Amsterdam: Anne Frank's home and Torture Museum

Tragedy struck a Jewish school in South France today when an unidentified gunman killed four an adult, 13 year old girl,a 7 year old and a 3 year old, six others were wounded. They had been shot at close quarters. They were shot because they were Jews and the school was a Jewish school. In 2008 Pakistani terrorist thugs who terrorized Mumbai specifically targeted a Jewish chabad for their killing spree. I shall reserve my comment on Israel's critics for a following blog but this provides a backdrop for my visit to the home of Holocaust's most famous victim, Anne Frank. Before that a brief on the Torture Museum.

A museum focusing on torture was very inviting. Though I am broadly familiar with the themes of torture, especially the use of torture by the Christian Church seeing the instruments of torture along with helpful notes was chilling. The Spanish Inquisition made a name for itself with Torquemada and the inquisition chair (below)

The accused has to sit on that chair and the screws would be tightened to maximize pain. This was mostly used on women accused of being witches. The rack pictured below (http://www.torturemuseum.nl/instruments-of-torture/) is another instrument the very sight of which is painful.

Religious minorities (mostly Jews), dissenters, minorities, gays, political prisoners and lots of women bore the brunt of these punishments. The museum, in European tradition, had the usual US bashing. Fleeting mention was made of Guantanamo. Guantanamo is picnic compared to the above.

As a deep admirer of Israel and Jewish history the holocaust remains an obsessive topic for me. In 2010 when I toured Amsterdam for a few hours I glimpsed the home of Anne Frank during a canal cruise. This year I made what can be called a pilgrimage to her home. Anne Frank's family and another family of 3, 8 Jews totally, hid in a secret annexe in a factory for 2 years during the war fearing deportation to extermination camps. The families were betrayed on 8th August 1944 and were deported first to Auschwitz. Anne Frank and her sister were later deported to Bergen Belsen. One has to really pause and digest this. Jews arrested in Amsterdam were transported to Auschwitz in Poland. Then two of them get transported halfway back into Bergen-Belsen in Germany. I visited a Gestapo jail in Cologne where a prisoner from Ukraine (!!!) had scrawled on the walls. Imagine the logistics needed for all these transports that had no strategic goal except hate. By the time the family was arrested Hitler's Third Reich was crumbling and his army was being beaten back by the equally murderous Red Army to the East and by the American and British forces from the West.

Anne and her sister Margot perished in the typhus epidemic that swept Bergen-Belsen. The sisters died a few days apart next to each other sometime in March 1945. Allied armies liberated Bergen-Belsen in April 1945. Only Otto Frank, Anne's father, survived from Auschwitz. Anne's mother had died too. Otto made his way back to Amsterdam and searched for his darling children. Finally he learnt that they were dead.

When the Frank family went into hiding Anne was 13. Anne received a diary as gift. While in hiding this girl, just entering her teens, wrote a journal of all that happened for two years. The last entry is on 1st August 1944. She has interest in movies, the helpers who hid the family get her movie magazines, Otto marks the growth of his daughters with a pencil mark (it is still there), a map is stuck to follow the progress of Allied army since Normandy landings, a radio keeps them connected, Margot still takes Latin lessons and sends her work for correction pretending  to be somebody else, a 16 year old boy (from the other family) kindles love in Anne, Anne has her first kiss, she writes of Gandhi too hearing from radio reports.

Otto Frank discovers the diary and publishes it to universal acclaim. The diary has been translated into tens of languages and has sold millions. Otto, with help, converted the annexe into a museum. A very touching photo is below. Here is Otto Frank, just before the museum is opened to public, looking alone and pensive at the floor where his children played and his wife walked. The pain is palpable and sorrow engulfs the viewer in an emotional embrace across time and space.

The photographer Arnold Newman who took the photo reminisced, "how could I ask this man to pose? I couldn't. Instead I just waited and Otto went into a deeply pensive mood. It was then I took the photograph". They cried and embraced after the photo shoot ended.

Anne Frank wrote in her diary, "One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when will be people again and not just Jews!".

Whether it is Jeremiah Wright or Al Sharpton spewing explicit and implicit anti-semitism or this madman today today who killed children just because they are Jews the sad answer is Anne Frank's hope only lives on as hope.

I'll take this opportunity to answer in my next blog a few questions on Israel, Holocaust and Jews. Anne Frank was 15 when she died. And she died because she was a Jew. And only because she was a Jew did she and her family die.

