I find that profoundly inspiring. Do you think the future is borderless? What matters is that the book exists. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. It is also the site of the worlds biggest crisis of statelessness, as it strips citizenship from hundreds of thousands of its peopleespecially those living in disputed border regions. Despite the failures in investigation and prosecution related to criminal trials arising out of the pogrom, the judiciary has projected itself as an able and willing neutral arbiter of justice that is not complicit with the deep structures of Hindutvas anti-Muslim prejudice https://t.co/EFf5bxYEBt, True societal change has always emerged from the ground-up, with communities fighting for their own freedom and dignity. IWE is a body of work where the voices of Indias marginalized are still kept on the fringes; Midnights Borders is anarrative nonfiction book depicting a world that novels from mainland India have failed to depict. NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She lives in New York. Thanks to The New India Foundation for sending across a beautiful copy of the Midnights Borders. It is truly the treason of the intellectuals. We could have attributed this to ignorance even a few years back; now its just silence thats deeply complicit in the Hindutva project. Suchitra was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, as the daughter of Ramadurai and Padmaja. Suchitra is now a singer-songwriter as well, composing music on her own and in collaboration with Singer Ranjith. Like most women, I learnt to navigate this toxic misogyny, the threat of sexual violence, and patriarchy by merely existing as a dark-skinned woman in this country. One of the ways she upholds the humane in this book is through her interaction with the men in the security forces. Early on, the idea of bearing witness as a rhetorical tool and as a literary device became deeply problematic. Its feudal, entitled, and cannibalistic. Once we eliminated the spectacle, we realized that the Indian public got very little information about the Pulwama attack and its aftermath. So now, how do we respond to this? We live in a profoundly unequal society, where every day brings news of new devastation. Q: You frequently describe certain borders as porous. Firstly, when we talk about violence, we often talk about it only as communal violence, as if both communities have equal strength and power. Then my agent said, Suchitra, you know, I think youre hiding behind your academic language. Lets take Indias English language media, cultural-artistic elite, and publishing. History and memory is localwhich means its almost impossible to write about India. She is the executive director of the Polis Project . Q: What struck me about your work was its immersive style. Vasundhara Sirnate Drennan is director of research at the Polis Project. Respond to our political present. But it needs to do more for peace. The former is an essential act of dissent, even resistance, especially in these dark times. This is where I believe literary nonfiction becomes a powerful tool. In Nellie (Assam) too, where over 3,000 Muslims were killed in 1983, people stared at Vijayan in confusion, no one comes here anymore, she was told. He was arrested based on fabricated evidence in the middle of a global pandemic, and he was denied bail and medical help. In this podcast, Vijayan discusses with host Alex Woodson her 9,000-mile journey through India's borderlands, which formed the basis of the book, and she discusses the violent and continuing history of the 1947 partition, the stark differences and similarities along South Asia's various borders, and what "citizenship" mean in India in 2021 and And were there any apprehensions since you began working on this book? After Pulwama, the Indian media proves it is the BJPs propaganda machine, Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates, Fox News bosses scolded reporters who challenged false election claims, To fight defamation suit, Fox News cites election conspiracy theories. The pandemic showed us that crises and recurrent disasters that annihilate our lives are here to stay. Suchitra was married to actor Karthik Kumar between 2005 and 2017. It has taken me over a decade to get here. The images, however, are not all bereft of hope, as children from both India and Bangladesh use a border pillar as a cricket stump, while men on opposing sides of the war on terror in Afghanistan gather around in a cold evening, smoking and sharing stories. And our language helps us imagine a vision that is truly just, beautiful and ethical. Indias intellectual, journalistic, and literary landscape is profoundly problematic and alienating. So the question is not: will the future be borderless? Take a look at theseevents: The vast infrastructure of detention centers being built in Assam and outside; a politician from a ruling party incites violence by saying, goli maaro saalon ko, and remains free; a minister, a Harvard educated technocrat, garlands and celebrates men for the grave crime of lynching; Dr Teltumbde and other BK 16 [the 16 arrests made in the Bhima Koregaon case] political prisoners remain incarcerated with little, no or manufactured evidence for being dissenting subjects; and a standup comic is arrested for the crime of existing as a Muslim. While Nehru was still declaring this victory, the slaughter began. As a lawyer, journalist, and human rights activist who has worked in conflict-ridden territories of Kosovo, Egypt, Rwanda, and elsewhere, she has often met people scrambling for bare existence, caught in a no-mans land. As Sari Begum's story [in the book] illustrates, 'A life where the violence of the border is not at the fence, or in the trenches, but at the center of 'their' and our 