Shevlin Sebastian's Blog, page 44

A heart-breaking end to a tumultuous life

To take part in the 2008 parliamentary elections, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned to the country, from a self-imposed exile in 2007. While campaigning in Rawalpindi she died in a bomb blast
By Shevlin Sebastian

On December 27, 2007, there was a festive spirit on the streets of Rawalpindi. People were waving placards. There were cheers and shouts of ‘Benazir Bhutto Zindabad’ The former Prime Minister was wearing a satiny blue salwar kameez, a white shawl around her head, and two thick flower garlands around her neck.

After a self-imposed exile of eight years, in Dubai and London, while court cases of corruption against her remained pending Benazir had returned to Pakistan to take part in the 2008 national elections.

Benazir was standing and waving to supporters through the sunroof of her bulletproof white Toyota Land Cruiser. John Moore, a Getty Images photographer who was standing nearby said that there were two gunshots and Benazir fell back inside. Very soon after that, there was a bomb blast.

Benazir’s close confidant Sherry Rahman, who was inside the vehicle, says, “I remember the vehicle shaking and the glass splintering.”

An unconscious Benazir was rushed to the Rawalpindi General Hospital. The time: 5.35 p.m. A team of doctors tried to save her. But her injuries were far too grave. And she passed away.
Expectedly, there was a violent reaction.

Supporters destroyed the hospital’s glass doors, vehicles were burnt, stones were thrown on the streets, the police were attacked, traffic was blocked, and billboards of military dictator General Pervez Musharraf was torched.  Soon, the Pakistan Rangers announced shoot-on-sight orders.

At least 47 people died in the riots. Overall, 176 banks, 34 petrol pumps and hundreds of cars and shops were destroyed.

There was a debate about how she died. Her Pakistan People’s Party said she was shot by an unidentified gunman before he detonated the explosives he was wearing. But the Interior Ministry, in a statement, said, ‘Bhutto was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle, and the shock waves from the blast knocked her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull.’ An anonymous Toyota official said Benazir could not have hit the lever based on its location in the car.

Farooq Naik, a senior official of the PPP said the Ministry’s statement was ‘baseless’ and ‘a pack of lies’. Meanwhile, a doctor at the hospital said that Benazir’s medical records were taken away immediately and they were warned not to talk about the killing.

Later, a nine-month investigation by the UN Commission of Inquiry, appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the request of the Pakistani Government, said, “A range of government officials failed profoundly in their efforts first to protect Ms Bhutto and second to investigate with vigour all those responsible for her murder, not only in the execution of the attack but also in its conception, planning and financing.”

Heraldo Munoz, Chile’s Ambassador to the UN and chairman of the commission said, “Responsibility for Ms Bhutto’s security on the day of her assassination rested with the federal government, the government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi district police. None of these entities took necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary, fresh and urgent security risks that they knew she faced.”

The Commission was also unhappy with the investigation in the immediate aftermath of the killing. “The collection of 23 pieces of evidence was inadequate in a case that should have resulted in thousands,” said Munoz. “Hosing down of the crime scene just two hours after the blast goes beyond mere incompetence. It is up to the relevant authorities to determine whether this amounts to criminal responsibility.”

Till now, nobody has been charged with the dastardly killing.

Background  

Benazir Bhutto had been Prime Minister of Pakistan twice, from 1988 to 1990, and from 1993 to 1996. She is now regarded as the first woman to lead a democratically elected government in a Muslim majority nation. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who became Prime Minister in 1973. However, General Zia ul Haq ousted him in a 1977 military coup and subsequently, Zulfikar was hanged.

Benazir, who had studied at Harvard and Oxford Universities, along with her mother Nusrat, took control of her father’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and launched the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy. She was jailed by Zia and then exiled to London in 1984. She returned in 1986. On August 17, 1988, Zia Ul Haq died in a plane crash. Thereafter, in the 1988 elections, Benazir led the PPP to victory.

As Prime Minister, her attempts at reform were stymied by conservative President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and the powerful military. Her administration was accused of corruption and nepotism and dismissed by Khan in 1990. Thereafter, Nawaz Sharif came to power. When that government was also dismissed in 1993, when Khan dissolved the National Assembly, Benazir led the PPP to victory in the 1993 elections.  

During her second term, she advanced privatisation and women’s rights. But there were several controversies: the assassination of her brother Murtaza, and a bribery scandal involving her and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. As a result, President Farooq Leghari dismissed her government in 1996. The PPP lost the 1997 elections and in 1998 Benazir went into self-exile in Dubai. 

(Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India editions)

Rasputin’s meteoric rise and macabre death

Grigori Rasputin, a monk, was a spiritual advisor to Czar Nicholas 11 and his wife Alexandra. The elite found his presence a menace. Soon, he was murdered
Photos: Rasputin; the monk surrounded by his admirers 
By Shevlin Sebastian
On the night of December 16, 1916, Grigori Rasputin, a monk who was very close to Czar Nicholas 11 and his wife Alexandra, was invited to the Moika Palace at St. Petersburg, which belonged to Prince Felix Yusupov. Felix was regarded as one of the richest men in Russia and was married to Irina, the only niece of Czar Nicholas 11.  
When Rasputin entered the palace he heard a gramophone recording of the American song, ‘Yankee Doodle’.
“What’s this?” said Rasputin. “Is someone giving a party?”
Felix said, “My wife is entertaining a few of her friends.” Owing to the bitter cold, Felix said, “Let’s have a cup of tea.”
Then he invited Rasputin to come to the basement. It had a fireplace. In front of it was a round table, with three wooden chairs. Rasputin sat on one of the chairs. There, according to Felix’s autobiography, ‘Lost Splendor’, (1928), he gave Rasputin cakes to eat, which had been laced with cyanide. Rasputin ate a couple. But, to Felix’s surprise, Rasputin remained normal. After a while, Rasputin asked for Madeira wine, which had also been poisoned. Again, Rasputin drank it and showed no signs of distress.
Felix’s co-conspirators were waiting upstairs. They included the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and the right-wing politician Vladimir Purishkevich.
Felix excused himself and went upstairs. He borrowed a revolver from Dmitri. Then he went down and shot Rasputin in the chest. Rasputin fell to the floor.
Thinking that he had died, the trio went over to Rasputin's apartment, with one of them wearing Rasputin's hat and coat, to show that Rasputin had returned home.
But when Felix returned to the basement, suddenly, Rasputin jumped up and attacked him. Felix was shocked but managed to flee upstairs.
In his book, Felix wrote, “This devil who was dying of poison, who had a bullet in his heart, must have been raised from the dead by the powers of evil. There was something appalling and monstrous in his diabolical refusal to die.”
Rasputin followed Felix up the stairs and managed to make his way out into the snow-banked courtyard. He staggered from side to side. But it was then that Purishkevich came out and shot him dead. The group then wrapped Rasputin’s body in a sheet of cloth, went to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped the body into the Malaya Nevka River.
The next day an investigation was launched. When a couple of labourers noticed blood on the railing of the Petrovsky Bridge, they informed the police.
Rasputin’s body was found 200 metres downstream. Following a post-mortem by Dr Dmitry Kosorotov, a senior autopsy surgeon, he mentioned that there were three gunshot wounds to the forehead.
Eventually, Rasputin was buried on January 2. The funeral was attended by the royal family and a few others. Rasputin's wife, children and his mistress were not invited, although his daughters met the Royal family later that day.
However, when the Tsar abdicated the throne in March, 1917, Rasputin’s body was exhumed and burned by a group of soldiers so that his burial site did not become a rallying point for supporters of the old regime.
The Background
The reason for the murder was because there was a lot of resentment against Rasputin because of his undue influence with the Czar as well as Alexandra.
He seemed an unlikely person to reach the inner circle. Rasputin was born in 1869 in the village of Pokrovskoye, 433 kms from Moscow. When he grew up, he worked on his father’s farm. Later, he married a local woman Praskovya Dubrovina and had three children Maria, Dmitri and Varvara.
Rasputin’s life changed in 1892 when he spent a few months at a monastery. The monks observed that he had a religious fervour as well as a personal charisma. Soon, he met some Russian Orthodox clergymen as well as members of the Imperial Family.
Later, through the family members, he met the Czar. And the latter was impressed. The Czar wrote a letter to one of his ministers in 1906 in which he said, “A few days ago I received a peasant from the Tobolsk district, Grigori Rasputin, who brought me an icon of St. Simon Verkhoturie. He made a remarkably strong impression both on Her Majesty and on myself so that instead of five minutes our conversation went on for more than an hour.”
Soon, Rasputin became their spiritual advisor. But he had the most impact on Alexandra who was deeply anxious because her only son Alexei suffered from haemophilia.
He would regularly pray over Alexei. Author Douglas Smith, in his book, ‘Rasputin: Faith, Power and the Twilight of the Romanovs,’ (2016), wrote, “Rasputin’s assurances calmed the anxious, fretful mother and filled her with unshakeable confidence, and she, in turn, transferred this confidence to her ailing son, literally willing him back to health.”
One reason for Alexei’s improved health could be that Rasputin ensured that there were no doctors around him. And that turned out to be the right decision. Among the many medicines they used was aspirin which tended to thin the blood. As a result, Alexei improved rapidly. And Rasputin’s position became even more entrenched.
Soon, Rasputin was making recommendations for ministerial appointments and that angered the elite. His behaviour away from the court was nothing short of scandalous. He was often drunk and widely promiscuous, sleeping with prostitutes as well as society women. The press wrote about his affairs and it scandalised the public. There were rumours also that Rasputin was sleeping with Alexandra, too. It all became a bit too much. And finally, Felix and his fellow conspirators decided to finish him off.
When the Russian Revolution took place in 1917, Felix and his wife emigrated to France and lived a life of attending dance balls and the ballet. But he seemed to have no regrets about the killing of Rasputin. In 1967, just before he died, at the age of 80, a French TV interviewer asked him, “When you think about Rasputin, what sentiments come to your mind?”
“Disgust,” said Felix coolly.
-----------------Rasputin in modern life
For modern audiences, they became aware of Rasputin thanks to the 1978 disco superhit song by the pop group, Boney M.
Here are the lyrics:
There lived a certain man in Russia long agoHe was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glowMost people looked at him with terror and with fearBut to Moscow chicks, he was such a lovely dear.
He could preach the Bible like a preacherFull of ecstasy and fireBut he also was the kind of teacherWomen would desire.
Ra Ra RasputinLover of the Russian queenThere was a cat that really was goneRa Ra RasputinRussia's greatest love machineIt was a shame how he carried on.
But when his drinking and lusting and his hungerfor power became known to more and more peoplethe demands to do something about this outrageousman became louder and louder.
"This man's just got to go!" declared his enemiesBut the ladies begged, "Don't you try to do it, please."No doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charmsThough he was a brute they just fell into his arms.
Then one night some men of higher standingSet a trap, they're not to blame"Come to visit us," they kept demandingAnd he really came.
Ra Ra RasputinLover of the Russian queenThey put some poison into his wineRa Ra RasputinRussia's greatest love machineHe drank it all and he said, "I feel fine."
Ra Ra RasputinLover of the Russian queenThey didn't quit, they wanted his headRa Ra Rasputin,Russia's greatest love machineAnd so they shot him till he was deadOh, those Russians... 
(The Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India)