Amsterdam: Jewish Historical Museum

Before I knew Amsterdam's most famous Jew, Anne Frank, I had studied about it's second most famous Jew, Baruch Spinoza in Will Durant's "The story of philosophy". Spinoza ranks alongside Immanuel Kant as possibly the greatest modern philosopher. In two pages, that only Will Durant can write, Durant traces the arc of Jewish diaspora from its expulsion by the Romans unto the day Jews settled in Amsterdam and the birth of Spinoza. Spinoza was excommunicated by the Jewish community for his philosophy fearing that it angered their Christian hosts in the city.

Failing to find a home or museum of Spinoza I visited the "Jewish Historical Museum". Durant writes that Jews persecuted in Spain by Ferdinand , during Spanish Inquisition, fled in search of safety. "A large number of them embarked in the frail vessels of that day and sailed up the Atlantic, between hostile England and hostile France, to find at last some measure of welcome in little big souled Holland. Among these was a family of Portuguese Jews named Espinoza. Thereafter Spain decayed, and Holland prospered. The Jews built their first synagogue in 1598; and when, seventy five years later, they built another, the most magnificent in Europe, their Christian neighbors helped them to finance the enterprise. The Jews were happy now, if we may judge from the stout content of the merchants and rabbis whom Rembrandt had given immortality". Only Will Durant could write a passage that compresses so many meanings within a few lines. I had missed seeing Rembrandt's home in Amsterdam due to lack of time.

The Jewish museum had a permanent exhibition detailing the history of the first synagogue, Jewish rituals, artifacts that gave a vivid picture of one of the world's most ancient culture. One plaque mentioned the loyalty of Jews in Amsterdam to the Dutch royalty for the relative peace with which Jews could live in Holland unlike the rest of Europe. When Spinoza, like Uriel a Costa before him, had expounded beliefs that angered their Christian hosts the Jewish community excommunicated him as a price for their peaceful existence.

In what could happen only in Western museums typical of Western attitudes the Jewish museum had an exhibition titled "My name is Cohen". Cohen is the priestly name referring to Aaron, brother of Moses, who is considered the first priest for Israel. The exhibition is about people whose last name is 'cohen' (http://www.mynameiscohen.com/) and what it means for them to have the most famous Jewish surname. One Cohen, not a resident of Israel, said that he bears a burden that people who come to know his surname ask him about each and everything Israel did. A Jew, anywhere in the world, is considered a representative of Israel and has to bear the brunt of that association said he. Another Cohen bristled that just because he is a Jew he does not have to support all that Israel does (sadly no Palestinian would say that of Al-Fatah or Hamas, at least not publicly). One Cohen recounted sadly how a customer ate at his restaurant and left saying "I will not pay a Jew". To one Cohen it is a badge of pride, to another it is a "losing brand value", another is sheepish about her Jewish identity.

The exhibition brings to the fore that this race has suffered uniquely amongst all races in history. Centuries of persecution, in every single corner of the world, reaching its climax, if one call it so, in the Holocaust has left its imprint on every member young and old. Durant waxes eloquent in his introduction to Spinoza, "what drama could rival the grandeur of these sufferings, the variety of of these scenes, and the glory and the justice of this fulfillment?" (the fulfillment Durant refers is the creation of Israel)


As I exited the museum, as always, I browsed the gift shop. I was very surprised to see books by Spinoza. The community that excommunicated him in different situation 400 years ago has now embraced its greatest genius amongst the so many geniuses produced by that race.

All was not well for Jews of Amsterdam. That no host country is ever safe for Jews was illustrated in Holland. Nazi Germany invaded Holland in 1940. The Dutch initially protested deportation of Jews by organizing a strike. Virtually unheard of in any other state under Nazi occupation but it later morphed into tragic and cruel co-operation. Between 1940-1944 in just 4 years nearly 75% of Holland's Jews were exterminated with the active co-operation of many Dutch citizens. The Holocaust's most famous victim Anne Frank is a searing tragedy for another day. 

Amsterdam: An Afternoon With Van Gogh

I spent 2 days in Amsterdam and a week on a road trip in UK from March 2nd-10th. Travels always widen our understanding of the world and provide a perspective too. I spent an afternoon in Amsterdam visiting the Van Gogh museum.

Coming from a provincial town in South India I've only a nominal familiarity with painting as an art form. The only paintings that an Indian gets to see mostly are fetishistic expression of male fantasies of courtesans and kings. Study of human anatomy to depict human form, portraying common men and women, expressing philosophical points etc are almost non-existent on the Indian tradition. Learning to appreciate Salvador Dali's surrealism or appreciating why a Monet picture could start the impressionist movement or why is Michelangelo's David revered is all a conscious learning process. Here is Monet's famous painting that launched an era.