'universe'. Its impossible for a writer not to be affected by their personal life. In politics, we will be recognising the principle of one man, one vote, and one vote, one value. Its been a little over a week since the book came out, and every day this week, I have woken up to emails, messages, and DMs from readers. Such writings have long been implicated in the history of colonial ethnographic practices, where native informants are poised to become the voices of the empire. Are you expecting any pushback at all? These may not be perfect worlds or even equal worlds, but they strive to be. Your prose is hopeful there. There are enough stories of people parachuting into communities to do human interest stories.. We know that the purpose of borders has kept changing for nations. But Pakistan responded by rejecting these claims and told the Associated Press that the area was mostly deserted wooded area and that there were no casualties or damage on the ground. She writes about war, conflict . Even those who now write about Modis India, will never write about Brahmanism or be critical of how caste works in the diaspora. Where does that leave us? Growing up I was surrounded by people who emphasised the community over anything else. Pushback is such a benign word, isnt it? I was also trying to tell these stories from a repertoire of skills I had, and some I acquired. In recent years, the narrative of hate has escalated with the reelection of the right-wing Narendra Modi government in 2019. Vijayan is no stranger to stories of violence. Good, honest and non-polemical writing has always forced us to confront the lies we tell ourselves. Christopher Clary: India and Pakistan resort to the diplomacy of violence and flirt with catastrophe, Hafsa Kanjwal: As India beats its war drums over Pulwama, its occupation of Kashmir is being ignored. Who is expendable, and the manufacturing of rightlessness to render people expendable. They took my land, they stole my life, they stole my future, they took my nightmares and they stole my dreams too. Ali went missing in 2018. Parts of Pakistan have already been consumed by the water. In Midnight's Borders, barrister, political analyst, and writer Suchitra Vijayan documentsmany such telling accounts of lives both growing and barely getting by alongIndian borderlands. This media blitzkrieg resulted in the erasure of two important political trends. It definitely doesnt help when trying to hold a powerful state accountable. The photographs add another dimension to the book, and could have been used more. Rohini Menon for Feminism in India, FII Interviews: Suchitra Vijayan Talks About Marginalisation, Institutional Violence & Political Imagination, Ananya is a chaotic humanities student with a deep interest in the relationship between art and society, a writing obsession, and way too many bizarre ideas involving their camera. Suchitra Vijayan's new book, Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India, takes a deep look at such stories by prioritizing the experiences of the silenced victims as well as lesser-known accounts from victims of state violence. I fear we are losing that cosmopolitanism of small places. I dont think theres just one emotion that drives a writer to finish writing. Even as 70% of the border with Bangladesh has been fenced, smugglers, drug couriers, human traffickers and cattle rustlers continue to cross to ply their trades. All along the border, the common refrain is, It feels like Partition is still alive., A story from near Jalpaiguri in north Bengal, that of a man named Ali, is heartbreaking. There are two quotes I regularly use by Allan Sekula when I teach: "The making of a human likeness on film is a political act. MacAdam reviews Suchitra Vijayan's book Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India Read More. Author, lawyer and journalist, Suchitra Vijayan in conversation with Cerebration editor Smita Maitra on her book Midnight's Borders, maps, fragmented identities and postcolonial nation-states. Suchitra is a BSc graduate from Mar Ivanios College (Trivandrum). Suchitra Vijayan. I left a few names out in the acknowledgment, worrying if it might direct more trouble towards them. 'Music I Like', an album of Suchitra's renditions of Mahakavi Bharatiyaar's poetry, set to contemporary tunes and music, released by Universal Music, was a turning point in her career. We are consuming subjects in a surveillance economy, not citizens. In the middle of significant change, this fraught system cannot exist as it is. Required fields are marked *. No one can write a book alone. I am repeating what I have said before, "Kashmir is Indias greatest moral and political failure. That was my starting point. When the book finally came out, India was undergoing the deadly 2nd wave. I have no formal training as a writer or a photographer, I taught myself and learnt by doing, failing and creating my own grammar. Vijayan: Most Indian American writers, especially many of them who occupy the broad spectrum of literary to punditry, come from immense privilege of caste and class. You can speak of confidence and body positivity and defend selling skin-lightening creams. ( I hate this word, voiceless, by the way). Its a dangerous moment where the figure of the rights-bearing citizen is being reduced to a consuming subject. I dont have apprehensions. This is a serious, often funny and deeply revealing book. M, An essential, beautifully written report from the hellish margins of a modern mega-state struggling to be a nation, of people whose lives continue to be shaped by violent political marches across age-old homes and habitats. She was part of a music band at PSG. How do you protect this child? This is a profoundly alienating place for anyone without the networks of privilege and