The Algebra of Arundhati’s Injudiciousness

I for one is not surprised at Ms Roy`s antics - the lady is just crazy and stupid......

But what happend to FV? Where is the real FV?

FV,

Again, this piece is too tangential and muddled for any clear thesis to emerge without great effort on the reader. The arguments and counterarguments are not delineated clearly and instead of conveying the (at least) two perspectives, the piece itself is confusing and fairly unconvincing.

Writers seem to belong to two schools: those who accept awards and those, who for political reasons, don`t. There are equally valid reasons for both stances.

The scolding of Roy is amusing at best....one hopes that other dissident writers will get similar letters of complaint.

The reason for rejecting this award is simple. What would you rather have? One lousy certificate and a few thousand rupees from Sahitya Academy, or thousands of dollars in speaking fees on the american lecture circuit?

#2 by Saminasha on January 23, 2006 6:48am PT

are you grading her term paper or something? Does she get a D-?


Again, this piece is too tangential and muddled for any clear thesis to emerge


It`s clear as daylight...Usually FV loves AR.... but FV thinks AR was wrong to refuse this award because this isn`t really a government sponsored award.

``For several reasons I have openly expressed my admiration for Arundhati Roy``
That statement you made in the beginning, seems to the only credentials for your claim, if there was one, to being unbiased.

I, for one, do not think that the Sahitya Academy award would have enhanced Arundhatis fame by 0.0001 mm.

Was Jesus Christ in need of a Nobel Prize in Literature? Yet, his speeches inspired his people for generations. Is Mother Therasa so popular only because she is going to be granted `Sainthood`?

Arundhati, IS NO ORDINARY WRITER. Though she clearly outstrips many contemporary writers by her sheer prose, what makes her different, is her strong conviction in what she writes.

Her speeches and writings being only an outwardly expression of what SHE is made off.

Farzana, personally, I feel ashamed and offended at your sheer stupidity and arrogance. By not understanding the `person` behind Arundhati, you have not only undermined, but exposed to debate, your own credentials.

5
[...By not understanding the `person` behind Arundhati...]

Alright then - you tell us - explain the `person` behind Arundhati....

Point well made, just the style is jarring. But then this is the author`s style; always combative.

``I for one is not surprised at Ms Roy`s antics - the lady is just crazy and stupid...``

mohar mian...mohar mian.....mohar mian....what are we going to do with you.....:)

``Arundhati, IS NO ORDINARY WRITER.`` -- she is Jhansi Ki Rani of the Indian literary Ghadar....

kaka is not a consumer of Roy`s writings and has fleeting knowledge of her..

If you can reject an award and get more mileage out of it, then the attempt could be appreciated just as that gesture: create more awareness/waves etc.

Versey omits to educate Roy about the aptest socialist justification that Josh Malihabadi gave almost a century ago..

In YaadoN ki braat, Josh is requested by an respected elder to stop writing against the British Sarkaar. Josh turns it into a Hussain/Yazeed comparision and asks isn`t it incumbent that the British be seen as the oppressor. The elder retorts that if Josh is such a mighty moralists, then WHY DOES HE TAKE STIPENDS FROM THESE TINPOT PRINCELY STATES (Josh never did a dime worth of work). Josh replies that the MONEY THAT HE TAKES DOES NOT BELONG TO THESE NIZAMS AND RULERS but to the ordinary people (who have been exploited) to whom he is eternally indebted and indeed champions in his poems..

Only if Roy or Versey were to be smart enough to point this out..

samina,

Your yelping at Versey really shows your true colors. You are so jealous of her that you could not even see a clear thesis. All jokes and disagreements aside, you are truly a small person! As a punishment, kaka will not tease you for one full month!

My feelings are similar to yours, Farzana. I responded to something I had read on Roy in The Hindu on my blog a few months back: http://vikashsingh.blogspot.com. Direct Link: http://vikashsingh.blogspot.com/2005/09/arundhati-roy-and-one-half-solution.html

For the lazy ones here is the direct text for the article; however, before reading I must say the following:

I just might get pounced on for this article due to its relevance to Kashmir; however, at the time I wrote the article it justified my feelings. I might change a few statements here and there upon another look but mostly tone down my rhetoric and allow a few more concessions.

Text:


On my flight from Colombo, Sri Lanka to New Delhi, India, (to take photographs for an NGO at The People`s Summit Against Poverty in Delhi) I stopped by The Taj Samudra(5 star hotel) for some of the best Dosa I`ve ever had (cost SLRs. 375 = $3.75). While waiting for my food I grabbed the latest edition of The Hindu (Chennai printed version as opposed to the New Delhi printed version). In which Arundhati Roy made statments claiming, for any sort of peace to take place in Kashmir, the Indian government must unequivocally, without compromise, withdraw ALL of its troops. Allow me first to discuss my relationship with her ideas.