When the music died

John Lennon, a co-founder of the Beatles pop group and one of the world’s most famous musicians, was shot dead by Mark David ChapmanBy Shevlin Sebastian
It had been a long day for musician John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono. They had spent many hours at a record studio at New York where John was working on a song by Yoko called ‘Walking on Thin Ice’, in which he played the lead guitar.
It was almost 11 p.m. when they returned to the Dakota building where they lived. A young man Mark David Chapman was standing silently in the archway. John nodded as he seemed to recognise Mark. A few hours earlier, John had signed the jacket leaf of his record, ‘Double Fantasy’, for Mark.   
When the couple had walked a few steps ahead, Mark pulled out a .38 special revolver and aimed shot five times at John’s back. The singer staggered and fell into the reception area where he said, “I am shot, I am shot.”
The doorman at the Dakota Jose Perdomo as well as the concierge Jay Hastings immediately informed the police.
Mark threw the revolver to the ground and stood calmly at one side. He had also taken off his coat to show that he had no concealed weapon. Perdomo shouted at Chapman, “Do you know what you've done?". Mark said calmly, "Yes, I just shot John Lennon.”
When the police arrived they saw that Mark was holding a paperback of JD Salinger’s classic novel, ‘The Catcher In The Rye’. Mark was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of the police car. Another pair of policemen, officers Herb Frauenberger and Tony Palma saw John lying face down on the floor. Blood was gushing out of his mouth. Instead of waiting for an ambulance, with the help of first responders, they placed John in the back seat of the police car and took him to the St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Centre.  
By this time, John had no pulse. Several doctors and nurses tried to revive him but to no avail. Finally, in an act of desperation, surgeon David Halleran cut open Lennon's chest and did a manual heart massage but he soon gave up because there was far too much damage done by the bullets.
Finally, at 11 p.m., on December 8, 1980, John Lennon, who was only 40, was declared brought dead on arrival.
When the news spread, there was a sense of shock and outrage. As Jay Cocks wrote in Time Magazine: ‘The outpouring of grief, wonder and shared devastation that followed John's death had the same breadth and intensity as the reaction to the killing of a world figure: some bold and popular politician, like John F Kennedy or a spiritual leader like Martin Luther King Jr.’
John was the co-founder of the Beatles, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. He and fellow founder Paul McCartney had a successful songwriting partnership, which was one of the reasons why so many of their songs, like ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Penny Lane’, and ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ became superhits. The other members included George Harrison and Ringo Starr. However, the group disbanded in 1970 and both John and Paul went on to have highly successful solo careers.
In 2002, Lennon was in the Top Ten of the 100 Greatest Britons in a BBC poll and in Rolling Stone magazine’s greatest singers of all time, he came in at No 5. In 1987, he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Background
So who is Mark David Chapman? And why did he want to kill John?
Mark belonged to a middle-class family in Fort Worth, Texas. His father was a staff sergeant in the US Air Force while his mother was a nurse. As a boy, he watched his father being violent with his mother and that frightened him. When David was 14, he began taking drugs and missed classes at the Columbia High School in Georgia.
When a friend presented him with the book, ‘The Catcher In The Rye’, he was profoundly affected by it. He modelled himself on the teenage hero, Holden Caulfield. But at the age of 16, he became a born-again Christian.
A few years later, he joined the Covenant College, a liberal arts college in Georgia. But he did not do well. He had an affair which broke up. David felt suicidal. Soon, he dropped out of college. Then he went to Hawaii. One day, he attached a hose to his car’s exhaust pipe and led it inside the car. He wanted to kill himself by carbon monoxide asphyxiation. But the hose melted. Mark was then admitted to Castle Memorial Hospital because he was suffering from depression. When he was released, he got a job in the same hospital. At this time, his parents divorced and his mother joined him.
In 1978, Mark decided to go on a trip around the world. Soon, he fell in love with a Japanese American Gloria Abe and married her on June 2, 1979. They remain married to this day.  
Meanwhile, Mark was a Beatles fan who idolised John. But he became angry when he read that John had said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. Some members of a  prayer group, of which Mark was a member, joked, paraphrasing John’s famous song, ‘Imagine’, by saying, “Imagine if John Lennon was dead.” And that was when Mark decided he would kill John.
Following his trial, Mark was sentenced from 20 years to life. Thus far, he has spent 38 years behind bars. His parole has been rejected 10 times since 2000. The latest was in August, this year. His next hearing will be in 2020. And in the past few years Mark has repeatedly said that he regretting killing John especially when he gets letters from the musician’s fans who ask him the reasons behind his dastardly act. 
(The Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India)

