down, avoiding the confrontation that ensued. 

To put things in order, it is a story about a daughter who plans to migrate to the US after a civil marriage with her 4-year-old boyfriend and obtains her visa. One day, after returning from work earlier than usual, she finds her husband in bed with her best friend. She annuls her wedding.

The 1964 version

In another town, Bangalore, another architect, Sid, is all set to engage his model girlfriend. After a minor misunderstanding, the fiancée decides not to turn up. As is often the case, he goes on bedding beaux one after another for revenge. 

Meanwhile, Shriya realises that her biological clock is ticking away and wants a baby as soon as possible. What does she do? She goes straight for donor insemination. And guess whose sperm she receives? Don't ask how, but she receives Sid's from another state. Sid had once accompanied his gay friend to donate his sperm for future use. Sid does the same. This gay friend reappears later to marry his partner. This became a point of contention for the commentator as if the film is normalising gay weddings in India. For the record, while the third gender is recognised in Indian law, gay weddings are not. 

The purists also have issues with the casual portrayal of alcohol consumption by both sexes and across all layers of society. The familial decorum, such as the parent-child barrier often observed in traditional Indian families, seems to have disappeared. Single parenting is depicted as the most natural thing. It is trying to shove in the Woke's gender agenda. 

Most Indian movies end with all the characters agreeing that the Indian way of life is supreme as if to resolve all the issues. No, not here. The protagonist decides to live with the sperm donor as her live-in partner. 

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Another Martyr...

Amaran (Immortal; Tamil, 2024)

Director: Rajkumar Periasamy

A Tamil movie of the same name was made in 1992. It was a full-scale gangster movie that was initially banned from Malaysian theatres but finally screened after the censors went on a snipping spree. It was deemed too violent. The film ended suddenly as the final showdown between the hero (Karthik) and the baddies had too much gore. The Malaysian Censor Board butchered it so much that I watched a movie that was left hanging with an abrupt end, and the hall lights turned on, much to the audience's confusion about whether there was an emergency of sorts.

This time around, there was violence, gore and death, but it is a legitimate form of ending one's life; that is the government's sanction war against ideologies which are hellbent on destroying peace. We call this patriotism, not turf war.

I think one particular scene in the movie highlights the whole business of war and the use of religion in justifying war. An Indian soldier of the Muslim faith is captured by Islamic terrorists in the stone-pelting areas of Kashmir. The soldier is kneeling, with hands tied behind and head bent, waiting to be beheaded. He is chanting Holy Quranic verses. Holding a sword above the soldier's neck is a young jihadi who is cheered by a mob reciting the Islamic verses too. Which God are they fighting for anyway? If there is one up there, God will have a hard time choosing sides.

Maj Mukund Varadarajan

As a movie, it is produced in a very high-quality way. It narrates the life and times of now deceased Major Mukund Varadarajan of the Indian Army's Rajput Regiment. He fell during a counterterrorism operation in Jammu-Kashmir in April 2014. He posthumously received the Ashok Chakra award. His widow, Indhu Rebecca Varghese, tells the story, depicting their initial meeting at college, marriage, and long-distance relationship through his services in the Indian Army. It is a compelling movie which would definitely raise the spirit of any Indian worth his salt. 

There was nothing terrible about the movie. The chemistry between the actors Sivakarthikeyaan and Sai Pallavi, who portray Mukund and Indhu, is spot on. Watching the film without subtitles, one realises that the message gets clear and crisp, even when speaking Tamil and the other Malayalam. It is a truly Indian film, as Hindi, English, Tamil, and Malayalam are spoken within the same verse without causing any confusion. 

Detractors found nothing to complain about the movie. So they stooped so slow to complain that the film went beyond the call of duty to portray Muslims as the bad guys. Hello, the Kashmir issue has been initiated by a country that carved itself out of India on religious terms. Then, they complained that Major Mukund's caste did not get any prominence in the story as the filmmakers showed his family and the wedding celebration. It was an understanding between the family and the producers not to highlight their Brahmin caste.