I visited the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and could not understand a single thing. Even for a layman like me the Van Gogh museum is an easily accessible one, intellectually. Van Gogh is considered to belong to post-impressionism. I'd not be pretending to understand the nuances of those terms. In another sign of technology wiping out jobs now museums offer audio-guides. No need of a person to standby and explain.

Van Gogh, barely 37 when he died in 1890, lives an eventful itinerant life that makes his biography a compelling read, not to mention his eventual suicide. Van Gogh as was common to geniuses of that era travels between France, Holland and England. France, the capital of arts, influences Van Gogh with its art and literature. the museum painstakingly has arranged all his paintings chronologically across 4 vast floors also divided according to where he lived in that particular period. Each painting has an explanatory note and most have a head phone symbol with a number to be used on the audio-guide. Press the number and voila you get a succinct summary of the painting. The summary while succinct is not trivial or flaky.

Van Gogh gained fame with his portrayal of a group of peasants eating potatoes around a table, the painting titled "potato eaters" had a note that, in typical Western fashion, unflinchingly said, this masterpiece had flaws and proceeds to specify what the flaw is. This is a museum to celebrate a great genius and in the picture that supposedly gave him fame the museum curator is brutishly honest to note its shortcomings. This is what happens when you celebrate true genius. You can be comfortable in pointing out the flaws.

Spend a few minutes looking at the picture above (or this link for a full resolution "potato eaters"). Its a common scene, the people are unremarkable, the setting is pedestrian, the act is as routine as you can imagine BUT its the painting of the shadows, the light, the portrayal of anatomy that speaks, the details of the room etc.

When I visited the Louvre in 2009 seeing the many Christian themed paintings I thought that without having some familiarity of the Bible one cannot appreciate much of Western civilization. Van Gogh's "Still life with open Bible" reiterated that thought.

At first sight the picture does not tell much. The audio-guide filled in the details that an untrained eye like mine would not see at first sight. The big open book is the Bible, a faint title indicates that the page is open at "Isaiah", an even fainter scribbling tells it is Isaiah 53 which is called the 'Psalm of the suffering servant'. The smaller book next to it is French author Emile Zola's "La Joie de vivre" (Joy of life). The commentary said this was Van Gogh, one time candidate for priesthood, rebelling against his pious father.

Van Gogh was influenced by Emile Zola and Victor Hugo. To know what influences a genius especially beyond his particular area in a cross-disciplinary manner is interesting. Knowing that his painting took clues from another painter is one thing, knowing how Van Gogh drew upon Zola's characterization to inspire a painting is another. This also helps us understand the nature of a man who makes himself a student of all forms of art and imbibes inspiration from other forms to better construct his primary artistic expression.

An even more stunning influence was that of Japanese art on Van Gogh. Japanese art of woodcut blocks with bright colored paintings found its way to Paris. Japan, until 1854 Kanagawa Treaty used to trade almost exclusively with the Dutch. After the treaty Japan opened trade with Europe and USA. Japonaiserie, wikipedia teaches, or Japanese art influenced the French impressionist and then Van Gogh too who produced very brightly colored pictures. Famous amongst his Japanese art are his portraits of bridges

Like any typical Western genius of art Van Gogh travels hither and thither, schools himself, lets himself be open to influences, creates his own oeuvre, enjoys cross disciplinary influences and leads a very eventful life that includes affliction of Gonorrhea. Van Gogh formed a deep friendship with famous painter Paul Gauguin . Gauguin was Somerset Maugham's inspiration for his protagonist in "The moon and six pence". Van Gogh after a fight with Gauguin famously cut off his ear and gave the severed part to a prostitute telling her to 'keep it carefully'. Van Gogh is supposed to have suffered from hypochondria too. Finally, of course, like any museum in this part of the world they have a nice gift shop.

Every now and then I thought wistfully of the Naicker and Maratha paintings in a 1000 year temple in Tanjore, the many other treasures that wilt away without attention. I read that even today reaching the Ajantha caves,  Khajuraho etc is a chore let alone audio-guides and knowledgeable commentary. To celebrate Maratha influence in a state that has been intellectually castrated with empty jingoism and ideological charades is too much to hope for.