The bullet shot that shook America

Five days after winning the American civil war against the Confederates, US President Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate supporter while watching a play in Washington
Illustrations: John Wilkes Booth shooting Abraham Lincoln; the vigil near Abraham Lincoln's bed as his life ebbs away 
By Shevlin Sebastian
On April 14, 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln entered the Ford’s Theatre at Washington late to watch the play ‘Our American Cousin’, it was stopped while the orchestra played ‘Hail to the chief’. Around 1700 members of the audience stood up and applauded.  Soon Lincoln and his wife Mary settled in their box even as the play resumed. The others in the box included a young army officer named Henry Rathbone and his fiancé, Clara Harris.
At one point when lead actor Harry Hawk said a funny line, the audience burst out laughing, including Lincoln.
At 10.15 p.m., a nationally known actor John Wilkes Booth stepped up behind Lincoln. Using a .44 calibre pistol, he shot at Lincoln. Later reports suggested that the bullet entered Lincoln's skull behind his left ear, passed through his brain, and fractured both orbital plates.
Lincoln slumped over and then fell backwards.
Rathbone immediately rushed at Booth but the latter stabbed him on the shoulder.  Then Booth jumped onto the stage, from a height of 12 feet, and shouted the Latin phrase, “Sic Semper tyrannis!” (“Thus ever to tyrants!”).
The audience thought it was part of the play till Mary screamed. As for Booth, although he broke his leg, he managed to escape.  
Meanwhile, Charles Leale, a young doctor, who was in the audience, rushed to the box. He saw that Lincoln was struggling to breathe. Then several people carried Lincoln to a boarding house on the opposite side. Sometime later, the Surgeon General Joseph K Barnes arrived and he, along with a few other doctors, including Lincoln’s personal physician Robert K Stone inspected Lincoln and concluded that he could not be saved.
There was a vigil. The Navy Secretary Gideon Welles and War Secretary Edwin M Stanton arrived. And many other officials and people’s representatives came to pay their respects. Just before 7 a.m. Mary sat at Lincoln’s side and kissed him and murmured sweet but despairing endearments. Finally, Lincoln was pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, at the age of 56.
The body was taken to the White House where an autopsy was done. Mary asked the surgeons for a lock of Lincoln’s hair which was duly given. As they were removing Lincoln’s brain, the bullet fell into a basin. Suddenly, the team stopped and stared at it in silence. It would be a bullet that would traumatise a nation for generations to come.
The killing took place just five days after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. It ended the four-year-old American Civil War.
All over the country flags flew at half mast and all the shops were closed. People reeled from the shock of the assassination.
On April 18, Lincoln’s body was placed in the Capitol rotunda. Thereafter, after three days, it was taken on a train to a cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, 2700 km away. Incidentally, Springfield was where Lincoln lived before he became president.
Many thousands of Americans lined the route. Along the way, the train would stop and bands would play and people sang hymns. Lincoln was buried alongside his son  Willie, who died of typhoid fever in 1862.World leaders mourned his death. Lord Russell, the British Foreign Secretary said it was a calamity, while China’s Chief Secretary Prince Kung said, “I am shocked and startled.” The Ecuadorian President Gabriel Garcia Moreno was more vocal: "Never would I have thought that the noble country of Washington would be humiliated by such a black and horrible crime; nor should I ever have thought that Mr Lincoln would come to such a horrible end, after having served his country which such wisdom and glory under so critical circumstances.”Meanwhile, the search for Booth began in right earnest. More than ten thousand troops were involved. Huge rewards were offered: $50,000 (this was equivalent to $800,000 in today’s money). Booth had escaped on a horse. After being treated by a doctor Samuel A Mudd for his broken foot, he took refuge in tobacco farmer Richard H. Garrett’s house in Virginia by saying he was a wounded Confederate soldier.
But he was discovered on April 26. Soldiers surrounded the barn. But Booth refused to come out. He shouted, "I will not be taken alive!"
The barn was set on fire. Booth rushed out with a rifle and a pistol. But Sergeant Boston Corbett shot Booth in the back of his head, in a manner similar to the way Booth killed Lincoln.
He was taken to the steps of the barn. Booth, who was only 26 years old, told one of the soldiers, "Tell my mother I died for my country." He passed away two hours later.  
The Background
The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865. It was about the enslavement of black people. The secessionists of the South advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery. The loyalists of the North proclaimed their support for the Constitution.
War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
Among the 34 U.S. states, seven states said they were seceding, and formed the Confederate States of America. However, this was not diplomatically recognised by the US government  or any foreign country.
The Union and Confederacy quickly raised volunteer and conscription armies that fought mostly in the South. The end result: 750,000 people dead, more than the number of U.S. military deaths in all other wars combined.
The war ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Confederate generals in the southern states followed suit. Much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed, especially the transportation systems. The Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and four million black slaves were freed.
During the Reconstruction Era that followed the war, national unity was slowly restored, and the government expanded its power. Civil rights were guaranteed to freed black slaves through amendments to the Constitution and federal legislation. 
(The Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India)