This good Diwali movie will wet the eyes of those with sensitive souls. It is based on the book series India's Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh.

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Only when you need!

Indian 2(Tamil, 2024)

Director: S. Shankar

Even though his movie did not live up to its predecessor, which came out in 1996, there are a few instances in the film that make the Indian diaspora pause and reevaluate their behaviours.

Forget what is happening in India. It would be irrelevant for a person residing in India to assess and enumerate the changes in India since the original Indian movie came out 28 years ago. Let a Malaysian of the Indian diaspora look at what has changed since.

The theme of Indian 1 was to highlight how the system was broken because of rampant corruption and the lack of willpower of civil servants and public figures to change the status quo. It took a pre-independence freedom fighter to re-don his combat gear to highlight the rot to the public consciousness. In his own psychotic ways, Indian Tata (grandpa) brought the people in charge to task, even killing his own son approving the permit of an unroadworthy school bus, which killed many school kids.

That is when the sequel fits in. Corruption never really went anywhere. The police, who were supposed to be the last bastion to uphold law and order, are blatantly on the take and kowtowing shamelessly to thugs and politicians. Court cases are progressing nowhere. Dishonesty and untruths rule the day. The general public is getting hot under their collars. A group of vloggers who fight for social justice reminisce about the time when Indian Tata was around to save the day. As he was never caught, the public suspects he is still alive but had gone underground. They pleaded for Indian Tata to return via social media, of course.

It seems that Indian Tata is all well and hearty in Taiwan, living incognito and minding his own business. He is cajoled to return to India.

After returning to what he does best with ancient Indian martial arts, Varma Kalai, he soon realises that the table has turned. When an apparently wrong person is arrested, Indian Tata becomes India's most hated person. People start chanting, "Go back, Indian! "

The film hits you at two levels. You soon realise that the world and all its affairs are too intertwined. No one saviour can come and save the day. A slash-hammer approach to right the wrong is too simplistic. It is naive to think people do not want to be good and do the correct thing. They simply cannot. Like a Jenga structure, the whole system is maintained in position by complicated ad-hoc, haphazardly placed Jenga sticks. It stays intact as long as the sticks are well placed. Forget about getting it in symmetry or making it aesthetically pleasing. It is what it is.

The phrase 'go back to India' or its Malay translation 'oi, balik India!' has a familiar ring to those who grew up in Malaysia. Quite often in our childhood, we have hurled abuses like these from mobs or groups of young Malay boys all riled up in the spirit of, say, football or hockey games. Even though no one who is non-Indian would tell it on the face of a fellow Malaysian Indian, offensives like these are tolerated.

It is also a lesson that I learned in life that people will hold you in high esteem only if it suits them and would not have a second thought to drop you like a hot potato when your services are not needed anymore. So do not gloat in the praises of others. The same mouth that uttered niceties, in no time, will be cussing you, maybe spitting at you too!

[P.S. An episode in the Mahabharata comes to mind. While travelling from Dwarka to Indrapura, Krishna and Arjuna overheard a fellow traveller singing praises of Karna, Arjuna's arch-enemy. The traveller was talking about Karna's philanthropy. An incensed Arjuna told Krishna that his statement was unfair. After all, Karna's wealth was not his as he had inherited them. He did not earn them. People should be praised for what they have earned or worked hard for. Arjuna had worked to be the great warrior he was. People should be praising Arjuna, not Karna. 

In his great wisdom, Krishna put Arjuna to the test. Arjuna was shown a mountain of gold to be distributed to the needy. He was given a whole day to complete the task. Getting meticulous in the task, Arjuna tried to divide the gold according to people's needs. He gave halfway as none of the recipients were happy. Those who got less, whom Arjuna thought deserved less, wanted more. Those who got more wanted even more. 