At one point in time, I had grown so tired of her liberal rant that the idea of Arundhati Roy was like picking at a continuously ripe sore without allowing it time to heal. I had agreed with her stance on the war in Iraq, and even now I greatly value and thoroughly respect her advocacy of the Gandhian ahimsa(non-violence). I greatly disagreed, however, with her stance on the Narmada Dam Project (I believe that collecting and channeling the monsoon rain towards once-fertile lands is a far better approach than relying heavily on underground water). Her continued advertisement against damming lead to the development of my sore. And, now, when it comes to Kashmir - I could not disagree with her more.

She wants an immediate removal of Indian troops citing their pressure is repressive. Don`t we all want the removal of Indian troops from Kashmir - it has cost India many human lives and money which could have been spent for economic development and combatting poverty. The repression, however, is required to combat certain folks. Without such repression extremists would unabatedly continue to propogate anit-Indian thoughts (whether this thought is followed by pro-Pakistan or pro-independence advocation is another matter). Ms. Roy does not seem to realize what she is asking for. As a person who seems to surface in the news only to further her ideas without any concessions, I am willing to conclude that Ms. Roy is an opportunist - taking fame by the virtue of creating a stir.

This stir occurs once in a blue moon preceded by a waning of attention to Ms. Roy`s highly saturated philosophies of anti-repressive redundancies. I do not disagree with the need to remove Indian troops, but Ms. Roy`s criticism is only half-thought out. It does not suggest ideas following the removal of these troops from Srinagar. What then? Let the L.O.C. be fully permeable and watch the rise of terrorism again? Maybe watch again as Kashmiri pundits are forced into exile: no Srinagar and now no Jammu. Ms. Roy needs to consider the consequences of her ideas prior to its full implementation. I do respect her; however, it seems her ideas are lost in the realm of imagination and are certainly beyond the realm of implementation.

Vikash

nasah

..... I am sorry - but the the lady is just cuckoo :)

FV - Well said.

The woman called Arundhati Roy should be madea persona non-grata. However, she has a right to accept or not acceptthe award, and this we must respect.

What we can do is show her the contempt she is held in?

Missy Sammy your little jealousies seem to showing like the proverbial slip. (smilies)

FV - Well said.

The woman called Arundhati Roy should be madea persona non-grata. However, she has a right to accept or not acceptthe award, and this we must respect.

What we can do is show her the contempt she is held in?

Missy Sammy your little jealousies seem to showing like the proverbial slip. (smilies)

Farzana Versey
Chowk editor
Dear Madam
Quite interesting topic. To be truth, I never knew who this Arundhati Roy is? All the times, an interactor by the name of (saminasha) opens threads on unplugged by this particular name, called Arundhati Roy. I never opened those threads. Those were quite boring.

But, you made this article so, much worth reading, i coludn`t wait to read the whole article.
Here lies the difference between true writer and a pseudointellectual. Obviously you belong to former category of true write.

Very well written and quite convincing, Farzana, I must say, you said it all . You have very valid points. Only through this article, i came to know, who this Arundhati Roy is!!!

This para of the article said it all,{{{{If it is principles…

Then why does she accept encomiums from countries that India has problems with? She has visited Pakistan, spoken out candidly on various issues, which is just as it should be. But if you can accept the hospitality of a government that does not have an impeccable track record, then you have to show some respect for your own country too – its track record notwithstanding.

Does she not go to the West and speak out against Western imperialism? This is good. Using the same standards, is she then conveying that she approves of Occidental freedom of speech versus ours? Indirectly, she is sponsored by the various governments whose policies she opposes. The minute she applies for a visa and is ushered through immigrations till she returns home, she is hostage to the environment.

It is a dichotomy of social consciousness that you may not sleep with the enemy, but you have to sometimes use its bed}}}}}}

Yes, you convinced me. Now, I think who ever this Arundhati Roy is, she is wrong in rejecting the award. She is playing a game of double standards, after all, this is what most Indo-Pakis do..............................
Regards
Zeena

zeena
[....She is playing a game of double standards....]

Well - we all do that every once in a while - so that`s not a big deal. But this episode is yet another display of ideological confusion and stupidity on part of Ms Roy - which is par the course with leftists and commies of all stripes in India......

Which would be no concern to me - except for the fact that leftists have quite a fair amount of influence in Indian politics/economics and such confusion and stupdity ultimately seeps down in the policy making and economic planning..... that has been the bane of Indian existence and economic well-being and conitnues do so. So from that POV - I consider Ms Roy a negative force towards India`s economic and political resurgence - and she and people of her ilk should be countered and their ideological stupidities invalidated.