Time and again what impresses me most in the West is the celebration of cross-cultural influences. Voltaire admires the English. The English are suckers for anything French as I'd see from my visit to Blenheim Palace near Oxford, UK 2 days later. Bruges in Northern corner of Europe buys a statue by Michelangelo. Trade and commerce coupled with the university system of Europe creates a veritable whirlpool of intellectual atmosphere.

AIG and GM: A tale of bonuses and greed.

On Sep 17th 2008, two days after allowing Lehman Brothers to spiral into a bankruptcy, USA nationalized insurance giant AIG. An AIG bankruptcy would have sent the worldwide financial industry into a precipitous tailspin and caused financial armageddon, coming just two days after the largest bankruptcy filing in US history. A year later in March 2009, with Obama just inaugurated, AIG announced bonuses of unto $218 Million involving specifically employees in its financial division, the main culprits behind its ignominious fall. AIG pleaded that those were 'retention bonuses' to retain talented people who were needed to set the house in order. Barack Obama, now President, exploded in anger "I've asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to use that leverage (US bailout) and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole". Justifiable anger. Accurately expressed emotions of an outraged nation. Charles Krauthammer, being a columnist, went further and called for bringing out the "guillotine and Madame Defarge". It is a rare cosmic event for Obama and Krauthammer to speak in unison and especially when Obama appears restrained in comparison.

Obama administration caused a flutter when it shredded 200 years of bankruptcy law to give UAW ownership of GM and Chrysler. If Obama had followed that bankruptcy model for AIG, AIG employees would not need that bonus but instead would be laughing their way to the bank. According to bankruptcy law bondholders are the primary recipient of money in a bankruptcy. Obama gifted GM to UAW and stiffed the bondholders. Same thing at Chrysler. Bond holders, banks like JP Morgan, recipients of TARP, were coerced into signing off.

In February 2012 GM (General Motors) reported record profits and declared bonuses $4000-$7000 to its 68,000 US employees. The President was grinning and proudly claimed credit for having saved "American car Industry", liberals danced in the streets (ok, not literally) about how workers and working families were saved by US government. The wrinkle in that story is GM still owes US taxpayers $25 billion. What is worse US taxpayer owns a third of GM shares. The GM shares bought by US treasury is languishing at $30, the shares need to touch $50 for break even. Not feasible any time soon.

AIG and Wall Street were bailed out of a rapidly spiraling, little foreseen, calamitous event. The much maligned $700 billion TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), contrary to popular idea, includes bailout of Detroit. Everyone decried how Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan were given $25 billion from TARP. Both companies were actually 'forced' and 'coerced' to take the money lest they make the non-borrowers look bad causing a different crises. Both have returned the money, with punitive interest, promptly. That GM and Chrysler were sliding towards bankruptcy was a writing on the wall for nearly 4 years. Unlike Wall Street that suffered (and inflicted) a domino effect Detroit was declining in front of the public in well foreseen course of events. Wall Street has repaid every penny and interest for TARP. FDIC and US treasury made record profits on Wall Street bailouts. Detroit bailout is yet to make money for the taxpayer.

New York Times (not Wall Street Journal) in its editorial scolding Romney for discrediting Detroit bailout, conceded that Detroit's troubles were caused by outrageous labor contracts. UAW negotiated its most recent contract stipulating that GM should not be opening plants in low-cost Mexico. The American GM worker enjoying his bonus owes it to China and India for those profits. I guess selling to China is good but opening a factory in Mexico is not good.

UAW, with some justification, always deflected criticism of their generous benefits by saying "labor cost is a red herring, Japanese cars which cost more are selling more. So cost is not the factor. It's just that American cars are not liked by people due to reliability problems". UAW is also indignant that management continued to misjudge consumer requirements and produced gas guzzlers as gas prices climbed up. True.

UAW contracts, before the bankruptcy,  are fortified and in the name of protecting the worker make it impossible for factories to retool or close down. When a factory or an assembly line closes down UAW worker enjoys 100% pay and full benefits for more than a year, the benefits include $0 in pension contribution and a very generous healthcare plan. Under bankruptcy protection UAW negotiated and got 'sign on bonus' and contracted bonuses. I don't know if sign on bonuses exist in private sector anymore for any worker lesser than the top most spot.

UAW, because GM is under Chapter 11, conceded something unheard of in Labor movement in USA. UAW conceded that new workers would be paid a different, lower, salary. A two tiered structure. When Metropolitan Transit worker in NYC struck work in the busiest shopping season of the year in 2005, a week before Christmas, their leader Roger Toussaint declared haughtily, "we will not sell the unborn" and caused millions of dollars in losses to NYC businesses. UAW was forced to concede all this ONLY because under chapter 11 they cannot strike. UAW threatened Ford with a strike because Ford, which did not need a bailout, did not have Chapter 11 protection.

