He who tills the land gets satisfied with bread

Ustad Hotel (Malayalam; 2012)

It is not just about owning a property. It is also about generating economy. It used to be that the owner of a piece of land will be King. Nature will bestow the yield with its raw materials. The landowner will provide for his subjects, whom, he subjugated via conquest or stature. In return, he will be served. Come to think of it, so did the Mafia. They provided for what the legitimate bodies found to be non-profitable or poor returns on investments. 

Modern economies had real estates as such hot commodities. Each and every square inch of God's Earth has to be owned by someone and be developed. Developers and bankers all have their own arm-twisting techniques to squeeze that lone recalcitrant small landowner to surrender his property. They would bring in new legislation, enforcement protocol or taxes. It is evident that the powers that be are subservient to the rich entities. They believe that spurring economic activities will have a trickle-down effect. We now know it only widens the gap between the have and have notes. It is not that simple.

In this country, a group of intellectuals are lamenting that much of the nation's prized land bank has been given away to foreigners and citizens of a particular ethnicity. The funny thing is that they are blaming the recipients and the former colonial masters for the shenanigans, not the present administrators, even though this practice continues till date. It is an open secret that many land swapping deals happen at the highest level in full view of the powers that be.

Perhaps, it is business that dictates who owns what, not sentimentality. It is the economy, stupid. Before Independence, many of the lands around Malaysia was owned by the money lending Chettiars who would usurp lands from their creditors for lapsing payments. They would gloat looking at their vacant properties even though they were just attracting lalang and grazing cows. All these changed after the 1969 racial riots and the fear of instability as the Chettiars sold their realties and returned lock, stock and barrel to India. The Chinese who bought them over were courageous enough to develop these properties. Pretty soon mushroomed supermarkets, housing estates and cineplexes. He who tills the land gets satisfied with bread and also satisfies the whole village of their hunger. It is about working on the land, not merely owning it.

This brand of a new wave of films tends to hit the Indian movie scene these days. No more the same aged actors romantically paired with actresses old enough to be their daughters or pretty young things that are apparent mismatch the people surrounding them. And no more bad dubbing. 

This movie combines realistic acting with a refreshing look at Kerala outdoors. The music is fresh and tends to grow on the listeners.

It tells the tale of a chef, Faizi, who is disowned by his father for choosing the profession that he so despised. Faizi's grandfather, who owns a small-time biryani restaurant, takes him in and teaches him the philosophy of cooking. To cook is not just to fill the stomach, but to satisfy the minds, of the feeder and the one being fed. Even though Faizi has plans to be a famous chef in Europe, as expected, he finds his calling in India.

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Veiled altruism?

Plague of Corruption (2020)
Restoring faith in the promise of Science
Authors: Judy Mikovitz, Kent Heckenlively

The domain of caring for the sick is no longer solely in the hands of medical care professionals. Policies of treatment, prevention strategies and cure are not decided by the doctors and policymakers with a medical background. In the modern world, businessmen, philanthropist and Big Pharma are the ones who determine what best strategies to lay for mankind and where the budget for health should go to. These people are the new saviours of the world and pledge to have only altruistic reasons for the heroic journey. There is no business interest, they say. For this, they employed the might of media, print and cyberworld, to spin and repeat the mantra of doom and gloom that only these people can avert. The paternalistic approach of doctors and nurses is so passé.

The traditional advice of good food, fresh air and adequate physical activities is so archaic. Modern-day controlled studies show old preventive non-pharmacological measures so out of tune with modern living. Now, one needs to load oneself with chemicals, innoculate with a myriad of foreign antigens and compounds to spur immunity. Modern man is living in such a bubble that getting soiled with dirt and soil is unthinkable. If possible, he wants his gut to be sterile.

Judy Mikovits gained notoriety during the Covid-19 outbreak. A virologist by profession, she made many bold assertions about mismanagement of the viral epidemic by WHO, CDC and specifically Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Her personal spat with authority goes way back to the early '80s with the discovery of the HIV virus. She was in the first American team of Robert Gallo and Frank Roscetti that isolated Montagnieu's HIV sample. Differences arose regarding wanting to publish the discovery. Along the way came patenting rights. In 2009, another controversy happened when Mikovitz suggested that XMRV
(Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-related Virus), a retrovirus, which is linked to prostatic cancer to be the causative agent of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Accusations of stealing intellectual properties from the laboratory she was working landed in her arrest, frequent brush with the law and subsequent fall from grace.
She (and her co-author) hit the headlines again when they linked autism to the early administration (9 months) of MMR. The previous proposal of gut-brain connection in autism by Andrew Wakefield in a 1998 BMJ article was shot down as fraudulent.

