CMYK Bengal politicians compete in use of filthy language and Urdu" would understand that the...

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Ahmedabad, Page 8

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WESTERN TIMES, AHMEDABADSUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

When Stockton North MP, Frank Cook (left), died last year, his wifeSomsangouane (right), was the main beneficiary of his will. His childrenhad not received any of Mr Cook's possessions until a box arrived sev-eral weeks ago, his son Andrew said. The whole contents could not havebeen worth more than £30.

Kolkata, They may belong to

parties having differentmanifestoes, agenda andvote banks. But leaderscutting across the politicalspectrum in West Bengalseem to have a commonthread - making deroga-tory, defamatory and ob-scene remarks.

In recent times, politicsin the state seems to be

touching its nadir withpetty squabbles, personalattacks and use of abusivelanguages at an all timehigh.

Fresh controversieswere stoked by veteranCommunist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaderAbdur Rezzak Molla's de-rogatory remarks againstPrime Minister ManmohanSingh and another of his

par ty comrade AnisurRehman's abusive com-ment against Chief Minis-ter Mamata Banerjee.

Addressing a rally, theoutspoken Molla, a formerminister in the erstwhileLeft Front regime,launched a scathing attackagainst Singh, whilecriticising the centre's re-form agenda, and madewhat local media said

were "obscene" remarksusing "filthy" abjectives.

Even in the face ofstrong criticism from sev-eral quarters, Molla did notrelent and shouted that hewould continue to say soagainst the prime minister.

It got even worse whenthe Leader of Oppositionin the state AssemblySurjya Kanta Mishra saidthe CPI-M legislator did

Bengal politicians compete in use of filthy languagenot have to tender anyapology as someone hav-ing "little knowledge ofArabic and Urdu" wouldunderstand that the adjec-tives used was "directedtowards people enjoyingthe fruits of otherslabours".Rahman, also aformer minister, kicked upa political blizzard when hemade obscene remarksagainst the chief minister,

saying her governmentwas "more interested inoffering money to rape vic-tims than in taking stepsfor their security".

Addressing a meetingof the par ty's peasantswing Krishak Sabha inNorth Dinajpur, Rahmaneven went on to say: "Wehave told the chief minis-ter in the assembly that thegovernment will paymoney to compensaterape victims. What is yourfee? If you are raped, whatwill be your fee?"

His sexist remarks leftthe CPI-M leadership redfaced, especially in the

context of the nationwideoutrage following death ofthe Delhi gang-rape victim.

Pulled up by the partybigwigs, Rahman ten-dered an unconditionalapology to the "people ofthe state including thechief minister" - first byholding a media meetand then while address-ing anotherral ly.However, in thesame rally, Rahman letloose another suggestiveand indecent barb atBanerjee. Ridicul ingBanerjee for repeatedlyharping on funds crunchin the state, Rahman

said: "Ami jiggesh kortepari Mamata Banerjeeke,onyo kaaj to dibb icholchhe. Shah RukhKhan Didi ' r mathaekokhon ektu chumudebe, tar jonyo to tarkhoroch korte bandhe na.Amitabh Bachchan asbe,gaye ektu haath diyesohag diye jabe, tar jonyoto bandhe na (May I askMamata Banerjee howother things are goingon? She doesn't botherabout expenses while in-viting Shah Rukh Khanwho kisses her head andAmitabh Bachchan whotouches her adoringly).

Angst is new mantra ofIndian progressive arts

New Delhi, The new performing

arts of contemporary Indiaare chanting the mantra ofsocial angst and the slowtransformation the countryis going through on theroad to a new order.

This has inspired ScottMoses Murray, who bringsthe sounds of Nashvillefolk, to speak about goryIndian realities in his pro-gressive ballads.

For the musician, whois working on two new in-ternational albums in hisseven-month-old adoptedhome in Dehra Dun, capi-tal of the northern Indianstate of Uttarakhand, theoutrage over the brutalDelhi gang-rape has influ-enced a new track he com-posed this week for a soloconcert here to rememberslain political activist andstreet theatre actor SafdarHashmi.