resources. A: This geopolitical violence is not new, theres a long bloody, brutal history to thisa cyclical, ongoing and never-ending history. Tamil Movie Articles Trisha | Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya | Tamannah | Anniyan | Aishwarya Rai", "Bigg Boss Awards for each contestant in Bigg Boss Tamil 4", Suchitra: I can sound sweet, sexy, bold or sensual, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suchitra&oldid=1141096550, Crossover episode with Bigg Boss Tamil; Fearless Award, Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer Telugu for the song 'Nijamena' from, Nominated: SIIMA Award for Best Female Playback Singer|Best Female Playback Singer for the song 'Sir Osthara' from, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 09:35. Nine years ago, she began documenting stories from her travels along the borders of India. I feel very uncomfortable talking about this, or rather I dont know how to discuss this without centering myself. She has a sister named, Sunitha. Vijayan has travelled 9,000 miles over seven 7 across India's borderline remote areas and has collected many bone-chilling, painful, myth-breaking stories of the people caught in between inter-state disputes because of the lines created by colonial powers who ruled over us for . I was reading a lot of Pessoa when I was in Afghanistan, so another placeholder title was 'Maps/Lines/Cartographies of Disquiet', inspired by the Book of Disquiet. Say, for instance, do we need a James Nachtwey to fly to war-torn Bosnia? Who gets to shape these stories, what stories are chosen, what stories then are exiled? Midnight's Borders by Suchitra Vijayan. As a spy working for TASC, Srikant Tiwari, played by Manoj Bajpayee, has to juggle being an underpaid government employee as well as an absent husband and a perpetually late and distracted father. During the initial search, the BSF troops recovered a black coloured drone - DJI Matrice (made in China), in partially damaged condition, lying near Dhussi Bundh near Shahjada village. A British lawyer, Cyril Radcliffe set foot in India for the first time in July, 1947 to draw the borders and completed the task within seven weeks, engendering communal riots, a heavily militarized border, four wars and seven decades of violence and hatred between the two countries. I had a very stable home to come back to. Vijayan: There is an elusive distance between the photographer and the photographed that cant be bridged. ). Midnights Borders, a work of narrative reportage, is the fruit of this journey. She lucidly explains the complicated history of the McMahon Line, how the India-China border is the result of a fabrication perpetuated by the British colonial administration. Rumpus: Toni Morrison said that she writes from a place of delight, not disappointment. The argument put forward was simple: India, like most countries, had its human rights violations, but these were characterized as the growing pains and maturation of the worlds largest democracy. Subscribe here. I was much younger when I took on this project, so I wanted to prove those people wrong. They dont. Having been trained in law, Suchitra Vijayan initially worked at the United Nations war tribunals in Yugoslavia. I cant think in terms of the future being borderless, I can only think in terms of fracturing. There are already about 20 million climate refugees around South Asias borderlands. Not everyone lived to see its promises. I have no control over what comes next. Its about what people like me should do. She has also been appreciated for her honest and positive-humour-filled judging at reality shows like Vijay TV's Airtel Super Singer, Sun TV's Sun Singer, Asianet's Music India, and Bol Baby Bol on Gemini TV and Surya TV. And what does this mean for on-ground communities, governments, armed forces, and other institutional stakeholders? I think freedom and dignity enables us to really go beyond in our political imaginationbeyond just electoral politics. What we can do is attempt micro-histories of events, timelines, or local communities. But who gets to speak for so many of us? You can carefully craft a narrative of immigrant success but act tone-deaf about the ongoing refugee crisis. The constant making and remaking of who is a citizen, who is not, is accompanied by a profoundly dehumanising process. Many TV newsrooms were transformed into caricatures of military command centers, with anchors assessing military technology and strategy (sometimes incorrectly). Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitrav) / Twitter Follow Suchitra Vijayan @suchitrav Author: Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India. You need a community of people to support you. A: Writers are very strange creatures. But, more importantly, I wanted my readers to walk away with a sense of empathy. Suchitra Vijayan was born and raised in Madras, India. ", "Documentary photography has amassed mountains of evidenceyetthe genre has simultaneously contributed much to spectacle, to retinal excitation, to voyeurism, to terror, envy, and nostalgia, and only a little to the critical understanding of the social world.". Now imagine how it would be for someone from a Dalit/Bahujan, Muslim, Adivasi, or working community to try to make inroads. I kept detailed audio notes that I recorded each night when I traveled. Invariably its the writer who is the protagonist. In her new book The interview has been paraphrased and condensed for clarity, at the interviewers discretion. I have never lived under military occupation, curfew, or a looming threat of violence. Vijayan: The photographs were the heart of this project. J.G.P. 'Suchitra's account of her journeys across the undefinable and ever-shifting borders between India and its neighbours is gripping, frightening, faithful and beautiful. Aruni Kashyap writes in English, and his native language Assamese. The Family Man has found tremendous success as a slick and funny espionage drama, particularly for its treatment of the protagonist, and even for humanising terrorists. I think this book will change the global conversation about India and shape what gets written in the future about India. But your book lays bare how differently India's borders are guarded from southern Bengal to the Line of Control. Qin took charge as Chinese foreign minister in December, succeeding Wang Yi. Suchitra Vijayan is an American writer, essayist, activist, and photographer working across oral history, state violence, and visual storytelling. To repurpose an old sayingall infamy is now good virality. Love, passion, anger, the desire to make a point about something. You can find them on, The #GBVinMedia Campaign: Media Reportage Of Gender-Based Violence, #IndianWomenInHistory: Remembering The Untold Legacies of Indian Women, How To Write About Abortion: A Rights-Based Approach, The Crowdsourced List Of Social Justice Collectives Across Indian Campuses. There are some notable exceptions, but they are an exception. Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 09:35, Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer Telugu, 2nd South Indian International Movie Awards, "Suchitra going through certain emotional condition: Husband Karthik on her tweets", "Will Trisha sound like Trisha in Mankatha? Can you write about loss without living? It took me 8 years to write the book. I almost never forget, I remember entire episodes or events since I was six years old. Suchitra Vijayan's debut book, Midnight's Borders, is a genre-bending book of nonfictionmade of stories, encounters, vignettes, and photographsabout home, belonging, and displacement.The book recounts the author's recent journey across India's land borders covering 9000 miles over a span of seven years. This means that, for the longest time, the depiction of violence and marginalised communities has been problematic. In Assam, Vijayan met people devastated by the National Register of Citizens process, with names of long-time residents missing from the final list, and in Kashmir she spent time with a family mourning the loss of their son in an encounter. Vijayan reserves her own impressions for later, and allows us to know these people intimately. Dear reader, this article is free to read and it will remain free but it isnt free to produce. The act of recording and documenting cannot be divorced from the inherent question of power. The Rumpus: It is shocking how unaware the world is about the violence the Indian government has committed since independence on its border citizens. Its a hard book to name, and I kept going back and forth. But also, to be clear in terms of what I wanted to accomplish: as I say in the book, I wasnt bearing witness or giving voice to the voicelessthe people in this book are eloquent and political voices of their lives and realities. Midnights Borders: A Peoples History of Modern India ; Suchitra Vijayan, Context/ Westland Books, 699. I havent spoken or celebrated with my friends in Kashmir or Assam. Suchitra Ramadurai, known by the mononym Suchitra, is an Indian radio jockey, popular playback singer, songwriter, composer, voice artist, dubbing artist and film actress. They both have pregnant daughters, a fact that becomes significant as the novel progresses. Copyright 2023. Stallings, Rumpus Original Fiction: The Litany of Invisible Things. In Afghanistan, Kashmir, and India, from one dangerous conflict zone to another, she spoke with people, ate with them, and listened to their stories. Although Vijayan critiques the state and its complicity in violence and erasure of lives, she refrains from villainizing the men who serve the state. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Suchitra Vijayan talks to FII about Indian politics, communal violence, marginalisation and her book Midnights Borders: A Peoples History of Modern India. 4 reviews of Suchitra Vijayan Photography "Huge fan of Suchitra Vijayan Photography! 2:16. She also embodies the upwardly mobile, privileged sections of the diaspora. How did you respond to that environment being in an extremely challenging position yourself? Not everyone rejoiced in these new freedoms. Chopra has long been neoliberalisms reluctant feminist, hawking giving a voice and sisterhood while silencing those who question her. Bhawan Singh, who photographed the Nellie massacre, said he had never seen anything like it. Check posts or bunkers were not part of the landscapes of my home. In addition, she is an award- winning photographer, the founder, and executive director of the Polis Project, a hybrid research and journalism organization. The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Supreme Court forms expert panel to probe any regulatory failure on Adani issue, India makes renewed push for consensus at G20 Foreign Ministers meeting, Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group | Supreme Court verdict on expert committee on March 2, High debt on Vedanta books puts investors on tenterhooks, Employees Provident Fund: How to activate UAN online, 1947: Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act passed, RMA 0-1 FCB, El Clasico highlights: Barcelona leads on aggregate after beating Real Madrid courtesy of a Militao own goal. The controversy surrounding the Rafale deal and allegations of corruption against the government were suddenly sidelined, as was the order for the eviction of more than a million forest dwellers (that was later stayed) and a hearing on the repeal of an important constitutional clause before the Supreme Court. I still do.
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