Shalom, a night to remember!

For probably the first time, in Kochi, Christians felicitated Jews at an event called ‘A Night To Honour Israel’
Photos: the girl's choir; the Jews of Kochi 
By Shevlin Sebastian
The photo which social worker Abe Thomas Oommen of Kochi saw in the newspaper was heart-warming. It was of Dana Kursh, the Bangalore-based Israeli Consulate General, in charge of South India, standing on a truck along with two fellow officers, all holding cartons of drinking water bottles.
They were arranging to send relief supplies to Kerala during the floods a few months ago. “It touched my heart,” says Abe. “This must have been the first initiative by a foreign embassy to support Kerala. I felt the need to do something.”
And that wish came to fruition on January 20, when Abe and a few friends arranged ‘A Night To Honour Israel’, which was supported by 20 Protestant churches.
Abe says that Christians have not felicitated Jews in such a manner even though there have been close links for a long time. “Yes, this is the first time this has happened in Kerala,” says Josephhai Sam Abraham, a leader of the Jewish community.
Says Fr. Paul Karedan, spokesperson of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church, “Though the Jewish community is very small in Kerala we have had cordial relations for a long time. But it is also a fact that we have not had many interactions.”
Even though, as Abe says, Jews are at the root of the Christian faith. “Jesus Christ was a Jew,” he says. “All the apostles were Jews. The prominent people in our faith, like Abraham, Joseph and Jacob have their roots in Judaism.”
Out of the 14 Jewish families living in and around Kochi, members from eight families attended. “The purpose was to remember and celebrate what the Jews have contributed to Kerala,” says Abe.
The chief guest was Ariel Seidman, the Deputy Consular General for the Israel Consulate in Bangalore. Among the 700 people present, there were judges, police officers, church leaders, businessmen, artists and writers.
During the programme, several Hebrew songs were sung by members of church choirs and also a dance to the tune of the evergreen Jewish folk song, ‘Hava Nagila’.
Abe’s wife, Deepa, a psychologist, who knows a bit of Hebrew provided the training over a period of one month. Incidentally, when a group of children sang, they wore white T-shirts with the line, ‘I Stand With Israel’ next to an image of the Star of David.
Then the Jews were presented with a hand-painted plaque with the word ‘Shalom’ written in Hebrew and English (‘Shalom’ means peace and this is how the Jews greet each other when they meet for the first time). The hand design was done by young artist Meghna Girish.
The Jews were very happy. “It was a unique experience,” says Josephhai Sam Abraham. “I was very much taken up by the perfect singing of the Hebrew songs by the children as well as the choir members.” 
(The New Indian Express, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode)

