Revathy Gopal: RIP

Re: # 9

Thank you for extracting these quotes from her comments on Chowk. We`ll forward it to her family.

Here are a few selected pieces from Revathy Gopal interacts on this web-site – they read even better when taken out of their context. :)

On Religion

{I have specifically said ``freedom from religion,`` not freedom from God. There`s a difference.}

{I am in no way stomping on any one else`s right to believe in whoever or whatever they will. Just don`t get taken in by the hollow claptrap offered by gurus and godmen and yes, godwomen too. Being rational and still a believer is quite possible. The comfort of faith is tremendous.}

{Everything has to come into living, celebrations and charity and compassion and cleansing oneself of prejudice and bigotry. Again, taking the best from all religions, what`s wrong with that? The Sermon on the Mount, and Mohommed`s teachings of equality and justice and Jain teachings of reverence for all life... one can see good in all great philosophies.}

{Burning people alive has become a hallmark of the Hindu Right.}

{Humanity as a whole seems to have lapsed considerably into tribalism instead of bringing barriers down crashing and seeing the strong common threads that hold us all together. What boring gods we have created! Little better than the angry old men of the tribe, gods who are petty and vengeful, gods who have created a violent, unjust world. The word `religion` stinks, but let us admit that man and his need for transcendance have created great art, great literature, great music.}

{It`s only a few years back perhaps that I got rid of that feeling, force-fed at convent school, that there was this great eye-in-the sky looking down on me, giving me brownie points for `good`and subtracting several hundreds for being`bad`. Not that that eye kept me from being `bad if I really wanted to. I think, people pretty much do what they want, regardless of whether they think they will be punished or rewarded.}

{We are told stories, myths, legends, other people`s ideas but what are the facts as you and I have really experienced and understood, outside of religious belief and the need to believe? I have experienced miracles in my life but that does not compel me to jump to conclusions. I have adopted a wait and watch attitude. The world is a vast, beautiful mystery. For me poetry provides answers or at least hints and suggestions}

{Holiness is not conferred by some lazy journalist sitting at a desk or by right-wing parties from the Centre.}

On Society

{You really must rid yourself of these stereotypes, dear Harimau. For you the comfort of being Tam Brahm and raising it at every juncture is the same as someone in a burqa feeling protected and safe and complete.}

{In an ideal situation, you would not even be asked which community you came from. Just to say one is Indian would be, should be enough. But we are far from living in an ideal state aren`t we, my brothers?}

{In a country where the majority community cannot see its way to being generous and large-hearted, instead invent ways to keep minorities cowed down and poor, one cannot even begin to speak of one nation, indivisible.}

{Our societies are so layered... how would someone who hasn`t even had two square meals a day, react to the comfort and seeming security of a middle-class existence?}

{There are Goa`s and Goa`s. Yours is a romantic, dream-scape, I think I`ve seen a not-so-rosy side.}

On FMG

{I read this with my heart thumping madly. I wanted to scream. How can women do this to their own children or to any child at all? It`s not just Muslim women but all women who live whole normal lives who must protest worldwide. How can such things be? Why do men allow it? Do they want their women in constant pain and danger? Where does love come into all this?}

On Caste

{Caste and its subtext, discrimination against other humans, will exist in one form or another for ever, But if each one of us who inveighs against society and fellow-contributors to Chowk(!), can contribute time to teach, send one child from a poor family to school, or help with nutrition, hygiene, uniforms, books, fees, it can make an immense difference.}

On Understanding

{We are so fond of yelling insults at each other, (just take the responses to this article), we lose sight of the main picture. The worst thing is to say,``I``m fine, and me and mine are fine, I couldn`t care less what happens to the rest!``}

On Women

{I think emotions play a far greater role in women`s lives than in men`s, for whatever reason. To be able to regard emotions with wariness, examine them intellectually and then dissect them in prose or poetry, is to have travelled a great distance from being slave to them.}

{Fighting your individual battle to remain who you are, the multiple-personed `you` is really the good fight.}

{Love is such a bit_ch, isn`t it? Whatever you may do, not do, there`s heartache. Women can never seem to get it right, and other women do them in!}

On Writing

{I know my family sniggered when I said I wanted to write, probably because I was such a dud where important things like math and science were concerned! One begins writing almost furtively, under cover of darkness as it were and attempts to work one`s way into the light with an almost defiant stance. Clarity comes with writing, one is fighting obscurantists, orthodoxy, to subvert prevailing cobwebs. Am I being at all clear?}

{Can you imagine a baby crawling around where there is wet paint flowing? The only consolation I can offer is that babies become grown men and women and you recede into their past, or into the dark corners of their mutilated imaginations and psyches!!}

My personal favorite!

{Hello BeeJay, Thank you for your posting in response to this piece... fidelity to country, such a beautiful idea but you will find so many contrary voices trying to take the easy way out. Everyone questions the very idea of patriotism, or the need for a nation as such. Is it condemned to remain only an idea? Most young people resent having to study history--that is where I began the article. So the stored memory of the past has to be made attractive enough to offer the young and not by just saying how wonderful that past was, or by making films like Mangal Pandey but by trying to establish the facts of the time. Making kids do their own research would be valuable, so one must utilise modern methods of teaching, sitting in libraries, consulting the Internet, doing small projects. It is truly daunting to think of the vastness that is our history, but how does one begin to understand? }

This is sad.