Mikovitz claims not to be an anti-vaxxer but raises the possibility of our vaccines being contaminated as it goes through animal cell lines during its production. Monkey kidneys and other animal tissues are potential sources of retroviruses, and they can potentially cause many untoward side-effects to predisposed individuals. Vaccines also carry nickel, chromium, formaldehyde and antibiotics. Do vaccines with the zoonotic additives make human more prone to other viral infections, like the pandemic we are having now?

She highlighted the existence of special vaccine courts to pay out compensations to victims of vaccine injury. If vaccines are so safe, why is there such a court? Apparently, the vaccine producers are immune from prosecution by victims, but the court will weigh on the damage.

Dr Judy Mikovitz is not the only crusader around on a mission to expose the concerted effort by the scientific and political elite who run the scam that is our global health system. They hold patents to products and run pharma conglomerates to push vaccines and specific treatment modalities with vested interests on their minds. They manipulate research findings to suit their agenda. Despite holding honourable posts trusted to take care of the people's wellbeing, they are turning their high office into money-spinning ventures.

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To relook, recreate and remind

Panipat, The Great Betrayal (Hindi; 2019)

Many post-colonial nations are eager to re-write their histories. Previously their colonial masters painted a story of their land as seen from their jaundiced eyes, in keeping with their narration as being the saviour and liberators. Now, after years of accepting the past history as the gospel truth, the natives have arisen from long slumbers. They want to re-write the baloney. There is an urgent need to re-look at our history books.

Indians complain that their history books are only filled with a dramatic depiction of impoverished India where the liberators from the West, rose to their occasion to illuminate wisdom and a sense of purpose. Their glorious pasts are conveniently whitewashed. It seems that even the narration about India's most prominent kingdoms like Vijayanagara, Paalavi and the Pandava Dynasties are conspicuously absent from the history textbooks.

Bollywood is trying to patch the gap conveniently blanked out of history. Of course, it is not going to be easy on all parties, as many have been mired in one kind of truth. To re-educate or re-wire their understanding of the original script may actually question their own existence. Loyalists, traitors, conspirators, villains and double-crossers may all be re-casted, depending on the scriptwriters.

Panipat, a site in modern-day Haryana, had witnessed three brutal wars. This film showcases the last of the Panipat Wars at the zenith of the once-great Maratha Empire which is famed by India's iconic hero, Shivaji Chhatrapati.

After defeating the Nizam of Hyderabad, Sadashiv Bhao Rao and cousins march towards Delhi to fight a Pashtun speaking chieftain, Najib-ad-Daulad of Rohilkhand who refuses to pay taxes and has form allegiance with the Afghan King, Ahmad Shah Abdali @ Ahmad Shah Durrani. Nawab of Oudh also supported Durrani.

It is not a showcase of the clash between the Muslims and the Hindus. The Maratha warrior had a Muslim warrior, Ibrahim Gardi, the artillery expert. In fact, the Maratha army had always had a regiment of mixed ethnicities and religiosities. The betrayal, as mentioned in the title, does not refer to Muslims acting as turncoats. The traitors here are the Rajputs and Jhats who decided to support the invaders due to high taxes.

King Ahmad Shah Abdali @ Durrani

The war is said to be the most brutal one with the dubious record of having the highest number of dead warriors in a single day. The Maratha's mistake was to bring in too many civilians. Their public relations with the local chieftains and strategical outlay was poor. Even though the Marathas lost the battle, its army was apparently praised by Durrani, in a message sent later, for the bravery and tenacity. King Durrani gave up his wish to conquer India after that.

This film is not without controversies. Effigy of the director and cinemas were torched to show peoples' displeasure. The Afghani embassy stated their objection for the depiction of the founder of Afghanistan like an Arab prince, with the crew's wardrobe choice and makeup (application of kohl).

Verdict: 3.5/5. The filmmakers have spent a lot of time to make the film believable. They have employed younger actors with the appropriate physique to pass off of warriors. Time and effort had been spent on war tactics and strategies. Though there can be room for improvement in the CGI department, the director managed to create the grandiosity of an army in full regalia and the aura of an ancient battlefield.

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Foes within and without!

Breaking India - Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines (2011)
Authors: Rajiv Malhotra and Aravindan Neelakandan

When Europeans reached the shores of India for the first time, they were mesmerised. It was the era of romanticism. The Europeans just could not have enough of India's exotic mysticism, wealth and knowledge. We all know what happened afterwards.

To become the masters to the hosts who welcomed them into their abode, they had to dig deep their bag of trick to break India up. They invented the now well-known 'divide and rule' strategy. Unfortunately, even 300 years later, these breaking India forces are still at it to create divisions amongst its people to push forward their self-serving agendas.

In the 1870s, as the British advanced deep into the periphery, they encountered resistance from the tribal people who were just protecting their land. The invaders quickly created a narrative about heartless local robbers who strangled their victims with kerchiefs. They were named Thuggees based on their diety. The British passed enactment to legalise tribal genocide. Long story short, they not only appropriated their lands but made 'thug' an English word.

The Europeans justified their atrocities on natives by revisiting the story of Noah and his sons. The white-skinned conquerers are the Descendents of Japheth, Shem's went to Asia and the Middle East while the dark-skinned cursed Ham's downlines were sent to Africa and probably to Southern part of India. Japheth's enlightened sons need to educate cursed Ham's people.

The scholars of the time also sold the idea of the existence of a big landmass named Lemuria or Kumari Kandam which connected Africa, India and Australia. Even though it was never proven, they claim that this land housed an advanced civilisation which spread as far as Persia. The advancing tribes of uncultured Aryans from the North pushed them down south. They also shoved Hinduism down their throats to make them subservient to the Aryan descendants. 

In the late 19th century, pseudo-scientist delved into dubious experimentations and fashionable non-sciences to convince the people of South India and the tribal people that they were different from the rest of India. They were Dravidians, a great race suppressed by the Northerners and the evil Brahmins. The now-defunct 'Nasal Index' was used by Herbert Risley to prove his two-race theory and implementation of the caste system in Indian society. This was mentioned in Rig Veda, it seems. This 'discovery' was shown to support Max Muller's Aryan migration/ invasion theory. The Aryans from the Caucasus migrated down south to downgrade after marriages with the local while the wave of Aryans who went off to start the Greek and Germanic civilisations reached great heights. And the arrival of Europeans to the Indian shores is a time of reconnection.

See how this propagation of Aryan race created problems the world over. In Europe, it went on to Hitler, WW2 and devastation. In South India, it created the Dravidian movements that go on till today. In a way, it helped to flare the animosity between the Aryan-Buddhist-Singhalese and the Non-Aryan Jaffenese Tamils. 

In Africa, the Hamitic mythology condones slavery and categorised communities to races which eventually spurred the genocide in Rwanda. 

In 'God's Country'

One of Jesus' disciples, St Thomas, is said to have reached the Malabar shores in 52AD. Others attribute a Syrian, Thomas of Cana, to be the first evangelist. He was martyred during one of his conversion stints when he was speared by a local tribesman.

Robert Caldwell, a bishop and a grammarian, proposed a racial divide along with linguistics. The South Indian languages were etymologically different from Sanskrit, further sub classifying Indians by class, race and caste by profiling.

According to the authors, Christian missionaries have been active in the conversion ever since the first missionaries touched. They have found many ingenious ways to connect with the locals. They dress like them, live with them and be the first to be by their side when they are wronged or go through a calamity. They receive substantial international financial support from the Southern Baptist Churches in the US, the Lutheran Churches, many philanthropic foundations like The Ford Foundation, Pew Trust, Carnegie Trust and many more. Under the guise of humanitarian aid, they are active in the conversion of the members in the fringe of society. Through their scholarship programmes, they have created local firebrand leaders who have no qualms discrediting their motherland to serve their masters. They form the Fifth Column who subversively weaken the nation from within.

Many of the scholars have reinterpreted Hindu text and appropriated them to fit the Biblical events. Many historical dates had been altered to make it appear that Christianity predated Hindu philosophy. They try to impress the unassuming congregation that the earlier Tamil scriptures were actually inspired by Christianity and its teachings. They claim that the Kural written by Valluvar and Saiva Siddhanta is based on Christian teachings. It is claimed that idolatry is a Hinduism construct and that Dravidians were not idol worshippers. The bashing continues subtly through media and films. 

John Allen Chau, an evangelist
Killed by Sentinelese tribe in North Sentinel, near Andaman.

It is said that the atheistic nature of Tamil Nadu politics was inspired by this Brahmin bashing trend that was prevailing in the mid 20th century when Periyar took Tamil Nadu out of the Congress Party. It continues to date. 

The authors bring to light how seemingly opposing forces, as there are seen elsewhere, unite with the single aim to control India. Maoists, Marxists, Urban Naxalites, leftists, intellectuals, Communists, Jihadis aligned with Islam and Christian evangelists all have no qualms in setting aside their differences to fight their common enemy, the Hindutva movement, which has arisen to put back its forgotten history and facts in the right place.

As it stands today, India has to be wary against many internal centrifugal and external forces who are intertwined with each other to balkanise the country. They depict India as an opposed of freedom and a fascist state filled with horrors of Hindu savagery blurred between Islamic terrorism and violation by India against Muslims, Christians and Dalits.

What is the purpose of all these? They are of two folds. One is for political control to obtain a chaotic country with cheap labour. Secondly, there is a dire theological need to pulverise the last pagan civilisation standing to replace it with a monotheistic religion.

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Still relevant today

Pakistan or Partition of India (1940, Revised 1945)
B.R. Ambedkar

Dr Ambedkar is often voted as the single most important icon of India, surpassing Gandhi and the members of the Nehru clan. He has been described as one of the most erudite people from the subcontinent. He is credited with the drafting of the Indian Constitution. One of his many books that seem to be ahead of its times and is especially relevant in these trying times of identity politics is this one. 

It was written at the tumultuous times when India was fighting a war for the British while at the same time, in the local front struggling for self-rule. Like two siblings fighting for the coveted candy from their parents, it was a time when Muslims were fighting for a separate nation. The Hindus wanted to keep it that way as it had been since time immemorial.

As early as 630AD, through the writings of the travelling Buddhist monk, Hsuan Tang (Xuanzang), the Indian subcontinent had been described to spread from Afghanistan. The 8th-century Indian philosopher, via his travels to the four corners of the country, had demarcated the extent of India. So, to carve out part of the country, for sentimental reasons, is considered sacrilege. 

Char Dham (4 Abodes) - Holy pilgrim sites

as described by Adi Shankaracharya from

Kerala who united the nation of India through

his travels and philosophical debates to all

four corners of the country.

From the 8th century onwards, waves upon waves of Muslim invaders infiltrated from the North changing the landscape of the country altogether. It is said the destruction of various gems of knowledge were burnt to the ground. Temples were desecrated and looted. Then on it was a series of the path of destruction with kingdoms rising and falling, each new warrior claiming to protect their way of life. Finally, the British East India Company put the final death knell to the once glorious land.

By the time the British were ruling India, the dichotomy between the Hindus and Muslims were quite pronounced. The wealthy Muslims who prospered when the Mogul Emperor was ruling had all lost their influence. At about that time, the Ottoman Empire, the sick man of  Europe, was no worthy representative of the past glory of the religion. There was a dire need amongst the elite group to reignite this. 

The last time, the Hindus and Muslims join forces to combat a common enemy was during the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. The Colonial Master must have noticed this and using their time-tested 'divide-and-rule' tactic, they managed to create distrust between the two sides. So, when Independence was fought for, the Muslims were fervent on distrusting the Hindus. They claimed that they would get fair treatment in a country dominated by a Hindu majority. Hence, the call for a Muslim nation called Pakistan began as early as the 1930s. The calls for Islamic union started with Khalifat movement in 1919. They were sympathisers of the Ottoman Empire but were disappointed when Turkey became a republic instead of re-establishing an Islamic Empire.

Babasaheb Ambedkar was in a unique position to be the best person to critically evaluate all the merits and demerits of creating a Muslimraj nation. He, having the brunt of the discriminations hurled upon for being a Dalit and a Hindu, knows too well about the downside of the ugly treatment of the backward castes in a Hindu community. Being one who delved in different religions (before his mass conversion later), he is also well versed in the Islamic scriptures. Armed with this knowledge, he went on to discuss whether Partition should happen and what are the dangers should Pakistan were not created, from a Hindu and Muslim perspective.


Ambedkar had a lot of criticisms about Gandhi's way of going about getting Swaraj from the British. His cooperation with the Khalifat Movement and his back-bending means of appeasing to their whims and fancies were frowned upon. His inactions after the Mopla Rebellion in Kerala and the use of his secret weapon, fasting, for political gain and Indian unity were admonished. 

The Hindus, at least the ones in the upper crust (caste) of the society were mostly against Partition. Many wanted to maintain the status quo by clinging on to the civil service. Creation of a new nation would mean loss of their status. They were happy with Muslims living in India within pockets of Muslim majorities. They felt they would be fair.

The French-speaking and the English-speaking Canadian can live together. So can the English and the Boers in South Africa. And Switzerland has a harmonious mix of French, Italians and Germans in their populace. During the writing of the book, Czechoslovakia was living proof that two ethnicities, Czechs and Slovaks can come together as a country.