Soon, Krishna assigned the same job to Karna. Karna completed the task in a jiffy, and everyone was happy. What Karna did was to get someone who was already in the charity business to finance him to continue doing his good job with Karna's assistance. The moral of the story is that there are people assigned to do certain jobs. Let them handle it. Do not think you have to solve everybody's problem. Not everyone is cut for the job. You will end up unhappy, and so will others.]

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Hey, eat your words!

He had heard of it all. At every corner, the naysayers were there. They were free with unsolicited advice that he should not forget where he came from, that the pinky would only grow to the size of the thumb, and that a sparrow should not dream of flying majestically like an eagle. 

As if the road ahead was not uncertain enough, these doomsday philosophers jumped on the bandwagon to sow the seeds of doubt. Already in turmoil, trying to pull oneself by the bootstraps, the negative vibes are the last that anyone wants to hear. But they yak on...

He was raised in an environment where he was told to respect others and not to tell somebody off on the face; he would just smile it off. 

The element of doubt still lingered, however. The quandary was whether he was indeed doomed to fail. With perceived divine guidance, he persevered. He had the grace of his family as well.

The answer to his doubt must have been answered finally. Not only has he proved his critics wrong, but he now has proof of the whole world’s accreditation to show. All the naysayers can now eat humble pie. The journey to the pinnacle had been fraud with shrapnels and heartbreaks, but what the heck. Hoisting the trophy was all that worth it.

GOPIO, Global Organization of People of Indian Origin, in its continued journey to open cooperation among the people of the diaspora, during its annual conference, honoured POI icons from various industries - security, logistics, telecommunications, etc., from the world over. 

Dato M. S. Murthi
GOPIO International Business Excellence Award 2023
Legal Practice

                         

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Going places?

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa

To see Praggnanandhaa, an 18-year-old chess whiz from Tamil Nadu, proudly posing in front of the international press with a big white ash stripe spread across his forehead as a symbol of his faith for a photo shoot reminded me of the numerous times I felt ashamed of wearing vibuthi in public during my childhood. 

Coming from a country where my ancestors were bought in as bonded labourers, I did not have many role models to follow, I was ashamed to be an Indian. The fact that many fellow Indians in my neighbourhood were loud and boisterous and had many rows with the laws did not help my perception of the race of my parents. The sing-song undulating tone of my mother tongue was a point of mocking and sneering by many. The behaviour of the few who make it a point to be noticed with their loud colour, unmistakable scents, and high-decibel speeches in buses made me want to disappear. 

Mother's eyes say it all!

The elaborate display of my religiosity was also a sore point. The near histrionic display of faith via visual and auditory exaggerations did not augur well with my mother's intention to inculcate dharmic values in me. She was fearful that all the Western education that was sweeping the world would make me a brown-assed white man who frowned at anything Indian. I knew I was. 

The opening of inner realisation, the opening of the mythical third eye, happened in my late teenage years and the years after that. One by one, I was exposed to more and more people who looked like me and spoke like me. Hey, my people were doing ok, I thought. Still, there was demarcation between outwardly displaying Indianness and accepting all as one, that we are the same. 

The world changed. Identity politics became the norm. My country, where I had grown up, had slowly become fundamentalistic in mindset. People had no qualms saying they, us, we and our people. People were one-tracked into dividing and subdividing amongst themselves. At about that time, being a Hindu became hip. Slowly people tried to publicise the hidden pearls of wisdom behind Hindu acts and rituals. 

An artist's conception of the Chandrayaan 3 lander
and rover on the Moon. ISRO

If the 1990s and the early 2000s, people of Chinese descent in my country were flying high with the phenomenal achievements of their ancestral country, China, from the yolk of hopelessness during the Great Famine and Cultural Revolution to becoming the factory capital of the world. Similarly, the second decade of the 21st century is a time for India to shine. Standing at the cusp of a successful landing of an AI-guided unmanned lunar mission and the precipice of a possible international chess champion, most Indians wear their identity on their sleeves. Nobody is ashamed to spread his vibuthi, sandanam or kumkum liberally on his forehead anymore. 

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