A Pakistani, with curiosity

The London-based Rehana Zaman talks about her film which is being shown at the Kochi Muziris Biennale, as well as racism, and her views of India and Pakistan 
Photos by Albin Mathew 
By Shevlin Sebastian
When the London-based artist Rehana Zaman was walking down a road at Fort Kochi, a man approached her and said, “Are you from North India?”
“No,” she said. “I am Pakistani.”
Taken aback, it took a moment before the man broke out into a smile.
“Welcome to India,” he said.
Whenever she introduced herself as a Pakistani, the people smiled and some shook her hand.
A featured artist in the fourth edition of the Kochi Muziris Biennale, Rehana, in collaboration with the film collective, Liverpool Black Women Filmmakers, is showing a 25-minute film called, ‘How does an Invisible Boy Disappear?’ It shows a young girl Liyana who goes in search of a missing black boy Jamal Clarke.
“I wanted to show how black and brown women are portrayed negatively in the media,” says Rehana. “The film has archival footage of disturbances between the police and black and brown communities and the way the state dealt with racial unrest. Your background, gender and ethnicity can affect the way you are treated.”
Rehana says the official approach is disappointing. “In fact, there is a disproportionately larger number of black and brown people in the prisons,” she says. “I do feel like an outsider even though I am part of the system (she teaches fine art twice a week to undergraduate students at Goldsmiths, University of London). I have this double consciousness.”
Rehana is always aware that her name and Muslim background can have a negative impact. “However, I pass muster because I speak English well, and I am Westernised in my dress,” she says. “But my mother, relatives and friends are not treated in the same manner.”
There is an in-built racism. At her University, out of a staff of 40, there are only two Asian women. “They treat me well because it is a liberal arts institution,” says Rehana. “But when it comes to hiring practices or wages, it is not so good. The language used by the bureaucracy is very welcoming, but the structures can be very hostile. If you look at the statistics, and the people who are at the top of all institutions, you can see the bias.”
She says the London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is of Pakistani origin, gets extreme criticisms and a powerful backlash. “He has to be seen to be doing more against terrorism,” says Rehana. “So, he encourages a greater police presence on the streets, an increase of ‘stop and search’ of young Asian and black men and asks Muslim community leaders to do more.”
Meanwhile, when asked to define India in one word, Rehana says, ‘Partition. I have relatives in North India. I also think of people, communities, colour and food.”
Rehana likes biriyani, dosas, appams and idiyapam. She is a regular visitor to the South Indian restaurants in London.
In London, she is friendly with Indians from Tamil Nadu and North India.“But mostly, I have friends among British and Kenyan origin Indians,” says the 36-year-old.
That may because Rehana is part of the diaspora. Her parents had migrated from Pakistan because of economic reasons in the late 1960s. So Rehana grew up in a town called Heckmondwike, around 300 kms from London.
She was always interested in art and after graduation from Goldsmiths, she has concentrated on her career as an artist. “I am interested in scripts, film history and politics,” she says. Her mode of expression is through films and she has participated in the Liverpool Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2018.
Meanwhile, when asked her views about Pakistan, where she does visit, Rehana says, “Pakistan is a beautiful place. In cities like Lahore and Islamabad, people can move with relative freedom. But that may not be the case in rural areas. However, a lot of my Pakistani women students express frustrations about the lack of freedom they have. If I go to Pakistan now, I don’t think I can travel alone. I will need the company of my brothers to go from place to place. The behaviour of the state can be authoritarian. If you have an encounter with the police, you can face a lot of difficulties.”
Rehana pauses and says, “That’s the case in many places in the world: freedom is being steadily taken away.” 
(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)

Made In India Heroes

Authors R. Gopalakrishnan and Dr Ranjan Banerjee explore the reasons behind the success of Indians in top global companies 
Photos by Albin Mathew. R Gopalakrishnan (left) and Dr. Ranjan Banerjee; the cover of the book  
By Shevlin Sebastian

It was lunchtime at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. And expectedly, in a cosmopolitan city, there was a boy from Gujarat, another from Kerala, a third student from Rajasthan and a fourth from Bengal. Without much ado, they put their tiffins on the table and shared the food. “I remember that each cuisine was so different,” says Dr Ranjan Banerjee, Dean and Professor, Marketing, at the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research at Mumbai. “We learnt to respect each other and the food.”

Because Ranjan was studying in a Christian school, during Assembly, he would say the Lord’s Prayer. But at night, without any sense of contradiction, he would attend the Durga Puja celebrations. “The ability to deal with differences is deeply ingrained among us Indians,” says Ranjan. “So, when you go to a work environment abroad where there are people from several countries it is a logical extension of your childhood and you are able to adapt easily and accept everybody.”

Ranjan, along with his co-author R. Gopalakrishnan, a former Director, Tata Sons and Vice Chairman, Hindustan Lever, got thinking about this, when they came across a Global Leader Survey by the executive research firm Egon Zehnder which concluded that Indians led more Standard & Poor 500 companies than people of any other nationality, except Americans. The list included people like Vikram Pandit at Citibank, Indra Nooyi at Pepsico and Sanjay Jha at Motorola. 

It pricked their curiosity. Was this an accident, they wondered. “To find out, we spoke to our batch mates who are in global positions, and said, ‘Did being brought up and educated in India make a difference to where you are today?’” says Gopalakrishnan.  “And almost across the board we got replies like there was an element of resilience that we learnt, we grew up dealing with the unpredictable, and there was a competitive intensity. Soon, we saw a set of themes emerging.”
So, the duo, who are close friends, did extensive research and conducted numerous interviews, before they began writing. The end result is a 196-page book called ‘The Made In India Manager’.

