Dear friends, I just finished Behenji: a political biography of Mayawati by Ajay Bose that I have been trying to read for a while. While in US, I have been reading media reports on Ms Mayawati's rule, none of them were positive. I did read about her statues, memorial parks, jewelry, birthday cakes, indiscriminate transfers, and high handedness. Though I read these reports with a pinch of salt, I too felt she may not be going in the right direction with her historic electoral mandate. I am very much aware that a lot of misinformation is being spread by the mainstream media as far a Ms Mayawati is concerned. When I speak to my friends, I get the same stereo typed negative opinions on Ms Mayawati, most of them formed with the input of media. I expected that the book is no different in dealing with its subject. But, I was wrong. It's a lot positive and gave me an objective understanding of what she is upto and what she is doing in UP. It is full of statistical details and logical arguments (at least to me) supporting the facts and opinions. Though it doesn't shed much light on the personal life of Ms Mayawati, it did a good job of her rule and her objectives. I urge all to read it and understand her before writing off with whatever opinion one has about her. Now, I started reading another book I have been thinking of reading for so long, Brahmacharya: Gandhi and his women associates by Girja Kumar. Though not an ardent admirer of Gandhi, he is another intriguing personality whom I wanted to know objectively. With regards Benjamin Kaila ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society. -Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar
--- On Thu, 6/24/10, Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com>
Subject: On Dr Ambedkar play (Telugu)
To: "Dalit Group" <dalit@yahoogroups.com>, "Human Horizons" <humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk>, "AmbedkarScholarshipGroup" <ambedkarscholarship@yahoogroups.com>, "ZestCaste" <ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com>, "Dalit-international" <dalits-international@yahoogroups.com>, "DalitCOnference" <dalitconference@googlegroups.com>
Cc: "kaila anand" <paulkaila@yahoo.com>, "FFEI-India Rajvardhan" <raj@samsact.com>, "FFEI-India Samuel" <samuel@sonussoftware.com>, "Self Kaila" <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com>, pvvrao@hotmail.com, "Shiva Shankar" <sshankar@cmi.ac.in>, "Michael Arlen" <arlen@earthlink.net>, "'Jim' Kommu" <kommu_j@yahoo.com>, "Michael Jonas" <michaeljonas@gmail.com>, "RayadasManthena" <rayadasm@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, June 24, 2010, 4:40 PM
| Dear friends, Though I have been mentally stressed as I struck up in India unprepared, I am trying my best to use this time as purposefully as possible. One of the exciting times for me was watching a live play live last weekend. I got this opportunity after more than two and hald decades. I was thrilled as it was on the life of my hero Dr Ambedkar. I watched it for two consecutive days. As a child and as a teenager, I would go for miles to other villages to watch art forms of various kinds and forms. This musical play based on the real story of Dr Ambedkar's life (up to burning of Manu Smriti) was a feast to my eyes and senses. It was created by a school teacher Mr Patibandla Ananda Rao with a cast of nearly 80 actors. According to him it was not yet perfected, it was played only a couple of times so far. Still, it was so perfect that I started thinking how marvelous it would be watching it after a while when it was perfected. I am was not an art critic, still I would like to express my feelings. The play was so real that I could not control my emotions while watching some of the scenes. The performance of the child actor (little Dr Ambedkar) was superb, so was that of the actor played adult Ambedkar. Every other actor performed well and the music was melodious. I surprised how such a talented man (Mr Ananda Rao) was unnoticed so far. I was told his another play, Padamata Gali (Western wind) based on the globalization, was a superhit. Talent, when not recognized and noticed dies out. It is very much real in the case of talented Dalits. I remember watching such great art forms of various kinds as a child. They are all dying out for lack of patronage and invasion of unrealistic movie culture. Recording (even in crude form) of such dying art forms of Dalits and Tribals was one of my pet projects. But, it never took off for obvious reasons. At the end of the play, while talking about the art form he used in the play Mr Ananda Rao spoke about an old man who can recite 20 different plays from memory. How great it would be if someone come forward and immortalized the man and his talent before it is too late? How wonderful it would be if someone take the task of recoding various Dalit and Tribal art forms before they are died out? It needs dedication, sincerity, and above all money. Something needs to be done before it is too late. With regards Benjamin Kaila ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society. -Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar |
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