But, at the same time, in the case of Czechoslovakia, trouble can start from within. Like the Sudeten German who engaged Hitler to march into their country.

Ambedkar accused the Muslim of unable to show nationalism or nationalistic spirit. For them, there is the only allegiance to religion. The religious tie of Islam is the strongest in humanity. There was no assurance that Pakistan would be fair to their non-Muslim minorities and vice versa.

The author was also worried that what was left of India could even disintegrate. Unlike proposed Pakistan with a universal language of Urdu (and religion), India was a potpourri of cultures and languages. 

On top of all of the above, India had to deal with the bad foreign press. He quoted a 1927 novel 'Mother India' which was written by a Miss Mayo who was quick to paint a horrible picture of traditional Hindu way of life - child brides, widowhood etc. It created great dissatisfaction in India. The story was rewritten later and made into a blockbuster movie in 1957 to instil nationalism.

To conclude, in the epilogue, the author took the stand that it was inevitable that Partition should happen. Even though India had survived a cultural basket for generations, the creation of two nations was not pre-destined but a deliberate attempt to emphasise the difference when it was more beneficial to find commonalities. 

Communal antagonism is present everywhere. We should learn to embrace each other's differences.

https://etouch-jayanthinathan.blogspot.com/2017/05/pakistan-or-partition-of-india-by-dr-br.html

https://medium.com/@PranavSJ/book-review-pakistan-or-the-partition-of-india-by-dr-babasaheb-ambedkar-80f75dc5d368

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“Where We Go One We Go All”

White Squall (1996)

In my teen years, I remember helping an older teenager to organise a religious outing for a group of children. We were to arrange for a bus to get the kids to the other side of town for Sivarathri prayers. As it involved overnight event, somebody thought that verbal consent was not sufficient. Each participant was asked to get their parents to sign a release form. We got the replies promptly from all except one. It seemed his father, an Army man, refused to sign the consent form and wanted to see the organisers. That was the first time I was exposed to an unreasonable person who thought that the whole world out there was just out to kidnap his child. His coveted son did not make it to the prayers as we could not convince his father. Later in life, the calculating father must have miscalculated his drinking habits and succumbed to the effects of the bottle. The obedient son was also devastated much later, in an unrelated event, when he woke up one fine morning to discover that his wife of ten years had absconded with her lover and he was left to care for their three young children.

The motto of Albatross
'where we go one, we go all.'
(inscribed on the bell on JFK's boat)

There must surely be three ways to raise children - the hippie style, the helicopter type and the one in between. The helicopter type of parents would be the ones who put their children in a bubble, trying to protect them for adversities in life, but the offspring end up as a mimosa pudica. The hippie one would want their kids to be in sync with Nature. All the falls and bruises, in their minds, would make them anti-fragile.

This movie depicts the story of 15-year-old boys who went on a character-building expedition aboard an ill-fated sailing vessel, Albatross. This is based on a true story in 1961. Imagine 14 students of different background in 1960 allowed by their parent to make a man of themselves by sailing all the way from the Bahamas through the Caribbean. They were under the tutelage of four experienced crewmen. Unfortunately, the Albatross capsised after encountering a white squall (a sudden and violent windstorm at sea), killing two crew members and four teenagers.

Later investigations suggested that the Albatross probably lost its balance due to the additional fittings that had been affixed on her. Albatross actually is an old vessel. She started her service back in 1920 in the Netherlands as a pilot boat in the North Sea. During the WW2, she served as a radio-station ship for submarines. After the war, she was a trainer for Dutch sea-merchants. In 1954, she was brought to the U.S. and was featured in a few Hollywood blockbusters. Her final stint was preparing college students in sail training. The refitting, over the years by her owners, must have made her' top heavy' which jeopardised her stability when encountering the storm.

This movie is mentioned as one of President Trump's favourite film, even though he was quoted to have said to have enjoyed 'Citizen Kane' and 'Gone with the Wind'. (Definitely, not 'Parasite'). I think the conspiracy theorists would like to believe so. Many of the lines in this movie have been used by Q-Anon as Q-drops for his followers to pick up and draw conclusions. The bell on board had inscriptions which read 'where we go one, we go all'.


Interestingly, this is the recurrent motif that appears in social media post as hashtag #WWG1WGA. Q-Anon and followers promise that Trump, the chosen leader and his team, will expose the evil plan of the Cabal and offset the agenda of the New World Order. A skipper is as good as his crew.

N.B. "Where We Go One We Go All" was inscribed on the bell on JFK's boat. It is a rallying cry for unity, and now headlines an extraordinary set of events.

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