I always respected and looked forward to reading Revathy`s work. I am saddened to hear of her passing and pray that it is a peaceful one.

#9 she was such an enlightened old soul

Sad news.. At least she`s free from physical pain and suffering.

Revathy Gopal was a Pearl.

``Ek shamma jul rahee thee so voh bhi khamosh hai``

I re-read her piece of May last year on the subject of her diagnosis with cancer, and was struck by how bravely she faced this ultimate challenge. ina lilla hai wa ina elehai rajioon. May she rest in peace.

``I could Invent a Religion`` is in my view her epitome. I feel CHOWK owes her a feature on the FP, preferably written by another chowkie who knew her personally. May God Bless her in his infinite Mercy.
Rest in Peace

Sad news indeed. My sincere condolences to Revati`s family. May her soul rest in peace.

Chowk is a big family, though we do not by and large, know each other personally. Many are acccomplished writers, and yet are anonymous.

Revathy was one of the few writers on chowk who wrote for the pleasure of writing, rather than to belittle anyone.

I shared Revathys views about god and religion, and remember what she wrote in support of one of my articles a little more than a year ago:
http://www.chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00005969&channel=civic%20center&threshold=1&layout=0&order=0&start=250&end=259&page=1#33


Bravo, Mr. Parthasarathy. I applaud your courage and frankness in saying what many people probably feel but are too timorous to say out aloud. Humanity as a whole seems to have lapsed considerably into tribalism instead of bringing barriers down crashing and seeing the strong common threads that hold us all together. What boring gods we have created! Little better than the angry old men of the tribe, gods who are petty and vengeful, gods who have created a violent, unjust world.

The word `religion` stinks, but let us admit that man and his need for transcendance have created great art, great literature, great music. Think of the wonders of temple architecture, great Islamic mosques and the cathedrals of Europe that soar towards the sky! Such a pity that they do not house gods worthy of them.

reva315


We need more brave people like you, Reva!
Rest in Peace

I just wish to post my old post from Revathy`s article about her breast cancer................

I am extremely sad and reading all articles by her.

In the memory of Revathy.

[[Dear writer:

Very well placed article. You have done an excellent job of putting together all pieces of tragic journey of this disease, called breast cancer.

The human sufferings and toll of this disease is enormous. In USA , every 9th out of 10 women is diagnosed with breast cancer and every day a woman is diagnosed and dies from this disease.Men can also be inflicted by breast cancer and their disease is less responsive to therapy and more catastrophic. Breast cancer can kill young, old, men and women at a rate which is unbelievable.

Thanks to modern day therapeutic techniques, we are seeing so many cancer survivors...........

Speaking of survivors, you can call them survivors, champions in the fight against cancer or simply winners over cancerous deaths.

I have met hundreds of survivors with their amazing stories who are dealing with this disease optimistically with the will to live guided by their spirits. I always see thankfulness in their eyes as if they are more thankful to live, as if they value their lives more than others. And almost all of them are living with a new hope, a new light to shine their lives, they are healthier than others in the sense that they take care of their selves more and they have learnt a lesson, no matter what, life is a gift from GOD, don`t waste it........

Thank you for sharing with us your journey...................

On side note:-

“I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God”
Helen Keller quotes]]

May She rest in peace. I am sure she will live on through that which she has added to our common human compendium with her beautiful pieces.

Kind of reminds me of the immortal words of the song Big Yellow Taxi :

Don`t it always seem to go
That you don`t know what you`ve got
Till it`s gone

Dear Revathy:

I want to say so much, but it is too late. You were the first person who came out and stood by me. I did not know you. I demanded pieces...remember the profile on Jayalalitha that you sent in at super-fast time? Then there was a pause. Wake up, I asked, and very gently you asked me to wait…I wondered why. Till I opened the attachment that accompanied your, as always, vivacious note, “Here it is, as ordered”. It spoke about your cancer.

It is rare to feel any guilt as a professional but I was in tears. I found your telephone number that was there with an old piece.

“How are you now?” I asked, rather foolishly, knowing that you were going through chemotherapy. And you said, “Surprisingly good.” I believed you. You said, “Come over for lunch or dinner…” I did not wish to trouble you. Then you gave me the bait of “South Indian coffee”. I waited for you to get better.

Even through my hiatus, we continued talking. “Why are you doing this?” was all you asked. You understood without my explaining. It did not matter to you. We had connected. You sent me books. I don’t do this often but I called you at regular intervals. It used to be tea-time, I remember. You sometimes sounded tired, just sometimes. Then you were leaving for London. “I’ll call you when I get back and then you have to come over,” you said.

I waited. I did not call. Wasn’t sure. Thought you were well…you did say you wanted to start some editing work, which could be done from home and which would not take up too much effort. I thought you were busy. I thought….why did I think so much?

Is this sounding treacly? But you told me I should not bother, just surge ahead. So, yes, Revathy, I just spoke to Gopal, your husband, partner and fellow writer. He said you were fond of me, that we shared our values and ideologies. I know you were a rational person. But just this once why don’t you believe in an afterlife?

I am still greedy. I want my coffee. And I still want to read you.

Love always,
F

May her soul rest in peace!