A Ruling Passion

A Ruling Passion by Judith Michael




The novel discusses many issues. Basically it is a novel about two characters Valerie and Sybille and the clashes between both. But in a deeper analysis we can see that the novelist is throwing some intricate questions to the society. When the people think that money matters everything and to acquire money do anything the basic values of the human society will collapse. The loss of these humanitarian values is very well discussed in the novel.
Another crucial issue the novelist trying to discuss is the marketization of religion.In this world of globalization even religious ideals becomes another commodity and while selling the commodity only profit matters. The clash between religious values and market values goes back to Middle Ages itself. The influence of money corrupted even the established churches itself. The God-men and religious preachers are subjected to so many corruption nowadays.
The influence of mass medias and other technologies on society and how it discards social values, all discussed in this novel.
In the last part of the novel the author tried to give a psychological explanation to the bad deeds of the central 'negative' character, Sybille but failed.




View all my reviews

The Man Under The Mask-V.S

"We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning."Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation
"There is nothing more mysterious than a TV set left on in an empty room. It is even stranger than a man talking to himself or a woman standing dreaming at her stove. It is as if another planet is communicating with you."
Jean Baudrillard, America
"The futility of everything that comes to us from the media is the inescapable consequence of the absolute inability of that particular stage to remain silent. Music, commercial breaks, news flashes, adverts, news broadcasts, movies, presenters—there is no alternative but to fill the screen; otherwise there would be an irremediable void.... That’s why the slightest technical hitch, the slightest slip on the part of the presenter becomes so exciting, for it reveals the depth of the emptiness squinting out at us through this little window."
— Jean Baudrillard,Cool Memories
Who is V.S. is he a political leader or a symbol of resistance; resistance against the inhuman agendas of globalization and also against the ideological deviation of CPI(M). V.S. the Opposition leader and the Chief Minister are two individuals, two identities. Or it is just an idea constructed by the media and the pseudo-intellectuals of the day.
The Medias projected V.S as a warrior who is fighting against the decayed political ideology of the Communist Party. If this is the case the people supporting V.S., as claimed by the Medias, should have a clear political vision centred on the Communist ideology; that they have clear cut objection against Globalization.
The Medias, do they have any sentiments towards Communist ideology, no. Since they are the products of globalization they simply using the marketability of V.S. Not the ‘original’ (?) V.S. but the image, the “product”. So the impact of the long struggle conducted by V.S. is that he became an important product in the hands of consumeristic capitalism, the same thing he was fighting against. This argument is true only when we assume that V.S is actually fighting against globalization.
The man under the mask, V.S., is not fighting any battle, he need power. The bourgeois politician K. Karunakaran and V.S are not two different entities but signify the same political behaviour, the only difference is the strategy adopted by both; one with a mask and the other naked.
The book India On Television (Nalin Mehta) discusses the impact of television in Indian society. The role of media in constructing and destroying persons/ images is discussed in detail in this book.
Everywhere we are running behind images/idols. We don’t want to take risks so we construct some images and fighting for it. So the Man Under The Mask of V.S. is not V.S. but the medias itself.

India: Politics in the New Age

India
•    India is under the strategic/diplomatic cogency of the U.S. grip.
•    magnificent conferences about Indian democracy will not save the country.
•    India is a failure in International Politics, could not use its positive relations with other countries for the betterment of the nation.
•    The Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline would have been a great step towards diplomatic and financial success.
•    The movements initiated by India, for e.g. NAM was a great steps in constructing an identity of our own apart from the two power blocks, U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. Even though after the destruction of USSR it became meaningless, we should be independent in matters concerning global issues and should always be a great help to other Asian-African countries.
•    The enmity with Pakistan and China are an issue we should tackle ourselves without the help of any foreign powers including the US.
•    For us countries like China and US should be alike; if it is helpful we should join hands with all these nations.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/the-india-cables/article1538083.ece

orachante ormakkurippukal

"When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty."
— Thomas Jefferson
The book “Orachante Ormakkurippukal” is a memoir written by Prof. T.V. Eachara Warrior about his son Rajan, who died in the police cell during the Dark Periods of Emergency. It is more than a memoir; it portrays the struggle of Prof. Eachra Warrior against the government’s brutality.

The critic of Congress Party and of Indira Gandhi often cites this as an example of their anti-democratic concerns. Mrs. Gandhi was a dictator during those years.
The problem is not of Mrs. Gandhi or the Congress or Mr.Karunakaran, as the sympathisers of democracy would argue; it is the failure of democracy itself. Why the Constitution-makers included the provision of Emergency in the Constitution? They were aware of the fact that the system is inadequate in tackling serious issues. So the incident, Rajan’s death, will remain as a question mark in the history of Indian Union, more powerfully when prominent personalities like Dr. Binayak Zen is under police custody.21

A Call to Inaction: Elections in India

The Election Commission in India proclaimed election in some states recently. All the political parties are now busy with newer promises and try to influence the voters with different ways. They repeat all these activities during the election time and we, as voters, elect someone from the list. Neither the people nor the leaders tried to improve the present system of governance in the country.

It is high time to review the history of democracy and its relevance here in India. For the last few years our governments are famous for its total inefficiency in tackling problems. Whenever there is a chance to show the glory of India, for e.g., The Commonwealth Games, we are complete failure. All such events are notable for the corruptive sides rather than any positives in it. Whether the party in power is leftist, rightist, or extreme right wing the rule is the same. Communal violence, corruption, and total carelessness in matters related to human freedom and expression of independent opinions.

The question I would like to ask here is, do we need this kind of governmental set-up here? We have the right to elect the most “corrupted” politician, not the best one. Do we really have a choice to decide about our own representatives? No.
When the rulers are inefficient, when we have no better choice, the only way to show our feeling is to keep away from the democratic system itself. Away from the election process itself.
I am not against democracy as such. I am not an anarchist. I am not an anti national. But I can see the decay of the system. And I foresee the advent of a new system of representation in place of democracy. In different countries in the world including Libya, Egypt and several other nations anti-national struggles are going on. There is no such issue in India, not because of the efficiency of the system, but because of the inefficiency of the people. We are living in a comfort zone without being bothered about all these issues. A time will come to reminds us that we are too late to respond...
We can’t follow the Libyan model or the Egyptian one. So the thing we can do is to show our reaction through boycotting the election process. Our histories taught us about the divide and rule policy of the Britishers when they rule us. The same history texts talk nothing about the present day Divide and Rule policy of our own representatives. The history texts talks about the colonial judicial system which was prevalent in India. But the same texts forget to mention that our own judiciary is similar to colonial judicial set up.
Reference:
1.Wikipedia contributors. "Indian political scandals." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Mar. 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2011.
2. Communal riots in post-independence India. By Asgharali EngineerGoogle Book Search http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yB5NM0o3I9QC&lpg=PA165&ots=CeQlz8ksiL&dq=communal%20violence%20in%20post%20independent%20India&pg=PA166#v=onepage&q=communal%20violence%20in%20post%20independent%20India&f=false