So what qualities does one gain by living in India? Ranjan provides an example. “In many cities, after office hours, you will see people waiting at a bus stop,” he says. “When the bus arrives, somebody will throw a handkerchief in through the window to book a seat. That’s because the number of seats is significantly lower than the number of people who aspire for the seat.”

This competitive intensity is there from the start. “Anybody who is an executive in a multinational company or a top organisation has typically competed at some point of time with a ratio of 1:100, because of our huge population,” says Ranjan.

Apart from competition, there is a strong family culture in India and the values they espouse. Or, as Ranjan says: “Since we grow up in large families, we develop the quality of empathy. Also, there is somebody, either a father, uncle or grandfather, who plays a pivotal role in moulding a young person.” For Ranjan, it was his own parents who always encouraged him.  

Indians have other advantages, too, like a culture of management education. “In fact, management education in India started soon after independence,” says Gopalakrishnan. “The Indian Institutes of Management were set up in the 1960s. We are the world’s largest producers of MBAs. Korea and Japan cannot match us. So, our management preparation factories have also played a distinct role of Indians emerging as good managers.”

Plus, Indians are very strong in English, the global language for business. As the book states, ‘Most Indian business executives receive all of their business training in English, exclusively read English papers, watch English news channels and quote from the ‘Economist’ and the ‘Harvard Business Review’. This has created a class of professional managers who turn to English when they want to articulate a complex thought.’ And that is a big advantage when you work for a global company.

All in all, this is a cogently-argued and lucidly written book, which can be read, with profit, by youngsters, at the beginning of their careers, as well as seasoned professionals. 

(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi) 

The charms and aches of the beautiful game

By Shevlin Sebastian
When The New Indian Express reporter IS Gopika posted a photo of a group of us office colleagues, on Facebook, just after we had played a hard-fought 60-minute six-a-side football match, on a Tuesday night, at Kochi, recently, my mind flashed to the past. To my student days at St. Xavier’s School, Kolkata.
And there I was, in Class four, running down the right flank, frail-looking, but fleet-footed, reaching the corner, stopping suddenly, half-turning towards the goalpost, and sending the ball floating across. What happened next I cannot recall. But I do remember the moment when I drifted to the middle, the ball coming to me, accidentally, and then I quickly swung my leg, and, bang, the ball entered the net. The first goal of my life! It seemed as if a bolt of lightning had struck me.
And today, years later, the charm of the game remains. The group I play with includes reporters, writers, designers, photographers, marketing and desk people. In other words, they are earning a living by expressing themselves. And that can be seen on the football field. A cohesion as well as a collision of strong personalities, and strong bodies, too, expressing themselves with vigour, confidence and the occasional foul.
In the past six months, ligaments have been torn, toenails chipped, backs have been hurt and muscle spasms have occurred. Sometimes, in the heat of battle, you don’t even know you are hurt. Once when I was having a shower, following a game, I felt a pain in my foot. When I looked closely, I saw two round stud marks. The blood had congealed but I was puzzled. When did this happen?
Twice I landed, as if in slow motion, on my back. Twice the ball hit my face but thankfully, no major damage was done. In another instance, when I battled for the ball, I felt a pain in my elbow. This lasted for a couple of days.
Still, there were sublime moments. During one such instance, an exchange of passes, between four players, and finally, I got the chance to deliver the coup de grace, with the goalkeeper out of position.
But not always. Gopika is the only woman in our group. She plays a goalkeeper and is improving game by game. In a recent match, she saved two certain goals. And she has an unflinching look even when a player is heading towards her with the ball.
So, this is what I have understood after playing several games: the body has been designed by Nature to be used to the maximum physically. So, the more you do so, the happier you feel. 
(Published as a middle, The New Indian Express, South Indian editions)