A justifiable question on AIG bonuses was "if these guys are so intelligent that we need to pay retention bonuses to keep them how come they caused this mayhem?" Sure.As much as AIG employees were deemed incompetent to receive bonuses I've not seen GM employees being asked that question. Do GM employees deserve their bonus any more AIG employees deserved theirs? Were is the President asking for his Secretary to block the bonuses and pursue every legal avenue to make the tax payer whole.

Time magazine ran a cover story on the turnaround of Chrysler. The hero of the story was the CEO, not UAW. The whole story, by left leaning Time, was effusive about Sergio Marchionne of Fiat. Fiat CEO refused to put a penny of his own and forced Obama to pay everything. Marchionne lent only his legendary name and skill. This a wonderful moment lost by UAW to make good on their boast that they are the pillars behind the companies. I'd have loved to watch UAW run Chrysler without these high priced and hated CEO's. After all does not UAW shout from rooftops about how CEO's are greedy and how its the worker who is the productive unit. Time covers story is a lesson in how individuals and CEO's matter. UAW is just muscle.

Yes GM made profits but at what cost. Aside from direct bailout the Obama administration's clumsy and useless "cash for clunkers" cost is not counted. Edmunds.com CEO (popular website for car prices) lambasted the administration for throwing money. Again, it was done with the 'noble' intention of helping workers. Never mind that that money is taxpayer money, also paid by many hardworking workers. A friend dumped an old Nissan van and bought a Lexus with that taxpayer money. No sensible consumer was going to sign on a loan for a car worth $25,000 just because he/she gets $2000 for a banged up car. Obama administration scolded Edmunds.com CEO for telling the truth.

Everyday the President decries the billions of dollars in subsidy to the gas industry. Little does he talk of how his stooge the EPA tweaks mileage rules to favor the Detroit three. The President continues to plough money into hybrid vehicles. Does a buyer of a $25,000 vehicle need tax payer money? GM's volt is yet to sell like the hot cakes it is made out to be. Also too much is made of GM's profits. GM earned its profits from sales mostly in Asia. Also the tsunami in Japan completely threw out Toyota and Honda's supply lines causing severe shortage. Any CEO worth his salt would put the cash that is raining now for a rainy day and not disburse them as 'bonuses'.

To top off the chutzpah GM recently paid millions to release an ad during Super Bowl half time starring Clint Eastwood lauding the bailout. The thinly veiled campaign ad for Obama drew a lot of scorn from republicans. Ford, trying to sell cars, recently aired a series of ads featuring real customers boasting that Ford did not take tax payer money and is turning out good cars. Obama administration shut that ad down.

Greed, it is liked to be believed, comes wearing a pin stripe suit sipping expensive wines. No, greed is as much blue collar as it is white collar. Greed can come in overalls too. Man is greedy. Greed fuels and destroys man. The art is knowing when the fueling power slides into becoming destructive. Wall Street greed has been decried and punished by lawsuits and regulations. Union greed is commended and celebrated.

Tamil Christians and Tamil Sangams.

A friend posted a comment on Facebook wondering why Tamil Christians in USA do not show interest in Tamil Sangams despite showing enthusiasm in establishing Tamil churches in USA and worshipping in Tamil. One time North Carolina Tamil Sangam did not have a single Christian member.

Language is a powerful coagulant. As immigrants we love to congregate together on linguistic basis if we could or under some denomination. In USA given the large number of Tamils it is possible gather under the "Tamil" umbrella. Christianity being an organized religion, congregants, especially those who take efforts to establish vernacular churches, make it a point to meet at least twice a month and hold services in Tamil. This gives an outlet for what Tamil Christians miss as being away from Tamil Nadu. As much as Tamil Sangam members or some enthusiasts might disagree this is pretty much the same desire that is fulfilled by Tamil Sangams. So what more can a Tamil Sangam that a Tamil Christian does not get in a Tamil Church? Sangam members might point to cultural festivals, Tamil literary events (though sparsely attended by non-Christians themselves) etc and wonder "can they not come for the sake of Tamil?". No they cannot.

I grew up in a very unique Christian home thanks to a very liberal, very open and accepting father who shaped us to be open minded. We lived amidst Hindus of all castes, friendships with those families spanned generations. When all the kids in the neighborhood enjoyed bursting crackers we were told it's ok to join and we even got new clothes. Respecting our mom's wishes we celebrated Pongal complete with tying a turmeric around the cooker for Pongal and a kolam too. As a lover of literature my father savored Bharathi mini-epic of Draupadi and his songs of Krishna. We had Rajaji's "Mahabharatham" and "Ramayanam", a Bhagvad Gita, Silappathikaram etc. I inherited a love for Sivaji Ganesan, especially the movie 'Karnan' from my dad. My mother and wife both wear a bindi.

In most Christian households most or almost all of the above are taboo. Tamil literature, Kamba Ramayanam, wearing a bindi, a kolam, pongal etc are considered blasphemous by Christians. Tamil culture or whatever that gets called 'Tamil culture' is seen as 'Hindu Culture'. Ironically the Tamil Bible and Tamil Christian Hymns (especially those by Vedanayaham Sastriyaar) are replete with Sanskrit words and Hindu philosophy. Tamil Christians have not created anything in Tamil, besides the Bible and Hymns, that could be called 'literature'. The only feeble attempt is by an immigrant Veeramamunivar (Thembavani). The same could be said of Islam too. Islam had its own language too for all its members, rich or poor, for worshipping. Tamil Christians had only Tamil and English. Going to an English Church is considered more prestigious than going to Tamil church. The socio-economic divide between Tamil and English is very evident in the churches too. English Churches, especially in Madras, are invariably rich.

Before Tamil Sangam members take issue with looking at Tamil literature as 'Hindu' literature they would do well to introspect a good number of their own members who proudly claim allegiance to Dravidian political ideology. Annathurai made a career out of lampooning Kamban as a pornographer. In any other language a poet like Kamban would be celebrated, it is Kamban's misfortune that he was born in Tamil Nadu and he wrote in Tamil. Silappathikaram, written by a Jain, replete with Brahminical influences was held up as 'literature of the Tamils' by the same Dravidian ideologues without batting an eyelid that whatever they decried of Kamban could be said of Ilango. E.V.Ramasamy Naicker (some refer to him as 'Periyar') was an equal opportunity offender who relished lampooning all and sundry. With no knowledge of literature, worldwide or provincial, he ridicules Kural, the darling of his ideological progeny, along with the rest. Poor Tamil literature, some detest it for not being secular, others lampoon it on ideological basis.

When Tamil Unicode was being decided many Tamils, especially non-brahmins, in Tamil Nadu and USA worked themselves into a fury over the inclusion of a few letters, called "Grantha letters". Propaganda poured forth to protect Tamil against 'sanskritisation'. Tamil Bible is filled with Sanskrit word, Tamil Christian hymns cannot be printed in so called 'chaste' Tamil. By the way, no Tamilian, can actually write or speak 'chaste' Tamil. Good luck building a bridge then.

On a fine Deepavali day I wished an uncle of mine, "Happy Deepavali". Being a staunch DMK person he said "oh I do not celebrate Deepavali its all Aryan propaganda, I only celebrate Pongal which is a pure Tamilian festival'. Another shibboleth of Dravidian ideology is Pongal. Pongal is just harvest festival and is common to many cultures, Telugus celebrate it as "Makara Sankranthi". Food is cooked in a ceremonial manner and is offered to the Sun god. Pongal is not complete without a visit to family deity. There is nothing secular about Pongal for Christians to celebrate.

Tamil New Year is also not observed by Christians. Thanks to Karunanidhi now amongst those who celebrate Tamil New Year there is confusion. Tamil Sangams celebrate Pongal, Deepavali, Tamil New Year. On the contrary Tamil Sangams, to my knowledge, do not celebrate Christmas or Ramzan the two major functions of non-Hindu religions.

Nothing is secular about India. The India Day Parade in NYC for Aug 15th is dominated by an overtly Hindutva flavor (not just Hindu but Hindutva) that presence of Indian Muslims is practically nil, observed rediff.com. Is there a Tamil Culture apart from Hindu culture?

Unfortunately there are parts of Hindu culture that Tamil Christians have retained while refusing the finer aspects. That's the caste structure. A Tamil Christian asserted on Facebook "not a single Brahmin converts to Christianity, only non-brahmins convert and that is in order to escape caste oppression in Hinduism". The latter is false partly. A long serving Catholic Bishop in Tanjore was a Brahmin convert, so was the Bishop who presided over my marriage and a colleague I met in US. Both Christianity and Islam promised a casteless society that attracted especially the Dalits who were oppressed by every other community. However Dalit Christians continue to be discriminated by other Christians, who for the sake of quota are classified as Backward. Amongst Tamil Christian societies dowry remains a pernicious evil in proportions that are shameful.

Romney, Obama and the 'empathy' debate

A South Indian poet said his heart bleeds whenever he sees a starved sheaf of corn. Another poet admonishes that all learning becomes moot if one cannot internalize the suffering of another. 'Empathy', it is reiterated, across ages and cultures, is one of the defining characteristic of being human. Christ, echoing similarities in Hinduism, asked that we treat every person as if we served the Lord himself. Given America's penchant to simplify a lofty philosophy, a question posed during Presidential elections is "amongst the candidates who would you like to have beer with?" another variant is "who would you prefer to have as your neighbor". 

When FDR's cortege wound it's way through Virginia seeing a common man weeping inconsolably a reporter asked him if he knew FDR personally. The commoner replied "I did not know him but he knew me". Gandhi, the leader and empathizer par excellence, not only dressed and led the life of the poorest of Indians but his instinctive knowledge of suffering has spun its own tales of legend. 

Romney appearing in a morning interview on CNN said, with a straight face, "I am not worried about the poor, they have a safety net, I am not worried about the rich, they are doing just fine. It's the middle class I worry about". All networks immediately relayed "Romney says he is not worried about the poor". People who call themselves conservatives to the bone cringed because according to deep conservative beliefs everyone should progress economically. Romney's comment fed into a double narrative, first that conservatives are cold and do not care about the poor, second a rich republican does not really care for the poor.

Obama held a youtube town hall where a woman asked him if he would consider reducing H1B visas in view of highly skilled Americans being unemployed. Her husband, a semiconductor engineer, remains unemployed. Obama's response was "It is interesting". 

During the 2008 primaries one criticism that kept hurting Obama was that he does not 'connect' with blue collar voters. Hillary herself was characterized as "cold" until she shed a tear on live telecast in New Hampshire. When Hillary, after a long string of defeats, defeated Obama decisively in Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries again a collective chorus of "Obama does not connect" went up. Hillary supporter and PA governor Ed Rendell said Obama has an "appalachian problem". To make matters worse Obama was recorded as saying that "people cling to their guns and religion". That fed into the conservative narrative that liberal look down upon simple folks and their faith. Obama's allies, especially Afro-americans, bristled at this characterization of him being 'aloof' and not empathetic. His allies pointed out indignantly that Obama's mother raised him on food stamps. 

On the day of 9/11 carnage Bush appeared on live TV and let tears roll down freely. Bill Clinton let his tears roll down receiving the caskets of US soldiers killed in Somalia. Presidents need to reflect a nations grief and they need to do it spontaneously.

President's also need to channel a nation's outrage and anger when enemies strike. When Bush said, about Osama Bin Laden, "there is an old poster out west that says 'wanted:dead or alive'" some in the press demurred at such language. But Americans nodded that their President understood them. Many democrats, in private whispered, "thank God Gore is not president he would be wooden".

Bill Clinton was very famous for being connected. It is said that if you stood in a room full of people and Bill Clinton talked to you for a minute he would make it appear that you were the only person in that room and he was intently listening only to you.

Obama is known to shun hobnobbing dinners and rope lines. Bill Clinton's oxygen was being connected. Gandhi, FDR, Nehru were all born rich. Both Clinton and Obama were born into poor homes. Whether somebody is rich or born poor has little to do with a person's ability to empathize. 

What about empathy amongst common men in their daily lives? That's for another day.

Romney is Kerry redux and 2012 is 2004

Its beginning to look a lot like 2004. Democrats are famous for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The GOP is doing its best to outdo the democrats and return the favor in 2012. Lets rewind to 2004 to relive how Kerry helped Bush get re-elected.

Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" a political documentary that made no pretensions of the filmmakers bias grossed $100 Million at the box office. The documentary had more satire than facts, its a Moore documentary, enough said. At the theater I watched the audience gave it standing ovation. The country was in turmoil over the Iraq war. Iraq was front, left and center in the election. The Orlando Sentinel, a key newspaper in a key battleground state, endorsed John Kerry. It was the first endorsement by that paper of a democrat pin 40 years. The Economist endorsed Kerry over Bush in its cover story titled "Incomprehensible Vs Incompetent". The Sentinel's endorsement of Kerry was a resounding snub to Bush detailing Bush's policy failures beyond just Iraq. So how did Kerry lose?

Kerry, like Hillary Clinton, had voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq but facing a stridently anti-war party he tried to do amends that earned him the sobriquet "flip-flop". Kerry did his best to strengthen the narrative and his worst moment was when he voted down an appropriations bill to pay for military in Iraq. He had earlier voted for it and reversed his vote in the final amendment. When criticized for voting against the armed forces in harms way Kerry responded, very famously, "I voted for it before I voted against it". Eager to lure gun owners, a traditional GOP bloc, Kerry went duck hunting and had a photo that made him look ludicrous. Having earned the "flip-flop" label Kerry provided Bush with the perfect photo to go with it. Against the advise of his consultants Kerry went wind surfing and the photo promptly went into GOP ads. Also a millionaire candidate going wind surfing did not help while his VP candidate, John Edwards (a millionaire trial lawyer) was screaming about "two Americas, one for the rich and another for the poor". Kerry, born rich and married rich, was criticized for being 'out of touch'. John Edwards before he made millions was poor and used to go to Wendys to celebrate his wedding anniversary. During the campaign Edwards took Kerry to Wendy's, Kerry could not eat there.

Given the Iraq war backdrop Kerry staked out his candidacy on just one issue, that he could be better commander-in-chief. Kerry is a genuine war hero, unlike Bush whose dodging of draft was laughed about. Kerry served in Vietnam and earned three Purple Hearts and was discharged. He was in-charge of the 'swift boat' division. Out of nowhere sprang Vietnam vets who criticized Kerry as 'unfit to lead' (an eponymous book also was helpfully published) based on nothing but lies. Disillusioned by America's fate in Vietnam Kerry became anti-war, testified in the congress, threw his medals. At the convention when he came on stage Kerry said "I am John Kerry and I am reporting for duty" with a salute. The next day New York Times cribbed that his almost hour long speech had just 3-4 lines about his decades long service in the senate.

While Obama is not as hated as Bush was in 2004 there is lot of disgruntlement and after the drubbing that democrats got in 2010 2012 was supposed to be the year of GOP candidates. Kerry was not the best Democrat to contest in 2004. The best, especially Hillary Clinton, decided to sit out thinking they would have a better chance in 2008 when the electorate would be thirsting for a change from 8 years of a Republican President. Likewise the most looked up to GOP candidates decided to sit out 2012. Out of a weak field emerged Mitt Romney.

Just like Kerry Romney too is staking his claim to the Presidency on just one agenda. Romney makes the economy as the only criteria to elect him. After Bill Clinton's legendary thumping of Bush Sr in 1992 based on "it's the economy stupid" it has become customary, especially with soaring unemployment, to cite that. Conservative columnist William Kristol acidly wrote "its not only the economy, stupid". Romney will learn that when he watches Obama coast to an easy victory.

Romney like Kerry has a penchant for landing his foot in his mouth. Like Kerry Romney is now labeled a flip flop. Like Kerry Romney is mocked for not having a "core". Romney and Kerry both hail from Massachusetts, a very liberal state. Romney is now mocked by his GOP detractors as being a RINO (Republican in Name Only). Only a RINO can get elected as GOP governor in Massachusetts. No Texan or Georgian republican can ever get elected in MA. GOP senate candidate Scott Brown shook the political world by winning what was called 'Ted Kennedy's seat' and he is pretty much a RINO too though he was once a tea party darling.

Kerry was fully heroic in his service in Vietnam and even more heroic in his denunciation of that war later. But the GOP slander machine worked over time to discredit him. Bob Dole, 1996 GOP Presidential candidate, archly said "three Purple Hearts and no injury" (Dole has a permanent injury from his service and Kerry had none). Romney has not done a single illegal dealing as businessman and by all accounts was a good boss, made money for his investors and helped create some good iconic American companies. Yet the Democrat slander machine is now working overtime (and including his GOP rivals) in circulating highly debunked documentary "Romney: King of Bain". Kerry was inarticulate in defending his anti-Vietnam protests, Romney is completely incapable of defending his work at Bain. Kerry had his duckshoot, Romney has his gaffe on being afraid of pink slips and more gaffes on how his earnings from speeches, $340K, was 'not much', '$10,000 bet' etc.

Romney has been compared to past presidential contenders, always the comparisons were with losers. When Kerry staked his candidacy on being a better commander-in-chief the Iraq war was raging hot. Seeing the unemployment drop in January a commentator mused on this danger of Romney talking like the only reason people need to elect him is his ability to fix the economy, "if the economy fixes itself by November, what is Romney's rationale for asking people to vote".

Romney will lose to Obama. If, and this is a very big if, Romney wins it would be ranked a more thrilling win than what Truman had over Dewey.