Honour is the essenceof Murray's new track,"Sun Angel". "They did nottake your honour/They

could not break you/A newday is in the corner/Hersun is rising...," Murray'srich voice fills the space.

The musician says helooks at politics, democ-racy and social churning inhis songs. "As a humanbeing, I have to be specific.My music is politically in-fluenced in an age whenthe economy is influencedby money," Murray ex-plained while talking toIANS.

The American, whohas been a musician formore than two decades,draws his inspiration fromfellow progressive SushmitBose, an urban folk vocal-ist who sings of life, every-day blues, politics andpeace.

Bose says he wascaught in the spirallingwave of emotions that the1960s and 1970s broughtin the midst of growingcampaign "against blatantconsumerism and thecrumbling traditionallifestyles".His album

"Songs of Eternal Uni-verse" and "Songs ofDharma: The Stor y ofMahabharata" combinecontemporary folk withdevotional and westernmusical sensibilities.

"Many of us in lateschool and college at thattime knew in our painfulbones that it was only amatter of time before Indiawould need its own PeteSeeger and Bob Dylan tosing about the angst ofurbanisation," Bose says.

Music and performingarts in our country havealways held a mirror to thechanging society, sayscontemporary dancerAstaad Debo.

Manto's short story"Toba Tek Singh" as a trib-ute to the maverick geniuson his birth centenary.

The choreographyuses traditional dancinggenres like Kathakali,Kalaripayattu and Kathakto portray the agony of alunatic torn apart by Parti-tion.

Shankar Mahadevan, IndianOcean set to 'storm' music!

New Delhi, Shankar Mahadevan

and Indian Ocean, twopowerhouses of the Indianmusic industry, are set tocollaborate for the firsttime for the grand finale ofthe second edition ofStorm Music Festival.

Mahadevan believesthat there is more to Indianmusic than just Bollywood,and that is what they wantto present through theirjoint performance.

"I really wanted to col-laborate with them (IndianOcean). I love them aspeople as well as for thembeing the wonderful musi-cians they are. I'm a proudmainstream musician, buthaving said that, I do firmlybelieve there's more tomusical talent in India thanjust Bollywood, that's notit," Mahadevan said in astatement. The two-dayfest is scheduled to startFeb 1 in the misty land-scape of Napoklu inCoorg. "There is so much

talent in India and thesekind of festivals are fantas-tic ways to promote thattalent. I am really lookingforward to performing atthe Storm Festival in thefabulous backdrop ofCoorg this year," headded. Indian Ocean isknown for being a key partin the growing indepen-dent music scenario of thecountry. Known particu-larly for their folk-fusiontunes, its members arelooking forward to play withMahadevan, says bassguitar ist RahulRam."We're really lookingforward to this collabora-tion and the Storm festival.Shankar is a fantastic guyto work, a very capablemusician and a outstand-ing singer," said Ram.

The Storm festival, acamp-out music festival, isexpected to witness a me-lange of bands, singers,songwriters as well aselectronica artists from thecountry and abroad

across four stages.Thefest will go beyond music,with workshops on farmingand yoga.

Star-studded partyfor newly wedsVidya, Siddharth

Mumbai,A star-studded bash

was hosted in honour ofnewly-wed couple VidyaBalan and Siddharth RoyKapur here Friday night.The party was thrown byUTV head honcho RonnieScrewvala and his wifeZarina at their apartment inBreach Candy here.Aishwarya, filmmakerKaran Johar, actors AnilKapoor and Rekha as wellas celebrity photographerDabboo Ratnani, werepresent for the post-wed-ding celebrations. The partyalso saw Katrina Kaif,Hrithik Roshan with his fam-ily, Rajkumar Hirani, ArbaazKhan and Prakash Jha.