At 89, athlete PS John wins gold medals at a state meet, with plans for more

By Shevlin Sebastian
PS John shifted nervously on his bed late at night. The next day, January 12, the 89-year-old was going to take part in the 100m race in the 85-89 age category at the the Masters Athletic Championship at the St. Thomas College, Thrissur. John was taking part in a race after a 14-month gap. On October 18, 2017, he had undergone a bypass operation. Two blocks had been removed and a valve replaced. After six months, John had started training. And now he felt he was ready.
But when John stepped on the track, he was taken aback by the heat. Secondly, the red soil looked hard. But, nevertheless, he took everything in his stride. There were three other participants, all younger than John.
The starter’s gun rang out. Very quickly John moved into the lead. Exactly 22.2 seconds later, he breasted the tape, becoming one of the oldest winners of a race in Kerala. He also took part in the long jump. And again, against slightly younger competitors, he jumped 7.2 feet. And won the gold again.
Not many people know that John has had an illustrious career. At the World Masters Athletic championships at Lyon, France, in 2015, he won the gold in the 80m hurdles, the 200m hurdles and a bronze in the long jump. Owing to his spectacular performance, John was adjudged the ‘Best Master Athlete 2015’ by the Asia Masters Athletics organisation.
John has been winning medals consistently over the decades at state, national and international competitions. His total haul is 141 medals (94 gold, 33 silver and 14 bronze). “It is hard work and dedication that has enabled me to win,” he says. “No matter how difficult life is, on the track I forget everything.”
In his daily life, John, who is a retired Malayalam teacher, is a farmer at Kanjirapally. He grows rubber, cocoa, bananas, jackfruit and organic vegetables. “I get milk straight from the cow,” says John. “There is a peaceful feeling when you work in Nature. Walking around enables me to keep fit.”
Asked about his future plans, John says, “This year, on October 11, I will turn 90 and then I am keen to take part in the 90 years plus category in the state and national meets. I would also like to participate in the world championships which will take place at Toronto in 2020.”
John pauses and says, “To take rest is to die.” 
(The New Indian Express, page 1, Kerala editions) 

When People Tried To End Their Lives

In Kochi and Melbourne, recent research by Dr. Fr Saju M D and Dr Lynette Joubert, on survivors of suicide have shown that the leading cause is a relationship breakdown
Photos: Illustration by Tapas Ranjan; Dr. Fr Saju M D and Dr Lynette Joubert
By Shevlin Sebastian    
When Asha Nair (name changed) told her mother that she was in love with a classmate, who belonged to a lower caste, her mother spoke harshly to her. “Forget about him,” her mother said. “We will never allow it.”
Asha felt a mixture of intense anger and hopelessness. It would seem as if the earth had opened up and she was sinking. She started taking quick intakes of breath. Asha could not think clearly. She ran to the kitchen, opened the kerosene can and poured the liquid on her body. Then she lit a matchstick and touched it against her clothes.
The result: 90 per cent of burns. At the hospital, Asha lingered between life and death. At that time, Dr Fr. Saju M D, Asst. Director and Administrator, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kochi along with a few students were interviewing suicide survivors. They spoke to Asha. “She felt a regret about her rash action,” says Fr. Saju. “Asha wanted to show her anger towards her family, so she took this extreme step.” Tragically, luck was not in her favour. She died five days later.
Between 2016 and 2018, there were 12,490 suicides in Kerala. Fr. Saju says most of the victims were young and the major cause was a romantic relationship. “Either the parents did not accept the relationship or the affair broke down,” he says. “Young people lack an emotional resilience to overcome difficult moments.”
Most of these people are introverts and reluctant to share an intimate problem with their family members or even to their friends. “They don’t want to bring shame to the family by talking about it to others,” says Fr. Saju.  
So they resort to suicide. “It is usually a sudden decision,” says the priest. But interestingly, many women survive because they are unable to complete the act. On the other hand, males are more purposeful and kill themselves. In the group’s survey of 46 victims, in three hospitals in Kochi, 61.4 per cent of the suicide survivors were single women. They ranged in age from the late teens to age 25. And around 78 per cent had a history of depression and anxiety.
Incidentally, Fr. Saju was working closely with Dr Lynette Joubert, Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work at the University of Melbourne. She, along with Fr. Saju were resource persons at DYUTI 19 (Development Yearnings for an United and Transformed India) conducted by the School of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences last week.
In fact, Saju got the idea of the survey when Lynette told him that she, along with a team had done a study of 120 suicide survivors in an emergency department of a hospital in Melbourne over a six-week period.  
“The breakdown of relationships is the biggest cause for suicide,” says Lynette. The other reasons are poor physical health, drug abuse and financial stresses, like losing a job.”
All this can result in a deep depression. “We also noticed that most of them did not have any friends,” says Lynette. “This social isolation prompts a person to kill him or herself.”  
Asked the different ways people harm themselves, Lynette says, “In Australia, it is usually through tablet overdose. Some have shot themselves. Others have hanged or jumped off bridges. There are cases where people have cut the veins on their wrists. A few told me they felt a mental relief when they did it. But they did not intend to kill themselves.”
So, to avoid such a scenario, it is very important to have a social network, a group of close friends with whom you can confide in. “If you have such a network, you can find a way to solve your problems,” says Lynette.   In Kerala, she says, you can get help too. “There are psychologists, counsellors and health clinics, just go and tell someone, ‘I need to talk this through’,” she says. “There's no shame in it. All of us can feel depressed at some point or the other.”
Interestingly, suicide is a worldwide problem. Last year, more than 8 lakh people killed themselves. But in Australia, astonishingly, the highest number of suicides is in the 80 plus group.
“The victims live completely isolated lives,” says Lynette, “All of them do not stay in old age homes especially if they are healthy. There are many farmers who find it difficult to manage the finances especially if there is a drought. It forces many of them to take the extreme step. So we have to find a way to tackle this problem.” 
(The New Indian Express, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode)